‘Summertime’
Tran teams up with director, Carlos López Estrada, for second film!
Directed by: Carlos López Estrada
Written by: Paolina Acuña-González, Jason Alvarez, Austin Antoine, Marquesha Babers, Bryce Banks, Bene’t Benton, Marco Bizio, Amaya Blankenship, Mila Cuda, Walter Finnie Jr., Dave Harris, Hanna Harris, Raul Herrera, Gordon Ip, Khamal Iwuanyanwu, Marcus James, Vero Kompalic, Lukas Lane, Nia Lewis, Carlos López Estrada, Pathum Madigapola, Maia Mayor, Daniel McKinley, Olympia Miccio, Xochitl Morales, Anna Osuna, Madyson Park, Zach Perlmuter, Cyrus Roberts,
Tyris Winter
Starring: Austin Antoine, Marquesha Babers, Bryce Banks
Rated: R
Run Time: 1h 35mins
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Music
Synopsis
KELLY MARIE TRAN BOARDS GOOD DEED ENTERTAINMENT’S,
SUMMERTIME, AS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Los Angeles, April 13, 2021 – Good Deed Entertainment today announced that Kelly Marie Tran (Raya and the Last Dragon, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) has signed on to executive produce the spoken-word film, Summertime. Directed by Carlos López Estrada (Raya and the Last Dragon, Blindspotting), the film follows 27 young Angelenos’ interconnected stories told through spoken-word poetry over the course of one day in Los Angeles.
“Watching Summertime was like falling in love for the first time. It’s a love letter to Los Angeles and to the many incredible artists and individuals living in it,” said Executive Producer, Kelly Marie Tran. “I can’t wait for audiences to fall in love with these incredible poets — fully, completely, and inexplicably — the way I did.”
Inspired after attending a spoken-word workshop featuring 27 high school performers from the LA-based non-profit, Get Lit, Estrada proposed a collaboration to develop the performers’ work into a loose, interconnected narrative, allowing the emerging poets to express themselves and their relationship to the city in an authentic way on screen. As a result, Summertime’s diverse cast and writers average 21 years old, the majority making their feature film debut.
“I feel so lucky to have gotten to know Kelly over the last year while working together on Raya. She is not only impossibly talented, but her complete devotion to the project and the community involved in it was invigorating. I am in awe of her as an artist, a person, and an advocate – and am thrilled to know that she will now join our Summertime journey of bringing the poet’s stories to as many people as possible.”
With its Slacker-inspired structure, fanciful form and magical realism, Summertime is a moving narrative experiment — part contemporary musical and part sociological art. The young poets featured radiate vitality, honesty, and profound emotion, and through their art, collectively represent hope.
“Kelly’s passion for these incredible young artists is contagious, and we’re thrilled she was just as touched by their stories and poetry as we were,” said Scott Donley, CEO and Founder of Good Deed Entertainment. “We’re especially excited by her commitment to learning how to write her own poetry by attending a Get Lit workshop herself.”
Summertime had its world premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and will be released in select theaters in NY and LA on July 9, 2021 with a theatrical expansion planned for July 16, 2021. The film is produced by Kimberly Stuckwisch, Jeffrey Soros, Alisa Tager, Simon Horsman, Carlos López Estrada and Diane Luby Lane.
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ABOUT GOOD DEED ENTERTAINMENT
Good Deed Entertainment (GDE) is an Ohio-based independent studio dedicated to producing, financing, and distributing quality entertainment for feature films, television, the worldwide web, and tomorrow’s anticipated platforms. Its distribution slate includes recent releases Lucky Grandma, Tell it To the Bees, and Always at the Carlyle, in addition to the Academy Award-nominated, Loving Vincent, and Spirit Award-nominated, To Dust. http://www.gooddeedentertainment.com/
ABOUT KELLY MARIE TRAN
Kelly Marie Tran has quickly become known as a captivating on-screen presence. The highly sought-after actress made The Hollywood Reporter’s “Next Gen Class of 2017” list and was named one of ABC News’ “Actors to Watch” in 2018. Most recently, Tran has made history by voicing Disney’s first South-East Asian Princess with her role as Raya in Raya and the Last Dragon. The film released to critical acclaim in March 2021. Additionally, Tran serves as an Executive Producer on SXSW’s Grand Jury Prize-Winning Documentary Feature Lily Topples The World. The film follows the life of an American-Chinese adoptee who transforms into a global artistic force with over 1 billion YouTube views.
Last year, Tran voiced Dawn in DreamWorks’ The Croods: A New Age, the sequel to the Oscar-nominated animated feature about a caveman family. After its release, the film earned praise from fans and critics alike for its heart and humor. Tran also starred in Hulu’s Anthology drama series Monsterland, based on the collection of stories from Nathan Ballingrud. The series premiered on Hulu in October 2020. In 2019, Tran reprised her role as Rose Tico in Star Wars: Episode IX.
The film was a smash hit and grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. In 2018, Tran starred opposite Elizabeth Olsen in Facebook Watch’s critically acclaimed original series, Sorry for Your Loss. In 2017, Tran made her big-screen debut in Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi as Resistance mechanic worker, Rose Tico. Her performance and character were widely praised and made headlines across the globe as Tran became the first Asian- American woman cast in a lead role for the franchise. Episode VIII earned over $1.3 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2017. She currently resides in Los Angeles.
Storyline:
Over the course of a hot summer day in Los Angeles, the lives of 25 young Angelenos intersect. A skating guitarist, a tagger, two wannabe rappers, an exasperated fast-food worker, a limo driver—they all weave in and out of each other’s stories.
Through poetry, they express life, love, heartache, family, home, and fear. One of them just wants to find someplace that still serves good cheeseburgers.
Director
Carlos López Estrada
Actors
Austin Antoine, Marquesha Babers, Bryce Banks
Opening Date
July 16, 2021
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