Chinese American Vincent Chin was beaten to death with a baseball bat 39 years ago in Detroit, a galvanizing incident for the modern Asian American civil rights movement but an event that has been lost to history for most outside the community.

As the United States awakens to the violence that Asians continue to face in this country, Chin’s story — two white killers never served jail time for the slaying — is receiving fresh attention and soon can be experienced in narrative form via “Hold Still, Vincent,” a feature screenplay penned by Johnny Ngo.

Chinese British actress Gemma Chan, A-Major Media and M88 are coming together to produce a table read of the screenplay, a topical companion podcast about Asian American civil rights and the eventual “Hold Still, Vincent” feature film that they hope to sell.

Ngo began writing his script in 2017, and A-Major Media’s Mary Lee got involved shortly before she launched her company in February 2020. Now, in a year that has seen a 149-percent spike in anti-Asian discrimination and assaults nationwide, the team hopes that Chin’s case can reach a receptive audience.

The “Hold Still, Vincent” table read, which Carmen Cuba is casting now, will be recorded over Zoom and will take place during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May. An audio version of the table read will also be available as part of the companion podcast, which will include interviews with the cast and other AAPI artists and activists exploring subjects germane to activism and civil rights within the community. Podcast studio QCODE will release the podcast.

“The death of Vincent Chin occurred during a dark time in America’s history with unsettling parallels to what we have seen happening over the past year with the stoking of hatred towards Asians and the scapegoating of Asians for COVID-19,” Chan said in a statement. “However, it also brought Asian Americans together to form multi-ethnic and multi-racial alliances in the pursuit of justice and to advocate for change. It feels more urgent than ever to bring Vincent’s story to a wider audience.”

Twin brothers Aaron and Winston Tao are attached to direct the feature film based on Ngo’s screenplay. “Vincent Chin’s story is more than a podcast or film to us. It’s a cultural landmark in our nation’s history, turning the tide for Asian American civil rights,” they said in a joint statement. (SD-Agencies)