What's Cooking? (2000)

Director:

Gurinder Chadha

Writers:

Gurinder Chadha (written by) &
Paul Mayeda Berges (written by)

Release Date:

11 August 2000 (Norway)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Families. Fights. Feasts. A holiday tradition.

Plot:

In LA's Fairfax district, where ethnic groups abound, four households celebrate Thanksgiving amidst family tensions...

Plot Keywords:

Pregnancy | Thanksgiving | Gun | Divorce | Los Angeles California

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Mercedes Ruehl	...	Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Avila
Victor Rivers	...	Javier Avila
Douglas Spain	...	Anthony 'Tony' Avila
Maria Carmen	...	Sofia Avila
Isidra Vega	...	Gina Avila
Elena Lopez	...	Grandma Avila
A Martinez	...	Daniel 'Danny'
Richard Yniguez	...	Robert Avila
Lorraine Perez	...	Auntie Delores
Eva Rodriguez	...	Auntie Eva
Adrian Armas	...	Avila cousin
Caz	...	Gordo, the Avila's dog
Joan Chen	...	Trinh Nguyen
François Chau	...	Duc Nguyen (as Francois Chau)
Will Yun Lee	...	Jimmy Nguyen
Kristy Wu	...	Jenny Nguyen
Brennan Louie	...	Joey Nguyen
Jimmy Pham	...	Gary Nguyen
Kieu Chinh	...	Grandma Nguyen
Chao Li Chi	...	Grandpa Nguyen (as Chao-Li Chi)
Chad Todhunter	...	Luke
Scott Nguyen	...	Don
Lainie Kazan	...	Ruth 'Ruthie' Seelig
Maury Chaykin	...	Herb 'Herbie' Seelig
Kyra Sedgwick	...	Rachel Seelig
Julianna Margulies	...	Carla
Albie Selznick	...	Art Seelig
Suzanne Carney	...	Sarah Seelig
Estelle Harris	...	Aunt Bea
Ralph Manza	...	Uncle David
Andrew Heckler	...	Jerry
Marty	...	Max, the Seelig's dog
Alfre Woodard	...	Audrey Williams
Dennis Haysbert	...	Ronald Williams
Eric George	...	Michael Williams (as Eric K. George)
Brittany Jean Henry	...	Kristin Williams
Ann Weldon	...	Grandma Grace Williams
Shareen Mitchell	...	Paula Moore
Gregory Itzin	...	James Moore
Mariam Parris	...	Monica Moore
Frank Novak	...	Governor Rhoads
Margie Loomis	...	Old woman in airport
Gwendolyn Oliver	...	TV reporter
Charles Constant	...	Announcer
Bruce Dobos	...	Turkey man
Darren O'Bannon	...	Student #1
Jeremy Berger	...	Student #2
Alexandra Castro	...	Student #3

Directed by
Gurinder Chadha

Writing credits
Gurinder Chadha		(written by) &
Paul Mayeda Berges		(written by)

Produced by
Paul Mayeda Berges	....	associate producer
Gurinder Chadha	....	associate producer
David Forrest	....	executive producer
Abe Glazer	....	executive producer
David Grace	....	line producer
Beau Rogers	....	executive producer
Jeffrey Taylor	....	producer
Ethan Hurt	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Steven D. Kravitz	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Craig Pruess

Cinematography by
Lin Jong		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Janice Hampton

Casting by
Cathy Henderson		(as Cathy Henderson-Martin)
Dori Zuckerman

Production Design by
Stuart Blatt

Art Direction by
Melissa Hibbard

Set Decoration by
Melissa M. Levander		(as Melissa Levander)

Costume Design by
Eduardo Castro

Makeup Department
Carrie Angland	....	makeup artist: Ms. Woodard
Merc Arceneaux	....	makeup artist
Heather Cummings	....	makeup artist
Sterfon Demings	....	hair stylist: Ms. Woodard (as Sterfon Demmings)
Angela Johnson	....	first makeup artist
Laura Kelly	....	key hair stylist
JoJo Myers Proud	....	hair assistant
Lori Rozman	....	hair stylist: Ms. Margulies
Carol Strong	....	key makeup artist
Maricela Zavala	....	makeup artist

Production Management
David Grace	....	post-production supervisor
David Grace	....	unit production manager
Karen R. Sachs	....	production supervisor
Addison Wright	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Athena Alexander	....	second assistant director
Paul Mayeda Berges	....	second unit director
Sam Hill	....	first assistant director
Wendy Palmer	....	second second assistant director
Michael Shea	....	assistant director: second unit
Nancy Youngblood	....	second assistant director
Mark C. Smith	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Addison Wright	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Teague Barto	....	additional painter
Bobby Bednar	....	propmaker (as Bobby Bedmar)
Treven Bedwell	....	swing (as Morgan Treven Bedwell)
Brian Berkel	....	propmaker
Holly Brand	....	on-set dresser
Laura Branosky	....	art department assistant
Jesse Brown	....	propmaker
Dorene Chavez	....	additional painter
James Clausman	....	propmaker
Emily Dixon	....	painter
Mark Emerson	....	additional painter
Michael Furster	....	carpenter
Greg J. Gregath	....	propmaker (as Greg Grgath)
Brian Hahn	....	swing
Guy Herman	....	propmaker
Susan Hutchinson	....	additional painter
William Johnson	....	carpenter
Susan King	....	additional prop assistant
Michael Klingerman	....	lead person
Christian Lopez	....	additional painter
Chris Marneus	....	foreman
Matthew Martin	....	carpenter
Paula Maslowski	....	art department shopper
Peter Mathus	....	painter
Takashi Matsubara	....	additional painter
Sean Maytum	....	additional painter
Kevin McCown	....	propmaker
Joe Merino	....	additional painter (as Jose Merino)
Steve Mitchell	....	set designer
Gay Perello	....	property master
Steven Piacenza	....	assistant props (as Steve Piacenza)
Garner E. Ryan	....	carpenter (as Garner Ryan)
Chris Santini	....	construction coordinator
Rik Sciacca	....	propmaker
Michael Spitaletto	....	painter
Eric Steinway	....	swing
Suzette Stotts	....	lead scenic
Don Stroud	....	additional painter
Don Stroud	....	additional prop assistant
Macie Vener	....	art department assistant
Paul Walton	....	additional painter

Sound Department
Ryan Davidson	....	adr recordist
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist
Ronald Eng	....	dialogue editor (as Ron Eng)
William Fiege	....	production sound mixer (as William M. Fiege)
Richard C. Franklin	....	sound supervisor (as Rick Franklin)
Emily Gaydos	....	dialogue editor
Doug Jackson	....	sound editor
Greg Mauer	....	foley mixer
Ronnie Morgan	....	technical assistant
Chuck Neely	....	sound editor
Howard Neiman	....	sound editor
Donal Nelson	....	additional boom operator
Bruce Nyznik	....	adr supervisor
Bruce Nyznik	....	dialogue editor
Bruce Nyznik	....	dialogue supervisor
Srdjan 'Serge' Popovic	....	additional boom operator
Susan Pusateri	....	foley artist
Paul Ratajczak	....	sound re-recording mixer
Joan Rowe	....	foley artist
Steve Sollars	....	boom operator
Lee Tinkham	....	foley mixer
Marc Verboys	....	dialogue technical assistant
Jonathan Wales	....	sound re-recording mixer
Christopher T. Welch	....	sound editor (as Chris Welch)
Ace Williams	....	additional boom operator (as Emil Ace Williams)

Special Effects by
Andre G. Ellingson	....	special effects coordinator (as Andre Ellingson)

Stunts
Julius LeFlore	....	stunt coordinator
Mitch Toles	....	precision driver (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Eddie Avila	....	camera loader
Anthony Cady	....	grip (as Tony Cady)
Ricky Carrillo	....	additional electrician (as Ricardo Carrillo)
Sooduk Chung	....	grip (as SooDuk Chung)
Steve Colgrove	....	electrician
Matthew J. Curry	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as Matthew Curry)
Greg Davis	....	second assistant camera
Dawn Fleischman	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Michael Gulbin	....	additional grip (as Michael Gublin)
Michael Britt Hamby	....	still photographer (as Michael Britt)
Colin Hudson	....	Steadicam operator
Jody Hutchins	....	grip
Courtney Jones	....	key grip
Dan Kneece	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Giovani Lampassi	....	gaffer
Stuart T. Lillas	....	first assistant camera (as Stuart Lillas)
Bruce D. McDonald	....	additional electrician (as Bruce McDonald)
Eric Moore	....	best boy electric
Jerry Mundy	....	electrician
Floyd Olson Jr.	....	additional electrician
Andre Ramirez	....	additional grip
David Reese	....	best boy grip
Trace Schneider	....	additional electrician
Geoff Shotz	....	additional electrician
Andy Shuttleworth	....	Steadicam operator
Charles Simons	....	dolly grip
Scott E. Steele	....	camera operator (as Scott Steele)
Shannon Summers	....	additional grip
Scott R. Todd	....	rigging gaffer (as Scott Todd)
Chris Walden	....	generator operator
Kelly Way	....	additional electrician
Laurie White	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Laurie White Hayball)

Casting Department
Betsy Glick	....	casting assistant
Rebecca Quiroz	....	casting assistant
Debe Waisman	....	extras casting (as Debe Waismann)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kimberly Green	....	wardrobe supervisor
Helen Monaghan	....	wardrobe supervisor
Hans Georg Struhar	....	set costumer (as Hans Strurhar)

Editorial Department
Mato	....	color timer
Sean Thompson	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Michael Creighton Rogers	....	music supervisor (as Michael Rogers)
Jerry Gilbert	....	music editor
Gregory Hobson	....	music editor
Craig Pruess	....	music coordinator
Basil Moore	....	music supervisor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Ben Barsky	....	driver
Ken Day	....	driver: camera car
Paul Feddersen	....	transportation captain
Frederick Johnston	....	driver
Curt Larson	....	transportation co-captain
Michael Locke	....	transportation coordinator (as Mike Locke)
Rick Locke	....	driver
Carina Moore	....	driver: honeywagon
Danny Nelson	....	driver
Hugo Ocana	....	driver
Benjamin Rivera	....	driver: honeywagon (as Benny Rivera)
Manuel Ruiz	....	driver
Lew Strong	....	driver
Chris Walden	....	driver: production van

Other crew
David Abbitt	....	production accountant
Scott Adams	....	chef: Silver Screen Catering
Conan Castro Jr.	....	additional production assistant (as Conan Castro)
Jose Chavez	....	additional production assistant
Therese Clinton	....	craft service assistant
Eric Fierstein	....	location manager
Rhoda Fine	....	teacher
Neil Fisher	....	legal services (as Neil Fischer)
Rick Ghaly	....	additional production assistant
Kevin Haskins	....	additional production assistant
Annette Hobday	....	additional production assistant (as Annette Hawley)
Matt Holloway	....	key set production assistant (as Matthew Holloway)
Ethan Hurt	....	presenter: BeCause Entertainment
Paul Kapellas	....	office production assistant (as Paul Cloeka Kapellas)
Jason Z. Kemp	....	set production assistant (as Jason Kemp)
Melissa Kinnicutt	....	additional production assistant
Carol Kitinski	....	craft service
Steven D. Kravitz	....	presenter: BeCause Entertainment
Kerry Lane	....	additional production assistant
Ed Meeken	....	assistant location manager
Ean Meving	....	additional production assistant
Dana Michaelson	....	assistant production accountant
Susan Mieras	....	assistant: Ms. Sedgwick
Anthony J. Nahar	....	additional production assistant (as Tony Nahar)
Nelson O. Noguera	....	chef: Silver Screen Catering (as Nelson Noguera)
Tasha Oldham	....	script supervisor
Nathaniel Rundle	....	set production assistant
Jeffrey Taylor	....	presenter: BeCause Entertainment
Chantal Thomas	....	assistant production coordinator
Matthew A. Thomas	....	additional production assistant (as Matthew 'Stretch' Thomas)
Jacob Whitmore	....	office production assistant
Wendy Wilhite	....	teacher
Anthony Woods	....	set medic
Danijela Zakic	....	set production assistant
Ava DuVernay	....	publicity consultant (uncredited)
Leah Jediny	....	stand-in: Kyra Sedgwick (uncredited)
Chris Swinney	....	craft service (uncredited)

Thanks
David Azzoto	....	special thanks (as Dave Azzoto)
Leslie Belzberg	....	special thanks
Janis Mayeda Berges	....	special thanks
Jody Berges	....	special thanks
Ronald Berges	....	special thanks
Balwant Kaur Chadha	....	special thanks
Sardar Bhajan Singh Chadha	....	dedicatee: my father
Bradford Craig	....	special thanks
Steve Dontanville	....	special thanks
Martin Fink	....	special thanks (as Marty Fink)
Marcus Hu	....	special thanks
Sally Hunter	....	special thanks
Alkarim Jivani	....	special thanks
Timothy Khan	....	special thanks: Merlins Energy Source
Doug MacLaren	....	special thanks
Komiko Mayeda	....	special thanks
Toshio Mayeda	....	special thanks
Jonathan Merrison	....	special thanks
Basil Moore	....	special thanks
Kathy Nanez	....	special thanks: Imperial Bank
Billy Pollina	....	special thanks (as Bill Pollina)
Janice Sakamoto	....	special thanks
Michelle Satter	....	special thanks
Momita Sengupta	....	special thanks
Zak Taylor	....	special thanks
Paul A. Wyckoff	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Because Entertainment (as BeCause Entertainment)
• Flashpoint (I)
• Hope and Gravy Inc.
• Stagescreen Ltd.

Distributors

• Cinemax (2012) (Hungary) (TV)
• Cipa (France)
• Civite Films (Spain)
• Europafilm AS (Norway)
• Lions Gate Films
• Redbus Film Distribution (UK)
• Trimark Pictures

Other Companies

• AON/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services  insurance provided by (as AON/Albert G. Ruben)
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• E=mc²  video playback
• Eastman Kodak  film stock provided by
• Entertainment Partners  payroll services provided by (as Entertainment Partners)
• Feature Creatures  animals provided by
• Hollywood Camera Cars  camera car provided by (as Hollywood Camera Car)
• Isaacman, Kaufman & Painter  legal services by (as Isaacman, Kaufman & Painter)
• J.L. Fisher  camera dollies
• Keslow Camera  cameras and lenses provided by (as Keslow Camera)
• Leonetti Company  production equipment provided by (as Leonetti)
• National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA)  special thanks
• Optical Nerve  special thanks
• Pacific Time Entertainment  soundtrack published by
• Rennie Johnson & Associates  negative cutting
• Silicon Valley Bank  financing arranged by
• Silver Screen Caterers  catering (as Silver Screen Catering)
• Sundance Institute, The  developed with the assistance of
• Title House  titles and opticals (as Title House)
• Top Notch Security  security provided by (as Top Notch Film Security)
• Worldwide Film Completion  bond company (as Worldwide Film Completion)
• ZAP Entertainment  electronic press kit

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality, brief language and a perilous situation

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Spanish | Vietnamese | Yiddish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Norway:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Spain:13 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Because Entertainment

Movie Connections:

References "Bonanza" (1959)

Soundtrack:

The Star Spangled Banner

a possible world

With Girlfight, this tops my best of 2000 list. Not that I have seen them all, and not that there's much competition. This was such a dreadful year in Hollywood I'm swearing off Oscar day. But this IS an amazing film (as is Girlfight). Let women direct more, I say, and let budgets be slashed in subatomic particles. Most importantly, let people who have stuff to say, say it. All the other ones should wait for inspiration.

One of the amazing things about this film is its pace. It is breathless, and you never quite stop laughing or gasping or having some variety of intense edge-of-your-seat emotional reaction. Which is amazing, because the plot is so complex, it could easily have gotten lost in chaos. Even as you laugh, the tension doesn't let up. The stories unfold rapidly and dramatically and with full comic timing, and you never quite stop marveling. We are not treated very often to this kind of inventive filmmaking.

If you've lived in LA for any significant length of time, you'll realize from the start that this film is not meant to be realistic. The MTA scenes at the beginning are so un-LA, so colorful and happy, you know this is going to be a grand fest of the imagination and the heart, not a tale of urban life. (For one, people on MTA buses tend to sit dejectedly, not to have a collective laugh&lovefest). Similarly, the ethnic angle is more life-as-we-would-like-it-to-be than life-as-is. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's so refreshing to see race on film without having to trudge through misery, pain, and blood, you want to weep with gratitude. What's Cooking? is full of big themes treated with similar lightness: broken families, same-sex relationships, tradition vs. progress, parenthood, urban violence, gender roles, politics... Even as it packs it all in, the film does it all seamlessly, treating it as the stuff of everyday's life it in fact is (funny how movies tend to deal with one issue at the time, and how we've grown to consider that a good thing).

But lightness is not glibness or superficiality. There's a big heart and a big sharp mind at the center of What's Cooking? and problems get taken seriously. Clearly, since this is the world as we'd like it to be, most things find some sort of satisfactory conclusion by the end. And that is more than all right, because we're tired to see gays and people of color go down, families drown in waters to thick to negotiate, and all the vast repertoire of disasters that make critics think a film "got it right." Nope. Not here. But the world as we'd like it to be can still be a POSSIBLE world, and this is ultimately the exhilarating nutshell of What's Cooking?: that joy is not beyond our reach, the pain can give way to healing, and that, hell, we can, maybe not perfectly but nonetheless, all get along.

Well done!