Hyun Hyup Kim’s debut feature, the HD family drama “The Gift,” has its hometown premiere in a weeklong run now through April 2 at Lincoln Village Theater.
A production of Win Media, the for-profit arm of Yehyang Cultural Ministry, “The Gift” is coming off a three-weekend world premiere run at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills.
“The Gift” is the story of a young man’s struggle with methamphetamine addiction, its impact on his family, his fall and journey toward recovery.
“My goal is to help families that have problems with drugs, to show them a way to get out of the situation,” Kim said.
Kim adapted the script from his own play, which was produced in 2004 at the Christian Heritage Center, and on interviews with Korean American families impacted by methamphetamine addiction in L.A.
It’s 90% in English, 10% in Korean, Kim said, with subtitles in both languages.
“We got a good response from the audience in Los Angeles, especially second generation Korean Americans,” said Kim. “Parents with problems [similar to those in the film] were crying during the show.”
Win Media is self-distributing “The Gift,” eyeing North American cities with large Korean populations, including Atlanta, New York and Toronto, to continue the theatrical run.
In May they’ll shop the film in South Korea, aiming to release the film in theaters there. Kim said Win Media is considering both the possibility of going with a third-party distributor for video, or self-releasing on video as well.
