Actor Dante Basco is set to join the cast of Nanny Nena’s. Joey Min (Player Agency, Yes Auntie!) will direct alongside Stephanie Pham, who will produce for their Art School Dropouts label.
Nanny Nena’s centers on a large Filipino-American family in its efforts to sustain the catering business they inherit from their late Auntie Nena. We meet Angela (Jordan), who picks up her cousin from the airport for a family reunion, expecting an awkward day of food deliveries and family obligations, until the pair find themselves caught in the middle of a criminal scheme involving a stolen flash drive, internet-famous troublemakers, and a mob boss determined to get his property back.
Monday’s casting news marks the latest and most major development for the Nanny Nena’s, following a grassroots effort that formally began in July via Kickstarter. The campaign reached its fundraising goal within just one day of its launch, and has tripled its way into stretch goal territory since then as more casting news followed, while talks with Basco went on in the interim.
Production is set to commence later this year, adding Basco to a cast led by actress and martial artist Angela Jordan in her debut lead role, along with TV personality and weapons expert Doug Marcaida. Details on Basco’s role remain under wraps, while the project is a billed as a comprehensive cultural table setter for Filipino-American storytelling; Basco’s parents moved from the Philippines to California where he was born in 1975, making the actor’s booking of a project like Nanny Nena’s all the more tantamount.
Basco’s numerous screen credits list films like The Perfect Weapon and Tony Randel’s live-action Fist Of The North Star, as well as Biker Boyz and Michael Jai White starrer Blood And Bone to name a few. In television, he’s made appearances in shows like “Highway To Heaven,” and “That’s So Raven,” while voice credits also include shows like “Kim Possible,” and “Star Wars Galaxy Of Adventures.” More festively, actor’s celebrity continues to resonate with fans at numerous conventions around the country for his popular roles in Robin Williams headliner, Hook, as well as the voice of Prince Zuko in the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” franchise.
Check out Monday’s production announcement below, and follow Art School Dropouts on Instagram for more updates.