Sticky Buns, Ravioli, and White Cake

At my core, I’m a filmmaker who wants to change the world with movies. "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner" helped America accept interracial marriage. "The Day After Tomorrow" drove home the reality of climate change better than decades of official reports. Movies like these are my inspiration.

My own films are achieving similar results. In 2019, "Retch" premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival and immediately got the audience talking about unconscious racial biases. My next short, "Such an Honor," premiered at ARTS x SDGS, a festival joining artists with United Nations staff working for change, where it led conversations about women’s bodily autonomy. "Lioness," my short that received a professional grant from Women in Film, illustrated the modern-day slavery inherent in U.S. prison systems.

"Sticky Buns, Ravioli, and White Cake," is a stand-alone proof of concept for my upcoming first feature film. In this fantasy romance, grown-up spin on Alice in Wonderland, Alice and the Mad Hatter must fall in love in three days so that Wonderland won’t deteriorate along with his mental stability.

The short film is a fantasy, but it shows a realistic portrayal of schizophrenia – including mood swings, disordered thinking, and illogical speech patterns – that will get audiences talking about mental illness. At the film’s start, Alice and the Mad Hatter have just recently met. She’s intrigued by him, yet he doesn’t trust her. Is she the right Alice? Only time – and twirling birds – will tell!

"Sticky Buns, Ravioli, and White Cake" was selected for Washington Filmworks’ enhanced Small Budget Production Initiative, a new funding program that invests in emerging producers and directors in Washington State. We filmed on virtual sets using LED Walls and Unreal Engine, cutting VFX costs while creating gorgeous 3D imagery for the Wonderland set.

Visually, I aimed to create an intimate experience for the audience, where the surroundings are an extension of the characters' emotions. The film's aesthetics and music enhance the emotional depth of each scene, using vibrant, ethereal tones to convey tenderness, passion, and frequent absurdity.

Diversity has always been a critical component of all my projects. Most of our cast and crew are from marginalized communities. The diversity isn’t pertinent to the story. However, representation matters. The more that audiences see BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ people as non-violent, non-criminal, not-overly sexualized everyday folks, the more normalized we are. And that leads to a more peaceful existence for everyone.

"Sticky Buns, Ravioli, and White Cake" combines compelling storytelling, strong performances from a diverse cast, responsible handling of mental illness, and mesmerizing virtual film sets to captivate audiences. It will foster more conversation around mental illness during its festival run. And hopefully lead to full funding for the upcoming feature version. I hope you enjoy watching as much as my team and I enjoyed creating it!