Grace Wethor has found the leads for her feature directorial debut! The Cinemaholic can confirm that Jillian Shea Spaeder and Ian Boggs will star in the coming-of-age film ‘Saving Buddy Charles.’ Principal photography for the movie will take place in Los Angeles, California, between February 10 and February 28, 2025. Spaeder also wrote the screenplay.
The plot revolves around the teenage best friends Clara and Sydney, who embark on a road trip for an unusual reason: to steal a pet lizard from the latter’s ex-boyfriend, Liam. Clara has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and is secretly struggling with the revelation, having been told that she has only six months left to live. Sydney is coming to terms with their potential separation before leaving for college.
Spaeder played Jane in Disney+’s fantasy comedy movie ‘Godmothered,’ starring Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher. The film follows an unskilled fairy godmother who tries to prove her worth by tracking down a young girl whose request for help was initially ignored. The actress is also known for playing Bailey in Disney Channel’s comedy series ‘Walk the Prank.’ To her credit, the actress has several short films, including Wethor’s musical ‘XY,’ Bryce Gheisar’s ‘The Noise,’ and Patrick Hogan’s kung fu family comedy ‘Quiet! Mom’s Working.’ Spaeder’s television credits include the Disney Channel series ‘Just Roll With It’ and the Netflix comedy ‘No Good Nick.’
Boggs is a famed YouTuber with over eighteen million subscribers. His latest acting venture is Joshua Mabie’s action short ‘Kingdom Hearts: Dream of Another World,’ co-starring Nathan People and Julia Zhang. He also starred in the satirical sci-fi action comedy series ‘Ginormo,’ an homage to 1960s-70s Japanese monster shows in the pre-CGI era.
Wethor’s directorial credits include ‘XY,’ the musical short ‘Lioness,’ the action short ‘Achilles Heel,’ the sci-fi short ‘Guardian Alien,’ and the feature-length documentary ‘The Hill We Climb,’ which revolves around the pediatric cancer legislation in Washington D.C. She was also part of the cast of Elizabeth Blake-Thomas’ family comedy-drama ‘Pretty Outrageous,’ which follows three talented teens as they try to become the next big girl band.
Los Angeles has long been the preferred hub for burgeoning film productions. Notable projects shot in the City of Angels include HBO’s crime drama series ‘The Penguin‘ and Netflix’s romantic drama ‘Nobody Wants This.’
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