Terrence Terrell, Mario Cantone and William Sadler star in post-production dramedy 'The Summer They Came'
A dramedy about a fading Rhode Island seaside town that becomes an unlikely LGBTQ+ summer destination has wrapped principal photography and is now in post-production, with a cast led by Terrence Terrell, Jayne Taini, Sachin Bhatt, Mario Cantone and William Sadler (Deadline).
America Young directs from a script by Nick Wauters, who also serves as executive producer. The film is based on William Storandt's novel of the same name. Wauters said he had wanted to adapt the story for nearly twenty years.
The synopsis lays out a season of humour, heartbreak, romance and personal change as the town's residents reckon with their new identity as the summer's newest queer destination. Shooting took place in New Milford, Connecticut, and the surrounding area over the summer.
Behind the camera, D.B. Levin produces alongside Derek Caldwell, Jonathan Carkeek and Greg Weiss through Curation Entertainment. Wauters executive-produces through his banner, Man on the Moon Productions. Ewan Chung, Myke Furhman and Alisandra M Rand round out the producing team as co-producers.
The cast brings a range of backgrounds. Terrell, represented by Insurge-Ent and Framework Entertainment, has built a profile across television comedy. Cantone — the raspy-voiced comedian and actor familiar to audiences from Sex and the City and its revival — is represented by Insurge-Ent, as is Sadler, whose screen credits stretch from Die Hard 2 to The Shawshank Redemption. Taini is represented by SDB Partners and The Zachary Co. Bhatt is represented by Pakula/King & Associates and Prime Talent Media.
No release date has been announced. The film does not yet have a distributor attached, meaning a sales agent or studio will need to pick it up before audiences see it — a step that typically happens at a film market or festival such as Toronto or the American Film Market, where finished or near-finished titles are screened for buyers.
For a project that spent two decades in one writer's imagination, the move from page to post-production is the part of the chain the audience never sees: the option, the attachments, the financing rounds, the shoot. All of that is done. What remains is the cut, a deal, and a date.
