The Taiwan Oyster is a 2013 American low budget adventure comedy-drama Indie film directed by Mark Jarrett. The film marks Jarrett's feature film debut, and was based upon his own experiences living in Taiwan and working as kindergarten teachers from 1999 to 2001. The events in the movie take place when a fellow ex-pat dies. Described as a Texas road film in a Taiwan setting, the project stars Billy Harvey, Leonora Moore, and Jeff Palmiotti. Plot Simon (Billy Harvey) and Darin (Jeff Palmiotti) are two laid-back American ex-patriates who teach kindergarten and run a magazine called The Oyster in Taiwan in 2000. When fellow ex-pat (Will Mounger) dies an unfortunate death, they learn that there is no one to contact his Stateside family and no one to claim his body. They decide to make it their mission to ensure he receives a proper burial rather than allow his being cremated by the local authorities. Unfortunately, the morgue overseer demands a bribe in order to release the body. Nikita (Leonora Moore), a sympathetic clerk, helps them steal Jed's body and joins them on their road trip across Taiwan looking for the ideal burial site. Their efforts are complicated by having to keep Jed's body on ice in the bed of their pickup truck while transporting it all over Taiwan. Cast Billy Harvey as Simon Leonora Moore as Nikita (as Leonora Lim) Jeff Palmiotti as Darin Erin King as Mike Fink Fu-Kuei Huang as Mr. Chen Chia-Ying Kuo as Mrs. Chen Joseph Shu as Moulder Sean Scanlan as Barrie the Bull Will Mounger as Jedidiah Jonas Williams Jimi Moe as Paul Hai-sen Ni as Jerry the Teacher Eva Liao as Jane Catherine Li as Jane's Mom Michael Jian as Tony Magnus von Platen as Guy in park Dean Sung as Morgue Overseer Che-lun Ou as Fighting Couple Bob Bloodworth as DJ Falstaff Bin-he Feng as Morgue Clerk Zi-Ning Chou as Darin's Lady Friend 1 Klairinette Wu as Darin's Lady Friend 2 Wei-Jyun Tao as Security Guard Jore Liu as Teashop Waitress Production Mark Jarrett had lived in Taichung, Taiwan, from 1999 to 2001, and set his story to take place six months after the region's September 21, 1999 921 earthquake. Jarrett's original idea was to think of a low-budget road movie. He had been reading William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and decided that his story could take place in Taiwan. Based