PALO ALTO starring Aaron Ashmore, Johnny Lewis, Justin Mentell, Autumn Reeser, Ben Savage and Tom Arnold marks the directorial debut of Brad Leong, a 21 year old director studying at USC. This coming of age story follows the bittersweet homecoming of four college freshmen returning to their quiet northern California town for Thanksgiving break. In the tradition of American Graffiti, it follows the adventures of four friends on one eventful night that changes everything.
The film, which opens with four childhood friends breaking into their old high school, is not much different than the story surrounding the production. Leong, Daniel Engelhardt (producer) and Tony Vallone (writer), all no older than 20 during production, returned home to Palo Alto, CA for production. They convinced their old teachers to let them film in classrooms, ex-girlfriends to utilize their houses for sets, and even approached random community members. The result was a production that ended up being the collaborative effort of an entire town. Palo Alto, and the surrounding cities, donated permits, and the small town police were so supportive that they even let a production assistant off a speeding ticket while rushing to set. The Palo Alto natives also worked with an amazing group of young filmmakers from all over the country, including executive producer Steven Gersh who is currently earning his masters degree from the Peter Stark Producers Program at USC and brought a deepened sense of professionalism to the project.
Through the production of PALO ALTO, the first feature to come out of Anchange Productions, Engelhardt, Gersh, Leong and Vallone perfectly exemplified the company's model of young people making movies for young people.
"The making of this movie has been professional enough that someone like Tom Arnold is willing to get involved, but unique enough in its execution that our entire cast and crew felt like they were making something special." - Daniel Engelhardt, producer
Production Contact:
Daniel Engelhardt
Anchange Productions LLC
(310) 915-9150
dve@anchange.com |
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Sales Contact:
David Gersh
The Gersh Agency
(310) 274-6611
sbarclay@gershla.com |
