Cupid's Mistake

Cupid's Mistake is a 2001 comedy film directed by Young Man Kang, a Korean-born filmmaker who made his U.S. directing debut with this production. The film is notable for being produced for $980, which was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the least expensive feature-length motion picture to receive a theatrical film release. Plot The film is set in Venice Beach, California, and it centers on four young people in the midst of romantic entanglements. The actress Susan (Susan Petry) is in love with the video producer Gil (Everado Gil), but he is in love with the model Toya (Toya Cho). However, Toya is in love with the bodybuilder Ken (Ken Yasuda). But Ken has his eyes on Susan. Production and release Cupid’s Mistake was shot entirely on digital video, which enabled Kang to bring in the entire production for only $980. The film was mostly improvised by the cast, who worked from a story outline created by Kang. As the filmmaker told an interviewer for IndieRag: "(We had) three days of crazy filming. No permits, guerrilla shooting, no script, [and] 100% improvised. Handheld shooting with long continuous shots made Cupid both cost effective and easy to edit." Although the film was picked up for commercial release by the distribution company Phaedra Cinema, it played only in venues that provided digital video projection. In a 2001 interview, Kang explained the problems in bringing his work to audiences: “Only a few theaters have video projectors, thus, it is extremely difficult to find a theater in which one can show their film. I need to transfer to 35mm print, but it costs at least $40,000. It's difficult to make that amount of money back from art house distribution. That's why my film distribution company doesn't want to take the risk.”