Rob Lowe, who went viral in March for a fiery take on the challenges of shooting projects in Los Angeles, has returned to the city to shoot an independent film titled The Musical.
The beloved performer will star opposite Gillian Jacobs and Tony Award winner Will Brill in the dark comedy for director Giselle Bonilla and writer Alexander Heller. Filming is underway in Los Angeles, which is experiencing an uptick in local productions thanks to tax incentives, particularly for independent features, as previously reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The Musical casts Brill as a frustrated playwright and middle school theater who finds out that his ex-girlfriend (Jacobs) has started dating his nemesis, the school’s principal (Lowe). As a result, he hatches a plan to ruin the principal’s chances of winning the blue ribbon of academic excellence by secretly producing the most inappropriate musical imaginable. The story is said to explore themes of love, jealous, ambition and pretension.
The project is an extension of an earlier collaboration of Bonilla and Heller, alums of the American Film Institute who previously teamed on a short film version of the project with the same title. The Musical is being produced by Lowe, Heller, Greg Lauritano, Jordan Backhus and Findlay Brown with a team of executive producers that includes Jonathan Levine, Gillian Bohrer, Chris Quintos Cathcart, Tyler Boehm and Vince Jolivette. David Duque-Estrada is co-producing. Jamie Ember is serving as the film’s casting director. WME Independent is repping sales on the project.
In a statement, Lauritano, whose list of credits includes Fairyland, Bleeding Love, Big Gold Brick and the upcoming pics The Dreadful and Family Movie, said the team is “so happy” to be filming in Los Angeles, particularly after January’s devastating wildfires. “The local crew has so much passion for movies, and it’s really set the tone for our entire production. Being awarded the California tax credit has thankfully helped to offset some of the expenses of filming here,” Lauritano continued. “Rob and I recently had an in-depth discussion about the importance of bringing production back to L.A., and I’m incredibly excited to be doing just that and partnering with him on this exciting film.”
Lowe made waves in March when he sat down with Adam Scott on his popular SiriusXM podcast, Literally! With Rob Lowe. During the conversation, he slammed local leaders and politicians for allowing a productions to flee the state of California. “It’s criminal what California and L.A. have let happen — it’s criminal. Everybody should be fired,” said the actor, producer and best-selling author. “Why do I shoot my American game show The Floor in Ireland? It’s cheaper to bring in 100 people to Ireland than to walk across the lot at Fox.”
The revelation added fuel to an already intense fire about the exodus and how it’s impacted the local economy and film and TV workers. Lowe currently hosts and produces Fox’s The Floor, which has led the TV ratings among game shows. It has been renewed for seasons four and five with the former set to premiere on Sept. 24. Lowe next stars in Bleecker Street’s horror film The Third Parent opposite Crispin Glover. He most recently starred in 9-1-1: Lone Star and opposite his son, John Owen Lowe, on Unstable. Lowe is repped by WME, Brillstein, the law firm Latham & Watkins and the publicity firm R&CPMK.
Brill won a Tony for best featured actor in a play for his work in Stereophonic, the most Tony-nominated play of all time. On the small screen, Brill had a supporting role in the Peabody Award-winning series on Showtime, Fellow Travelers. On the Ron Nyswaner-created limited series, he played controversial figure Roy Cohn opposite Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey. His other credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. He next stars opposite Austin Butler in Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing, The Whisper Man opposite Robert DeNiro and Michelle Monaghan and in Sian Heder’s CODA follow-up, Being Heumann.
Jacobs can currently be seen on Hulu’s The Bear and as Atom Eve in Amazon Prime’s hit animated series, Invincible. She is best known for her work on Netflix’s original series Love and on the beloved comedy series Community. Her other credits include Girls, Transatlantic, Winning Time, Ibiza, Fear Street, Violence of Action, I Used to Go Here and Life of the Party.
Brill and Jacobs are both repped by WME and Authentic.
Bonilla, who has worked as an actress on Grey’s Anatomy and Switched at Birth, is represented by WME and 42. She previously directed short films like Rata, Mort, Stuck and The Bullfighter.
Heller, who has worked as a producer and writer, is repped by Prime Talent Media. His credits include We Met at Camp, Out Here and Beep. Lauritano is repped by WME Independent.
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