cinder chou

Streaming Sleepers: Prime Video Makes Known Cinder Chou’s ARTIST UNKNOWN!

Somewhere in New York City is someone (me) taken completely aback by the out-of-the-blue arrival of indie romantic action comedy, Artist Unknown, on Amazon Prime Video. Indeed Film Combat Syndicate was one of the lucky ones to get a chance and screen it outside from its festival circuitry and you can believe it’s a hearty, poignant little debut from an up-and-coming filmmaker with her first foray in the chair after years of climbing the entertainment ladder and wearing multiple hats on different productions. That’s the multi-faceted Chou for you, who directs from her own script a cast led by Kerry Lacy, Sam Jaikaran, and Sonia Mena, for the story of a struggling assistant MMA coach whose spur-of-the-moment purchase of a thrift store painting unravels a mystery far greater beyond the stroke of a brush when a chance romance ensues thereafter. The film is also just one of a few projects […]

ARTIST UNKNOWN Trailer: A Prized Painting Sets The Stage For A Fighter’s Biggest Match Yet

Lee B. Golden III

At long last with at least one festival screening and a few award wins in the can, director Cinder Chou can finally tout her feature debut a little more with the official trailer now circulating for indie romantic caper comedy, Artist Unknown. The film, starring Kerry Lacy and Sonia Mena, is currently setting up shop at more festivals with Chou looking to potentially screen at Fort Lauderdale later this year. Unlucky-in-love martial artist Juniper has hit rock bottom. She’s working at her ex girlfriend’s MMA studio by day and crashing on her couch by night. Needing something to call her own, Juniper steps into a local thrift store and buys a painting. What was a spur-of-the-moment purchase turns into a life-changing adventure when two masked thieves try to steal the painting. She surprises herself and the would-be thieves when she fights back and escapes. When forced to fight the ultimate […]

MOVIES AND THE WORLD: A Word With ARTIST UNKNOWN Writer/Director Cinder Chou

Lee B. Golden III

Seldom do I get the opportunity to help spotlight a local project that appeals to me. I found that opportunity several years ago as Cinder Chou, a long time production coordinator and assisstant on a number of projects before segueing to directing short films, began envisioning her feature directorial debut. That outlook was eventually realized with the completion of her independently-produced romantic action comedy, Artist Unknown. The film, in part, is also the result of cautious planning and execution for a small-scale production long since the Covid-19 pandemic set in. Alas, having survived the pandemic, Chou’s work is gradually paying off as she now looks toward more festival screenings in the year to come. Artist Unknown also marks the latest foray for actress Kerry Lacy, whose background in martial arts has aptly allowed her to showcase her skills in Stacey Maltin’s prospective 2017 shortfilm thriller, Viola, as well as Don […]

Indie Romantic Action Comedy ARTIST UNKNOWN Locks NYC World Premiere In June!

Lee B. Golden III

The 13th annual Art Of Brooklyn Film Festival kicks off next week in New York City, host to a collection of fifty narrative feature films, documentaries and shorts spanning multiple genres. You can find more in the line-up, although it pleases me the most that Cinder Chou’s independent feature debut, Artist Unknown, is finally making headway with a World Premiere for the festival on June 6. Actress Kerry Lacy takes center stage in a story about Juniper, an MMA gym instructor and struggling New Yorker whose passerby interest in a thrift store painting makes her the target of two mysterious muggers. Tasked with learning about the painting’s origins while balancing between a newfound romance and a complex living situation with her ex, it’s up to Juniper to find the answers she needs in order to prepare for her biggest fight yet. I had the pleasure of screening Artist Unknown and […]

ARTIST UNKNOWN Review: Art Imitates Life With A Kick To The Face In Cinder Chou’s Feature Debut

Lee B. Golden III

Close to four years after getting briskly acquainted with the screen prowess of actress Kerry Lacy in 2017 short, Viola, I remained watchful of her movements in hopes that I would hear more about the short film saga and her other endeavors. Gradually this led me to discover her new partnership with Taiwanese-American director Cinder Chou at the time as filming went underway for the independent queer action romantic comedy-drama, Artist Unknown which now finds Lacy in her debut lead role from a script by Chou. It’s not long from the start of the movie before we get to see a little of what Lacy’s got in her arsenal in the role of Juniper, a self-defense instructor who gets ambushed by two would-be muggers just moments after impulsively buying a fifteen-dollar painting at a thrift store, and successfully fends them off thanks to the arrival of the police. Later while […]

ARTIST UNKNOWN: Help Crowdfund And Complete Cinder Chou’s New Indie Action Rom-Com!

Lee B. Golden III

Additional photography is currently underway for Artist Unknown, NYC-based filmmaker Cinder Chou’s new queer action romantic comedy starring actress Kerry Lacy. Chou’s got some behind-the-scenes footage you can check out by clicking here, while you’re more than welcome to dive a little deeper into the goings-on as Chou’s latest campaign stays the course to help provide for the film’s additional coverage and post-production costs, all of which she delineates accordingly over at Indiegogo. Artist Unknown marks a fitting debut for Lacy who’s been priming herself for physical roles for a while now as the star of her own pending shortfilm trilogy, Viola. In Artist Unknown, Lacy plays Juniper, an insecure martial artist who must find out the origins of a painting after two thieves attempt to steal it from her. Sonia Mena, Walker Hare, Darryl Lathon, and Sam Jaikaran round out the cast. Visit the Indiegogo campaign page here and feel […]

ARTIST UNKNOWN: Kerry Lacy Knuckles Up In New Stills For Cinder Chou’s New Queer Indie Action Rom Com

Lee B. Golden III

Taiwanese-American filmmaker Cinder Chou is well on her way this year with local New York City film production, Artist Unknown. The film remains in production with pick-up shots currently in toe, while Chou herself has graciously given us the greenlight to share a small raft of stills which you can view below. Providently, this project places actress Kerry Lacy right back under our radar after first getting our attention with Stacey Maltin’s chilling 2017 survival thriller short, Viola, in which she lures a fugitive rapist to his own demise. A sequel followed suit the next year from director Don Downey and also circulated festivals. Both shorts are part of a much longer resumè for Lacy who now lands her first feature lead role in Artist Unknown. The setup? Lacy plays Juniper, an insecure martial artist who must find out the origins of a painting after two thieves attempt to steal it […]