A.M. – Ashley Miller, Interviewer
H.K. – Hosik Kim, Director
A.L. – Almex Lee, Actor
A.M. How did the script for Deli come about?
H.K. I was the primary writer, and I also got some help from friend and writer James Yoo who went to NYU. Basically, we got together, and over the course of maybe a month or two, I had an original idea and we completed the script. In the story, there’s a particular beer Pillsner Urquell…I’m personally a big fan of that beer and, I always thought, hey what a hard to pronounce name for a beer…I should make something out of this! [laughter] No…well, of course there are a lot of my personal stories and some stories that I’ve heard…but mostly just a mix of imagination, experience…and some hard to pronounce beer!
A.M. What’s Deli about?
H.K. It’s a story about growing up, and an homage to boy meets girl, like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) the two main characters, the hero and heroine don’t get along together, &c., just a very classic love story, but I think for anybody in their 20’s, the romantic relationship is the center of growing up—you get hurt, you overcome that scar, that wound—and then you really feel like you’ve grown up. But then, you meet another girl and it happens over and over again, three or five times, until your 20’s are over!
A.M. And how did you cast Almex for the film?
H.K. Well, there are many good Korean-American actors in New York, but it was hard for me to find the right one, the one I had in mind for the film. So, actually I auditioned around 20 or 30 Korean-American actors. I really had the actor for the part of Deli in my mind, so all I saw was the headshot of Almex, and I thought, this guy could be it, so then I contacted him. I think it was around week four I got the message back from him. The first three weeks of the audition were at NYU, but after the third week I wasn’t permitted to use the audition space anymore. So, I had to go to Maru. When Almex came, he had to audition in one of the karaoke rooms. It was a short film; raw, 2 nights of shooting, we did a couple rehearsals but not enough. I think we did maybe two or three rehearsals before we started, but he understood the character from the beginning…he’s a born actor so I didn’t really need to add much direction.
A.L. When I read for the part, I actually had broken up with a girlfriend the week before that, so it was easy to get into the moment. It didn’t exactly end the way it did in Deli, but at least I had that immediate experience to rely on throughout the filming.
A.M. How did you find the deli where the film was shot?
H.K. Me and my D.P. Nick Bentgen went out in search of the deli, and because all the shooting was going to happen in this deli, the location was really important. I found a few delis, but they all wanted some money, and I didn’t have that kind of budget, so…but I found one deli where the ajosshi was going to let me shoot for free so I was really happy to shoot there. But then a couple days later I got a call at 2 AM one night, saying the front and half of the deli was burned to ashes. So then I had to find a replacement. The deli where we ended up shooting was M2M deli up on 110th near Columbia. I used to live there, so—and through friends I got to know the manager Oh. He was generous enough to provide us a free space. So, we shot there from the time the deli closed at 12:01 and we got to use it until it re-opened at 6. The manager hyung had to stay there the whole time we were shooting.
A.L. The deli manager was very generous, so as an actor I felt very relaxed. He even offered us cookies and Japanese udon.
H.K. Yeah, he’s credited at the very top of our special thanks at the end of the movie.
A.M. What kind of audience feedback did you get for the film?
H.K. Actually, it’s interesting because, when I showed the film in Korea, a lot of my Korean friends reacted that the girl was really rude or cruel, like how could she speak so frankly about the beer they used to drink in front of her ex-boyfriend? Whereas in America, you would understand it as, actually the girl does care about the ex-boyfriend, and that’s her way of saying hey, I miss you, and we had a good time together. So those were two very different views I got from Korean and Korean-American audiences.
A.M. So, are you happy with the film overall?
H.K. Yeah, a student film is crazy; limited time, limited equipment, small budget. So, as a student director, I’m just glad the movie came out as a completed piece! A lot of times, students find gaps in coverage or the movie can turn away from the original idea while shooting, but we had a good crew, good actors, good editor—Ashley Park was my editor and she did a tremendous job editing—and it was a great learning experience. Actually, after the film was finished I put it away and didn’t want to show it to anyone…I felt like it was my first film and it wasn’t really ready. But I had a friend who suggested I should really let other people see it, and criticize it, and learn from it. It was the first time I saw Deli on the big screen, at KAFFNY, and it was a really different experience—it was way better than we thought. So from there it went to KOFFLA (Korean Film Festival LA), I got some interviews, so all of this has been a great learning experience for me. It’s motivated me to work on more projects, to make better projects.
A.M. How would you say you grew as a result of the film?
A.L. Well, I’ve only done maybe two or three shorts before working with Hosik, and what was great about it is that there’s minimal dialogue in this film. It required a lot of internal emotional expression, so the film really helped me develop a character’s inner monologue. Other characters I played before were very extroverted, very energetic, so this film and Hosik really helped me develop that kind of internal character. And it helped me realize the importance of the relationship between the actors and the director.
A.M. So, what are you guys doing now?
A.L. For me, I’ve just been auditioning, and also I write as well, so I’ve been writing. As an actor, especially a Korean-American actor, I think we need to have a wider range of choices. So, I think one of the best ways to gain access to those roles is to create your own opportunities. Hosik and I are always talking about projects that we can possibly work on together.
H.K. About a month ago, actually, Dave (Dae Hoon) Kim, Almex and I, we all got together and started a small project—working title Brothers—over spring break, shot just using a DSLR camera.
A.L. At first it started with us just going out and filming guerilla style, and then we started taking it more seriously. Basically, it’s about my character and Dave, who plays my brother, who comes to New York to sponge off of me, even though I’m the younger brother. So, just developing those frustrations, and I’m sure a lot of people who have siblings can relate. But, eventually it’s a compromise in the end.
H.K. Yeah, but the shooting style, the guerilla style, was actually something we learned a lot from; heavily improvised, no written camera work…we wouldn’t call it serious filmmaking, but at the same time it’s fun. It’s an exercise.
A.M. Are you going to put it up on Youtube?
A.L. Well, our main motivation isn’t really mass viewing, but to cultivate and develop our own style and craft. We want to create something of quality, something worthy of backing. That’s why festivals are such a great thing, I mean Youtube’s great, too, but anyone can get on it, without anyone’s opinion. That’s why festivals are important, because opinion matters.
