Short Film Celebrates AAPI Heritage Through Dance

Debuting on AsianAmericanMovies.com today, and timed to AAPI Heritage Month, the short film/PSA “Kit DeZolt Story” presents a lyrical portrait of the Los Angeles-based actor and dancer. It probes how being Asian, queer and an adoptee have shaped his life and art.

Quentin Lee is the director/producer behind the project; he also developed the AsianAmericanMovies platform. Lee has been making AAPI and queer content for three decades, first gaining notice with the 1997 film Shopping for Fangs, a cult classic he directed with Justin Lin. More recent credits include the feature Last Summer of Nathan Lee, the TV series Comedy InvAsian 2.0 and the LGBTQ+ comedians documentary Laugh Proud, which is being released theatrically in Los Angeles for a one-week run on May 17.

Lee made his debut in the advertising world in 2022, working as a producer on “The Myth,” a PSA by Wieden+Kennedy that debunked the myth of Asian-Americans as the model minority.

Below, Lee leans into the making of “Kit DeZolt Story.”

MUSE: How did you discover Kit, and why did you think there was a film to be made from his story?

I met him through the industry. I am in L.A., and I’m a filmmaker. We’re Facebook friends, and he’s an actor. He’s adopted from Hong Kong. I grew up in Hong Kong, and I wasn’t aware there were actually adoptees coming out of Hong Kong. I just thought, “That’s a really interesting story.” So, then, this year, I was thinking maybe we should do something for AAPI Heritage month. I wanted to do something like “The Myth” but based on a true story. He was like, “Yeah, sure, but we have to do it now because I’m leaving in a week on a dance tour.” I found my DP, and we shot the piece.

How did working on this compare to working on ‘The Myth?’

When I was making the spot for Wieden+Kennedy, it was a really big budget. This was a literally zero budget situation. But I feel like we were still able to tell a very unique story that celebrates the diversity of being both queer and AAPI.

You devote a lot of time in the film to Kit dancing. Why give us so much performance?

I connected with Kit because he’s a dancer, and I am an amateur dancer. I’m not a real dancer, even though I’ve been taking hip-hop classes forever! Kit is a more classical dancer—ballet and jazz. I have always admired that about him. I wanted him to be the one to lead the story. So, basically, I told Kit, “Whatever form of dance you want [to perform] is fine, but I want you to pick a piece of music that we can get the rights to, and I want you to choreograph the whole thing.” So, I actually built the whole story around his choreography, which is something I wanted to feature because there’s so much you can tell through dance and movement. There’s a story that’s told within that dance piece.

What kind of creative relationship did you build with Kit while making this film?

With lack of any money to pay him, I just said, “Co-own this movie.” So, I basically gave him 50 percent of anything that I make. I think it’s a more equitable [way to do things] going into these highly personal projects. That’s what I’ve seen doing with a lot of the collaborators I work with on their stories. I would feel bad if I just said, “I’m going to pay you some money and take 100 percent of the rights.” So, I always share the copyright, or share the revenue at least 50 percent. I think that’s fair.

What do you hope people get out of watching ‘Kit DeZolt Story?’

I just want to increase the diversity of storytelling in the AAPI and the queer communities. It’s such a unique story. It’s just having another story out there, another viewpoint. It’s really all I want this film to accomplish.