Fina Strazza teams with mother Rana Strazza for 1950s romance Any Way You Want Me
Fina Strazza will star in and produce a 1950s love story directed by her mother.
The project is Any Way You Want Me, a romantic drama written and directed by Rana Strazza, Fina Strazza's mother, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It puts a real-life mother and daughter at the centre of the production, on screen and behind the camera.
Strazza plays Billie Blake. She heads home after her mother inherits a dress shop. The shop sits next door to a diner run by Calvin Wilkes, her high school sweetheart. Old sparks meet new complications.
The ensemble around her includes Cobie Smulders, Iris Apatow, Brian Altemus and Callan Potter. Casting details beyond the central pair have not been disclosed. The line-up blends familiar television and film faces with rising performers.
The story is set in 1950s New England. Cameras are rolling in Toronto, which is standing in for the period American north-east. Toronto is a regular base for period shoots, with its older streets and studio space.
The film is being offered to international buyers at TIFF: The Market. That is the sales marketplace attached to the Toronto International Film Festival, where distributors buy the rights to release films in different countries. The launch was timed to the festival, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
It is produced by First Magnitude Films and Stagg Forrest Films. Myrthin Stagg and Kate Forrest are credited as producers, with Matt Strazza, Rana Strazza and Jeff Cryder as executive producers. Executive producers typically help finance or guide a project, while producers run day-to-day production.
What makes this stand out is the family link. A mother directing her daughter in a story about mothers, daughters and first love gives the shoot a personal edge. For fans, this means a period romance with a close-knit creative team to watch as it moves through the market.
