In Really Good Driver , which debuted at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival , an Asian American mom ( Keiko Agena ) teaches her grown-up child ( Alex Song-Xia ) how to drive, forcing both of them to confront the slightly dangerous task at hand while resurfacing tensions between them in the past. Song-Xia, who wrote, directed and stars in the short film, also has credits writing for TV shows such as Rick and Morty , Exploding Kittens and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . Here, the filmmaker talks about their inspirations and the making of their first short film.
DEADLINE: Can you talk a bit about your filmmaking journey? What inspired you to come to this field? I know you have a background in comedy. ALEX SONG-XIA: This is my first short film as a director. But as an actor/writer, I came up through comedy in New York.
It’s not what my parents wanted to happen, but I was always drawn to acting as a kid, but I never really got the chance to pursue it until moving to New York for college. With the freedom of living in New York, I started going to UCB, the Upright Citizens Brigade and did weekly shows, signed up for improv classes, and found whatever day jobs that would help me pay for it. I then started working as a comedy writer and getting acting jobs, but mostly working for other people.
This was my first time directing something that I wrote. DEADLINE: The premise of the short is fairly simple on the surface. It’s about a driving lesson, but then it act.