18 The Courier sun • JUNE 5, 2014 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com QUEENS NATIVE WRITING AND CO-STARRING IN NEW MOVIE WITH DORIS ROBERTS BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com/@liamlaguerre Actor Andrew Koss wants to know, “Who is your Zizi?” Koss, who grew up in Bayside, is writing the script for and costarring in an upcoming movie entitled “Zizi and Honeyboy” based on a 2002 autobiographical book by controversial trend forecaster Gerald Celente. The film will star five-time Emmy award winner Doris Roberts, who is best known for her role as Marie Barone on the hit sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.” The movie will portray Celente’s — played by Koss — fall from grace, when he was blackballed as a forecaster, and how talking with his elderly, oracle-like aunt Zizi — played by Doris Roberts — helped turn his life around and open his eyes. “You would go consult with this guy, yet here he is consulting with this old woman,” Koss said. “She was able to touch him in a way that sparked something and got him to get back into life again.” The movie will be directed by Brett Donowho. Also, longtime Bayside resident Elizabeth Liberatore and Astoria resident Dominick Ciardello are co-producers. The film will begin shooting in July in Glen Cove, Long Island and also in Manhattan. Koss said the crew is trying to raise $37,000 from crowdfunding site indiegogo.com to help with costs of making the film. The initial movie will be about 17 minutes long and debut in film festivals later this year, Koss said. He added, depending on excitement and feedback, they plan to expand it to a full-length feature film. Koss believes that the movie will resonate with the audience because of the emotion behind the story, and since most people have a “Zizi” in their lives. “I love that the story can be told and can be interesting and there doesn’t need to be explosions going off,” Koss said. “I feel like this subject matter addresses that human element. This guy was on top of his game, and all of a sudden there was nobody there.” FLUSHING RESIDENT CO-PRODUCING ASIAN RAPPER DOCUMENTARY BY LIAM LA GUERE lguerre@queenscourier.com/@liamlaguerre To Flushing resident Jaeki Cho, rap lyrics were his textbooks. Born in Korea, Cho immigrated to Elmhurst as a child. He didn’t speak English well, but listening to hip-hop music on media outlets, such as Hot 97 and BET’s 106 & Park, helped with the language adjustment, while inspiring his love of rap. His attraction to hip-hop ballooned as he grew older. Eventually, he started writing about rap and urban music, most recently as an editor for XXL magazine. Like Cho, people of various ethnicities besides African-Americans are engrossed in hip-hop, even as performers. Although the genre is heavily dominated by blacks, rappers of other cultures have broken mainstream American and international hip-hop charts, but Asians have yet to have a champion in the U.S. Cho is co-producing a documentary entitled “Bad Rap,” aiming to explain why Asian rappers have not gained that attention. “For the international spectrum, hip hop has become more global than other genres,” Cho said. “If you go to Korea, you are going to see Korean rappers; if you go to France, you’ll see French rappers. In terms of how it is in America, there are limitations for rappers that aren’t African-American.” The film will be directed and produced by hip-hop writer Salima Koroma, who originally reached out to Cho as a student at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. The pair talked about the field of Asian musicians, which progressed to the idea of the film. In a year and a half, the pair has completed a 40-minute feature and teasers. They have raised more than $14,100, as of press time, on crowdfunding site indiegogo.com, and are seeking to raise $25,000 to complete a full 70-minute documentary, which they hope to premiere later this year in New York. The film features four Asian rappers, including Queens’ own Awkwafina and Rekstizzy, on the brink of exploding in mainstream hip-hop, but for various reasons haven’t become household names. Cho said the movie will explain the complexity of being an Asian rapper through the characters, as well as their individual struggles. He believes it could get the conversation started on a large scale. “I think this film could shed light on a lot of things,” Cho said. “If it does well commercially, I’m sure the artists in the film will get recognition from more people.” He added, “The kids that are going to be watching this of Asian descent … they are probably going to feel, ‘This is the same kind of issue that I face.’” Photo courtesy Jaeki Cho Flushing resident Jaeki Cho is co-producing a documentary to explain the struggles of Asian rappers in America. Photo courtesy Andrew Koss Queens native Andrew Koss will co-star in Zizi and Honeyboy with five-time Emmy winner Doris Roberts.
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