Q&A with Paul Lee
A conversation with Paul Lee, aka, TinyPaul, the NYC-based filmmaker behind ‘Plant Film’.
When you decided to make this short film, where did you start?
I immigrated to America when I was 11 years old. I think I’ve wanted to make this film, maybe not this film exactly, ever since.
I found myself in Seoul in the fall of 2019 to work on a documentary. I was staying at my parents’ house with my partner, who accompanied me for the trip. I wanted to make a film, but I was discouraged because I didn’t know any actors. And although I speak fluent Korean, I felt uncomfortable writing in Korean. My trip was coming to an end, and I couldn’t come up with any ideas.
I realized one day that all I wanted to do was to film places from my childhood. It didn’t matter if there was a story or not. So I wrote a little plot that somewhat mirrored what was happening in my partner and I’s lives, and filmed the scenes in places I grew up in.
I’d never acted in my own film because I hate the sound of my voice and the look of my face. So I put on an outfit I would never wear and pretended I was a character in a movie (which I was). I didn’t want to speak in the film, so I decided all the conversations would happen over text.
This is my goodbye to my childhood, something that seems so difficult for me to grasp.
What kind of hurdles do you face as a filmmaker working in short film?
Aside from the physical challenges, I think the hardest part is believing in the idea enough to actually make the film.
What projects are you working on next, and how can people who are interested best support or share that work?
I’m working on another draft of a feature film tentatively titled “World War III Blues.”
It takes place in a near-future Los Angeles where most of society has moved underground due to constant bombing from unseen combatants. The film follows the life of Jay whose job is to remove bodies of those who’ve perished above-ground.
It sounds dramatic, but I imagine it as a quiet film about domesticity and acquired family. The dream score would be done by Bob Dylan.
If anyone is interested in the script, I’d love to share it with you. You can contact me here.
