Tickets are now on sale for “The Paper Bag Plan,” an independent film from Executive Producer Keʻalohi Lee Lucero, who grew up in Kaʻaʻawa and graduated from Kamehameha Schools and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
It was written and directed by her husband, Anthony Lucero. The movie shares the story of a father, Oscar, who is diagnosed with cancer and seeks independence for his wheelchair bound son, Billy.
“The Paper Bag Plan” debuts at Consolidated Theatres at Ward on Thursday, Sept. 18. Lucero will host a post-screening Q+A with the audience on Friday, Sept. 19, and Saturday, Sept. 20. Get tickets.
Lucero now lives in California. Before that, she worked at Hawaiʻi’s public television affiliate for years and helped with Mainland productions, such as “Baywatch,” when they came to town, she said. After “Baywatch” was canceled, producers invited her to work on the Mainland. She worked her way up to becoming co-executive producer of “America’s Got Talent.”
This year, she is focused on “The Paper Bag Plan.”
“And we have three other movies that we’re working on,” she said.
Her husband has worked on visual effects for films such as “Iron Man,” and “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” This is his second independent movie, following “East Side Sushi.”
Lucero’s parents still live on Lānaʻi and made a cameo in the movie as shoppers in a convenience store that Oscar sets up for neighbors so his son can practice bagging groceries for friends before taking a higher-stakes, paying job at the store down the street.
“We had shot the movie and then while we were in post production, my parents were coming to visit me because we shot it in Burbank,” she said. “My parents live on Lānaʻi. ... So, we just faked some of the mini mart again, and then we edited them in.”
The husband-and-wife team secured funding for the movie but didn’t see eye-to-eye with investors, so she suggested they do it themselves.
“We wanted to just tell the movie the way we wanted to tell it,” she said. “So we actually returned the money. ... I've done shorts and what not, but for my first movie, I wanted to create a space in a world where I didn't have to listen to anyone else, creatively.”
Among her many roles was location manager, Lucero said. She was able to get the locations for a nominal fee, she added.
“We did most of the jobs ourselves,” she said. “We took over all of the above-the-line jobs. He was the writer, director, producer. I was the producer, editor, line producer. We did all of those things. And we did it in between our day jobs.”
The movie is inspired by her husband’s mother and sister, who both raised disabled children.
“Anthony's eldest brother was disabled,” she said. “He was mentally and physically disabled, so she did all the things that Oscar does in the movie. She would pick him up out of bed, bathe and brush him. ... His brother, unfortunately, has passed away, but his mom is still alive. She's 93, and he always wanted to tell her story.”
His sister also had a disabled child. When she died suddenly of cancer, it inspired her brother to start writing.
“He wanted to tell the story of the caregiver — of the parent — who often times, they're in the background,” she said. “They're the unsung heroes of the world.”
Katie Helland can be reached at katie@alohastatedaily.com.
