I actually adopted my daughter from Korea as an infant. I’ve reviewed several films about international adoptions, and the tales tend to be both positive and negative. Was there a specific point of view you were going for?
Absolutely, I believe no adoption story is alike, and with this, I wanted to focus on what I knew and had personally experienced. When I set out to reconnect with my birth father in the hopes of understanding my origins, the journey threw me a curveball. I found that through my search, I gained a massive appreciation and recognition for how much my identity derived from my stepfather. I think this happened because, after so many years of focusing on what was missing, the search reframed me to see what had been present all my life. With B-Side: For Taylor, I didn’t want to tell a story about an adoptee finding herself through her birth family, but rather, the search helped her to see her present life in a new light. I think this is also the overall theme of the film: to let go of the life you think you missed so you don’t miss the life that is in front of you.
With that said, to me, the heart of the story is Taylor’s relationship with her adoptive father, Bill, and how their grief from the loss of her adoptive mother has left them disconnected. Fraught with misunderstandings and white lies, Taylor’s journey to find her birth family ultimately forces both characters to confront their strained relationship, despite the discomfort and finally see each other clearly.
“…any creative choices had to delicately navigate our financial constraints without sacrificing the quality…”
Can you talk about the challenges it took to get B-Side for Taylor off the ground?
The film was truly a labor of love. We were a micro-budget production with very limited resources. Because of this, many creative choices had to delicately navigate our financial constraints without sacrificing the quality and intention behind our storytelling. In order to get the film off the ground, we knew our biggest asset would be our collaborators (as it often is), and because we were able to assemble an incredibly tenacious and skilled team, we were able to maneuver through these limitations with innovative solutions. We also had incredible support from Visual Communications, who donated resources and fiscal sponsorship for us to receive donations. And Film Independent, who very generously donated their camera for our production. This is all to say. We really relied on the independent film community and organizations to bring the script to the screen.
Jeannine Vargas and Jacky Jung are fantastic. How did you cast your two lead actors?
Much like our production, we leaned on the AAPI film community in Los Angeles to help find the actors that best served our story. Finding Jacky Jung (playing Da-Young) was very serendipitous because a mutual colleague introduced us while I was still developing the script. I kept her in mind, then invited her to read for the role at a Zoom table read months later. Even through Zoom, it was clear to me that she possessed the character in an incredibly effortless way. She auditioned for us once we started pre-production, and after learning that she also had many personal experiences to bring to Da-Young’s character, it was a no-brainer that she should play the role.
With the role of Taylor, I had pictured her as a very tough, no-nonsense tomboy with a hard exterior. When Jeannine Vargas (playing Taylor) came to our auditions, she brought a very different version of this “toughness” to the role. Her Taylor always tried but failed to be tough, and this allowed for a natural vulnerability to shine through. This brought an incredible amount of layers and depth to the role that I hadn’t even imagined before Jeannine stepped into it. I think when an actor comes in and teaches you more about a character beyond your own words, it is an asset you must immediately seize. So we knew we had found a gem and were thrilled to cast her as Taylor.
