/24-7PressRelease/ - COLLINSWOOD, NJ, April 23, 2008 - AN AMERICAN IN CHINA is a true "east meets west" collaboration between the writer team of Ron Berrett and his wife Wenxin (Maggie) Yuan. The story is loosely based upon Berrett's first experiences traveling in China, and also on Yuan's experience of watching a crazy American (Berrett) invade her country.
"My wife and I were amazed to find that we shared a similar childhood experience even though we grew up on opposite sides of the world and political spectrum," notes Ron Berrett, "In elementary school I remember a classroom full of children diving under their desks, rehearsing for the possible air-raid that would come from our communist enemies on the other side of the world. I was amazed when Maggie told me that she had the same experience as a child, only she and her classmates crouched under their desks in Beijing to hide from the imperialist American bombers that her country's leaders were afraid might attack them any day."
Berrett continues, "the more time I spent in China, the more I realized that while there were a lot differences between my country and Maggie's, there was much, much more that we had in common. I began to feel the desire to tell people back home that our perception of China was totally out-dated and wrong. I also wanted to tell them about all the amazing and crazy things I had experienced in that great country. Obviously these thoughts were the genesis for the story I would eventually write with Maggie."
Producer Wenxin Yuan adds "we decided we wanted make a travel film, to sort of take the audience on a trip to present-day China, and not only give them a psuedo-vacation, but also show them that even though there are many differences between our countries and cultures, we all share the same dreams and desires, the same common humanity."
This coming of age, fish out of water story is a journey to another world, yet a world that is in many ways just the same as our own. Politics, cultural differences and distances cannot change the fact that we all share the same common humanity and the same basic desire: to love and be loved.
The story of a young man's search for meaning and direction, AN AMERICAN IN CHINA follows recent college grad David Braddock (James Snyder) to China where he finds more than he bargained for. (James Snyder has landed the lead role in CRY BABY - made famous by Johnny Depp - CRY BABY follows John Waters' previous smash Broadway play and movie HAIRSPRAY. CRY BABY opens on Broadway in March 2008.)
Twenty-two year old David is floundering - stuck in that lazy period between college and "what am I going to do with the rest of my life?" Even David's best friend, Sha (Anthony Montgomery) and his younger sister Kendra (Alice Greczyn) are concerned about his aimless attitude. (Alice Greczyn will be co-starring with James Marsden (X-MEN, THE NOTEBOOK, 27 DRESSES), in the upcoming film SEX DRIVE directed by Sean Anders.)
David's parents (Michael Gross and Priscilla Barnes) pressure him to find a direction. They want him to go to China to source factories for the family's business, and David eventually does give into his father's urging to "go east young man."
Once in China, he finds that it is much different from what he imagined: full of bustling modern cities as well as idyllic little villages. But here, just like back at home, nobody seems to take him seriously.
David travels to a place that the modern world hasn't yet altered and meets Mei Yang (Fei Fei Sun), a beautiful, ambitious young girl who works two jobs trying to save enough money so she can follow her dream of going to the prestigious Beijing University. Despite their language and cultural differences, a romance blossoms during the few short weeks that David is there.
He returns home to San Francisco changed by his China experience, but finds that his family's business is in more difficulty than when he left. Sha encourages David to go back and see things through: both business and romance, and together they head to the middle kingdom.
The producers want audiences to find AN AMERICAN IN CHINA an enjoyable journey, one that inspires them to follow the path of their own dreams, no matter where on this big, wide world those paths may lead.
"An American in China" won the 2008 George Sidney Independent Film Competition -- Best Full Length Feature Film, in the recent San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.
At Worldfest Houston Film Festival, "An American in China" won the Platinum Remi Award for Theatrical Feature Films.
And, at Firstglance Hollywood 2008, Ron Berret won the Best Director Award.
Personal interview with Director Ron Berrett, printed press kit, EPK, and DVD screener are available by request.
Thompson Communications is a specialty public relations firm, specializing in promoting independently produced films and film distributors.
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