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Egghead and Twinkie – an Asian American Gen Z road trip comedy about coming out
Egghead and Twinkie tells the story of seventeen-year-old Twinkie, who takes off on a road trip to meet her online crush with the help of her nerdy best friend, Egghead, after coming out to her parents. As they make their way across the country, Egghead wrestles with his unrequited feelings for Twinkie, while Twinkie learns to embrace her identity as a gay mixed-Asian woman.
Teenagers Egghead (Louis Tomeo) and Twinkie (Sabrina Jie-A-Fa) have been best friends since childhood, but recently they’ve been keeping secrets from each other. Egghead has a secret crush on Twinkie. Twinkie is a lesbian infatuated with social media star, BD (Ayden Lee). These awkward truths come to light when Egghead tries to kiss Twinkie, spurring her to come out to her conservative parents and take off on a road trip with Egghead along for the ride. The problem? Egghead doesn’t know that the real purpose of the trip is for Twinkie to meet BD in person, and BD might not be everything she appears to be online. Told in a series of colorful flashbacks, EGGHEAD & TWINKIE is a stylized, whip smart, coming-of-age story written by and for Gen Z.
Ahead of the release of the film, Director, Sarah Kambe Holland, shared her thoughts, “I came up with the idea for Egghead & Twinkie six years ago, shortly after coming out to my parents. Since then, the film has won over the hearts of thousands on TikTok, amassed an incredible cast and crew, and survived a global pandemic. While it’s been a long journey to get to this point, I am beyond excited to celebrate our international premiere at such an incredible event for LGBTQ+ cinema as BFI Flare!”
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT – Sarah Kambe Holland
I first thought of the concept for EGGHEAD & TWINKIE when I was fresh out of the closet at nineteen years old. Like many LGBTQ people, I had been reluctant to come out, in part because the media had taught me to fear it. In my experience, one of the best ways to overcome fear is through humor, so this film is my earnest attempt to find the comedy in the coming out process without trivializing the struggles that queer people endure to be themselves.
While our world has become increasingly divided, I believe that this project can entertain mainstream audiences while simultaneously advocating for minority representation. Quirky, stylized, and fast paced, EGGHEAD & TWINKIE will inspire laughter AND discussion, opening a dialogue for Asian American and LGBTQ youth coming into their own.
This project has been a long time coming, especially given the impact of COVID-19, which set back every aspect of our production. Despite all the struggles, the film is stronger for it. When production was delayed due to COVID, we pivoted and spent months marketing the production on social media, helping to pioneer a space for independent filmmakers on the fastest growing platform, TikTok. Taking the film to festivals is a means for us to bring Twinkie’s story to our online supporters who have been eagerly waiting to see it.
It’s been a long journey (literally and figuratively… we did make a road movie, after all). The bumps along the way were well worth it. In many ways, Twinkie is the protagonist that I needed when I was growing up, and I’m so, so excited for you all to meet her.
CanBeDone Films and Orange Cat Films are proud to present Egghead & Twinkie, writer/director Sarah Kambe Holland’s deeply personal coming-of-age comedy about the joys and pains of coming out of the closet. Egghead & Twinkie debuts 16 March at BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival.
Made by and for Gen Z, Egghead & Twinkie stars Sabrina Jie-A-Fa as the titular Twinkie (The Corrupt Half) and Louis Tomeo as Egghead (Every Witch Way, 9-1-1), with a strong supporting cast including Asahi Hirano (Saintly, Save Me a Dance), Ayden Lee (social media personality @actually.ayden), J. Scott Browning (The Right Stuff, I Am Frankie), Kelley Mauro (A Christmas Karen), Steven Lane (Burn Notice, Queen of the South), and Roger Greco (David Makes Man, Murder by Numbers).
About the Author
Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.
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