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Gemma Chan Set To Produce Podcast And Film Based On True Story Of Vincent Chin

Dino-Ray Ramos
·4 min read

Crazy Rich Asians queen Gemma Chan, A-Major and M88 are partnering with podcast media studio QCODE for a table-read of Hold Still, Vincent which is based on the tragic, true events of Vincent Chin’s murder.

Written by Johnny Ngo, directed by twin brothers Aaron and Winston Tao and produced by Bash Naran, the team is eyeing turning this podcast into a feature film.

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The story of Vincent Chin is often overlooked in American history. In fact, a lot of anti-Asian racism is overlooked in American history. This particular true story is set in the summer of 1982 in Detroit. Chinese American engineer Vincent Chin was living the American dream until one night when he was assaulted at a bar and killed by two white, disgruntled autoworkers, four days before his wedding. The two white men thought he was Japanese and blamed him for stealing their jobs. They murdered him.

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Chin’s murderers were given lenient sentences and released without spending a day in prison. This sparked a pan-Asian movement that resulted in a historic civil rights case, the first where the Civil Rights Act was used to defend the rights of an Asian-American.

The Hold Still, Vincent team has partnered with Gold House and are implementing a strategy on supporting philanthropic efforts to combat the recent surge of anti-Asian racism and the hate crimes and violence against the Asian and Asian American community in this country. The project will bolster Asian and Asian American narratives that have been overlooked and ignored. As a result, it will help strengthen the authentic representation of the community and allow for Chin’s story to be brought to the forefront.

“The death of Vincent Chin occurred during a dark time in America’s history with unsettling parallels to what we have seen happen over the past year with the stoking of hatred towards Asians and the scapegoating of Asians for Covid-19,” said Chan. “However, it also brought Asian Americans together to form multi-ethnic and multi-racial alliances in the pursuit of justice and to advocate for change. It feels more urgent than ever to bring Vincent’s story to a wider audience.”

“Vincent’s story really hit home for me as a member of the AAPI community,” said M88 co-founder Phillip Sun. “I’m proud to stand side-by-side with Gemma, Gold House and all our partners to share this urgently-needed story and unite in our collective mission to stand up against injustice.”

The podcast will consist of a table read of the feature script, with an almost exclusively Asian cast, along with interviews with high profile artists and activists of the AAPI community.

Chan, Mary Lee of A-Major and M88’s Phillip Sun are producing the podcast with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger of Automatik; QCODE’s Rob Herting and Sandra Yee Ling; and Writ Large’s Bash Naran. Carmen Cuba will be casting the table read.

“We started A-Major because we needed a platform for Asian American voices,” said Lee. “This horrifying moment in time only reinforces how important it is to dispel the harmful stereotypes that have been perpetuated throughout history. Vincent Chin’s story is one we’ve always wanted to tell, but now the world needs to hear it. The Tao brothers and Johnny are the perfect team to share this story, and we are thrilled to partner with Gemma who is a champion of the AAPI community.”

“Vincent Chin’s story is more than a podcast or film to us. It is a cultural landmark in our nation’s history, turning the tide for Asian American civil rights,” added Aaron and Winston Tao. “This is a story to remind our community of how we gained the confidence to collectively say, ‘We’re here. We’re proud of who we are. And we’re not going anywhere.’ We are honored to bring this story to life with this undeniable team.”

Chan is repped by WME, M88 and Independent Talent Group. Aaron and Winston Tao are repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment. Ngo is repped by CAA and Writ Large.

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