The indie comedy Reunion is headed for its Los Angeles premiere at not one but two prestigious festivals. Written and directed by first-generation Korean American filmmaker John W. Kim, the film will screen at the Beverly Hills Film Festival on April 16th at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, and again at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 3rd at AMC Atlantic Times Square. Tickets for the Beverly Hills Film Festival screening are on sale now.
The film arrives in Los Angeles already carrying serious momentum. Reunion won the Audience Award at Cinequest, where over 500 people turned out for opening night, and a follow-up screening at a nearby theater sold out all 320 seats.
A Cinderella Story With a Twist
Reunion centers on Guy Park, an Asian American funeral home worker who is no longer young, having sacrificed for his family only to find that life has passed him by. In a desperate bid to reclaim some spark of hope, Guy heads to his 20th high school reunion — only to end up at the wrong one, where he is mistaken for the most successful alumnus of another school: a mysterious Asian billionaire named Ellison Loudermilk, whom no one has seen since graduation.
“Invisible in a room or a crowd, unseen by those around us.”
What follows is a comic farce that Kim describes as a modern twist on the Cinderella tale — one night surrounded by prom queens, class presidents, football heroes, and fading movie stars, all chasing an elusive American Dream. Trapped in a deception he begins to perversely enjoy, Guy is forced to ask himself whether it’s more important to be seen as a success in other people’s eyes or in his own. The film runs 88 minutes and is, in Kim’s words, “equal parts humor, hubris, and despair.”
The ensemble cast is led by Academy Award-nominated actress Candy Clark (American Graffiti, The Man Who Fell to Earth), alongside Jake Choi (Single Parents, Front Cover), Kelli Garner (Lars and the Real Girl, Thumbsucker), Madeline Zima (Twin Peaks, Subservience), Ludi Lin (Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers), Ryan Hansen (Party Down, Veronica Mars), Helena Mattsson (Surrogates, 666 Park Avenue), Sarah Waisman (The Goldbergs, Fallout), and Crystal Rivers (General Hospital, The Resident). The supporting cast includes Frantz Latten (Matador), Charlie Bodin (Good Trouble, Halt and Catch Fire), Nestor Rodriguez (Silver Skies), and Hayden Szeto (The Edge of Seventeen).
The film is produced by Noah Pitifer, Michael Winnick, and John W. Kim, with executive producers Sebastian Twardosz and the late Fred Roos (The Godfather Part II).
Made in LA, Against All Odds
If the story of Reunion is about perseverance in the face of impossible odds, so is the story of making it. Production began on January 7, 2025 — the very day the Eaton and Pacific Palisades wildfires broke out in the Los Angeles area, ultimately destroying over 57,000 acres and displacing thousands. The production was directly impacted, with cast and crew members displaced from their homes and others suffering devastating personal losses.
The team faced a stark choice: shut down or push through. They chose to push through.
“This film is, at its core, a love letter to Los Angeles and to the resilience of the artists who continue to create here, even when it feels impossible,” producer Noah Pitifer said. “At a time when many productions had already left Los Angeles, we stayed. Not because it was easy — but because we believe in the magic of making movies here. We believe in the people who make this city what it is. And we believed that telling this story, in this place, mattered.”
The decision to continue wasn’t just artistic — it was communal. By keeping cameras rolling, the production was able to support cast, crew, and surrounding neighborhoods and businesses during one of the most difficult periods the city has seen in years.
A Director’s Personal Vision
For Kim, Reunion is rooted in a deeply personal experience. Born in Seoul, Korea, he immigrated to the United States at age four and grew up in Silicon Valley, navigating the space between two cultures — Korean tradition at home and the pressure to assimilate in the world outside. He describes being mistaken for someone else as a teenager and wondering what the repercussions — comedic and serious — might be if that mistaken identity were taken to its logical extreme.
“Growing up as a first-generation Korean American, I spent much of my early life operating between two cultures,” Kim wrote in his director’s statement. “Within this universe, I would occasionally be mistaken for someone else as ‘another Asian’ or a ‘model minority,’ even though my behavior as a rebellious teen reflected anything but.”
“A love letter to Los Angeles and to the resilience of the artists.”
That personal history gave shape to Guy Park’s story: a man invisible to those around him, given one night to be seen — even if it’s as someone he’s not. “The film speaks to all of us who have ever been invisible in a room or a crowd,” Kim said, “and the comedy and pathos of being misidentified, even for a moment, while imagining what might have been and looking for one last chance at redemption.”
Kim’s background is as rich as the film he’s made. Educated at UC Santa Cruz, where he graduated cum laude in Literature and Creative Writing, he later attended USC’s graduate Cinema-Television program and studied under Academy Award-winning screenwriter Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon). He went on to teach film and screenwriting for over twenty years and worked as a journalist for publications including the San Jose Mercury and Script Magazine. The screenplay for Reunion was a Silver Medalist in Page International’s Comedy Feature category, out of over 2,500 submissions.
Reunion screens at the Beverly Hills Film Festival on April 16th at the TCL Chinese Theatre. Tickets are available here. The film screens again at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 3rd at 4:00 PM at AMC Atlantic Times Square. Tickets available here. More information at reunionfilm.net.
