Paper Daughter
Burbank, California | Film Short
Animation, History
This is a magical realism film told in stop motion, using real materials in an otherworldly way. It celebrates our shared human experience through a medium that can only be made by human hands. We are using this universal medium to tell a historical AAPI story, crafted by majority AAPI artists.
Paper Daughter
Burbank, California | Film Short
Animation, History
69 supporters | followers
Enter the amount you would like to pledge
$7,147
Goal: $10,000 for production
This is a magical realism film told in stop motion, using real materials in an otherworldly way. It celebrates our shared human experience through a medium that can only be made by human hands. We are using this universal medium to tell a historical AAPI story, crafted by majority AAPI artists.
Participating In
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Welcome to Paper Daughter, a magical realism historical fiction short film about Chinese immigrants in 1926, told by a queer AAPI director, animated in stop motion by real humans at an indie stop motion animation studio.
I am Cami Kwan, a queer, mixed-race Chinese-American stop motion director and animator! I’ve worked in the LA stop motion industry since 2016, when I got my very first job on the stop motion kid’s show Tumble Leaf. After meeting my best friends Max Lopez and Sean Malony, we started our own indie stop motion studio, Apartment D, where I’ve worked for the last seven years as a director and producer on animated series for American Girl, Monster High and Sanrio. Now I’m using everything I’ve learned to create my original short film, Paper Daughter.
Paper Daughter is a stop motion animated short film based on the immigration experience of my great-grandma, Joy Dep Chan. The film will be about 10 minutes long and is set on Angel Island, a US immigration station in the San Francisco Bay used to detain (primarily Asian) immigrants from 1910 - 1940. My great-grandma immigrated to the US from China in 1926, meaning that Paper Daughter will mark the 100 year anniversary of my family’s immigration to the United States.
The film explores how I, and many other immigrant descendants, grapple with accepting sacrifices we never asked for but were nevertheless made on our behalf. Our struggle today reflects a similar struggle of countless paper sons and paper daughters, who had to accept the sacrifice of deceased friends, family members and strangers by assuming their identities to pursue a better life in the United States. Receiving the sacrifices of our families is a universal experience, whether through immigration or something else. How do we forgive ourselves for receiving it? How do we earn it, be worthy of it? How do we pay it back? Do we even have to? By exploring these questions, I hope to create a path towards accepting our histories, embracing our present selves, and envisioning more for our futures.
In defiance of the rise of AI and corporate slop, Paper Daughter will be made using the most utterly human form of animation: stop motion. One of the only guaranteed human experiences is the experience of a material world, and stop motion is the only animated medium that can fully capture that shared humanity (which is also why it’s my favorite!). In addition to real materials, stop motion also requires real human hands and demands the creation of a real, physical community. We will be gathering a team of artists at the Apartment D studio to create the world of Paper Daughter. Fabricators will build puppets, sets and props, setting the stage for our camera and lighting crew to work their magic so our animators can bring it to life!
We are currently in the pre-production phase, and moving rapidly into fabrication! This campaign will primarily raise funds to support the artists who are joining the team this summer to build and animate the world of Paper Daughter. Our team will be working together from June through August, with the final film being completed by the end of October.
It’s a tall order to create a 10-minute stop motion film in less than 6 months! We’ll need all the help we can get, and the talented artists willing to bring this film to life deserve to be paid for their time, talent and passion. The funds from this campaign will be put towards paying our crew, and making Paper Daughter the best film it can possibly be. Not only will these funds support indie animation made by human hands, they’ll support immigration stories told by AAPI creators. On top of that, any donations made to this campaign are also TAX DEDUCTIBLE (!!!) thanks to our wonderful fiscal sponsors at Satellite Collective!
Thank you so much for your interest in this film - please follow our campaign, share our story and donate, if you can!
Feel like sharing our campaign? Here’s some useful copy!
Please support Paper Daughter, a magical realism historical fiction short film about Chinese immigrants in 1926, told by a queer AAPI director and animated in stop motion by real humans at an indie stop motion animation studio!
TL;DR:
Paper Daughter is an immigrant story, told by a queer AAPI director, made by real humans at an indie stop motion animation studio! Please follow and support!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Puppet Doctor and Additional Puppets
Costs $1,500
A puppet doctor maintains the puppets during the shoot, and multiple puppets of each character let's us shoot across multiple stages!
Fabrication Team and Supplies
Costs $2,000
Help us create enough props and details to make our sets feel historically accurate and lived-in! And also offset the tariffs :(
Animation Time
Costs $2,500
Help us shoot for an additional week to give the animators more time to focus on subtle acting and emotions, and keep a support team too!
Camera and Lighting Equipment
Costs $1,000
Help us rent some additional equipment to achieve the moody, atmospheric lighting we envision for this film!
Post Production Team
Costs $1,500
Help us bring in an additional person to the Post/VFX team to share the workload more evenly.
Live Recording Session
Costs $1,000
Help our wonderful composer Valeri record some lead musicians in person here in LA!
Snacks for the Crew
Costs $500
Help us keep the crew morale high during a long, hot summer!
Share this update!
About This Team
Cami Kwan - Director/Writer
Hello Again! I’m Cami, and I’m a queer, mixed-race Chinese-American stop motion director and animator. I wrote Paper Daughter as a way to work through my own relationship with my heritage, and the guilt I feel for receiving the sacrifice of my great-grandparents, who immigrated to the US from China via Angel Island in 1916 and 1926. This story is based on the experience of my great-grandma, Joy Dep Chan, and is dedicated to her and to the rest of my family who have given me the life I have today.
My goal with this film is to not only tell a story that’s meaningful to me, but to also push the boundaries of what people think is possible in stop motion. I believe that stop motion is the most beautiful, limitless, human medium in the world, and I want everyone else to see its potential. I also believe indie animation is the future of storytelling and of the animation industry. If my work can help elevate the indie stop motion community, and open doors for the future of our medium, then I will be more than satisfied.
Brandon Bui - Producer
Brandon is the best - he is the backbone of this production, and this film would not be possible without him. He provides the support and structure I need to be able to throw myself completely into the creative direction of this film!
Brandon Diep Bui was born in Los Angeles and is a proud child of Vietnamese refugees. From a young age, he recognized the powerful impact of storytelling, particularly its ability to transcend language and build universal connection. After graduating from UCLA, he worked at The Walt Disney Studios, NBCUniversal, and Netflix, gaining experience across various facets of the entertainment industry.
Currently, Brandon serves as an Creative Executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he nurtures stories that instill wonder and inspiration across the globe. Alongside his studio work, he is an independent creative producer for narrative shorts, championing authentic, inclusive, and impactful storytelling. Most recently Brandon was an executive producing fellow for Film Independent’s Project 2024 program and NALIP's Women of Color Incubator 2024 Program.
The Rest of our Wonderful Crew (More to Come!):
CAPE and Janet Yang Productions - The Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Janet Yang Productions have generously selected us as one of four grantees of the 2025 Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge! They are providing a financial grant as well as mentorship and guidance for the duration of our production, and our festival run afterwards. I have wanted to be part of a CAPE program for years, and I am beyond thrilled to be part of the Short Film Challenge this year!
Apartment D - The indie animation studio I co-founded with Max Lopez and Sean Malony. We will be fabricating and animating at the Apartment D studio this summer, and many of our crew members are Apartment D regulars!
Satellite Collective - Our wonderful fiscal sponsor! As our fiscal sponsor, Satellite Collective essentially takes our project under their wing so they can share their non-profit status with us. Which also helps all our supporters by making your donations tax-deductible! Hooray!
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Welcome to Paper Daughter, a magical realism historical fiction short film about Chinese immigrants in 1926, told by a queer AAPI director, animated in stop motion by real humans at an indie stop motion animation studio.
I am Cami Kwan, a queer, mixed-race Chinese-American stop motion director and animator! I’ve worked in the LA stop motion industry since 2016, when I got my very first job on the stop motion kid’s show Tumble Leaf. After meeting my best friends Max Lopez and Sean Malony, we started our own indie stop motion studio, Apartment D, where I’ve worked for the last seven years as a director and producer on animated series for American Girl, Monster High and Sanrio. Now I’m using everything I’ve learned to create my original short film, Paper Daughter.
Paper Daughter is a stop motion animated short film based on the immigration experience of my great-grandma, Joy Dep Chan. The film will be about 10 minutes long and is set on Angel Island, a US immigration station in the San Francisco Bay used to detain (primarily Asian) immigrants from 1910 - 1940. My great-grandma immigrated to the US from China in 1926, meaning that Paper Daughter will mark the 100 year anniversary of my family’s immigration to the United States.
The film explores how I, and many other immigrant descendants, grapple with accepting sacrifices we never asked for but were nevertheless made on our behalf. Our struggle today reflects a similar struggle of countless paper sons and paper daughters, who had to accept the sacrifice of deceased friends, family members and strangers by assuming their identities to pursue a better life in the United States. Receiving the sacrifices of our families is a universal experience, whether through immigration or something else. How do we forgive ourselves for receiving it? How do we earn it, be worthy of it? How do we pay it back? Do we even have to? By exploring these questions, I hope to create a path towards accepting our histories, embracing our present selves, and envisioning more for our futures.
In defiance of the rise of AI and corporate slop, Paper Daughter will be made using the most utterly human form of animation: stop motion. One of the only guaranteed human experiences is the experience of a material world, and stop motion is the only animated medium that can fully capture that shared humanity (which is also why it’s my favorite!). In addition to real materials, stop motion also requires real human hands and demands the creation of a real, physical community. We will be gathering a team of artists at the Apartment D studio to create the world of Paper Daughter. Fabricators will build puppets, sets and props, setting the stage for our camera and lighting crew to work their magic so our animators can bring it to life!
We are currently in the pre-production phase, and moving rapidly into fabrication! This campaign will primarily raise funds to support the artists who are joining the team this summer to build and animate the world of Paper Daughter. Our team will be working together from June through August, with the final film being completed by the end of October.
It’s a tall order to create a 10-minute stop motion film in less than 6 months! We’ll need all the help we can get, and the talented artists willing to bring this film to life deserve to be paid for their time, talent and passion. The funds from this campaign will be put towards paying our crew, and making Paper Daughter the best film it can possibly be. Not only will these funds support indie animation made by human hands, they’ll support immigration stories told by AAPI creators. On top of that, any donations made to this campaign are also TAX DEDUCTIBLE (!!!) thanks to our wonderful fiscal sponsors at Satellite Collective!
Thank you so much for your interest in this film - please follow our campaign, share our story and donate, if you can!
Feel like sharing our campaign? Here’s some useful copy!
Please support Paper Daughter, a magical realism historical fiction short film about Chinese immigrants in 1926, told by a queer AAPI director and animated in stop motion by real humans at an indie stop motion animation studio!
TL;DR:
Paper Daughter is an immigrant story, told by a queer AAPI director, made by real humans at an indie stop motion animation studio! Please follow and support!
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Puppet Doctor and Additional Puppets
Costs $1,500
A puppet doctor maintains the puppets during the shoot, and multiple puppets of each character let's us shoot across multiple stages!
Fabrication Team and Supplies
Costs $2,000
Help us create enough props and details to make our sets feel historically accurate and lived-in! And also offset the tariffs :(
Animation Time
Costs $2,500
Help us shoot for an additional week to give the animators more time to focus on subtle acting and emotions, and keep a support team too!
Camera and Lighting Equipment
Costs $1,000
Help us rent some additional equipment to achieve the moody, atmospheric lighting we envision for this film!
Post Production Team
Costs $1,500
Help us bring in an additional person to the Post/VFX team to share the workload more evenly.
Live Recording Session
Costs $1,000
Help our wonderful composer Valeri record some lead musicians in person here in LA!
Snacks for the Crew
Costs $500
Help us keep the crew morale high during a long, hot summer!
Share this update!
About This Team
Cami Kwan - Director/Writer
Hello Again! I’m Cami, and I’m a queer, mixed-race Chinese-American stop motion director and animator. I wrote Paper Daughter as a way to work through my own relationship with my heritage, and the guilt I feel for receiving the sacrifice of my great-grandparents, who immigrated to the US from China via Angel Island in 1916 and 1926. This story is based on the experience of my great-grandma, Joy Dep Chan, and is dedicated to her and to the rest of my family who have given me the life I have today.
My goal with this film is to not only tell a story that’s meaningful to me, but to also push the boundaries of what people think is possible in stop motion. I believe that stop motion is the most beautiful, limitless, human medium in the world, and I want everyone else to see its potential. I also believe indie animation is the future of storytelling and of the animation industry. If my work can help elevate the indie stop motion community, and open doors for the future of our medium, then I will be more than satisfied.
Brandon Bui - Producer
Brandon is the best - he is the backbone of this production, and this film would not be possible without him. He provides the support and structure I need to be able to throw myself completely into the creative direction of this film!
Brandon Diep Bui was born in Los Angeles and is a proud child of Vietnamese refugees. From a young age, he recognized the powerful impact of storytelling, particularly its ability to transcend language and build universal connection. After graduating from UCLA, he worked at The Walt Disney Studios, NBCUniversal, and Netflix, gaining experience across various facets of the entertainment industry.
Currently, Brandon serves as an Creative Executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where he nurtures stories that instill wonder and inspiration across the globe. Alongside his studio work, he is an independent creative producer for narrative shorts, championing authentic, inclusive, and impactful storytelling. Most recently Brandon was an executive producing fellow for Film Independent’s Project 2024 program and NALIP's Women of Color Incubator 2024 Program.
The Rest of our Wonderful Crew (More to Come!):
CAPE and Janet Yang Productions - The Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Janet Yang Productions have generously selected us as one of four grantees of the 2025 Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge! They are providing a financial grant as well as mentorship and guidance for the duration of our production, and our festival run afterwards. I have wanted to be part of a CAPE program for years, and I am beyond thrilled to be part of the Short Film Challenge this year!
Apartment D - The indie animation studio I co-founded with Max Lopez and Sean Malony. We will be fabricating and animating at the Apartment D studio this summer, and many of our crew members are Apartment D regulars!
Satellite Collective - Our wonderful fiscal sponsor! As our fiscal sponsor, Satellite Collective essentially takes our project under their wing so they can share their non-profit status with us. Which also helps all our supporters by making your donations tax-deductible! Hooray!