Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1010570
7 0 P E R S P E C T I V E | S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 8 A recent reading guilty pleasure has been the rollicking, wildly descriptive travelogue of a romantic comedy set in the rarified strata of the Singaporean elite—a trilogy of incredibly fun best-selling books by Kevin Kwan—the first being Crazy Rich Asians. The story revolves around American-born Chinese NYU economics professor Rachel Chu who falls for Singaporean Nick Young. When Nick is invited to be best man at his best friend's wedding in Singapore, he invites Rachel along. Upon arrival, Rachel not only discovers Nick is Singapore's most eligible bachelor, but also has to navigate the craziness of dynastic relatives. A After reading the screenplay by Peter Chiarelli, with whom I collaborated on The Proposal, I was incredibly excited to meet director Jon M. Chu and producer Nina Jacobson. American-born Chinese from a California restauranteur family, Jon was passionate about the film, particularly as it related to heritage, representation, culture and the overriding joy of the story. That sense of joy would permeate the entire project. Singapore Sojourn Two weeks later, I received an eleven a.m. call to pack and be ready for a seven p.m. pickup, for a 22-hour flight to Singapore to scout with the director and producers. We explored Singapore, P e r a n a k a n S t y l e a n d t h e O p u l e n c e o f C r a z y R i c h A s i a n s C R A Z Y … I N L O V E W I T H S I N G A P O R E ! B Y N E L S O N C O A T E S , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R