Made in China

Made in China is a 2009 comedy film co-written, directed, and produced by Judith “Judi” Krant. It is also produced by James Choi, Bronwyn Cornelius and co-written by Dan Sumpter. The film stars Jackson Kuehn, Dan Sumpter, Syna Zhang, and Deng Juan. It follows Johnson, an optimistic albeit naïve Texan, as he navigates through Shanghai's foreign streets to make his dream a reality. The title, Made in China, is a reference to the commonly found manufacturing label. Developed as a micro-budget indie film, the original production crew set out to write a story based in China, where they believe it would be cheap to shoot. The film initially struggled to find a production company that would sponsor resources due to legal concerns regarding the crew’s plans to film without formal governmental permission. Beachwood Pictures subsequently joined to produce the film, with Monnie Wills acting as executive producer. The film made its premiere at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival and would later have a limited circulation of film festivals and specific theatres. Critical reception for Made in China was generally positive, praising the film for its acting and cinematography though doubtful of its relevancy outside of the indie scene. Following its success at film festivals, where it entered for and won multiple award competitions, Made in China was picked up for distribution by IFC Films. Plot The film focuses on a novelty inventor named "Johnson", a 20-something from Texas who has designed what he believes will be the next great novelty item - " a humorous domestic hygiene product". He makes contact with a Chinese manufacturer in Shanghai via Craigslist and decides to fly to China with his life savings to create his dream product. Upon arrival, his contact - the elusive James Choi, fails to show up or answer his phone. A fish out of water but optimistic and determined, Johnson decides to negotiate the manufacturing contract himself, without knowledge of Chinese. The film follows Johnson as he makes his journey through Shanghai to achieve his dreams, from nightclubs to market streets, after becoming involved with scam artists Magnus (Dan Sumpter) and Olive (Syna Zhang). Johnson explains, "every object has a story, and in that story is an inventor" and through his adventure, the history of iconic novelty inventors is revealed, including joy buzzer's Soren Sorensen Adams, pet rock's Gary Dahl, slinky's Richard T. James, and the ant farms' Milton Levine.