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Exclusive: Morning Moon Productions has named Ethan Lazar as CEO. Lazar will now oversee all aspects of the company, including its slate of film and television projects, and music arm. Kyle Owens and Austen Rydell, who co-founded Morning Moon, have been named Co- Presidents, with Dan Lotti appointed as Head of Music. Billie Lourd will continue as a partner and producer under the Morning Moon banner.

Morning Moon’s latest release was Matt Smukler’s Wildflower, starring Kiernan Shipka, Jean Smart, Alexandra Daddario, Jacki Weaver, Charlie Plummer, Dash Mihok, Reid Scott, and Samantha Hyde. The film was developed and produced by Lazar, Owens, Rydell, and Lourd alongside Hunting Lane, and co-financed by eOne and Limelight. Wildflower premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2022 and was released by Momentum and Hulu in 2023.

Over the past decade, Lazar has served as a producer on over fifteen films that have premiered at major festivals including Sundance,...

This Friday sees the release of a “coming of age” story with a couple of very interesting twists. Yes, it’s about a young woman yearning to break free of her childhood home as she approaches the end of high school. Of course, there’s all the college prep, changing friendships, and even a new budding romance. Now, here’s the big detour: she’s conflicted as she believes her folks can’t really fend for themselves. In fact, many might think that she’s really “raising” them. So there’s the conflict between exploration and guilt. And it is “inspired by real events”, in fact, it’s a dramatized take on a documentary from a couple of years ago. Plus it touches on many similar themes as a film from earlier in the month. So, with this young woman’s blossoming new life, could she be the title’s Wildflower?...

Wildflower Trailer — Matt Smukler‘s Wildflower (2023) movie trailer has been released by Momentum Pictures. The Wildflower trailer stars Jean Smart, Jacki Weaver, Kiernan Shipka, Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer, Alexandra Daddario, Brad Garrett, Reid Scott, Erika Alexander, and Samantha Hyde. Crew “The screenplay is written by Jana Savage, from [...]

Continue reading: Wildflower (2023) Movie Trailer: Kiernan Shipka’s Need to Take Care of Her Parents Endangers Her Collegiate Career...

"My whole life I've been torn between wanting to get away from my parents... and wanting to care for them." Momentum Pics has revealed an official trailer for an indie comedy about family titled Wildflower, which first premiered at last year's Toronto Film Festival. It'll be out to watch in the US starting in March including on VOD. A coming-of-age film that follows Bea from birth to graduation as she navigates life with neurodivergent parents and an extended family who can't quite agree on the best way to help. "Inspired by a true story, Wildflower is powered by Bea’s witty, bewildered voiceover. With its top-notch ensemble cast — which includes Jean Smart and Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver as Bea’s battling grandmothers — the film spills over with compassion, curiosity, and boisterous, unpredictable life." Kiernan Shipka stars as Bea in the film, joined by Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer, Alexandra Daddario, Brad Garrett,...

Kiernan Shipka plays a girl torn between caring for her neurodivergent parents and figuring out her future in the trailer for “Wildflower.”

From Momentum Pictures, the film follows Bea (Shipka), a high school girl on the cusp of graduation. Balancing work, school and looking out for her parents Derek (Dash Mihok) and Sharon (Samantha Hyde) has forced Bea to grow up quickly, a point of tension with members of her extended family.

As shown in the trailer, her parents fell in love at a young age before marrying and giving birth to Bea (full name: Bambi). Their families worry about whether or not they can take care of a child.

“What choice do we have?” asks Weaver’s character.

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Snippets of Bea’s happy non-traditional childhood follow: learning to drive (illegally) at age 10, cashing disability checks and more.

No one said growing up is easy. Beyond peer pressure, raging hormones, and perpetual uncertainty, family loyalty is often a struggle as you prepare to forge your path forward through life. In Momentum Pictures‘ Wildflower trailer, Bea Johnson (Kiernan Shipka) wrestles with remaining close to her neurodivergent parents while deciding her future away from the nest she calls home.

According to the film’s official synopsis, Wildflower is a hilarious, big-hearted celebration of family in all its variety. Shipka stars alongside Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer, Alexandra Daddario, Brad Garrett, Reid Scott, and Erika Alexander in the coming-of-age film about growing up too fast and slowing down enough to recognize one’s good fortune. In addition to the cast mentioned above, Wildflower introduces Samantha Hyde with Jacki Weaver and Jean Smart.

Matt Smukler directs Wildflower from a script by Jana Savage. In the Wildflower trailer, Shipka’s Bea strives to balance...

Exclusive: Momentum Pictures has picked up domestic rights to the starry ensemble dramedy Wildflower, marking the directorial debut of Matt Smukler. The film starring Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jean Smart (Hacks), Emmy nominee Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus) and many more is slated for release on March 17th.

Coming on the heels of an acclaimed 2020 documentary of the same name directed and produced by Smukler, Wildflower is a coming-of-age film inspired by a true story. Pic follows Bea Johnson from birth to graduation, as she navigates life with two neurodivergent parents and an extended family who can’t quite agree on the best way to help. Also starring in the title, which world premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival, are Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver (Yellowstone), Dash Mihok (Ray Donovan), Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete), 3x Emmy winner Brad Garrett (Everyone Loves Raymond), Reid Scott...

Most cheerful movies don’t open with their protagonist in a coma, narrating the events from their hospital bed. But in a fortunate reversal, director Matt Smukler’s “Wildflower” mostly grows from there, into a sweet yet straightforward coming of age drama.

“Wildflower” stars Kiernan Shipka (“Swimming With Sharks”) as Bambi, who prefers to be called “Bea” because her parents named her after a cartoon character. Those parents, Sharon (Samantha Hyde) and Derek, are both intellectually disabled, but living independently in their own house, keeping their family afloat through positive attitudes, good-natured religion and working class stick-to-itiveness.

As we learn from Bea’s flashbacks — in scenes she couldn’t possibly have witnessed or heard about from her parents — Sharon and Derek’s romance was easy for them, but difficult for their own families. Jean Smart and Brad Garrett play Sharon’s mother and father, and Jacki Weaver plays Derek’s mother,...

For co-writer and director Matt Smukler, “Wildflower” started life as a far cry from the narrative feature film that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.

“Really, this was inspired by my niece,” Smukler told TheWrap’s Executive Editor, Awards, Steve Pond, during a visit to TheWrap and Shutterstock’s Interview and Portrait Studio at TIFF. “I went out to Las Vegas to shoot a little, tiny, short companion piece for her to get into college. She had no idea how exceptional she was. She actually thought she was very ordinary and didn’t know what to write on a college essay. … And I very quickly realized how exceptional she really is, and how incredible the whole family is.”

Smukler resurfaced the idea while working with co-writer Jana Savage on a different project. The two came to the realization that the best way to serve this coming-of-age story...

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Like a dutiful eldest child, Matt Smukler’s debut feature, Wildflower, adheres to the conventions of its genre. The high-spirited coming-of-age story, which follows Bea, a plainspoken teenager navigating life with neurodivergent parents, has the tumultuous high-school drama, the cheeky romance with a bashful love interest, the fight with the spunky best friend and the undulating moods of wonky relatives in desperate need of filters. These requisite beats are fulfilled by a gallery of distinctive characters. Wildflower, inspired by Smukler’s family, might not be a radical departure from films of its type, but it does offer buoyant performances from both fresh and familiar faces.

Kiernan Shipka (of Mad Men and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) leads an endearing troupe of actors with her animated portrayal of Bea. We meet her character as she lies comatose in a hospital bed, surrounded by worried family members.

Exclusive: Morning Moon Productions has optioned the rights to award-winning author Michael Frank’s novel What Is Missing with Frank on board to also adapt.

What Is Missing is a powerful drama about a father, son, and the woman they both love. Costanza Ansaldo, an Italian-American translator, thinks she has made peace with her childlessness. A year after the death of her husband, she returns to the pensione in Florence where she lived in her youth. There she has a chance encounter with Andrew Weissman, a sensitive 18-year-old, and, soon afterward, his father, Dr. Henry Weissman, a charismatic New York physician who specializes in reproductive medicine. When the characters reunite months later in New York City, they become tangled in a web of lies, family secrets, and buried desires. In time, the truth finally surfaces, and it will change them forever.

The film will be produced by Ethan Lazar, Kyle Owens,...

Exclusive: Morning Moon Productions has optioned the rights to Mallory Weggemann’s memoir Limitless. Morning Moon plans to adapt the book into a narrative film showcasing Weggemann’s extraordinary journey to becoming a three-time Paralympic gold medalist in swimming and global champion of disability advocacy. The film will be produced by Ethan Lazar, Kyle Owens, and Austen Rydell. Executive Producers are Weggemann, Jeremy Snyder, and Peter Friedland.

The memoir, written by five-time Paralympic swimming medalist Weggemann, follows the empowering journey of the athlete’s life after a routine epidural injection for back pain left her paralyzed from the waist down at 18 years old.

“Limitless serves as a reminder that, while we all navigate through circumstance, we are more than,” says Weggemann. “It is about empowering others to honor their own journey and realize that our ‘now’ doesn’t define what’s to come. I’m proud that my story can...

Exclusive: Two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kannon Omachi, Brad Garrett, Victor Rasuk, Reid Scott, Erika Alexander and Chris Mulkey round the cast of Limelight and eOne’s Wildflower.

They join Jean Smart, Kiernan Shipka, Alexandra Daddario, Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer and Samantha Hyde. Limelight and eOne are fully financing, with Matt Smukler directing and Jana Savage writing.

Based on Smukler’s family, Wildflower is a coming-of-age dark comedy that follows Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with a parent with an intellectual disability and an extended family that can’t quite agree on the best way to help.

Dylan Sellers and Chris Parker of Limelight are producing along with Jamie Patricof and Katie McNeill of Hunting Lane Films and Ethan Lazar, Kyle Owens, Austen Rydell and Billie Lourd of Morning Moon Productions.

Jen Gorton and Jillian Share are overseeing for eOne. Cj Barbato of Limelight will co-produce.

Exclusive: Limelight and eOne have set an all-star cast for its upcoming drama Wildflower including Jean Smart, marking her the first film project she has signed on to since winning her Best Actress Emmy. Starring alongside Smart are Kiernan Shipka, Alexandra Daddario, Dash Mihok, Charlie Plummer and Samantha Hyde.

Limelight and eOne are fully financing with Matt Smukler directing and Jana Savage writing.

Dylan Sellers and Chris Parker of Limelight are producing along with Jamie Patricof and Katie McNeill of Hunting Lane Films and Ethan Lazar, Kyle Owens, Austen Rydell and Billie Lourd of Morning Moon Productions. Morning Moon has been developing the project since 2020, when it optioned Savage’s script. The company is in post-production on the doc Watershed.

Based on Smukler’s family, Wildflower is a coming-of-age dark comedy that follows Bea Johnson from birth to graduation as she navigates life with a parent with an intellectual disability...