SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO RANDALL PARK’S FEATURE DIRECTORIAL DEBUT, ‘SHORTCOMINGS’, FROM TOPIC STUDIOS AND TANGO

NEW YORK (March 7, 2023) – Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide media rights to SHORTCOMINGS, Randall Park’s feature directorial debut. SHORTCOMINGS stars Justin H. Min (After Yang), Sherry Cola (Joy Ride, Good Trouble), and Ally Maki (Big Door Prize), and features Tavi Gevinson (Gossip Girl), Debby Ryan (Insatiable), Sonoya Mizuno (House of the Dragon), Timothy Simons (Veep), and Jacob Batalon (Reginald The Vampire). The film is based on Eisner-winning cartoonist Adrian Tomine’s classic graphic novel of the same name, a landmark of Asian American fiction and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Tomine, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, also adapted the script and is executive producing. The film received acclaim upon its world premiere in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

SHORTCOMINGS is produced by Hieu Ho, Randall Park, and Michael Golamco for Imminent Collision; Margot Hand for Picture Films; and Howard Cohen, Eric d’Arbeloff, and Jennifer Berman for Roadside Attractions. Executive producers are Ryan Heller, Michael Bloom, Jennifer Semler, and Maria Zuckerman for Topic Studios; Tim Headington, Lia Buman, Max Silva and Neil Shah for Tango; Ryan Paine, also for Roadside Attractions, and Daniel Hank.

In the film, Ben (Justin H. Min), a struggling filmmaker, lives in Berkeley, California, with his girlfriend, Miko (Ally Maki), who works for a local Asian American film festival. When he’s not managing an arthouse movie theater as his day job, Ben spends his time obsessing over unavailable blonde women, watching Criterion Collection DVDs, and eating in diners with his best friend Alice (Sherry Cola), a queer grad student with a serial dating habit. When Miko moves to New York for an internship, Ben is left to his own devices, and begins to explore what he thinks he might want.

Sony Pictures Classics said, “Randall Park’s SHORTCOMINGS is as relevant today as when Adrian Tomine’s book was first published almost 20 years ago. Its modern ideas about racial and sexual politics, its caustic humor, and authentic voice will resonate with today’s moviegoing audience. It will be our privilege to work with Randall and our friends at Topic Studios, Tango, Imminent Collision, Picture Films, and Roadside to bring this story to audiences everywhere.”

"The thought of SHORTCOMINGS playing on a big screen and opening with that iconic Sony Pictures Classics logo thrills me to no end,” said Park. “To be a part of their rich legacy of independent filmmaking is a real honor. Thank you to Michael and Tom for embracing our story about flawed, complex human beings, who happen to be Asian American, just trying their best. Please do not change your logo anytime soon."

The deal was negotiated with UTA and WME.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS        

Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992—which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.  Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 41 Academy Awards® (37 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 186 Academy Award® nominations (160 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for THE FATHER, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, WHIPLASH, AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. 

ABOUT TOPIC STUDIOS 

Topic Studios is the award-winning entertainment studio from First Look Media that develops, finances and produces provocative and entertaining content for all platforms including theatrical, streaming, television and podcasts. The Studio recently had three films in the 2023 Sundance Film Festival: Shortcomings, the feature directorial debut of Randall Park starring Justin H. Min, Sherry Cola and Ally Maki; the musical comedy Theater Camp, directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman (winner - Sundance U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble / Searchlight Pictures); and Brandon Cronenberg’s film Infinity Pool starring Alexander Skarsgård and Mia Goth, now in theaters (in partnership with NEON). The Studio is also behind such notable films as Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny (Blumhouse/Amazon), winner of the 2022 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize; Pablo Larraìn’s Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart (Academy Award® and Golden Globe® nominee for her performance) as Princess Diana (NEON); the Academy Award®-winning Spotlight; The Mauritanian, starring Jodie Foster (Golden Globe® winner for her performance), Tahar Rahim (Golden Globe® nominee for his performance), Benedict Cumberbatch, and Shailene Woodley (STXfilms); 2022 Tribeca premiere God’s Time from first-time writer/director Daniel Antebi, now in theaters (IFC Films); and Michael Angelo Covino’s Cannes-winning The Climb (Sony Pictures Classics). Acclaimed documentaries from the Studio have included Lizzie Gottlieb’s Turn Every Page, about literary legends Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb, now in theaters (Sony Pictures Classics); Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry’s Attica on Showtime (2022 Academy Award®-nominee for Best Documentary); the Emmy® and PGA-winning HBO big wave surfing series from director Chris Smith, 100 Foot Wave, renewed for a second season; and the Peabody® and Film Independent Spirit Award-nominated, three-part series Nuclear Family, also from HBO.

ABOUT TANGO  

Tango is a story-driven film and television producer and financier based in Los Angeles and led by Lia Buman, who founded the company in 2017 alongside Tim Headington. With films consistently succeeding across the festival circuit, including Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story, starring Daniel Radcliffe, and Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, starring Paul Mescal — award winners at TIFF and Cannes, respectively — Tango has a burgeoning slate of popular and critically acclaimed titles that it finances and develops. This year, Tango premiered Shortcomings, Randall Park’s directorial debut, at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and is also in post on several films including Spaceman directed by Johan Renck and starring Adam Sandler for Netflix. Other credits Tango produced and financed include Nia DaCosta’s Little Woods, Andrew Semans’ Resurrection and Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT       

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition, and distribution; television production, acquisition, and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services. http://www.sonypictures.com/corp/divisions.html.