A dark comedy about a gay
Korean-American young man and his disapproving mother won the best
drama award at the 12th annual New York Television
Festival's Independent Pilot Competition.
According to My Mother is
a short film that also serves as a proof-of-concept for a TV
or web series.
In the film, Daniel (played by Daniel
K. Isaac) is a struggling actor in New York who visits his mother
Esther in California after the death of his beloved aunt.
Cathy Yan co-wrote the pilot with Isaac
and directed.
According to the
film's website, Isaac started posting conversations he had with
his mother, Esther Lee, a Christian conservative Korean immigrant, on
Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #AccordingToMyMother.
In one conversation, Lee tells her son
that she went to the funeral of a 57-year-old man, then asks for him
not to die before her. “I'll kill you if you do,” she says.
“Also. Can you get a different haircut?”
In another message, she tells her son
that demons are feasting on his soul. “They make buffet on your
spirit,” she says.
“okwellthat'sgreatHappyBirthdaythetrainsheregottogobye,” is
Daniel's response.
The New York Television Festival's
Independent Pilot Competition saw winners in 15 categories.