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Exclusive: Palestinian Producer Hanna Atallah and Lebanese-American writer-director Darine Hotait are joining forces on multi-format development and production company Route 243, with the aim of championing underrepresented voices and narratives with global resonance.

Projects on its inaugural slate include Hotait’s feature Tallahassee, adapted from Hala Alyan’s eponymous short story about a woman who has recently been released from a psychiatric facility. It extends Hotait’s 2021 short film which featured the author Alyan, Leila Buck and Cherien Dabis in the cast.

The studio is also developing Palestinian American Sama’an Ashrawi’s period musical The Blooms, exploring the rise of Palestine’s first rock band Al-Bara’em in the 1960s, which was led by Ashrawi’s father and uncle.

Ashrawi has collaborated with a wide range of notable figures in music and entertainment, including Megan Thee Stallion, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Chris Rock, and Pharrell.

Further projects include psychological thriller The Olive Press,...

Plot: Following the death of his father, energetic and free-spirited Rickey convinces long-time friend Glenn to go on an impromptu road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento. Frustrated by Rickey’s Peter Pan complex, Glenn is encouraged by his pregnant wife Rosie to go on the adventure to reconnect. In the worn yellow seats of Glenn’s old college convertible, the two men confront their anxiety-ridden lives, addressing past mistakes and questioning what their futures hold.

Review: Sacramento has an equal amount of sweetness and sadness that it tries to balance. Starring two actors who spent their early careers in Hollywood playing teenagers, Sacramento shows us Michael Cera and Michael Angarano as what could be adult versions of any number of characters from their past projects. Co-written and directed by Angarano, Sacramento is a successor to films like Superbad if they were made through the lens of Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain.

American movies overflow with arrested-development cases. (There’s something very American about that.) Yet it’s not every day that you see an engaging indie comedy about “adulting” — that is, characters of a certain age who are still sealed inside the youth bubble, to the point that they regard conventional grown-up activities like holding down a job or taking care of another person as beyond-their-pay-grade endeavors.

The smart and fluky “Sacramento” is that kind of movie. It’s been called a road comedy, and technically it is, if you count as a road comedy a film in which the two main characters are old friends who may no longer even like each other, who climb into a vintage gold Chrysler Imperial — the car they shared in their youth — and drive from L.A. to Sacramento, a trip that takes all of six hours (and occupies about 25 minutes of the movie).

Why are they going there?...

Michael Cera is set to star in the new adaptation of Stephen King's The Running Man from director Edgar Wright. The two previously worked together on 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2025.

Cera's current project is the action road comedy Sacramento, which premieres in theaters on April 11, with Michael Angarano starring, co-writing, and directing. In an interview with Cbr's Grae Drake, Cera discussed Angarano's directorial style and compared it with Edgar Wright. "It's so different, because obviously such different kinds of workand like approaches to it," he said. "Likeworking with Edgar is interesting, because you well, he has his editor, Paul Machliss, on the set all the time, and like, cutting in real time."

"So you see back what you just shot," Cera continued. "And they also save a lot of, you know, they don't ever have to come back for reshoots,...

Kristen Stewart looks chic in her red carpet outfit at the premiere of her movie Sacramento.

The 34-year-old actress was joined at the event by her real-life friends and co-stars Michael Angarano and Maya Erskine on Monday night (April 7) at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles.

Also in attendance at the event were co-stars Aj Mendez, Iman Karram, and Rosalind Chao.

Michael not only stars in the movie, he also co-wrote and directed the film. Here is a synopsis: “Rickey (Angarano), an energetic and free-spirited young man with a Peter Pan complex, convinces his long-time friend Glenn (Michael Cera) to hit pause on his blissful domestic life and embark on an impromptu road trip across California.”

The film will be released in theaters on April 11. Watch the trailer below!

A couple of guys who’ve known each other since childhood but grew apart as adults decide to pack up their shared past and plentiful neuroses and take a trip together. Michael Angarano’s road-trip dramedy plots a similar course to Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, and even sees him filling the same writer-director-star role as Eisenberg did in a story that revolves around a similar double act: Angarano plays an outgoing, unreliable type opposite Michael Cera as his more introverted, family-oriented friend. And while Sacramento is a sunnier, slighter affair than A Real Pain, it still makes for a pretty nice ride.

Glenn (Cera) is enjoying a quiet life in an L.A. suburb when his old friend Rickey (Angarano) jumps out of a tree and suggests they take a trip to Sacramento. It’s not a great time for Glenn to be hitting the road—he’s about to become a father,...

"I didn't know what I wanted, but I think I do now..." Do you, Michael, do you? Vertical has revealed the official trailer for an indie road trip comedy film titled Sacramento made by actor / filmmaker Michael Angarano, his second feature after directing Avenues. It first premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival last year, and played at a few other fests. Angarano is Rickey, an energetic and free-spirited young man who convinces Glenn, his long-time friend who's settled into domestic life, to go on an impromptu road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento. But "they're heading for a breakdown..." The two men confront their anxiety-ridden lives, addressing past mistakes and questioning what their futures hold The cast features Angarano and a bunch of his friends, including his partner Maya Erskine. Sacramento stars Michael Cera, Michael Angarano, Maya Erskine, and Kristen Stewart, with Rosalind Chao, A.J. Mendez, Iman Karram. This looks especially funny and kooky,...

Easton’s mysterious psychological destruction drives him to the edge of sanity and possible self-harm by those who love him most... his wife and daughter. Will Easton succumb to their increasingly traumatizing pressure, or will he conquer the dark forces at play? We have an exclusive clip from Chad Bishoff's psychological thriller Daft State. The film is out now on digital and on-demand platforms as of November 12th, 2024, from Scatena & Rosner Films. Daft State stars Christopher Backus, Skye P. Marshall, Ka’ramuu Kush, Paulo Costanzo, Jake T. Austin, and Iman Karram. Bishoff produced and wrote the thriller with Sam Harter. Erich Hover also produced with actress Mira Sorvino on board as an executive producer withInny Clemons, Brett Cullen, and Lisa Crnic. Check...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Quick Links Boys Masquerading as Men Sacramento's Nifty Camerawork Angarano and Cera shine as men still navigating adulthood Clever camerawork adds depth to Sacramento's comedic tale Glenn and Rickey's journey explores the power of friendship and growth

Sacramento tickles your funny bones as angst-ridden former best friends learn to be grown-ups on an impromptu road trip. Writer, director, and co-star Michael Angarano hits a comedy bullseye in this gentle coming-of-age story for adults. He hilariously reminds us that maturity isn't a given in life. There comes a point when childish, irresponsible, and manic behavior hits a brick wall of reality. How we choose to face that moment defines our character. It's okay to ask for help and admit that you're clueless.

Rickey (Michael Angarano) sits by a beautiful lake in the middle of nowhere. He's surprised to see another hiker, Tallie (Maya Erskine), wave from across the water. She yells...

Mena Suvari and Antoine Olivier Pilon (“French Girl”) have been cast as the leads in psychological drama “Anatomy of the Sun.”

The film, from writer and director Steven Richter, also features Iman Karram in a supporting role.

“Anatomy of the Sun” follows Alex (Pilon), a music producer who is haunted by visions of his dead sister as he tries to understand the details of her untimely demise. Suvari plays his mother Carol, who is also in the throes of grief.

Casting is underway for the role of Alex’s step-father Hector. Alexis Allen is overseeing casting for the project, which is in pre-production and scheduled to start shooting in the fall.

Richter’s 2011 feature “Center of Gravity” was nominated as Raindance’s Film of the Festival.

“I think of ‘Anatomy of the Sun’ as an immersive visual and sonic narrative experience that blurs reality and the natural dreamscapes of the mind,...

Exclusive: Kristen Stewart (Spencer) is joining Michael Angarano (This Is Us), Michael Cera (Juno) and Maya Erskine (Pen15) in road-trip comedy Sacramento.

Angarano is directing the feature, which is due to shoot this spring. He also co-wrote the script with Chris Smith.

Pic follows Rickey (Angarano), an energetic and free-spirited young man, and Glenn (Cera), his long-time friend who’s settled into domestic life. On an impromptu road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento, their past comes into focus and questions their future. Erskine will play Rickey’s wife, Tallie, and Stewart is Glenn’s wife, Rosie.

Also among cast are wrestler-turned-author and screenwriter Aj Mendez (Blade Of The 47 Ronin), Iman Karram (Daft State) and Rosalind Chao (Mulan). Mendez and Karram will play best friends and ex-professional fighters who help teach Rickey and Glenn about their own relationship.

Producers are Bee-Hive Production’s Stephen Braun, The Wonder Company’s...

Exclusive: Jake T. Austin (The Wizards of Waverly Place), Paulo Costanzo (Royal Pains), Iman Karram (Glow) and Ka’ramuu Kush (Five Deep Breaths) have joined the cast of Daft State, the psychological thriller from Chad Bishoff, which just entered production.

The four actors will appear alongside previously announced leads Christopher Backus (Big Little Lies) and Skye P. Marshall (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina).

The film scripted by Bishoff and Sam Harter charts the mysterious psychological destruction of Easton (Backus), who is driven to the edge of sanity, and possible self-harm, by those that love him most—his wife (Marshall) and daughter. Will Easton succumb to their increasingly traumatizing pressure, or will he conquer the dark forces at play in his addled psyche?

The Syncretic Entertainment production is produced by Bishoff and Erich Hover. Its exec producers include Inny Clemons, Lisa Crnic (Paramount’s Clifford the Big Red Dog...