They were also able to draw interest from local investors, including a donor who studied under Bruce Lee, and were able to secure about $1 million for their shooting budget.
The concept video featured the teen versions of the main cast that would be later put into the film 2 years later. Tran said, "It is important because I think it’s ultimately being able to have your voice, and as a storyteller, be able to express your story and your history to the world." A short concept video was created and crowdfunded over $124,000 on Kickstarter in 2018. The team wanted to keep their vision without changing the cast or story. He also mentioned that, "at the end of the day, we wanted to tell a fun, entertaining story that depicted our experience honestly.” Tran included both experiences in his Director's Statement as part of the movie's press kit, which can be found on the slider on Well Go USA's website. In addition, there can be developed Asian-American characters in a martial arts film, which is not typically seen in American media. Tran emphasized having more representation and nuances, implying that there can be different perspectives of Asian-American storytelling.
While Tran is aware of the history of Asian caricatures in the U.S., this story was based on his and the producers' personal experiences growing up as well as their love for martial arts. Those who opposed wanted to advocate for different stories for Asian-Americans instead of a martial arts film, which is often considered a stereotype. The team also had resistance from some other Asian-Americans when seeking funding outside of major studios. Tran mentioned that Hollywood usually sent their mid-level executives who were also POC to be the messengers of whitewashing. They were also asked to write a role for Nicolas Cage. When the film project was pitched to Hollywood producers, they were offered $4 million with a caveat that there would no Asian lead character and suggested a white lead character to be played by Bruce Willis instead. The Paper Tigers team knew that it would be challenging to find studio support for the film as they wanted to cast people of color and diverse actors in the project as opposed to fall to the trend of whitewashing in film. They had a male Asian-American main character in mind with a minority leading cast.
The inspiration for the movie came from his classmates and friendships when he studied martial arts. The director Bao Tran began writing the film treatment for this concept in 2011.
The film was created due to director and producers' strong admiration of martial arts and old school, fun martial art films.