Indie filmmaker Anthony Lucero smacked into a huge roadblock in the casting process of his touching, heartfelt beauty of a second feature, “Paper Bag Plan”: All the actresses he and his producer wife Ke’alohi Lee Lucero wanted to offer one of two lead roles – that of a terminally ill parent embarking on ways to help a disabled 25-year-old son become more self sufficient for when he departs the world – said no.

“I actually got turned down from 25 or so actresses,” recalls the Oakland-born Lucero, the director and writer behind the 2014 Oakland-set charmer “East Side Sushi” – a radiant indie breakout hit about a Mexican immigrant finding her place as a sushi chef. His latest along with that first feature continue his intention to tell stories about everyday working-class people, characters

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