My Darling California starts shooting with five-star cast
Cameras are now rolling in California on My Darling California, a 1980s-set crime story with Jessica Chastain, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Mikey Madison and Don Cheadle in the cast, according to Deadline.
The shoot is taking place entirely in the state. It had been lined up for late summer and September, and production is now under way.
The film is set in Los Angeles in 1980. It follows a single crime that pulls together a fallen news anchor, her cheating televangelist husband, two small-time crooks, an ex-con and a rising country music idol.
The project is described as an American noir of ambition, greed and violence, and as a love letter to the darker side of California. Elijah Bynum both wrote the script and directs the film.
Evans joined the cast in the spring as a replacement for Josh Brolin, according to Deadline. The rest of the central five were already attached at that stage.
Behind the camera, Chayse Irvin is director of photography, Anthony Gasparro is production designer and Natasha Newman-Thomas is costume designer. All three were confirmed as filming began.
The producers are David Hinojosa, Alex Coco, Sebastien Raybaud, Scott Budnick, Ameet Shukla, Emily Blavatnik and Danny Cohen. Len Blavatnik and Zach Nutman of 2AM serve as executive producers.
Community and Access Entertainment have joined as financiers. The production will receive the second largest allocation in the latest funding round of the California Film and TV Tax Credit's independent film category, a state programme that offsets part of qualifying local spend.
Anton is producing, backing and selling the film. It handles international sales, which means selling distribution rights country by country, while Anton and CAA Media Finance together represent US and global rights, according to Deadline. The title featured in Anton's market slate at Cannes, according to Variety.
What makes this stand out is the packaging. A period Los Angeles crime piece, a five-name ensemble and a full California shoot give buyers and distributors a clear proposition long before anyone sees a frame.
