Jack Champion and Grace Van Dien Lead YA Romance The One Before The One
Jack Champion, Owen Patrick Joyner, Grace Van Dien and Georgie Murphy now lead The One Before The One, a young adult romance that has finished filming in Austin, Texas, according to Deadline.
Champion plays Steven. Van Dien plays Beth, Joyner plays Brian and Murphy plays Katie. "Young adult" is the industry label for films aimed mainly at teenagers and people in their early twenties.
The film was written and directed by Brittany Sarkisian, based on a story by John E Clark. Sarkisian and Jaylen Moore produce for Showmance Productions, alongside Raja Collins, Dan Sheldon and Tara Pirnia.
The cast has changed. The film was previously set to star Charlie Gillespie, Sara Waisglass and Siena Augudong. Scheduling conflicts meant the new actors were brought in over the summer. Filming had been slated to begin on July 6 in Austin, as Deadline reported in May.
The story is set in the late 1990s. Nokia phones, house parties, alternative rock and the Y2K panic, the fear that computers would fail at the turn of the millennium, all shape its world.
The film first reached buyers at the Cannes market earlier this year. Blue Fox Entertainment launched it there. The market is the trade fair where sales companies show projects to distributors and broadcasters, often before a single frame is shot. Deals made there decide which films reach cinemas and streaming services, and in which countries.
The route from a Cannes pitch to a finished shoot is rarely straight. This one passed through a full change of cast before the cameras rolled in Austin. No release date has been announced so far.
