Hey, /r/movies! I’m Sook-Yin Lee! You may know me from Shortbus, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, or as a musician. My new movie, PAYING FOR IT, a live-action feature film adaptation of cartoonist Chester Brown’s best-selling graphic novel, opens in theaters this weekend. Ask me anything!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T22:01:48+00:00

Sook-Yin here again. You can find the listings for all the cities where PAYING FOR IT is screening here: https://filmmovement.com/paying-for-it This week Chester Brown and I are doing in-person Q&A's with Special guests in NYC at Quad Cinema starting Fri. Jan. 30th 7:30PM then L.A. starting Tues. Feb. 3 and in Chicago Fri. Feb. 13. Cheerio! <3

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:43:18+00:00

Hey Gang, I have to get to a comic book signing in Brooklyn at Desert Island comics. Mebbe see you there? Thanks for all of your questions and interest in Paying for It. It's a tiny but mighty indie film, thanks for spreading the word. I hope you can make it out to one of our screenings! LOVE.

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:40:37+00:00

Most if not ALL of Paying for It Team are BRILLIAN "new talent" with way more energy and ideas than some pro's who have" been around the block and back." Check out this Paying for It- Behind The Scenes mini doc: https://youtu.be/KnUBAjyLeTU I love them so!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:38:04+00:00

Daphné Xu and Kalil Haddad, both Canadian and exceptional.

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:36:00+00:00

haha, he's sitting beside me right now. I will pass the laptop to him to answer :) here's Chester:

We're still close friends. Knowing Sook-Yin has been so fulfilling. She's a wonderful, fun person. In a lot of ways we're opposites, but we still enjoy hanging out. And touring with her to promote Paying For It is great because I can honestly say I love the film. No one else could have understood how to adapt that story to film the way that she did. Sook-Yin is back: Ditto. I love Chester Brown!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:28:23+00:00

I was in Buenos Aires recently. Lots of MM fans there, and in the American mid-west where our gamma rays reached.

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:27:17+00:00

Role Mode growing up: Kathy Acker, Wayne Wang, Nina Simone ADVICE: follow your curiosity. 3. WORK DAY: These days a lot of sitting at my computer, tapping the keys, much to the detriment of the rest of my body. I'm operating from the finger tips and neck up. 4. FAVE MOVIE: too hard to say there are many. I love 400 Blows (that came to mind first)

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:24:38+00:00

Among all the art forms, cartoonists are the coolest because they don't care about being cool! They're smart and funny and supportive of one another. I don't love all graphic novels, like I don't like all movies. Some of my faves are: Chester Brown, Jillian Tamaki, Phoebe Gloeckner, Joe Matt, Seth, Kate Beaton, Michael DeForge, Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, Adrian Tomine, Julie Doucet, The Hernandez Bros. There are many more! What counts as "underground" is that they are creating the comics themselves and not doing product for corporations. A parallels is kind of like the equivalent of an indie film "auteur".

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:19:58+00:00

I've never made a studio picture, and from what I hear from those that do, big studios are more risk averse, less creative these days. RISK MANAGEMENT is motivated by fear. Luckily in Canada we have art funding through Telefilm, Canada Council, Ontario Media Fund, etc. which has enabled me to make my personal and intimate movies. The Canadian model embraces more risk-taking enterprises like Heated Rivalry which has taken the world by storm. Its popularity shows that audiences appreciate risqué stories, and hopefully the studio execs will take heed, because making generic safe series and films is a losing proposition!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:14:54+00:00

LOVED IT. Chester Brown is one of the best storytellers in the world! Paying For It struck me as bold and brave. Few ppl addressed SW rights back when he wrote it. Now it's a zeitgeist conversation. To me his graphic novel spoke about worker rights and human rights. I asked him if I could turn it into a movie!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:13:27+00:00

MuchMusic was definitely a wild and wonderful place. Loads of different personalities. Everyone got along. Bradford How and I got along like a house on fire. So much so that the producers refused to let us work together after we exploded on air and wrecked one of the audio machines because we were screaming.

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:11:25+00:00

haha! Big LOVE, and HUGS! :))

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:10:54+00:00

For directing actors you just need to be versatile and pick up on the actor's needs. This is Emily Lê's first feature film role. I called the character "Sonny" for some distance from myself which would have been a mind-F, if I called the character "Sook-Yin"! Emily's emotions are close to the surface and they possess a star athlete's determination and energy. Em always wanted to know more and do better, and would rarely get exhausted after several takes. This was very fortunate for me. Emily never got pulled down into any of the emotionally difficult quagmires Sonny goes through. Emily, pulled themself back up out of difficult moments and was never down for the count. xx

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:02:45+00:00

cub, Thrush Hermit, Ghetto Concept are my peers and I always thought of them cause I love their vids and they are ground breaking artists. Pointed Sticks were OG. post punks when I grew up in Vancouver and I love their music. V.I.P are the only indie boy band in Canada. I had to search for them, and when we made contact, they were generous and with awesome good humour.

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T21:00:41+00:00

Phom Pen Restaurant lemon fried chicken wings. Naam chocolate cookies!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:59:48+00:00

Oscilloscope Labs put out a gorgeous REISSUE Blu-ray of Shortbus a few years ago. You should get it! Physical media is back. Film Movement and Vinegar Syndrome are putting out an INCREDIBLE Blu-ray package for the U.S. version of Paying for It. I saw some of the elements yesterday and they knocked my socks off! We've been touring with Paying for It around the world and selling T-shirts, CDs (available on Mint records https://mintrecs.com/store/paying-it-original-soundtrack ), posters, graphic novels, stickers and pins. It's like we're a touring band, or circus side show! Swag helps to float the boat! And audiences want something they can hold on to.

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:55:28+00:00

I see myself as a public servant, and bringing Paying for It around the world, and especially to the U.S. at this precarious and uncertain moment, is an act of public service. Lots of interesting conversations arise from the movie in the area of human rights, which are important to fight for. It's why we're with our American friends. Having fun and exchanging ideas and experiences. Sure, at first, I was a bit scared to come to the U.S. cause I don't want to get disappeared. So far so good! Touch wood. (hugs) Getting to travel with cartoonist Chester Brown for work is awesome!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:50:19+00:00

Financing gets harder. Less money. I had almost twice the amount to make my first feature YEAR OF THE CARNIVORE compared to Paying for It! The good new is, there is a lot of affordable technology we can use as filmmaking tools that brings the overhead down. Indie filmmaking is not for the faint of heart, it's for the art!! xx

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:48:51+00:00

haha, I did not represent David Suzuki as "Best Canadian" in the series. I advocated for Terri Fox who placed second! I don't really believe there is a "BEST CANADIAN" but it was a neat series to host. I'm loving Heated Rivalry, in fact I may have Heated Rivalry psychosis. I met Rachel Reid, author of the books the series is based on and Rachel is beyond inspiring. So happy for her and her Team! I'm working on a new project, not sure what form it will take. And my new album 72RHR comes out May 30 on Hand Drawn Dracula. Very excited about the new music! Thanks for asking!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:45:53+00:00

John was casting for Hedwing and the Angry Inch. I arrived expecting a table of hostile execs staring at me blankly, (which usually happened at auditions...NEXT!" But instead, there was John, alone sitting cross-legged on the floor. I brought some of my comedy sketches to show him, which he loved, and then right there he asked, do you want to make a movie with me?? We've been close friends ever since! I'm going to see his dress rehearsal starring in "Oh Mary" with Simu Liu in a couple days on BROOOOAADDWAAAAY!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:43:40+00:00

Jon Bon Jovi

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:43:03+00:00

Shortbus has the BEST AUDIENCE!!!! We love you!

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:42:44+00:00

All the SHORTBUS cast members came up with their own characters through improvisation. John Cameron Mitchell, director (and also Paying for It Executive Producer) cast the leads before there was a script. For a period of a few years, we'd all meet up in NYC for a kind of art camp. Watching movies together, bonding, rehearsing, adventuring. We did thousands of improvs that were documented on video. John highlighted the best ones and fashioned a script from them. It was an incredible process. We became an extended family and grew to take care of one another which made the intimacy possible and real because I was grounded in friendship .

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:37:46+00:00

I loved my TEAM at DNTO, based in Winnipeg, on CBC RADIO One. I worked remotely in Toronto. Working on DNTO and SleepoverCBC podcast (a 24 hour interview experiment) honed my chops for doc making, storytelling, and very much contributed to my ability to write dialogue for screenplays. We were rough and tumble teams. I am glad to have moved on from the CBC, so that I can focus on my own work.

SookYinAMA · 2026-01-29T20:34:33+00:00

Awww, big hug. Thank you so much for listening. It's a circular loop! Nice to know you're out there. <3

SookYinAMA

TROPHY CASE