Private Project

One Note (单注)

A dark comedy about a neurotic but driven 17-year-old Chinese-American violinist on a mission to get admitted to Harvard at any cost. After spotting a mistake in her application at the last minute, she embarks on a midnight rampage through her magnet high school, blackmailing a socially-awkward teenage hacker to deliver the perfect audition for the elusive Dean of Admissions before the deadline.

  • Jamie Ting
    Director
  • Jamie Ting
    Writer
  • Danielle Liu
    Key Cast
    "Joyce"
  • Mardy Ma
    Key Cast
    "Joyce's Mom"
  • Jack C. Huang
    Key Cast
    "Joyce's Dad"
  • Mariana Arôxa
    Key Cast
    "Lisa the Hacker"
  • Freya Chen
    Key Cast
    "Young Joyce"
  • Frances Welter
    Key Cast
    "Dean Moore"
  • Andrew Hobson
    Key Cast
    "Security Guard"
  • Howard Young
    Key Cast
    "Professor Young"
  • Shakti Murthy
    Key Cast
    "Professor Chandrakar"
  • Suchen Liu
    Key Cast
    "Joyce's Teacher"
  • Jamie Ting
    Executive Producer
  • Bo Butterworth
    Producer
  • Josh Fisher
    Director of Photography
  • Drew Degurian
    Production Designer
  • Bailee Edgington
    Costume Designer
  • Joanna Klein
    Hair & Makeup
  • Joan Grey
    Hair & Makeup
  • Karen Ryan
    Casting Director
  • Karen Kourtessis
    Editors
  • Artemis Tapliga
    Editors
  • Luke Claibourne Nelson
    Editors
  • Xin Sui
    Additional Editor
  • Peter Seibert
    Composer
  • Matt Hauser
    Sound Mixer
  • Derick Childress
    Visual Effects Artist
  • Company 3
    Color and Finish
  • Alan Gordon
    Colorist
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    单注
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 26 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 20, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    Chinese, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.4:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jamie Ting

Jamie is an award-winning comedy director and writer based in New York and Los Angeles. He was raised in Miami, Florida by his Chinese grandfather, whom he credits for his dry sense of humor and love of salad bars.

While attending the University of Virginia’s business school, he realized that his favorite concentration was the one that required the most work and paid the least: advertising.

After attending The Creative Circus in Atlanta, he started his career in the creative department of BBDO New York, writing and art directing commercials for AT&T, Gillette, Pepsi, and an M&Ms Superbowl commercial.

He has earned over 100 million views and a silver Cannes Lion for his branded short films for Helloflo, and two Clios for his Deadpool 2 promos. Since moving to LA, he's developed scripted comedies with ABC Digital, Youtube Red, and Crackle.

Named one of Adweek's top 100 creatives, Jamie directs commercials and writes short films and TV pilots, crafting comedy and heart into stories worth sharing. He’s currently working on his first feature film "Virtuosa."

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Director Statement

First Movement (Sonata)
I was four years old when my Chinese grandfather ordered the VHS tape that would change the course of my life. He’d seen an infomercial for Andre Rieu, a famous Dutch violinist, performing Méditation from Thaïs – his favorite piece – and one week later, I was enrolled in private violin lessons. At my first recital, I squeaked out a rusty, anemic version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and my fate was sealed.

Second Movement (In Two Parts)
Too weak to play sports and too shy to talk to girls, I was blessed to spend the next twelve years practicing the violin, which landed me at the top magnet high school in the U.S.: Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Once there, I firmly believed I would overwhelm the school orchestra with my God-given talent. Instead, I was immediately surpassed by virtuosos who more resembled machines than humans. Thoroughly outdone, I settled for the noble way out: I quit.

Fifteen years later, I couldn’t have ended up further from my training as a musical prodigy. I’m a comedy writer and director in Los Angeles, most known for a couple of viral short films about teenage menstruation – a unique calling card for a guy in his mid-30s with no children. In the past few years, I’ve developed comedy pilots for streaming networks, directed award-winning commercials, and worked with A-list talent – but all along, my dream has been to write and direct stories about the universal truths that I believe in sharing with the world.

Third Movement (Rondo)
Lightning struck in the form of a Washington Post article exposing a high school senior who had faked ivy-league acceptance letters to impress her parents and peers. And she was from my high school. The more I researched, the more I found that ivy league college admissions have become more stressful and more cutthroat than ever before, often driving applicants to the brink of insanity. The pressure from first-generation immigrant parents, the unrealistic expectations of perfection, the awkward social interactions of so-called “gifted” students – it all came flooding back to me. I became obsessed with this character, and blended in my own musical experiences to create the dark comedy I had unintentionally spent my entire adolescence preparing to bring to life. My hope is that audiences recognize the potentially damaging consequences of parental pressures to succeed a young age, and what can happen when a person is measured purely by their achievements.