Randall Park's directorial debut is hitting theaters while most of Hollywood is on strike. "That certainly doesn't help our film in terms of getting the word out, but I feel like it's OK because there are bigger, more important things that need to happen, and I think the strike is one of them," he told Salon. As the director, Park is able to speak about his film "Shortcomings," a project he was first drawn to in 2007. He told Salon about bringing the graphic novel to life and how he wanted this film to build off the success of other recent majority-Asian TV and film projects while adding to the conversation about representation. "To me, a story about hanging out in a diner, eating a sandwich with your friend, talking about your feelings, is just as authentic an Asian American story as making dumplings with your grandma," he said. "It's real and it's a little bit more everyday and mundane, but it's just as worthy, to me at least, of being on screen."