2016 / Crowdfunding: Film project for Naomi Hirahara’s mystery novel “Big Bachi” Oct. 5 – Nov. 4

Los Angeles, CA – October 5, 2016: First Pond Entertainment proudly announces the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign launch for the feature film, The Big Bachi, adapted from the acclaimed novel, Summer of the Big Bachi, by Edgar award-winning author Naomi Hirahara.

The film centers around Japanese American gardener Mas Arai, an atomic bomb survivor, whose past propels him into a noir mystery set in Southern California.

“Diversity” has been the buzzword in Hollywood since the Oscars controversy earlier this year. Still, Asian Americans in the industry continue to be vastly underrepresented.

The Big Bachi, which will feature Asian Americans in front of and behind the camera, is an opportunity for inclusion but has almost no chance, unfortunately, at traditional Hollywood financing.

First Pond Entertainment hopes to raise $100,000 through Kickstarter to launch this film.

“The character of Mas Arai from The Big Bachi is a conglomeration of people familiar to our tiny production team, each with their own distinct voice and story,” says director Derek Shimada.

“We’re all, somehow, linked by Mas – three of our fathers were or are still gardeners, two survived the atomic bomb, and so on. This emotional connection encourages us to tell our story in our own words, which is why we’re so eager to collaborate on The Big Bachi.”

The Big Bachi will be directed by Derek Shimada (June Bride: Redemption of a Yakuza, The Killing of a Chinese Cookie), written by Mark Tasaka, based on the novel, Summer of the BigBachi, by Naomi Hirahara (Snakeskin Shamisen, Murder on Bamboo Lane), and produced by Oliver Ike and Koji Steven Sakai (#1 Serial Killer, The People I’ve Slept With).

The Big Bachi script was recently accepted in the second round of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. The Kickstarter campaign ends November 4, 2016.

Website: thebigbachi.com

Facebook: facebook.com/thebigbachi

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/159059653/the-big-bachi-film?ref=email