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White Frog

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White Frog
Cover art
Directed byQuentin Lee
Written byFabienne Wen and Ellie Wen
Produced byDavid Henry Hwang
Kevin Iwashina
Ellie Wen
Christopher Lee
Joel Soisson
StarringBooboo Stewart
Harry Shum, Jr.
B.D. Wong
Joan Chen
Gregg Sulkin
Tyler Posey
CinematographyYasu Tanida
Edited byMatthew Rundell
Music bySteven Pranoto
Production
companies
Wentertainment Productions, Chris Lee Productions
Release date
  • March 8, 2012 (2012-03-08) (SFIAAFF)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1 million[1]

White Frog is a 2012 American comedy-drama film directed by Quentin Lee and written by Fabienne Wen. The film's plot follows neglected 16-year-old Nick Young, played by Booboo Stewart, a teenager with autism spectrum disorder whose life is changed forever when tragedy strikes him and his family.[2] The film also stars Harry Shum, Jr., B.D. Wong, Joan Chen, Gregg Sulkin, and Tyler Posey.

White Frog premiered at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival on March 8, 2012.[3]

Plot

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Nick Young (Stewart) is a high school freshman with autism spectrum disorder who idolizes his perfect older brother Chaz Young (Shum). While riding his bike to a friend's house, Chaz is hit by a group of guys driving recklessly and dies. The crash leaves Nick fighting to overcome his grief while feeling misunderstood by his distraught parents (Wong and Chen), who are left trying to preserve the memory of their "perfect son".

One of Chaz's friends, Doug (Posey), takes Nick under his wing and has Nick take Chaz's place in a weekly poker game with their friends Ajit, Cameron and Randy (Sulkin). Randy baffles the group by being hostile to Nick's face while defending him when he's not around. Doug and Randy bring Nick to the LGBT community center that Chaz volunteered at, which confuses Nick. Just as Randy begins warming to him, Nick stumbles upon pictures of Chaz and Randy suggesting that they were more than just friends. Randy confirms that he and Chaz were gay, shattering Nick's worldview and driving him into despair.

Nick eventually confronts his parents, who refuse to accept Chaz's sexuality. Nick runs away from home, and his parents go to the shelter to look for him. While there, they learn that Chaz's voice might be heard on a video presentation to be played that night, and proceed to call a lawyer relative to try to halt the proceedings, leaving Doug to search for Nick. Randy gets his father to help him stop the Youngs' lawyer, coming out to him in the process. Nick, meanwhile, discovers a video message that Chaz had made as a way of coming out to Nick. Hearing the confession in Chaz's own words inspires him to return to the shelter and give a speech about acceptance, reconciling himself, his parents, and Randy with Chaz's memory.

Cast

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Pre-production

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White Frog was written by the mother/daughter duo Fabienne Wen and Ellie Wen. Ellie Wen's mentor, David Henry Hwang, was an executive producer. Principal photography was completed in August 2011.[4]

Score and soundtrack

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The score to White Frog was composed by Steven Pranoto. The soundtrack features David Choi, CriBabi, Gowe, PaperDoll, Shin-B, IAMMEDIC, and Booboo and Fivel Stewart.

References

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  1. ^ "Twilight's Booboo Stewart takes the lead in indie White Frog". Oh No They Didn't!. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  2. ^ "White Frog Info (facebook)". White Frog Official Facebook. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  3. ^ "Announcing the SFIAAFF30 Opening Night Feature!". CAAMedia. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  4. ^ "White Frog". Wentertainment Productions. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
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