#FIRSTLOOK: “SHRIMP FRIED RICE” TO PREMIERE AT FANTASIA 2025

Dylan Pun of Simple Syrup, Sang-Thanh Nguyen of frankie, and Malachi Ellis of Malachi Ellis Productions are thrilled to announce the mockumentary short, Shrimp Fried Rice, starring Jeff Yung (The Shrouds, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Bakugan: Battle Planet), and Marty Stelnick (Nanalan, What We Do In The Shadows, Chucky, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) will have its world premiere at Fantasia 2025 on July 28, 2025.

In this tiny, delicious mockumentary, a talented chef with an oversized ego wages war against his rival, who gained popularity because of a wildly successful movie about his culinary prowess, in a showdown on a TV cooking competition show.

“I am so excited for Shrimp Fried Rice to screen at Fantasia. I am honoured to be included by a festival that always brings together a great collection of talented filmmakers and their work. Our film is so weird and wacky, and I really think the audience at Fantasia will appreciate it,” said Dylan Pun.

Shrimp Fried Rice is directed by Dylan Pun (Breathe, Blue) and co-written by Pun and, making his screenwriting debut, Michael Turk. The film is produced by Pun, and Sang-thanh Nguyen (The Long Goodbye, Taste Buds), and executive produced by Malachi Ellis (The Best, Express, Fish Boy, Diaspora), Dave Lembke (Big Brother Canada), Danielle Kappy (Reversal of Fortune: The Unraveling of Turkey’s Democracy).

Cinematography by Marco De Acetis (Dealer, Next Stop), production design by Mica White (Blue), costume design by Emma Nadurata (The Long Goodbye), original score by Jeff Lurie (Don’t Forget, Misaligned), editing by Dylan Pun, with Benjamin Fieschi-Rose (The Lost Seahorse,Bird Hostage, Fish Out of Water), Kirsten Brass (Canadian Reflections, The Lost Seahorse), and Amelia Blaine (Bird Hostage) serving as puppeteers.

The filmmakers would like to recognize the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for their support in the creation of Shrimp Fried Rice.

ABOUT DYLAN PUN
Dylan is a Chinese-Canadian director from Toronto whose work encompasses the weird, the wacky, and the outrageous. His visual style is based around strong talent direction, meticulously crafted frames, and visual spectacle. He is drawn to character-driven stories that call for a unique visual language. Growing up during the early days of YouTube and viral videos, he was fascinated by filmmaking and learned by making videos on the family handycam. After completing a degree in Finance and abandoning a financially stable career, he entered the film industry, eventually becoming a director with works completed in both short form narrative and commercials. He is currently in development for an action-packed, Wuxia-inspired short film titled Dynasty Garden and a paranormal “traumedy” TV series titled The Haunting of Trisha Lozada. Outside of film, he is a hockey player, music producer, and cornhole enthusiast.

ABOUT SANG-THANH NGUYEN
Sang is a Vietnamese Canadian film, TV and commercial producer who was born and raised in Toronto. He started his career as a freelancer in the industry, with 10 years of experience in reality television and travel documentaries. His most recent work can be seen at Frankie, where he oversees the production of commercials for notable brands such as Lays, Gillette, Coors Light and providing input on smaller passion projects and short films. There are many reasons why creatives are drawn to the film industry. For Sang, it’s the chance to collaborate with talented individuals across all levels of production, building relationships with new directors and providing mentorship for the next generation. His aim is to diversify the pool of talent in this industry which has historically not been inclusive of creatives of different cultural backgrounds. He has garnered a reputation of being the “go-to person” to bring your creative vision to life. If he’s not at a production set or on a zoom call, you can catch him bartending on the weekends or throwing punches at a Muay Thai gym.

ABOUT MALACHI ELLIS
Malachi Ellis is a Black Film and Television producer based in Toronto who strives to tell stories revolutionizing the status quo for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ audiences. His producing skills have led him to work at some of the largest Canadian production companies, such as eOne/Hasbro, Bell Media, and Lark Productions. As an independent producer, Malachi has worked with some of Canada’s most talented emerging writers/directors producing short films and proof-of-concept works. His most recent producing credits include I Live Here (2022), Diaspora (2022), Fish Boy (2023), Express (2023) and The Best (2023). His slate of short film projects has screened globally at Oscar, BAFTA, and Canadian Screen Award qualifying festivals and featured on online platforms such as Vimeo Staff Picks, Short of the Week, Super Channel and CBC Gem. He has been showcased at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Short Cuts Program for three consecutive years. He was recently selected for the. Malachi is an alumnus of Toronto Metropolitan University’s RTA Media Production Program, Norman Jewison Film Program’s Producer Lab, OYA Media Groups’ Emerging Filmmakers Program, the Reelworld & Amazon MGM Studios’ Training Lab, and the Reelworld Producer Program. In 2021, Malachi was named one of Playback Magazine’s 10 to Watch.