DEADLINE EXCLUSIVE: Dear Zoe, a drama film starring Sadie Sink (Stranger Things), has been acquired by Byron Allen’s Freestyle Digital Media and is set to be released in select theaters and on demand beginning November 4, 2022.
Adapted from Philip Beard’s award-winning novel, Dear Zoe, with a screenplay by Marc Lhormer and Melissa Martin, the feature film is directed by Gren Wells and is produced by Zin Haze Productions’ Brenda Lhormer and Marc Lhormer.
Theo Rossi (Sons of Anarchy), Jessica Capshaw (Grey’s Anatomy), Justin Bartha (The Hangover), Vivien Lyra Blair (Obi-Wan Kenobi), and rapper, songwriter, and producer Kweku Collins, round out the cast.
Dear Zoe follows Tess (Sadie Sink), her mother Elly (Jessica Capshaw), stepfather David (Justin Bartha), and little sister Emily (Vivien Lyra Blair) in the aftermath of the unimaginable loss of Tess’s other little sister, Zoe (Mckenzie Noel Rusiewicz). Struggling with a sea of emotions, Tess embarks on a journey where she finds support from surprising sources: her biological father, Nick (Theo Rossi) a lovable slacker from the wrong side of the tracks, and the charming juvenile delinquent next door, Jimmy (Kweku Collins). Nick and Jimmy provide Tess the time and space she needs to breathe, to live life, to have new adventures, and ultimately to be in a better place to deal with the loss of little Zoe.
“From the moment we read Philip Beard’s beautiful, inspirational and heartbreaking novel, we knew we had to adapt it for the screen. Loss is universally-relatable, touching all of us at some point in our lives,” explains Zin Haze Productions’ Brenda Lhormer. “Festival audiences have laughed and cried and shared their own stories of loss and love and support, with us and with each other. We look forward to Dear Zoe spreading a wave of warm feelings around the world.”
“This is a universal story of loss and healing,” explains Freestyle Digital Media’s Head of Digital Film Distribution, Bill Vergos. “You get to feel the full range of emotions as with all great films, and that’s how we knew we wanted to be part of it. Not to mention, Sadie’s performance is outstanding.”
Additional production team members include Independent Producers’ Peter Phok (Most Beautiful Island) and Christopher H. Warner (Wind River), as well as Co-Producer Megan Goedewaagen (Shark Week).
Executive Producers Lizzie Friedman of Priority Pictures (The Land), Keith and Leslie Blodgett, and Resonate Entertainment’s Brent Emery (The Stanford Prison Experiment), Susan Cartsonis (What Women Want), and Suzanne Farwell (The Intern).