*The film industry has made way for a new filmmaker that is producing a lot of noise in Hollywood. Newcomer, Aneesh Chaganty, brings his feature film debut, SEARCHING, to theaters this August.
SEARCHING, starring veteran actors, John Cho and Debra Messing, has set the industry abuzz with the first of its kind, an innovative shooting style shot entirely from the POV of technology devices. Another first for Aneesh and his partners, Sev Ohanian and Timbur Bekmambetov, is the ground-breaking decision to cast the first Asian-American leading actor in a Hollywood Thriller.
“It is cool. I like the idea of seeing my face, an Asian face, doing things that we haven’t seen on screen. So, it gives me pleasure too,” says John.
In 2012, the famed hashtag, #StarringJohnCho, began circulating on Twitter alongside photoshopped movie posters that replaced some of Hollywood’s leading actors with John Cho’s face in an effort to create a stir about diversity in the world of filmmaking.
Cho and Messing, who both had challenges with filming because of their lack of scenes with each other face to face, weren’t always certain about their participation in SEARCHING.
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John Cho, whom initially turned the role down says,
“I met with Aneesh, it was him that got me to do it. He was just someone I had faith in.”
Aneesh, a USC film school graduate, got a big break after shooting a 2 ½ minute film entirely on Google Glass entitled, “Seeds”, that went viral immediately. His unique way of shooting prompted Google to reach out and hire Aneesh to create video content for its company.
For Debra Messing, best known for her role as Grace Adler in the hit show, “Will & Grace”, she wasn’t too sure about signing up for the role of Detective Vick in SEARCHING, but when asked what led her to do it, Debra replied:
“I really believe in instinct and I believe in trying to silence the voice that says, ‘what will other people think about this choice’ and does this excite me, will this challenge me, does it scare me? You answer yes to those, you have to do it.”
The thriller about a father, David Kim, utilizing smart phones and computer screens to trace his 16-year-old daughter’s disappearance, hits theaters August 24, 2018.
