EXCLUSIVE: Anderson .Paak, the eight-time Grammy Award winner born Brandon Paak Anderson, will make his feature directorial debut with the dramatic comedy K-POPS! for Stampede Ventures—starring in the film alongside his son, Soul Rasheed.
The film centers on a washed-up musician who travels to Korea to write for K-pop stars, discovering that his long-lost son is set to front one of the country’s hottest new groups. He then jumps at the opportunity to capitalize on his son’s stardom for his own renaissance, but learns that fatherhood is much more fulfilling and meaningful than stardom.
.Paak developed the project with rapper Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park, writing the screenplay with Khaila Amazon (A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea And Tomorrow, Greg Silverman will produce on behalf of Stampede Ventures, with Jaeson Ma on behalf of EST Studios, Park on behalf of Big Dummie and .Paak via his company Apeshit Films. Amazon will exec produce alongside Stampede Ventures’ Gideon Yu, Chris Bosco and Grant Torre, and EST Studios’ Eric Tu, with EST’s Juefang Zhang co-producing. Production will kick off in the fourth quarter of this year.
“My mom is from Korea but she was adopted so I never knew anything about my Korean heritage until I met my wife. This movie is a reflection on my experience learning about this part of myself alongside my wife and son – and spending even more time with them!” explained .Paak. “I knew this would be something I should write and direct, and Stampede Ventures took a chance and trusted that I could pull this off. I’m excited to bring it to the big screen.”
“As a long time friend of Anderson’s I’ve seen him expand his creative vision time and time again,” said Park. “I’m excited for my production company “Big Dummie” to be a part of this unique story that brings together and celebrates Black and Asian culture through the love of music. I also can’t wait for the world to meet his son, Soul Rasheed who I know everyone is going to love!”
“Anderson .Paak is a trailblazer by nature, whose amazing work will naturally translate onto the big screen for feature films,” added Stampede Ventures’ CEO and founder, Silverman. “He is a monster talent with a huge heart and a bigger smile. This is just the beginning for this superstar.”
.Paak is a producer, songwriter, artist and director fresh off of Grammy domination with four wins—including Record of the Year and Song of the Year—alongside Bruno Mars via their R&B superduo Silk Sonic. His most recent album Ventura landed at #4 on the Billboard 200 and won him two Grammys, with his 2020 single “Lockdown” released on Juneteenth also winning a Grammy Award for Best Melodic Performance. “Leave The Door Open,” the debut single from .Paak’s Silk Sonic, recently garnered over 460 million streams and 350 million official video views. The duo is set to perform a Vegas Residency through May.
.Paak created his label Apeshit in collaboration with UMG. He previously directed the music videos for Leon Bridges’ “Motorbike” and Domi’s “Smile,” as well as JD Beck’s debut music video, produced via his Apeshit Films, which was released last Friday.
Amazon was recently a staff writer on the upcoming Netflix series Freeridgea spin-off of On My Block, She is also adapting the New York Times bestselling novel A Cuban Girl’s Guide To Tea And Tomorrow into a feature for ACE Entertainment.
Silverman launched Stampede Ventures in 2018, after his near 20-year tenure at Warner Bros., which saw him rise to President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production. The company is also currently at work on the Netflix animated feature Prince of Port au Prince, from Wyclef Jean; Mo Willems’ CGI animated rock opera, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience, which will debut on HBO Max this year; Morgan Neville’s Netflix documentary, curveball, and Lionsgate’s Ordinary Angels, which began production in March. It also recently expanded its foundation in the kids and family space with its launch alongside UTA of HappyNest, an animation production company that incubates IP for kids and family content.
Stampede Ventures’ President Bosco and Neil Sacker of Sacker Entertainment Law PC negotiated the deal for K-POPS! with EST and Lynn Quarterman of Smith Entertainment Law Group on behalf of .Paak, who is represented by WME and Full Stop Management. Amazon is repped by Verve, Grandview and Gang, Tire, Ramer.
