Filmmaking Duo LEVI WILSON and LISA HAMMER Bring Mixed Asian Coming-of-Age Tale to AMC+

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, May 14, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Writer-director and award-winning playwright Levi Wilson and award-winning filmmaker-producer Lisa Hammer bring humor, heart, and biracial issues to AMC+ with their celebrated coming-of-age short film, LUKE AND EMMA AND A GAS STATION ON FRANKLIN AVE. Now streaming in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, AMC+ is featuring the film as part of a special “Future of Film: AAPI Rising Stars” collection.

Set in 1980’s rural America, a mixed Asian boy navigates his way through puppy love in a white world. The story focuses on 11-year-old Luke, who has a crush on his classmate Emma. During a chance encounter at a gas station on a summer day, the two innocently talk and flirt outside, while Luke's Thai mother shops and gets hit on by Emma's father inside the station's mini-mart.

Written and directed by Wilson, this semi-autobiographical story reveals an authentic Asian-American experience exploring racism and sexism through the eyes of adolescents. “In going through the process of creating this short film, I discovered even more viscerally that this story is still happening,” Wilson shares. “There is much of our culture that has resisted change over the last nearly four decades. And though the story takes place at a time when I was young, it is just as relevant today.”

Hammer produced the project under their Wilson Arts Diversified banner, which earned several awards and accolades since hitting the festival circuit in 2023. These include Best Short Film for New Faces New Voices screening at Regal Essex Crossing in Manhattan with additional festival wins at New York Int’l Women Fest and Austin Int’l Art Fest. The film was an official selection at DC Asian Pacific American FF, Asian American Int’l FF, Boston Int’l Kids FF, Big Apple FF, and DisOrient Asian American FF.

This rising powerhouse husband and wife creative team are currently developing a feature length version of the film titled Luke and Emma, as well as several other comedy and drama screenplays. "One of my biggest highs in life is working on projects with Levi,” Hammer states. “Whether we are writing together or on set shooting, acting, directing...I geek out every day and I am so grateful to be able to work with family."

Additionally, the duo co-star and shot the dark comedy Amazon Prime series, Great Kills, directed by James Merendino of SLC Punk! fame and co-created by Hammer. They just wrapped season two, bringing in Eric Roberts, Cathy Mortiarty, and Bai Ling to star in the series about a Documentary film crew callously recording the life and violent crimes of a lonely Staten Island hit man.

Wilson is a producer, award-winning writer, director, and actor, who grew up in Kentucky and now calls New York home. He has created and produced independent original series, comedy shorts, commercials, and contributed to features such as CMJ Film Festival winner, The Invisible Life of Thomas Lynch, and Punk’s Dead: SLC Punk! 2 where he worked with director James Merendino, Devon Sawa, Ben Schnetzer, and Sarah Clarke. Wilson directed and co-created with Hammer the award-winning original series, Maybe Sunshine, based on their real-life band Radiana and available now on the Roku Channel.

Hammer is a New York based independent film director-writer, actor, and musician. Most recently, she joined with streaming service Night Flight Plus, who licensed her, and acclaimed comic artist Dame Darcy’s, 1990’s New York City art-house series Turn of the Century. The comedy variety TV show features performances by Courtney Love, Tiny Tim, Thurston Moore, and many artists that made up the Lower East Side and Brooklyn underground. Hammer’s short film, Empire of Ache, is now a permanent part of the Getty Museum’s Feminist Film Collection, curated by Miranda July, and set to screen during “The Future Of Film Is Female” series later this summer. Hammer is also known by millions of cartoon enthusiasts as the voice of Triana Orpheus on Adult Swim's popular show, The Venture Bros.

Wilson and Hammer are represented by Citizen Skull Management.

To learn more about Levi Wilson and Lisa Hammer visit: linktr.ee/WilsonArtsDiversified

Tammy Lynn
Spotlight PR Company
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