Story

Coming Up is the story of two troubled teens and the caseworker who fights to keep them off the streets. Wei is a 17 year old brashy boy who spends most of his time on basketball court. He is raised by his gang associated uncle Ed. Wei is a good friend of Jimmy who also likes to play ball. They are both good friend with a private school student Maggie. Casey is a counselor who has developed a trusting mentorship with the boys. One day Wei and Jimmy get into a fight over Maggie. They're both hospitalized and hold grudge against each other. More violence is brewing. What's worse is the Wei's uncle Ed has gotten himself in some big trouble. Love and loss test the limits of the boys' friendship, and pose a challenge to their talented counselor, Casey. He puts everything on the line to help them see the future they're creating--but will it be enough?

"Coming Up" is a joint effort between CYC and World Frequency Films, part of ongoing effort to highlight and address the challenges faced by Asian youth in San Francisco. It received tremendous amount of support from CYC director Sarah Wan, Eddy Zheng and their members. CYC provided real life stories where their case workers helped high need Asian youth in SF. Inspired by the rich materials World Frequency Films was able to develop them into a screenplay in early 2011. The filming started in the late Feb 2011. After wrapping up the pick-up shoots in the summer, "Coming Up" final cut was completed in August 2011.