HOT DANCING GRANNY
Providence, Rhode Island | Film Short
Comedy, Drama
HOT DANCING GRANNY is an intimate and playful look at a Chinese American mother-daughter-grandma trio as they dance their way out of cycles of hurt. This short film is a love letter to mothers and daughters, and a reminder that it’s never too late to transform what we inherit.
HOT DANCING GRANNY
Providence, Rhode Island | Film Short
Comedy, Drama
1 Campaigns | Rhode Island, United States
32 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$4,730
Goal: $20,000 for production
HOT DANCING GRANNY is an intimate and playful look at a Chinese American mother-daughter-grandma trio as they dance their way out of cycles of hurt. This short film is a love letter to mothers and daughters, and a reminder that it’s never too late to transform what we inherit.
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
HOT DANCING GRANNY is an intimate and playful look at a Chinese American mother-daughter-grandma trio as they dance their way out of cycles of hurt.
Lulu has spent the entire day caught between her mom (Sue) and her grandma (Lao Lao) as they bicker their way through making dumplings. Lao Lao wastes no time criticizing her daughter Sue between scrolling on her phone and mysteriously recording herself. When Lulu receives a last minute casting call seeking "Real Chinese Families”—offering $10,000 per person—she ropes them into filming a self-tape audition with her. The catch? They have to dance. Together. And it’s due in two hours.
While dancing, toes (and feelings) are stepped on and a secret influencer is revealed (cough, cough, Lao Lao). As the clock ticks down, can the three generations of women confront their hurt and press record one more time?
"Lulu’s story is my story. When I made the jump to acting full time, I had to juggle a never-ending amount of self-tape auditions with my mom’s constant stream of doubts: Why can’t you get a good, stable job? Sue’s skepticism is inspired by my mother’s worries, rooted in an immigrant fear that many first/second-generation kids know so well. Don’t worry, my mom has come around and she’s now my biggest fan, and I’m hers!
Many moments from this script are inspired by real-life experiences and observations between myself, my mother, and my Lao Lao across languages and continents. Many women in the Asian diaspora share a version of the same story: we’ve grown up yearning to be accepted and seen by our mothers, only to unknowingly carry those wounds to the next generation. This is a cycle that I’ve personally been interrogating. A reminder that has guided my healing is: if you don’t transform your suffering, you transfer it. So, instead of accepting cycles of hurt as inevitable, my film asks: What can hope and reconciliation between mothers and daughters look like?
For me and for the women of my film, reconciliation is an imperfect process—messy, tender, unexpected, gentle, and even obnoxious—but is always full of heart, and closely followed by laughter. In writing a film about inherited hurt, I knew that love and humor had to hold it all together."
— Mae Zhang McCauley, Writer and Director
Mae can’t resist a dancing granny—on the internet or IRL.
On a summer morning in Beijing in 2017, Mae and her mom stumbled into a large group of women dancing in sync in a public park and couldn’t resist joining in. These women are known as 广场舞大妈 (guang chang wu da ma), China's iconic square dancing grannies. In the years that followed, Mae kept finding herself seeking them out—in Beijing visiting her Lao Lao or in Taipei while studying Mandarin—drawn to the pure, unself-conscious joy of women moving together outside in community. Almost a decade later, while she's not a dancing auntie yet, you can find her grooving in front of a ring light at least once a week for her latest self-tape audition.
That image of women moving together across generations, imperfectly, joyfully, without apology is the beating heart of this film's visual and emotional world.
Tone & Style
HOT DANCING GRANNY lives in the tender space between laughter and longing. It’s the kind of story where you're rooting for every character, even as they're stepping on each other's toes. If you loved Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Farewell, Dìdi, or Nai Nai & Wai Po—and every viral dancing grandma video you've ever forwarded on—this film is for you!
Movement
Dancing shapes our film's emotional language, and when words fail, movement helps us fill in the gaps. Emily Chang, choreographer and dancer at Dance Revelasian, will be choreographing multiple original dances for our film.
Music
HOT DANCING GRANNY moves between two distinct sonic worlds—a chaotic, longing pop energy for the self-tape audition, and a joyful remix of traditional Chinese folk instrumentation that carries the film toward the communal spirit of guang chang wu.
Location
We’re proud to have Kam Man Food, which opened the first Chinese supermarket on the East Coast, as one of our location partners! Their location in Quincy, MA, is the largest Asian supermarket in New England and remains a pillar in the Asian American community.
"This story found us before we knew we were looking for it. Mae and I met in 2019 while studying abroad in Taipei, and the train ride on our very first trip together was spent connecting over our experiences as Asian American daughters of immigrant women. Over the years, we've gone from lamenting our mothers to seeing them in context, being frustrated by what we've inherited to softening when we remember it's what our mothers needed to survive. Now, as long-time best friends turned emerging filmmakers, HOT DANCING GRANNY is Mae's way of inviting you into the home where our many conversations (and therapy sessions) have helped her land.
We're living in a moment of expanding Asian and Asian American representation on screen. But the specific story of the diaspora daughter, caught between her mother's wounds and her own, still rarely gets to be funny, messy, and fully alive all at once. Our mothers and grandmothers aren't just sharp-tongued matriarchs or loving women lost in translation. They're also phone addicts (sometimes worse than we are), goofy, insecure, deeply loving, and occasionally, incredible dancers going viral.
HOT DANCING GRANNY is a film that sees Asian women at all ages as three dimensional, reminding us that we can exist in our complexity—with our inherited histories—and be capable of profound change."
— Danielle (Lee) Wong, Producer
LULU: The Daughter
A mid-20s, Chinese American actor who’s playful, perceptive, and always well-intentioned, but is prone to sucking others into her own orbit without realizing the impact.
SUE: The Mom
Sue is Lulu's sometimes skeptical, but mostly supportive mother. She immigrated to the U.S. in her mid-20s and is committed to having a different relationship with her own daughter.
LAO LAO: The Grandma aka Hot Dancing Granny
Lulu’s grandmother, Sue’s quick-to-judge mother who just flew in from China. Unbeknownst to Sue and Lulu, Lao Lao is an internet celebrity beloved across China for her spunky dance moves, and is known by one iconic name: "Hot Dancing Granny" or 热舞姥姥.
Lao Lao is inspired by Chinese square dancing grannies (广场舞大妈) and the aunties who are addicted to their phone, the ones who send you voice notes and forward those questionable messages on WeChat or WhatsApp. You know the video of a swaggy, dancing Asian grandma you probably sent to your friends? Yup, that’s Hot Dancing Granny.
↑ Character inspiration moodboard! ↑
We’re proud to have an incredible team of creatives bringing this film to life who deeply resonate with the story and mission of HOT DANCING GRANNY as Asian American women, children of immigrants, and people for whom family is complicated and irreplaceable. Check out our team page to learn more about the expertise each person brings to our project!
Making a film truly takes a village. Beyond this team, HOT DANCING GRANNY has been shaped by the mothers, daughters, friends, and community members who recognized themselves in the story and told us to keep going. We’re so grateful to have you by our side.
We want to make a short film we’re proud of, but more importantly, one that you can share in the success of! Every Hot Dancing Granny needs the essentials:
By meeting our crowdfunding goal of $20,000, every department will have the resources to make HOT DANCING GRANNY the film it deserves to be. It also gives us the runway to submit to every festival on our list, from Sundance to the Asian American film circuit, and get her on screens nationwide through 2027 and 2028. We need your support to help HOT DANCING GRANNY kill it on the red carpet! 💃🏻
CONTRIBUTE 💌
Join the HOT DANCING GRANNY community by making a contribution. Seed&Spark requires we raise at least 80% of our goal ($16k) to receive any funds. This means every pledge, at every level, genuinely matters! If you would like to make a tax deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Legacy Collective RI, please email us at [email protected].
SPREAD THE WORD 🗣️
Even if you can't contribute financially right now, you can still be part of our village of support!
- Create an account on Seed&Spark and follow our campaign page—it’s free, takes less than a minute, and will help us unlock extra promotions, special discounts on equipment, and festival waivers
- Share our campaign with a mother, a daughter, or anyone who needs this story
When sharing our campaign, feel free to copy + paste this message:
- I'm supporting a funny and heartfelt short film called HOT DANCING GRANNY, which explores reconciliation between mothers and daughters as three generations of Chinese women dance their way out of cycles of hurt. The film is being created by a majority Asian American and women of color team—led by writer/director Mae Zhang McCauley (@ahmeimae) and producer Danielle "Lee" Wong (@lee.expressions)—and I really believe this is a story worth telling. Would you be willing to show some support by donating to their crowdfunding campaign or passing it on? https://seedandspark.com/fund/hotdancinggranny/
Follow/tag us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates from set to screen! Thank you for believing in us and this story.
Forever your #1 fans,
Mae Zhang McCauley (Writer/Director) and Danielle "Lee" Wong (Producer)
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast & Crew
Costs $6,500
Compensation and travel for our team of emerging and award-winning filmmakers, cast, and crew.
Equipment & Camera Package
Costs $5,000
To achieve the vibrant visual world of HOT DANCING GRANNY, we'll need to rent a camera package, lenses, lighting, and sound equipment.
Travel and Housing
Costs $2,000
Travel and housing for out-of-town talent and crew, as well as transportation during our shoot.
Catering, Snacks, and Beverages
Costs $1,500
This keeps our cast and crew fed and hydrated throughout our long shoot days!
Design & Aesthetics
Costs $750
From Lao Lao's fit to Sue's apron, every detail is intentional—covers costumes, hair, makeup, and set design for the store and kitchen.
Festival Submissions
Costs $1,000
Fees for submitting our film to Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, and more through 2027–2028.
Post-Production
Costs $3,250
From final edit to festival circuit—editing, color, and sound.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We’re proud to have an incredible team of creatives bringing this film to life who deeply resonate with the story and mission of HOT DANCING GRANNY as Asian American women, children of immigrants, and people for whom family is complicated and irreplaceable.
✿ WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, "LULU" ✿
Mae Zhang McCauley is a mixed Chinese American actor, model, producer, filmmaker, and an emerging director. She began her career in book publishing, working with award-winning authors like Mike Curato and Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai — including co-acquiring and editing Curato's award-winning graphic novel, Gaysians. She’s an alum of Legacy Collective RI, a 12-week intensive program for Rhode Island's next generation of filmmakers. She participated in INDIE INSTITUTE, Antigravity Academy’s virtual independent filmmaking intensive by the Emmy-winning and Academy-nominated producers of DIDI. She holds a B.A. in Literature, Transcultural Studies from American University and resides in Providence, RI. Follow Mae on Instagram.
✿ PRODUCER, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ✿
Danielle (Lee) Wong is a producer, filmmaker, writer, actor, and multimedia journalist whose work spans civil rights advocacy, education, public media, and theatre. She carries more than a decade of experience moving stories from vision to reality at organizations including Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Theater Mu, and Minnesota Public Radio News, where she contributed to the Peabody Award-winning podcast 74 Seconds. She participated in INDIE INSTITUTE, Antigravity Academy’s virtual independent filmmaking intensive by the Emmy-winning and Academy-nominated producers of DIDI. A daughter of diaspora with Chinese, Indonesian, and Malaysian roots, Lee has deep ties to stories about what passes between Asian women across generations. Follow Danielle on Instagram.
✿ DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ✿
Julia C Liu is an Emmy-nominated cinematographer and NAACP Image Award nominee seeking to promote diversity in front of and behind the lens. Liu was the Director of Photography for POWER directed by Yance Ford, the cinematographer for the Emmy award winning documentary STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE, which premiered at Sundance 2023, and the Director of Photography and Executive Producer of the Netflix original WHITE HOT: THE RISE & FALL OF ABERCROMBIE & FITCH. She has lensed feature films for Netflix, Apple, Hulu, and HBO, and the Oscar-shortlisted documentary HOW WE GET FREE. Liu is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, an honoree of the DOC NYC 40 Under 40 and a graduate of Brown University.
✿ LINE PRODUCER, 1ST AD ✿
Falin Fagundes is a filmmaker and producer based in New England with a passion for telling stories about family, identity, and human connection. Raised as the daughter of Portuguese immigrants, she grew up in an intergenerational home, deeply shaped by the inseparable bond she has with her grandmother. Over the years, Falin has channeled that same love of human connection and the importance of culture into her work, producing films for nonprofit organizations such as the New England Center for Children, ATASK, and PACE Rhode Island—all projects close to her heart that highlight the kinds of stories she believes deserve to be heard.
✿ BRAND ART DIRECTOR & DESIGNER ✿
Catherine Tinh is a graphic designer and artist based in New York City. From large-scale brand rollouts to independent personal projects, she brings the same intention to every piece, creating work that is honest, considered, and distinct in its details. Catherine is also the co-founder of Late Bloomer, a media company that began in Minneapolis and continues to grow, dedicated to highlighting and supporting artists of color.
✿ ILLUSTRATOR ✿
Amy Chu is a writer and illustrator based in Boston/NYC. Her work has been published in magazines like The Commuter and Slant’d, and she is a regular contributor to the cooperatively owned newsletter, Flaming Hydra. Amy is also the screenwriter of INTRODUCING MIMI, a short film about relearning Mandarin. Follow Amy on Substack.
✿ SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST ✿
Ricky Huynh is a Vietnamese American filmmaker, videographer, and editor based in Boston, MA. For more than a decade, he has been honing his craft as a visual storyteller, creating compelling films and digital content. In 2025, Ricky wrote and directed VITA ULTRA, a sci-fi adventure that follows an astronaut's journey to uncover the truth behind his parents' mysterious disappearance. This year, he plans to release YEARN, a dark fantasy vampire film that explores longing, darkness, and love. Follow Ricky's filmmaking journey and discover more of his work on Instagram.
✿ SOUND MIXER ✿
La’Ron Cooper is a professional location sound mixer specializing in film, television, and commercial production. With a strong background in documentary storytelling and branded content, he has worked on high-profile projects including STARTING 5 on Netflix, CELTICS CITY on HBO Max, and BIG 12 UNCOVERED on HBO. He has sound mixed and boom op’ed on narratives like RICKY, which was a 2025 Sundance Award Winner, U SHOOT VIDEOS? which was a 2020 Tribeca X Award-Winner, the Oscar-nominated HBO documentary THE ALABAMA SOLUTION, and the documentary short PARKER, which screened at Sundance in 2023.
✿ COSTUME DESIGNER ✿
Eric Tâm Tran is a Boston-based Vietnamese American costume designer, creative, and storyteller. Graduating from Boston University with a BFA in Costume Design and a minor in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, he has worked to grow his understanding of being a designer. From writing, directing, producing, and designing a sold out show at the Plaza Theatres at Boston Center for the Arts to costume designing for CHUANG Stage's East Coast Premiere of Minna Lee's, “My Home on the Moon,” Eric’s intentional, detail-oriented, and identity-driven approach aims to leave an impact on viewers, inspire more conversations to be had, and encourage stories to be shared. Connect with Eric on LinkedIn and Instagram.
✿ HAIR DEPARTMENT HEAD ✿
Amber Voner is an IATSE Local 798 Hair Stylist and Designer working across film, television, commercials, and theater. Her credits include Hair Department Head on Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers and Key Hairstylist on Apple TV+’s Widow’s Bay. Her additional Film & TV credits include The Gilded Age, The Drama, Little Women, The Tender Bar, and Ella McCay. A graduate of Emerson College with a BFA in Theater Design & Technology, Amber takes a character-driven approach to hair and wig design, believing that character is best built collaboratively, in partnership with the actor and the creative team as a whole. Follow Amber on Instagram and explore her work on IMDb.
✿ CHOREOGRAPHER ✿
Emily Chang is thrilled to choreograph for film for the first time as a part of the Hot Dancing Granny team! She has trained and choreographed in a variety of dance styles including ballet, contemporary, jazz funk, and Chinese dance. She is currently a board and company member of Dance Revelasian, a semi-professional Chinese dance company, and a dancer and choreographer with OnStage Dance Company.
✿ MUSIC PRODUCTION ✿
Grove Music Group is a community-driven creativity collective specializing in Artist Services. Their core mission is to personally ensure a solid foundation for creators, in order to facilitate growth and development.
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
HOT DANCING GRANNY is an intimate and playful look at a Chinese American mother-daughter-grandma trio as they dance their way out of cycles of hurt.
Lulu has spent the entire day caught between her mom (Sue) and her grandma (Lao Lao) as they bicker their way through making dumplings. Lao Lao wastes no time criticizing her daughter Sue between scrolling on her phone and mysteriously recording herself. When Lulu receives a last minute casting call seeking "Real Chinese Families”—offering $10,000 per person—she ropes them into filming a self-tape audition with her. The catch? They have to dance. Together. And it’s due in two hours.
While dancing, toes (and feelings) are stepped on and a secret influencer is revealed (cough, cough, Lao Lao). As the clock ticks down, can the three generations of women confront their hurt and press record one more time?
"Lulu’s story is my story. When I made the jump to acting full time, I had to juggle a never-ending amount of self-tape auditions with my mom’s constant stream of doubts: Why can’t you get a good, stable job? Sue’s skepticism is inspired by my mother’s worries, rooted in an immigrant fear that many first/second-generation kids know so well. Don’t worry, my mom has come around and she’s now my biggest fan, and I’m hers!
Many moments from this script are inspired by real-life experiences and observations between myself, my mother, and my Lao Lao across languages and continents. Many women in the Asian diaspora share a version of the same story: we’ve grown up yearning to be accepted and seen by our mothers, only to unknowingly carry those wounds to the next generation. This is a cycle that I’ve personally been interrogating. A reminder that has guided my healing is: if you don’t transform your suffering, you transfer it. So, instead of accepting cycles of hurt as inevitable, my film asks: What can hope and reconciliation between mothers and daughters look like?
For me and for the women of my film, reconciliation is an imperfect process—messy, tender, unexpected, gentle, and even obnoxious—but is always full of heart, and closely followed by laughter. In writing a film about inherited hurt, I knew that love and humor had to hold it all together."
— Mae Zhang McCauley, Writer and Director
Mae can’t resist a dancing granny—on the internet or IRL.
On a summer morning in Beijing in 2017, Mae and her mom stumbled into a large group of women dancing in sync in a public park and couldn’t resist joining in. These women are known as 广场舞大妈 (guang chang wu da ma), China's iconic square dancing grannies. In the years that followed, Mae kept finding herself seeking them out—in Beijing visiting her Lao Lao or in Taipei while studying Mandarin—drawn to the pure, unself-conscious joy of women moving together outside in community. Almost a decade later, while she's not a dancing auntie yet, you can find her grooving in front of a ring light at least once a week for her latest self-tape audition.
That image of women moving together across generations, imperfectly, joyfully, without apology is the beating heart of this film's visual and emotional world.
Tone & Style
HOT DANCING GRANNY lives in the tender space between laughter and longing. It’s the kind of story where you're rooting for every character, even as they're stepping on each other's toes. If you loved Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Farewell, Dìdi, or Nai Nai & Wai Po—and every viral dancing grandma video you've ever forwarded on—this film is for you!
Movement
Dancing shapes our film's emotional language, and when words fail, movement helps us fill in the gaps. Emily Chang, choreographer and dancer at Dance Revelasian, will be choreographing multiple original dances for our film.
Music
HOT DANCING GRANNY moves between two distinct sonic worlds—a chaotic, longing pop energy for the self-tape audition, and a joyful remix of traditional Chinese folk instrumentation that carries the film toward the communal spirit of guang chang wu.
Location
We’re proud to have Kam Man Food, which opened the first Chinese supermarket on the East Coast, as one of our location partners! Their location in Quincy, MA, is the largest Asian supermarket in New England and remains a pillar in the Asian American community.
"This story found us before we knew we were looking for it. Mae and I met in 2019 while studying abroad in Taipei, and the train ride on our very first trip together was spent connecting over our experiences as Asian American daughters of immigrant women. Over the years, we've gone from lamenting our mothers to seeing them in context, being frustrated by what we've inherited to softening when we remember it's what our mothers needed to survive. Now, as long-time best friends turned emerging filmmakers, HOT DANCING GRANNY is Mae's way of inviting you into the home where our many conversations (and therapy sessions) have helped her land.
We're living in a moment of expanding Asian and Asian American representation on screen. But the specific story of the diaspora daughter, caught between her mother's wounds and her own, still rarely gets to be funny, messy, and fully alive all at once. Our mothers and grandmothers aren't just sharp-tongued matriarchs or loving women lost in translation. They're also phone addicts (sometimes worse than we are), goofy, insecure, deeply loving, and occasionally, incredible dancers going viral.
HOT DANCING GRANNY is a film that sees Asian women at all ages as three dimensional, reminding us that we can exist in our complexity—with our inherited histories—and be capable of profound change."
— Danielle (Lee) Wong, Producer
LULU: The Daughter
A mid-20s, Chinese American actor who’s playful, perceptive, and always well-intentioned, but is prone to sucking others into her own orbit without realizing the impact.
SUE: The Mom
Sue is Lulu's sometimes skeptical, but mostly supportive mother. She immigrated to the U.S. in her mid-20s and is committed to having a different relationship with her own daughter.
LAO LAO: The Grandma aka Hot Dancing Granny
Lulu’s grandmother, Sue’s quick-to-judge mother who just flew in from China. Unbeknownst to Sue and Lulu, Lao Lao is an internet celebrity beloved across China for her spunky dance moves, and is known by one iconic name: "Hot Dancing Granny" or 热舞姥姥.
Lao Lao is inspired by Chinese square dancing grannies (广场舞大妈) and the aunties who are addicted to their phone, the ones who send you voice notes and forward those questionable messages on WeChat or WhatsApp. You know the video of a swaggy, dancing Asian grandma you probably sent to your friends? Yup, that’s Hot Dancing Granny.
↑ Character inspiration moodboard! ↑
We’re proud to have an incredible team of creatives bringing this film to life who deeply resonate with the story and mission of HOT DANCING GRANNY as Asian American women, children of immigrants, and people for whom family is complicated and irreplaceable. Check out our team page to learn more about the expertise each person brings to our project!
Making a film truly takes a village. Beyond this team, HOT DANCING GRANNY has been shaped by the mothers, daughters, friends, and community members who recognized themselves in the story and told us to keep going. We’re so grateful to have you by our side.
We want to make a short film we’re proud of, but more importantly, one that you can share in the success of! Every Hot Dancing Granny needs the essentials:
By meeting our crowdfunding goal of $20,000, every department will have the resources to make HOT DANCING GRANNY the film it deserves to be. It also gives us the runway to submit to every festival on our list, from Sundance to the Asian American film circuit, and get her on screens nationwide through 2027 and 2028. We need your support to help HOT DANCING GRANNY kill it on the red carpet! 💃🏻
CONTRIBUTE 💌
Join the HOT DANCING GRANNY community by making a contribution. Seed&Spark requires we raise at least 80% of our goal ($16k) to receive any funds. This means every pledge, at every level, genuinely matters! If you would like to make a tax deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Legacy Collective RI, please email us at [email protected].
SPREAD THE WORD 🗣️
Even if you can't contribute financially right now, you can still be part of our village of support!
- Create an account on Seed&Spark and follow our campaign page—it’s free, takes less than a minute, and will help us unlock extra promotions, special discounts on equipment, and festival waivers
- Share our campaign with a mother, a daughter, or anyone who needs this story
When sharing our campaign, feel free to copy + paste this message:
- I'm supporting a funny and heartfelt short film called HOT DANCING GRANNY, which explores reconciliation between mothers and daughters as three generations of Chinese women dance their way out of cycles of hurt. The film is being created by a majority Asian American and women of color team—led by writer/director Mae Zhang McCauley (@ahmeimae) and producer Danielle "Lee" Wong (@lee.expressions)—and I really believe this is a story worth telling. Would you be willing to show some support by donating to their crowdfunding campaign or passing it on? https://seedandspark.com/fund/hotdancinggranny/
Follow/tag us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates from set to screen! Thank you for believing in us and this story.
Forever your #1 fans,
Mae Zhang McCauley (Writer/Director) and Danielle "Lee" Wong (Producer)
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Cast & Crew
Costs $6,500
Compensation and travel for our team of emerging and award-winning filmmakers, cast, and crew.
Equipment & Camera Package
Costs $5,000
To achieve the vibrant visual world of HOT DANCING GRANNY, we'll need to rent a camera package, lenses, lighting, and sound equipment.
Travel and Housing
Costs $2,000
Travel and housing for out-of-town talent and crew, as well as transportation during our shoot.
Catering, Snacks, and Beverages
Costs $1,500
This keeps our cast and crew fed and hydrated throughout our long shoot days!
Design & Aesthetics
Costs $750
From Lao Lao's fit to Sue's apron, every detail is intentional—covers costumes, hair, makeup, and set design for the store and kitchen.
Festival Submissions
Costs $1,000
Fees for submitting our film to Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, and more through 2027–2028.
Post-Production
Costs $3,250
From final edit to festival circuit—editing, color, and sound.
Direct link:
Share this update!
About This Team
We’re proud to have an incredible team of creatives bringing this film to life who deeply resonate with the story and mission of HOT DANCING GRANNY as Asian American women, children of immigrants, and people for whom family is complicated and irreplaceable.
✿ WRITER, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, "LULU" ✿
Mae Zhang McCauley is a mixed Chinese American actor, model, producer, filmmaker, and an emerging director. She began her career in book publishing, working with award-winning authors like Mike Curato and Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai — including co-acquiring and editing Curato's award-winning graphic novel, Gaysians. She’s an alum of Legacy Collective RI, a 12-week intensive program for Rhode Island's next generation of filmmakers. She participated in INDIE INSTITUTE, Antigravity Academy’s virtual independent filmmaking intensive by the Emmy-winning and Academy-nominated producers of DIDI. She holds a B.A. in Literature, Transcultural Studies from American University and resides in Providence, RI. Follow Mae on Instagram.
✿ PRODUCER, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ✿
Danielle (Lee) Wong is a producer, filmmaker, writer, actor, and multimedia journalist whose work spans civil rights advocacy, education, public media, and theatre. She carries more than a decade of experience moving stories from vision to reality at organizations including Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, Theater Mu, and Minnesota Public Radio News, where she contributed to the Peabody Award-winning podcast 74 Seconds. She participated in INDIE INSTITUTE, Antigravity Academy’s virtual independent filmmaking intensive by the Emmy-winning and Academy-nominated producers of DIDI. A daughter of diaspora with Chinese, Indonesian, and Malaysian roots, Lee has deep ties to stories about what passes between Asian women across generations. Follow Danielle on Instagram.
✿ DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ✿
Julia C Liu is an Emmy-nominated cinematographer and NAACP Image Award nominee seeking to promote diversity in front of and behind the lens. Liu was the Director of Photography for POWER directed by Yance Ford, the cinematographer for the Emmy award winning documentary STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE, which premiered at Sundance 2023, and the Director of Photography and Executive Producer of the Netflix original WHITE HOT: THE RISE & FALL OF ABERCROMBIE & FITCH. She has lensed feature films for Netflix, Apple, Hulu, and HBO, and the Oscar-shortlisted documentary HOW WE GET FREE. Liu is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, an honoree of the DOC NYC 40 Under 40 and a graduate of Brown University.
✿ LINE PRODUCER, 1ST AD ✿
Falin Fagundes is a filmmaker and producer based in New England with a passion for telling stories about family, identity, and human connection. Raised as the daughter of Portuguese immigrants, she grew up in an intergenerational home, deeply shaped by the inseparable bond she has with her grandmother. Over the years, Falin has channeled that same love of human connection and the importance of culture into her work, producing films for nonprofit organizations such as the New England Center for Children, ATASK, and PACE Rhode Island—all projects close to her heart that highlight the kinds of stories she believes deserve to be heard.
✿ BRAND ART DIRECTOR & DESIGNER ✿
Catherine Tinh is a graphic designer and artist based in New York City. From large-scale brand rollouts to independent personal projects, she brings the same intention to every piece, creating work that is honest, considered, and distinct in its details. Catherine is also the co-founder of Late Bloomer, a media company that began in Minneapolis and continues to grow, dedicated to highlighting and supporting artists of color.
✿ ILLUSTRATOR ✿
Amy Chu is a writer and illustrator based in Boston/NYC. Her work has been published in magazines like The Commuter and Slant’d, and she is a regular contributor to the cooperatively owned newsletter, Flaming Hydra. Amy is also the screenwriter of INTRODUCING MIMI, a short film about relearning Mandarin. Follow Amy on Substack.
✿ SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST ✿
Ricky Huynh is a Vietnamese American filmmaker, videographer, and editor based in Boston, MA. For more than a decade, he has been honing his craft as a visual storyteller, creating compelling films and digital content. In 2025, Ricky wrote and directed VITA ULTRA, a sci-fi adventure that follows an astronaut's journey to uncover the truth behind his parents' mysterious disappearance. This year, he plans to release YEARN, a dark fantasy vampire film that explores longing, darkness, and love. Follow Ricky's filmmaking journey and discover more of his work on Instagram.
✿ SOUND MIXER ✿
La’Ron Cooper is a professional location sound mixer specializing in film, television, and commercial production. With a strong background in documentary storytelling and branded content, he has worked on high-profile projects including STARTING 5 on Netflix, CELTICS CITY on HBO Max, and BIG 12 UNCOVERED on HBO. He has sound mixed and boom op’ed on narratives like RICKY, which was a 2025 Sundance Award Winner, U SHOOT VIDEOS? which was a 2020 Tribeca X Award-Winner, the Oscar-nominated HBO documentary THE ALABAMA SOLUTION, and the documentary short PARKER, which screened at Sundance in 2023.
✿ COSTUME DESIGNER ✿
Eric Tâm Tran is a Boston-based Vietnamese American costume designer, creative, and storyteller. Graduating from Boston University with a BFA in Costume Design and a minor in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, he has worked to grow his understanding of being a designer. From writing, directing, producing, and designing a sold out show at the Plaza Theatres at Boston Center for the Arts to costume designing for CHUANG Stage's East Coast Premiere of Minna Lee's, “My Home on the Moon,” Eric’s intentional, detail-oriented, and identity-driven approach aims to leave an impact on viewers, inspire more conversations to be had, and encourage stories to be shared. Connect with Eric on LinkedIn and Instagram.
✿ HAIR DEPARTMENT HEAD ✿
Amber Voner is an IATSE Local 798 Hair Stylist and Designer working across film, television, commercials, and theater. Her credits include Hair Department Head on Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers and Key Hairstylist on Apple TV+’s Widow’s Bay. Her additional Film & TV credits include The Gilded Age, The Drama, Little Women, The Tender Bar, and Ella McCay. A graduate of Emerson College with a BFA in Theater Design & Technology, Amber takes a character-driven approach to hair and wig design, believing that character is best built collaboratively, in partnership with the actor and the creative team as a whole. Follow Amber on Instagram and explore her work on IMDb.
✿ CHOREOGRAPHER ✿
Emily Chang is thrilled to choreograph for film for the first time as a part of the Hot Dancing Granny team! She has trained and choreographed in a variety of dance styles including ballet, contemporary, jazz funk, and Chinese dance. She is currently a board and company member of Dance Revelasian, a semi-professional Chinese dance company, and a dancer and choreographer with OnStage Dance Company.
✿ MUSIC PRODUCTION ✿
Grove Music Group is a community-driven creativity collective specializing in Artist Services. Their core mission is to personally ensure a solid foundation for creators, in order to facilitate growth and development.