Kevin and Kelly Luu’s heartfelt TECHNICIANS qualifies to be considered for the 97th Academy® Awards

Kevin and Kelly Luu explore themes of automation and job replacement in the short TECHNICIANS. The story follows David (J. Alphonse Nicholson), a struggling automation technician tasked with installing self-service manicure stations at a nail salon, where he meets a Vietnamese American nail tech whose job is under threat. 

This film was presented at the Tribeca Film Festival, was part of the official selection at HollyShorts, and was made as part of Indeed’s Rising Voices program – an initiative set up to discover, invest in and share stories created by BIPOC filmmakers and storytellers. Rising Voices was created in collaboration with Lena Waithe, Hillman Grad Productions, Ventureland and 271 Films. This incredible short film has qualified to be considered for the 2025 Oscars®.

Tasked with installing self-service manicure stations at a nail salon, an automation technician meets a Vietnamese American nail tech whose job he is there to replace.

Kevin and Kelly Luu are a writer-director duo raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts and based in Los Angeles. Inspired by their parents’ harrowing journey to America, the twin brothers are drawn to stories that explore identity from the perspectives of underrepresented voices. They graduated from USC’s MFA film program where they wrote and directed several award-winning short films, including REAL BOY, which won best Sci-Fi film at USC’s First Look Festival, and THE MATTRESS, which received the SCA Edward Small Directing Award and was invited to premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. The brothers were both mentees of Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative and have developed projects with notables such as Cj Entertainment, CBS Studios, 20k Productions, and 1community. The two also wrote an original multicultural, supernatural narrative podcast series for Gunpowder & Sky. More recently, Kevin and Kelly were selected to take part in Soo Hugh’s and Universal Content Productions’ (UCP) inaugural writing program, The Thousand Miles Project. Kevin and Kelly are repped by Redefine Entertainment and Independent Artist Group.

Lead actor J. Alphonse Nicholson is widely known for playing LaMarques in the Starz drama P-VALLEY for which he was nominated for the two NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Other credits include WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP (2023) and THEY CLONED TYRONE (2023) alongside John Boyega and Jamie Foxx.

Kristy Choo is an Executive Producer / Line Producer with over 10 years experience working on feature films and scripted series.  Kristy’s line producing credits include BRUISER for Hulu, DREAMS directed by Michel Franco and starring Jessica Chastain, and she is currently in development for a period feature film.  Her production supervisor credits include award-winning series: ATLANTA, RESERVATION DOGS, and DEVS for FX Networks; and MOSQUITO COAST for Apple TV.  Kristy is a member of the Director’s Guild of America. 

This thought-provoking short film has qualified to be considered for the 97th Academy® Awards. 

INDEED’S MISSION

Indeed’s mission is to help people get jobs. And while we know talent is universal, opportunity is not. Data shows that BIPOC directors remain critically underrepresented as directors. Rising Voices was born out of the question, what would happen if we took the production budget for a national TV spot and instead invested it in 10 BIPOC directors to create short films?

To help get the program right, Indeed partnered with Lena Waithe and Hillman Grad Productions to structure and launch Rising Voices. Mentorship was core to the program to ensure we were creating sustainable pathways to a career, so we also brought on a number of top filmmakers as mentors. The directors each received a $10,000 script payment and $100,000 in funds to create their films. While they were hard at work shooting and editing, we turned our focus to the release strategy by launching a partnership with The Tribeca Festival to debut the entire Rising Voices slate of films.

Following their Tribeca premieres, the mentors helped the directors network and make connections in the industry. Rising Voices was written up by more than 50 entertainment and mainstream publications – with individual films and directors getting countless press hits as well. All this helped set the filmmakers up for long-term success with multiple filmmakers selling films, signing with agents, and getting hired to direct feature films. Through 3 seasons, their films created over 2,000 industry jobs–many going to people of color.