and exclusive world of Hollywood.
Many of the films that make it into the theaters are directed by an entrenched group of veterans and star the same faces, Durso said.
“Haven’t we seen everything the Wilson brothers have done?” Durso asked.
Lazarus said there is a lack of outstanding American actresses, especially compared to their British counterparts. An actress herself, Lazarus teaches several classes at the Promenade Playhouse and once asked her students to name a gifted female actress in the 20-35 age range.
Reese Witherspoon was the only name mentioned.
“You don’t see actresses with training, with love and respect for the craft,” Lazarus said. “It’s sad to think of who is next.”
Malibu resident Catherine Dao is one of the filmmakers attempting to break into the scene. The actress is trying to become the all-around entertainer — actress, writer and director.
Dao submitted a semi-autobiographical tale depicting the cross-generational differences of a mother and daughter relationship in a traditional Chinese-American family.
The 12-minute film dramatizes the relationship that Dao had with her own late mother, whom she jokingly called “crazy.”
“She was the Chinese mom who had wanted me to get married since I was 12 and have 10 babies,” she said. “I’m the only child, which I’m sure made it harder on her.”
She calls herself the black sheep of a large extended family with 100 first cousins. Her mother had five siblings and her father had 10 siblings.
“The Trap” takes on a “Joy Luck Club” kind of feel, telling the story of a Chinese mother trying to set her daughter up on a blind date with a “nice Chinese boy,” Dao said.
But what films like the “Joy Luck Club” missed was the quirky nature of the relationships between first-generation Asian mothers and their second-generation daughters.
“I wanted to capture that and let the American audiences be familiar with that too,” Dao said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 3, 2007. Read the original PDF.