I’ve spent the last few years building a career as an actor — booking roles, getting representation, learning the business from the ground up. What I haven’t done yet is step behind the camera.
That changes this year.
I’m writing, directing, and starring in a short film called Legacy. It’s the story of Henry Chen, a Chinese-American restaurant owner who finds a young Black man sleeping in his doorway one morning, feeds him, gives him a job, teaches him to cook — and quietly wills him everything. It’s a film about chosen family, about what gets passed down, and about the relationships we build that nobody gave us a rulebook for.
Henry is 55. Chinese-American. From Sichuan. He came up the hard way and built something with his hands. I’m playing him myself, because I don’t think anyone else should.
The film is in pre-production now, targeting a shoot in Atlanta later this year. We’ve already submitted to seven grant competitions. We have a producer attached — David Axe, who has eleven produced features to his name. We have a full script, a shot list, a lookbook, a budget. What we need now is money to make it real.
I’m not going to tell you this is easy to ask for. It isn’t. But I believe in this story deeply, and I think the only way it gets made is if the people who know me decide it’s worth backing.
If you want to support Legacy, you can donate here — every dollar is tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsorship with Fractured Atlas:
Our budget for Legacy is $10,000. That covers cast, crew, equipment, locations, and post-production — everything it takes to make a short film the right way. Every dollar donated goes directly into the film.
If you can’t give, sharing this post costs nothing and means more than you know.
I’ll be posting updates here as we move through pre-production — casting, location scouts, crew announcements. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I don’t sugarcoat things. I’ll tell you how this actually goes.
Here we go.
— Simon
Simon Shih 