- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Twenty years after producing Ang Lee’s breakthrough movie The Wedding Banquet, legendary Taiwanese producer Li-Kong Hsu is backing another controversial film with a gay theme called Baby Steps.
The co-production project, with a budget of “$1 million or $2 million,” was announced Thursday at AFM and will be shot in Taipei and Los Angeles, writer-director Stephen Israel said.
STORY: Ang Lee, Jia Zhangke to Lead Discussions at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Festival
“We expect to have finished the film by about July and aim for a high-level festival premiere,” like at the Berlin International Film Festival, he said.? The movie is a family drama revolving around a gay couple living in Los Angeles who plans to have a baby by surrogate, a practice that is currently illegal in Taiwan. The subject matter means it will not get a release in mainland China.
“I loved the script because it addresses issues for a gay family realistically. I’m not afraid of the controversy as I want to encourage a dialogue,” said Hsu, who is president of Zoom Hunt International Productions and has produced The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with the two-time Oscar-wining Lee, who was born in Taiwan.
STORY: Taiwan Documentary ‘Beyond Beauty’ Breaks Local Box Office Record
The film is scheduled to start shooting Dec. 22 in the capital city of Taipei. ?Baby Steps is written and directed by Barney Cheng, who starred in Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending. It will feature, in the role of the mother, leading Taiwanese actor Grace Guei, who also was featured in The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman, and newcomer Michael Adam Hamilton.
The movie is a co-production between Israel’s School Pictures and Tang Moon.
Said Cheng: “Mr. Hsu has been very supportive of LBGT-themed movies. We had Wedding Banquet, and 20 years later we wanted to make a film about a similar theme.”?
Related Stories
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day