SYNOPSIS Everyone Deserves a Great Love Story. but for Seventeen

Home , Alexandra Shipp, Eli Stone, Eric Daman, Jay Asher, John Guleserian, Katherine Langford

SYNOPSIS

Everyone deserves a great love story. But for seventeen-year old Simon Spier it’s a little more complicated: he’s yet to tell his family or friends he’s gay and he doesn’t actually know the identity of the anonymous classmate he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, terrifying and life-changing. Directed by Greg Berlanti (Everwood, The Flash,

Riverdale), with a screenplay by Elizabeth Berger & Isaac Aptaker, and based on Becky

Albertalli’s acclaimed novel, LOVE, SIMON is a funny and heartfelt coming-of-age story about the thrilling ride of finding yourself and falling in love.

THE BOOK

LOVE, SIMON was adapted from Becky Albertalli’s young adult novel Simon vs The

Homo Sapien’s Agenda. Published in January 2012, the book won the William C. Morris Award for Best Young Adult Debut of the Year and was included in the National Book Award Longlist.

Albertalli never imagined that her book would be published let alone become an award-winning

1 bestseller and now a major motion picture: “I was a psychologist when I wrote the book,” she says. “I was the mother of a one-year-old, now four-year-old. I was writing during his nap times.

I had always wanted to write a book, and decided I would give it a try. I don’t know where my idea for the plot came from, but the characters had been kicking around in my head for some time. I had this image of a messy-haired, gay kid in a hoodie, and that turned out to be Simon.

I’ve worked a lot with kids who identify as LGBTQ or gender nonconforming, and they are unquestionably some of the bravest people I’ve ever met. As a psychologist, I’m painstakingly careful not to borrow my clients’ stories for my fiction – but in a general sense, I’m very much inspired by all the teenagers I’ve been lucky enough to know and work with.”

Producer Wyck Godfrey, and Marty Bowen, his partner at Temple Hill Entertainment, have become adept at recognizing literature that is ideal for screen adaptation. Having produced the phenomenally successful Twilight series and the adaptations of The Fault in Our Stars and

The Longest Ride, they saw the big screen potential of Albertalli’s story.

“We produce a lot of movies in the young adult space,” says Godfrey. “Every time, you're trying to find something new and different and fresh that feels like it hasn't been done before. And fundamentally, we'd never seen a high school romantic comedy with a gay teenage lead. And so that was the thing with the book: we all read it and said, ‘Oh my God, nobody's done this.’ Nobody's just unabashedly openly made a movie about a kid that's going through the process that every gay individual goes through of figuring out their identity and when they should come out. And played it against this great, mysterious, evolving romance. With this anonymous guy online. And the book was hilarious. And the character of Simon was such a winning, lovable, kind of embraceable character that we thought it was worth developing.”

THE FILM

In LOVE, SIMON sixteen-year-old and not openly gay Simon Spier starts a secret email flirtation with another closeted classmate. But when one of his emails falls into the wrong hands,

Simon’s secret is at risk of going public. He finds himself being blackmailed by Martin, his socially awkward, yet overtly confident classmate: Martin believes that with Simon’s help, he could get a date with the beautiful Abby Suso (Alexandra Shipp). And if Simon won’t play wingman to Martin… well, his sexual identity might just become public knowledge. Worse, the privacy of ‘Blue’, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be public too.

With his tight-knit group of friends branching out in new directions, his email correspondence with Blue growing more significant every day, and Martin’s potential threat hanging over him, Simon starts to feels out of control. Now he has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or losing a shot at happiness with a guy whose real name he doesn’t even know.

Producer Pouya Shahbazian was the first to board the project, “Becky Albertalli’s book agent called me when he sold the book to Harper Collins. I read it and loved it and became involved at a very early stage.”

“I think we’re always looking for stories that are relatable,” adds Temple Hill’s Marty

Bowen. “Even as adults, you’re looking for things that remind you of your high school experience and feel authentic and relatable. And the journey of seeing somebody have to come to a realization that they need to truly be themselves by admitting their sexuality is a fairly universal thing today. And the way that was approached in the book is the way we approached it in the film, which is to treat it like your first kiss or the challenges of asking out the girl that you

3 care about. Let's essentially treat coming out of the closet as a normal, everyday, high school decision, which it is for many people.”

Conversations with Temple Hill, including with one of the film's producers, Isaac

Klausner, reassured Albertalli that her beloved book was with the right team to usher it to the big screen.

"My initial conversations with them convinced me that they understood these characters and the story that they are trying to tell,” confirms Albertalli. “They had a feel for the spirit of it.

The name ‘John Hughes’ was thrown around a bit: the humor, and heart, of his films and striving for that balance. So I knew they wanted to make a film that would have been my favorite movie as a teenager!”

“As someone who grew up on the John Hughes films, that was sort of the touchstone for me,” admits Godfrey. “When I pitched it to the studio, I said, ‘It’s kind of like Sixteen Candles but instead of Molly Ringwald it's a guy. And Jake Ryan's still Jake Ryan.’ It was like taking that beloved movie and contextualizing it for them to understand what's going to make it different. For me it's John Hughes meets John Green. It's a great mix of kind of classic, really relatable high school characters set in a fun, buoyant, world – the sort of the thing that John

Hughes did so well when I was growing up but resonant to today's teenage audience.”

“I think if John Hughes had continued to make his high school series of films, that it was just a matter of time before he would have broken down those barriers and done a film like this,” observes Marty Bowen. “So in a weird way this film is as much a part of the John Hughes legacy as it is anything else including Temple Hill.”

Screenwriters Elizabeth Berger (This Is Us) and Isaac Aptaker signed on to adapt

Albertalli’s novel. Shahbazian says, “It’s a dream scenario to have screenwriters write a first draft of a screenplay the way that Isaac and Elizabeth did for LOVE, SIMON. The script came in, and it was in fantastic shape from day one. They were busy writing for television, and we had to wait for them to become available but it was worth the wait.”

Albertalli adds “They wrote a first draft and gave it to me and asked if I had any notes. I had read it and sobbed, and downloaded every single song they mentioned. And I thought: ‘I’m supposed to give you notes?’ The script was perfect.”

The author was equally delighted when director Greg Berlanti was brought on to help develop the script: “Greg Berlanti is in charge of a lot of superhero shows on television. He is a literal superhero. He is absolutely brilliant. I was already a fan of his before he was on board.

When I heard he might be interested, I lost it.”

Shahbazian adds, "Greg Berlanti is the most thoughtful, considerate person I have ever met. He brings that humanity in directing this movie. He is telling a very personal story for himself, and as we developed the script with Greg, there were many times where he was able to draw upon his own experiences to really add a whole nuanced layer underneath what was already a very fun, brilliant and nuanced story.”

“Greg is an unbelievable creative force,” echoes Bowen. “And one of the defining characteristics about all of his work is the humanity of the characters. He just has a fundamental understanding of it. It is who he is, it’s part of his DNA.”

Writer Isaac Aptaker agrees, "Working with Greg Berlanti has been a total dream for my partner Elizabeth Berger and myself. He has this incredibly rare blend of being confident and

5 wildly collaborative. This is also a very special story to him. The producers asked us to make a director wish-list. I have no idea if they ever looked at it or if it was just something to make us feel good, but Greg was at the top of that list."

“This has been a really significant and fun experience for me,” acknowledges Berlanti. “I was a closeted gay high schooler, so it works on that level. It means a lot to me. But, I have also done a lot of high school projects over the years, and I have really wanted to do a high school movie that dealt with really iconic moments and themes regardless of sexuality. So when this one fell in my lap, and it had a gay point of view but was actually a movie about announcing yourself to the world, that anyone could relate to, I was really excited.”

Albertalli got to spend quite a bit of time on set especially since the movie shot entirely in her hometown of Atlanta. Shahbazian says, “Becky Albertalli is not only an amazing person and fantastic writer, but she has been a big asset to have here in Atlanta during filming. She has been nothing but positive.”

Berlanti adds, “I think everyone is always ready for a story well told. And, Isaac and

Elizabeth and Becky all gave us that. This story should remind everybody, straight, gay, anyone, of who they were in high school and before they figured themselves out. What it is like to fall in love for the first time. What you do to protect that, what it is like to have great friendships, what it is like to have a family that gets a little bit too involved in your life sometimes.”

Nick Robinson takes on the role of Simon Spier. The young star of Jurassic World and

Everything, Everything was excited to be part of LOVE, SIMON. “This story has not been told before, in this way,” suggests Robinson. “This movie has the potential to reach a lot of people and help them in a way that hasn't been done before. At its core it is a coming of age story, set in

6 a high school. I feel like this telling was past due, and I wanted to be part of the team that helped tell it.”

Shahbazian was thrilled to have Nick Robinson join the cast as Simon, “Nick is a brilliant young actor who has a tremendous future ahead of him. He has a huge presence. He captures all of the nuances. And, like Simon, Nick is a little bit of an introvert, and he plays the role beautifully. I believe it is a timeless character and Nick Robinson’s done it incredible justice.”

Robinson’s views on the story, themes and characters mirrored those of the author, producers, and director: “LOVE, SIMON is a coming of age story about two high school kids that fall in love,” he says.

Berlanti agrees: “To me, it's a coming of age story and in that sense, very traditional. But in another sense, there had not been a major studio film with a gay lead at the center of a coming of age movie. It has romance and comedy and all the stuff that fills up a young kid’s life, but it is also told from the point of view of a kid who is in the closet, who is about to be outed by the class clown if he doesn't hook up his best friend with him.”

“It is difficult for me to describe how perfectly Nick Robinson captures both his character and the turmoil he is experiencing,” says Albertalli. “There is a line in the script that I wish I could claim from the book. Simon’s mother says, ‘For the last couple of years, it's been like you've been holding your breath. Like I could feel you holding your breath,’ and I see that in the way that Nick is playing Simon.”

“Even in the moments of joy with his friends there is a part of him that is holding back,” continues Albertalli. “You see him grappling with it throughout. It is an undercurrent through

7 the whole movie. I love Simon. He has been in my head for a long time. His vulnerability, his awkwardness. His joy. Nick just nails it.”

LOVE, SIMON lives and breathes Simon's world. “The film is definitely centered around the character,” acknowledges Robinson. “His voice and his point of view. His worldview. His comic sensibilities. I think that is what makes it unique for this genre. It is not on its surface a gay film. It’s about a kid going through something, trying to find his place in the world which is hard enough. All of this is compounded by the fact that he is struggling with his sexuality. I also think that is where a lot of the comedy comes from because he can turn situations that might seem bleak to some and find the humor in them. That was something I found very appealing.”

While Simon has an online flirtation, his lifelong friendship with one his best friends

Leah, played by Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why), becomes strained. “Leah is insecure and quite fragile herself,” says Langford. “She is struggling with all of these people growing up around her and wants to hold on. She is especially jealous of Abby, the new girl in school who bulldozes her way into their lifelong friendships.”

Abby is played by Alexandra Shipp (X-Men: Apocalypse) and is the girl in high school that everyone wants to know. “I think Alex does a great job of being that, but also of being in the moment when Simon comes out to her," says Robinson.

Shipp says, “Abby is the hot girl in the school, which is awesome because I wasn't the hot girl in school! So this has been a really fun part to play. The core group is Simon, Leah, Abby and Simon’s friend Nick (played by Jorge Lendeborg, Jr.) and Simon and Abby are really close

8 although Abby’s relationship with Leah is a little tumultuous at the beginning. I think, primarily because there is an unrequited aspect to Leah’s feelings for Simon.”

The relationships between the four friends evolves throughout the film but the catalyst for all the changes begins when Simon sees a post on the secret high school social media site "Creek

Secrets." The post is about a student who is gay and afraid to come out. It resonates with Simon so much that he has to reach out.

“It's significant to Simon,” says Robinson, “because it represents a peer, a colleague who is going through the same thing and not only are they going to the same thing, but they go to the same school. What starts out as a curiosity quickly becomes something that is essential to his life.”

As well as Simon’s friends, we also meet his family, including his parents Emily and

Jack, played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel.

Garner says, “This movie is about a number of things, including family. The family you are born in to and the family that you create for yourself with friends. Especially that precious group when you are in those teenage years and they mean everything to you. You think you know everything about them and they think they know everything about you. It's also about having the courage to really stand up for yourself and say what you need to say."

When Simon's secret is revealed it surprises his family, who are loving and accepting but still experience growing pains when they become aware of the news.

"Jack and Emily have a good marriage, good family and Simon kind of makes them see things aren't exactly what they thought they were,” says Duhamel. “Emily is a psychologist and wants to analyze everything. Jack is a contractor who tends to make a joke out of everything.

We have a great dynamic. Two perfect kids. They have a lot of love for each other, so they are ultimately able to walk this new path together."

Albertalli adds, “Simon has a really good family, including his sister Nora played by

Talitha Bateman. They love each other and love their parents and know ultimately that they have each other's backs."

Rounding out the cast are Jorge Lendeborg, Jr. as Simon’s friend Nick; Logan Miller as

Martin the class clown, and Miles Heizer and Keiynan Lonsdale as Cal Price and Bram

Greenfield, two of Simon’s classmates.

Greg Berlanti adds, "I am incredibly proud of the cast we assembled. I think the younger members are the best of their generation and you will be seeing a lot from them in the next decade or two. If you remember a lot of the classic coming of age movies, high school movies, there were actors that we met when they were younger that we knew for generations. And, I think this cast has the same capacity."

FINDING YOUR TRUTH

“The movie is about family and love. But it is also about secrets,” says Jennifer Garner.

“It’s about letting them out, being who you are and having the courage to really stand up for yourself and say what you need to say. And the movie deals with these themes and the theme of being yourself but in a fun and refreshing way. There is definitely some fun in the movie and it’s not all drama.”

One of the major themes of LOVE, SIMON is living your truth, learning to be and accepting yourself. As Greg Berlanti explains: “It is never too early to be who you are. There are a lot of kids who don’t get to come out in high school and Simon is outed, pulled out, but he learns to accept who he is and live with his own truth and being himself.”

The movie encourages the audience to be courageous and true to themselves.

“I hope people watching the movie and people reading the book will feel empowered to own their true self,” says Becky Albertalli.

Nick Robinson agrees, “I think everyone had been through this at some point in their lives. Trying to find yourself and being the person that you were meant to be is very universal. I think everybody can relate to that.”

Alexandra Shipp adds, “I think a lot of teenagers can relate to the struggle because I think that a lot of teenagers are struggling with finding themselves. They don’t know who they are.

They don’t have an idea of who they want to be when they grow up. It’s not just about sexuality.

It’s about who you really are. Not who you sleep with but who you really are on this planet.”

THE MUSIC

Like many of the movies that inspired LOVE, SIMON music is an integral part of the film and the songs on the soundtrack were always going to be an important aspect of the production. To this end, the filmmakers appointed three-time Grammy®Award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Jack Antonoff as executive music producer of the soundtrack.

Antonoff is probably best known for his work as lead singer and songwriter of the band

Bleachers and lead guitarist of the indie rock band fun. “When I met Greg Berlanti,” he recalls,

“he started showing me clips and I think they had temped in some of my music, which might have been the seed of me being asked to get involved. We started discussing his feelings on the film and he talked about this sort of modern John Hughes feeling, which meant a lot to me. Then

I saw the film and it was beautiful. I absolutely loved it. I totally got it and the way it was both a good time and incredibly emotional all at once.”

Although a few Antonoff songs have appeared in films before, the songwriter had never created music specifically for a film: “It was new for me and the only reason I felt okay about doing it is because I really felt got it. It really spoke to me. The first time I saw the film, the

Bleachers song, “Wild Heart,” played at the end and as soon as I saw that, I thought I could back up from there. I, thought, ‘Okay, that works’. And I didn’t write that for the film. But it sits in so perfectly, so I know which pieces of that I could take and make new work.”

The final soundtrack contains 13 songs, including classic tracks from The Jackson 5 and

Whitney Houston, as well as several Bleachers songs and new material from Antonoff – including the single “Alfie’s Song (Not So Typical Love Song)” performed by Bleachers.

“To me, that song is the feeling of LOVE, SIMON – both extremely upbeat and extremely emotional all at once,” says Antonoff. “It’s a song you could put it on in a car with your friends or at a party but then the lyrics sneak in these moments that are very emotional. And that’s what the film did for me.”

SETTING

LOVE, SIMON filmed in the greater Atlanta area. Albertalli, a Georgia and Atlanta native, set her novel in her hometown. And, that is precisely where the filmmakers wanted to film it.

As Executive Producer Timothy M. Bourne explains, “Simon was a book authored by a local, and so for once a movie I am shooting in Atlanta is actually set in Atlanta! Greg wanted to make sure we were true to the story and true to the economics of each character. We shot at a very large high school set in an urban environment. We actually shot at three different high schools. We are set in the south, so you have to have a scene at a Waffle House. It's just part of life and the landscape here.”

“Temple Hill made four movies in Atlanta last year,” adds Marty Bowen. “And it's a wonderful place to shoot. It's got great facilities. The Mayor's office is supportive of film.

Everybody embraces it whereas in other cities, even though there's a rebate, there's a lot of people that don't like the ‘interlopers’ coming in. But Atlanta has been a pleasure that way. The fact that the movie belonged there is almost secondary. But it was a beautiful marriage of opportunity and creative necessity.”

While shooting in Atlanta, the filmmakers wanted to utilize as many local and unique businesses as they could. Dancing Goats Coffee is one local business that is beginning to branch out. "We also tried to show some of the local artists,” says Bourne. “There is an Atlanta graffiti artist who has ‘Pray for Atlanta’ posters and stickers across the city, so we incorporated those but

Dancing Goats was part of that spice, that flavor of Atlanta that we wanted to incorporate into the film."

For the film’s climactic carnival scene, the filmmakers recreated a carnival at Norcross’

Lillian Webb. “We picked the park in Norcross for a number of reasons,” explains Bourne. “It had a nice square around it that had a fountain incorporated inside of it, and it could accommodate carnival rides.”.

COSTUMES

Director Greg Berlanti chose Eric Daman to design the costumes for LOVE, SIMON.

"Greg is a joy to work with" says Daman. "I have worked with hundreds of directors between features and television and I feel like he is one of my favorites. He is so generous and honest. He directs with a smile."

Costume design is an integral element in storytelling. "Costume design can be big or can be very subtle and nuanced like we are doing with Simon's character,” says Daman. He begins more light-hearted, he wears lighter colors and lighter tones. When he begins to fall in love they colors are even lighter. But when Martin starts to blackmail him, the colors become more ominous and dark, almost melancholy.

"For the character of Leah, we have her in turtlenecks throughout the movie. When everything comes to a head, we have her in a black turtleneck. A darker more confrontational look.”

In the novel, Simon has a love for hoodies. Daman wanted to be true to the character but also give him a little bit more. "Simon has almost 50 changes of wardrobe. I couldn't just create this character with a zipped up hooded sweatshirt. In our first meeting Greg was in total

14 agreement. We wanted to punctuate and kind of play around with the hooded sweatshirt and what that means and what scenes they would be in," explains Daman.

Abby is new to Atlanta and needed a little extra flair. "Abby has a very distinctive style.

More urban. A New York feel. A little more athletic, a little more branded and a little more oversized," says Daman.

Daman let his creative juices flow when he designed for Martin. "I don't have favorites, but it was a lot of fun to design for Martin. I kind of riffed off 1975 SNL. We ended up dressing him in 70's shirts over punk t-shirts and layered that with cardigans. There is a chaos to

Martin's world."

LAST WORDS

“At the end of the day,” observes Kathryn Langford, “This is a big studio making a pro-

LGBTQ film and that’s just very cool, you know?”

Adds director Greg Berlanti: “It wasn't a story that I felt already existed. It reflects my own high school experience yet still feels like it’s for everybody, you know? Where the central point of view was something that rang close to home, but what the film had to say was something that everyone could relate to.”

ABOUT THE CAST

NICK ROBINSON (Simon Spier)

Nick Robinson is a burgeoning actor who is solidifying his status as a leading man. In LOVE, SIMON Robinson stars as ‘Simon Spier,’ a gay teen who has not come out to his family and classmates. When an email he sent to a boy he’s never met falls into the wrong hands, he finds himself in a complicated situation when he’s blackmailed by the class clown. Directed by Greg Berlanti, the film also stars Jennifer Garner, Tony Hale and Katherine Langford.

Robinson recently completed production on William H. Macy’s comedic drama “Krystal.” Starring opposite Rosario Dawson, Robinson plays ‘Taylor Ogburn,’ a sheltered young man who has never had a drink in his life. He meets the woman of his dreams, an ex-stripper and addict, and pretends to be in Alcoholics Anonymous to try and woo her. The film is produced by Dan Keston and Rachel Winter.

Additionally, Robinson has also wrapped production on Front Row Filmed Entertainment’s “Strange But True.” Directed by Rowan Athale and produced by Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh- Jones and Christina Piovesan, the film follows a woman who, five years after the tragic death of her boyfriend, arrives at the doorsteps of his family to tell them she is pregnant with his child. Robinson stars opposite Margaret Qualley and Amy Ryan.

In May 2017, Robinson starred in the Warner Brothers and MGM’s romantic drama “Everything, Everything” opposite Amandla Sternberg. Directed by Stella Meghie, the film centers on Maddy (Stenberg) a girl who’s lived a sheltered life in the confines of her own home due to her immunodeficiency and severe allergic reactions that could be potentially fatal. Everything begins to change when Maddy falls in love with the boy next door, Olly (Robinson). The film is based on the bestselling book of the same name.

In January 2016, Robinson starred as “Ben Parish” in the Sony young adult sci-fi feature “The 5th Wave” opposite Chloe Grace Moretz, Alex Roe and Liev Schreiber. The film, adapted from Rick Yancey’s New York Times bestselling novel, is set in the post-apocalyptic world that’s suffering from four waves of deadly attacks against Earth’s population. It’s a race against time among the survivors before the fifth wave is underway. The film is directed by J Blakeson. That

16 same year in May, Nick starred in Rob Reiner’s drama “Being Charlie” in the title role. The film tells the story of an 18-year old rich kid with drug problems named Charlie who butts heads with his father, a famous actor running for governor of California, who parks Charlie in rehab, in part to keep him out of the public eye. Co-written by Nick Reiner, the film originally premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and stars Common and Morgan Saylor.

In June 2015, Robinson starred in the highly anticipated 4th installment of the “Jurassic Park” series, “Jurassic World.” Robinson played “Zach,” nephew to Bryce Dallas Howard’s character, who visited the now Dinosaur theme park after 22-years from the incidents of “Jurassic Park.” Directed by Colin Trevorrow, the film also starred Chris Pratt and Judy Greer. The Universal film grossed $1.67 billion worldwide making it the fourth highest grossing film year- to-date.

Robinson was a standout at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, garnering attention for his starring role as “Joe Toy” in Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ “The Kings of Summer.” The dark comedy revolves around Nick’s character and his two best friends who decide to build a house for themselves in the woods and escape their overbearing families. The Wall Street Journal tapped Nick as one of the “five breakouts from this year’s festival we’ll be hearing a lot about in the coming months,” while The Hollywood Reporter singled out Nick’s performance in the coming-of-age film as being “especially good, providing the film with a tender heart.” The film premiered to rave reviews, and was distributed by CBS Films on May 31st, 2013.

Robinson also guest starred in the critically acclaimed HBO drama “Boardwalk Empire”. His scene-stealing performance impressed critics and audiences alike, cementing his status as one of Hollywood’s most promising young actors. In 2010, Robinson booked his first professional job as the series regular on the ABC Family series “Melissa and Joey” as “Ryder.” Robinson has reprised his role as “Ryder” for the past three seasons.

A Seattle native, Robinson developed an eye for classic films and theater at an early age. After winning praise for his starring work in several local Seattle productions including “To Kill a Mocking Bird,” “Mame,” “A Thousand Clowns” and “Lost in Yonkers,” Robinson relocated with his family to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

KATHERINE LANGFORD (Leah Burke)

Australian actress Katherine Langford has garnered global recognition and critical acclaim as ‘Hannah Baker’ in Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” which became a worldwide phenomenon shortly after its March 31, 2017 release on the global platform. The series was created by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner, Brian Yorkey, and is based on The New York Times’ best-selling novel written by Jay Asher. The pilot episode was directed by Oscar winner Tom McCarthy and the series is executive produced by Selena Gomez and Anonymous Content for Paramount Television. Langford is the co-lead opposite Dylan Minnette. The series recently wrapped production on its second season in Northern California and will be released in the Spring.

Langford will next star as ‘Leah Burke’ in Director Greg Berlanti’s “Love, Simon” alongside Jennifer Garner, Nick Robinson, and Alexandra Shipp. Based off of the coming-of-age novel written by Becky Albertalli, the story centers around a young gay teenager taking a novel approach to coming out to his classmates. Distributed by FOX 2000, the film is set to be released on March 16, 2018.

Langford will star as ‘Mara Carlye’ in the upcoming sci-fi, thriller feature, “Spontaneous.” Written and directed by Brian Duffield, the film centers on ‘Mara’ during her senior year whose life is forever changed when students in her Senior class literally explode for no discernible reason. Based off of the young adult novel written by Aaron Starmer’s, Langford will begin production this month.

Langford is a gifted songwriter and singer, accomplished swimmer and can play the piano. She attended Perth Modern School and graduated in 2013 as part of the elite music program. From 2014 to 2015, Langford studied at the Principal Academy of Dance & Theatre Arts, graduating with a Diploma in Performing Arts, majoring in music theatre. That summer and the beginning of the following year, she was one of five selected to participate in the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) Advanced Actors Residency in 2015. Also in 2015, she began training at Nicholson's Academy of Screen Acting.

Langford is based in Perth, Australia.

JENNIFER GARNER (Emily Spier)

Award-winning actress Jennifer Garner has enjoyed a successful career at the top of her field in both film and television, and has taken on the role of philanthropist.

Garner will soon be seen in Fox 2000’s Love, Simon opposite Josh Duhamel, Katherine Langford, Nick Robinson, Alexandra Shipp and Logan Miller for Fox 2000. Directed by Greg Berlanti, the film is based on the coming-of-age YA novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and scheduled to be released on March 16th.

She will also soon lend her voice to the animated Netflix series “Llama Llama,” based on the popular children’s book. The series will be available for streaming globally starting January 29th.

Last year Garner was seen in IFC’s The Tribes of Palos Verdes, in which she reteamed with Dallas Buyers Club producer Robbie Brenner, and Robin Swicord’s drama Wakefield alongside Bryan Cranston for the studio. She was also recently seen in the faith-based drama Miracles from Heaven for Sony/ScreenGems. To date that film has grossed over $73 million dollars worldwide.

She also appeared in the award-winning film, Dallas Buyers Club opposite Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. Garner and the film received a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award in the “Best Motion Picture” category, a Screen Actors Guild award nomination for “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture” as well as an Academy Award nomination in the “Best Motion Picture” category.

On the small screen, Garner was honored with numerous acting awards including a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and People’s Choice Award for her memorable portrayal of CIA double-agent Sydney Bristow on the JJ Abrams' television show, “Alias.” Over the course of the show’s five-season run, Garner was nominated for four Emmy awards, four Golden Globes and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Garner also received rave reviews for her revival of “Roxanne” in the Broadway production of Cyrano de Bergerac opposite Kevin Kline. The New York Times said, “Jennifer Garner has impeccable timing. She makes Roxanne a girl worth pining over.”

Her impressive resume of film credits include the independent drama Danny Collins, the family comedy Nine Lives, Weinstein Company’s Butter, which Garner produced in 2005, Lionsgate’s Draft Day, the Disney hit, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and The Odd Life of Timothy Green, in which she was honored as the “Female Star of the Year” at the 2012 Cinema Con Awards, Jason Reitman’s drama Men, Women and Children as well as his directorial debut Juno which won an abundance of awards including a Broadcast Film Critics Association and Independent Spirit Award for ‘Best Comedy’ and ‘Best Feature Film’ respectively, Warner Brothers’ Arthur, Valentine’s Day, The Invention of Lying, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Universal Pictures’ The Kingdom, Revolution Studios’ smash hit 13 Going On 30, Twentieth Century Fox’s Blockbuster hit Daredevil and Pearl Harbor.

Currently serving as a brand ambassador for Neutrogena where she is featured in national television and print campaigns, for the past ten years Garner has also held the position of Artist Ambassador with Save the Children’s US Programs. As an Artist Ambassador, Garner brought Save the Children’s early childhood development and literacy programs to her home state, West Virginia, where more than a quarter of children live below the poverty line. She has advocated on Capitol Hill on behalf of the organization and traveled to California’s Central Valley, Kentucky and West Virginia to see the effects of poverty first hand. Garner recently joined the global non-profit's board of trustees, deepening her commitment to issues affecting children in America and around the world. Committed to a six-year term as one of 30 members of the organization's board, Garner joins the likes of former ABC News president David Westin, former chairman of the Xerox Corporation Anne Mulcahy and ABC News political commentator Cokie Roberts. Since 2014, Garner has served as a spokesperson for Capital One, having appearing in numerous commercials and advertisements promoting their Venture Card. It was also recently announced that she co-founded the organic food company Once Upon a Farm with Cassandra Curtis, Ari Raz and former Annie’s president John Foraker. The company currently offers a line of cold-pressed organic baby food and applesauce.

Garner was born in Houston, Texas, raised in Charleston, West Virginia, and currently resides in Los Angeles with her family.

ALEXANDRA SHIPP (Abby Suso)

Alexandra Shipp is best known for her role as the iconic mohawked super heroine 'Storm’ in Twentieth Century Fox’s X-MEN: APOCALYPSE. She plays a younger version of ‘Storm' (originally played by Halle Berry). Determined to make the mutant character her own, she delivers a new spin on ‘Storm,’ which many media outlets boasted her as the “breakout” star of the film. Alexandra will be reprising the role of ‘Storm’ in the next feature X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX, set to release November 2, 2018.

Shipp can next be seen in Fox 2000’s coming-of-age story LOVE, SIMON., based on the popular Young Adult book “Simon VS the Homo Sapien Agenda.” She stars in the film opposite Nick Robinson and Kathrine Langford and the film is scheduled to open March 16, 2018. Shipp is currently working on New Line’s SON OF SHAFT, opposite Samuel L. Jackson. Recently, she completed work on Sony’s A DOG’S WAY HOME, opposite Ashley Judd and Simon Kaijser’s psychological thriller, SPINNING MAN, based on the novel by George Harrar, scheduled to release on April 6, 2018. She stars in the film opposite Guy Pearce and Pierce Brosnan.

Alexandra appeared in Universal Pictures’ Oscar nominated feature STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, which has become the highest grossing music biopic of all-time. Her other film credits include the two-hander TRAGEDY GIRLS, opposite DEADPOOL’s Brianna Hidlebrand, and the title role of ‘Aaliyah’ in the Lifetime biopic, AALIYAH: PRINCESS OF R&B which she demonstrated and was praised for her singing and dancing talents.

Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Shipp moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career at 17. She is known for her role as ‘KT Rush,’ on Nickelodeon teen drama-mystery series, “House of Anubis” and made her film debut in the Fox feature film, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL, playing the role of ‘Valentina.’

Aside from acting, she is a songwriter, pianist, and guitar player.

Alexandra currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

JOSH DUHAMEL (Jack Spier)

A dynamic and versatile actor, Josh Duhamel is one of Hollywood’s leading males. Most recently, Duhamel was seen in reprising his role as Lt. Colonel William Lennox in Paramount’s Michael Bay directed, Transformers: The Last Knight. Duhamel recently completed production on his directorial debut The Buddy Games for which he also co-wrote, co-produced and starred in. Next up for Duhamel will USA Network’s “Unsolved, a scripted series based on the murder investigations of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls; and Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon.

Duhamel starred opposite Julianne Hough in Lasse Hallstrom’s Safe Haven, a drama based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks and the thriller Scenic Route, which tells the story of two friends stranded in the desert. Other recent projects include George C. Wolfe’s drama, You’re Not You opposite Hillary Swank and Emmy Rossum, Garry Marshall’s New Year’s Eve alongside Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro, Halle Berry, and Hilary Swank and Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, where he reprised his role of Captain William Lennox for the third installment of the franchise. Additional film credits include the romantic comedy Life as We Know It alongside Katherine Heigl, Ramona and Beezus, When in Rome, Lost in the Sun, Bravetown, Misconduct, Spaceman and The Romantics.

On television, Josh is known for his role as Danny McCoy on the NBC crime drama “Las Vegas.” Additionally, he lent his voice to Nickelodeon’s Emmy Award-winning animated series “Fanboy & Chum Chum” and starred in several seasons of the long-running ABC soap opera “All My Children,” in which he received three consecutive Daytime Emmy nominations. Other recent television credits for Duhamel include CBS’ “Battle Creek” and the J.J. Abrams, Joseph Boccia and Athena Wickham’s Hulu mini-series, “11.22.63”

Duhamel currently resides in Los Angeles.

LOGAN MILLER (Martin Addison)

Logan Miller recently wrapped a lead role in the Sony thriller THE MAZE opposite Deborah Ann Wohl for director Adam Robitel and will next be seen in the Fox feature LOVE, SIMON opposite Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford and Jennifer Garner for director Greg Berlanti. He

22 also wrapped director Miranda Bailey's independent feature YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR FAMILY opposite Jim Gaffigan and Anna Gunn for producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, as well as the lead role in the Universal / Blumhouse feature PREY for director Franck Khalfoun.

Logan played the love interest to Zoey Deutch in Ry Russo Young's feature adaptation of the best-selling novel BEFORE I FALL, which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival was released by Open Road, and recurred on AMC’s top-rated cable drama THE WALKING DEAD this past season. His credits include the Universal / DreamWorks feature A DOG’S PURPOSE, based on the best-selling novel, alongside Britt Robertson, Dennis Quaid and the voice of Josh Gad for director Lasse Hallström, the found footage thriller THE GOOD NEIGHBOR opposite James Caan and Keir Gilchrist, which premiered at SXSW and was released by Vertical Entertainment, and the lead role of “Carter” in Paramount's horror comedy SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE opposite Tye Sheridan and Halston Sage.

Named one of The Wrap’s "Ten Breakout Stars" for his two films at Sundance in 2015, Logan co-starred in the ensemble drama THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT alongside Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Michael Angarano and Olivia Thirlby, and played the lead role of “Ryder” in Matt Sobel’s feature debut TAKE ME TO THE RIVER.

His additional feature credits include Kelly Reichhardt’s NIGHT MOVES opposite Dakota Fanning, Jesse Eisenberg and Peter Sarsgaard which premiered at Venice, PLUS ONE opposite Rhys Wakefield and Ashley Hinshaw which premiered at SXSW, and DEEP POWDER opposite Shiloh Fernandez and Haley Bennett which premiered at Tribeca. Logan broke out as the young Matthew McConaughey in New Line's comedy GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIEND’S PAST, starred as the lead of Disney’s hit series I’M IN THE BAND and currently voices the role of ‘Sam’ in the animated series ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

JORGE LENDEBORG, JR. (Nick Eisner)

Jorge Lendeborg, Jr. recently wrapped a leading role in the “Transformers” spinoff “Bumblebee” for director Travis Knight opposite Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena.

Previously, Jorge shot a lead role in Fox 2000’s LOVE, SIMON for director Greg Berlanti, opposite Nick Robinson.

Jorge also recently shot “Alita: Battle Angel” for director Robert Rodriguez opposite Christoph Waltz, Ed Skrein, and Rosa Salazar.

Jorge can currently be seen in Sony Picture Classic’s “Brigsby Bear”, opposite Claire Danes and Kyle Mooney for director Dave McCary, which Lord Miller and Party Over Here produced. The film debuted in the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

He was previously seen in his breakthrough role in the IFC Films' “The Land” for director Steven Caple Jr., which made its debut at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.

TONY HALE (Mr. Worth)

Two time Emmy Award-winning actor and author Tony Hale is best known for his role as Gary Walsh, the downtrodden personal aide to Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s Vice President Selina Meyers on HBO’s Emmy Award-winning political comedy, Veep. Hale won two Emmys for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series” for Veep in 2013 and 2015 and was nominated in the same category in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Veep recently concluded their critically acclaimed 6th season, racking up a total of 11 Emmy nominations.

Hale has appeared in a wide variety of critically acclaimed television programs and films throughout his career. Prior to Veep, he co-starred as the socially awkward Buster Bluth on the ground-breaking, Emmy Award-winning series Arrested Development, which aired on Fox from 2003 – 2006 and was later picked up for additional seasons on Netflix in 2013. The newest season is currently in production and schedule to stream in 2018. In 2013, Hale was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in the Paul Feig directed action- comedy, The Heat, which grossed over $229 million worldwide for Fox. Wrapping up 2017, Hale starred in the dramedy film Brave New Jersey alongside Anna Camp, Heather Burns and Grace Kaufman.

Most recently, Hale joined the cast of Fox 2000’s coming of age film, Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, alongside Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Garner. The film is now in post-production and set to hit theaters in 2018.

In 2015, he co-starred Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg in Lionsgate’s action- comedy, American Ultra and starred as the villain in Twentieth Century Fox’s animated/live- action film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip. Last summer, Hale lent his voice alongside Jason Sudekis, Danny McBride, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph in Sony Pictures’ animated film, Angry Birds, based on the hit mobile video game. Angry Birds has generated over $349 million worldwide at the box office since May. Other notable film credits include The Informant, Happythankyoumoreplease and Stranger than Fiction.

In 2014, Hale released his first children’s book, Archibald’s Next Big Thing, under Boxing Clever Publishing. The book, penned by Hale, follows a young chicken named Archibald who is always looking for his next “big thing” instead of realizing all the big and beautiful things around him. The theme of the book stemmed from Hale’s own struggle of always looking for his next acting role instead of staying present and being in the here and now.

Hale grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, where he attended The Young Actors Theatre. He then continued on to study acting at The Barrow Group Theatre Company in New York.

Hale currently resides in Los Angeles.

KEIYNAN LONSDALE (Bram Greenfield)

Named GQ’s Breakthrough Actor Of The Year in 2016 (Australia), Keiynan Lonsdale has quickly made a name for himself in the entertainment industry through the characters he has brought to life in film and television. Lonsdale starred on the international hit CW series “The Flash.” He made his debut as the iconic Wally West in December 2015, and returned for season three in fall 2016 as superhero Kid Flash, who has superhuman speed. In 2018, Lonsdale’s Wally West / Kid Flash transitioned to The CW’s “Legends of Tomorrow” as a series regular, which is also part of the DC comics universe.

On the film front, Lonsdale can next be seen in 20th Century FOX’s & Greg Berlanti’s YA film, “Love, Simon” alongside Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford and Jennifer Garner. The film, which is based off of Becky Albertalli’s novel, “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” follows sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier (Robinson). However, when one of Simon’s

25 emails to an anonymous classmate, who is also “in the closet,” falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Lonsdale stars as Bram Greenfeld, one of Simon’s friends and classmates. The film is set to be released on March 16, 2018. Lonsdale can also be seen as the lead in the indie horror film, “Like. Share. Follow.” which was released on Cinemax on October 31, 2017.

Aside from his work in film and television, Lonsdale writes and records his own music. In August 2017, Lonsdale released his single, “Good Life,” which is his first single off of his new album (premiere date TBD). It is available on Spotify and iTunes, and the music video currently has 150K views. In 2017, he was also featured on Swedish artist’s, Kasbo’s “Lay It On Me,” which reached #32 on Spotify’s U.S. Viral charts, and Louis Futon’s “Royal Bloods.”

Lonsdale grew up in St. Marys about an hour west of Sydney, Australia and always had a passion for performing. At 13 years old, he received a scholarship to attend a performing arts high school where he could focus half the day on academics, and the other half on dancing/acting. Lonsdale was a natural, excelling in his first love, dance, but also in acting, singing, and writing. Upon graduation, he was cast as ensemble and the understudy for Tyrone in FAME The Musical, a role he played for 10 months.

After FAME The Musical, Lonsdale went on to land a starring role as Ollie Lloyd in “Dance Academy,” where he could hone in on his acting and dancing skills on screen. He also dabbled in the hosting world, becoming the face of MTV Australia and New Zealand. Working in scripted television and with MTV was the perfect bootcamp for Lonsdale, who was about to land one of his biggest projects to date, the second film in the “Divergent” film trilogy, “Insurgent” (Lionsgate). He made his U.S. feature debut in 2015 starring as Uriah, a fellow “divergent” opposite Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller and Ansel Elgort, and reprised his role in “Allegiant” the following year. In 2016, Lonsdale also appeared in “The Finest Hours” (Walt Disney Pictures) with a supporting role as Eldon Hanan alongside Casey Affleck, Chris Pine, and Ben Foster. In 2017, he reprised his role in Dance Academy: The Movie” (StudioCanal).

Lonsdale currently lives in the Los Angeles area.

JOEY POLLARI (Lyle)

Joey Pollari was recently seen starring as ‘Eric Tanner’ in season 2 of ABC’s Golden Globe/Emmy-nominated series American Crime, opposite Felicity Huffman and Regina King. Executive Producer Michael McDonald was quoted in Variety calling Pollari a “"star. He has been challenged unlike I've seen a young man be challenged by what we've been doing with him. He's really, really good."

Pollari broke out as the star of MTV’s series The Inbetweeners, which took a comedic look at a group of teenagers navigating high school and charging into adulthood. The show was based on the hit UK series and movie of the same title. For his performance, Joey was named in Variety as “One to Watch” in their Youth Impact Report. “Joey is an amazing talent with an intelligence and wit I haven’t seen from a teenager since Michael Cera on ‘Arrested.’ He just has such great timing and a knack for improv with the added benefit of his natural charm,” said Inbetweeners exec producer Brad Copeland exclusively to Variety. “He’s going to blow up. He’s going to be another John Cusack, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer kid.”

Pollari followed up his breakout in The Inbetweeners with appearances on NBC’s Up All Night, opposite Maya Rudolph and Christina Applegate; FX’s Saint George, opposite George Lopez; TNT’s Major Crimes, and shot the NBC pilot Take It From Us from creator and executive producer Greg Malins (Friends, How I Met Your Mother).

Pollari has appeared in a number of stage productions, including appearances at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in Saint Paul. In 2009, he starred in Disney XD’s original movie, Skyrunners, for which he won the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV movie. In 2010, he starred in Disney Channel’s Avalon High, opposite Britt Robertson.

Joey was born and raised in Minneapolis and splits his time between there and Los Angeles.

ABOUT THE CREW

GREG BERLANTI (Director)

WGA, DGA and Golden Globe nominated writer, director, and producer, Greg Berlanti, is the force behind some of the most inventive and acclaimed works in film and television and has been credited with being at the forefront of introducing gay characters and storylines into mainstream entertainment.

Berlanti is best known for his work as executive producer and co-creator of The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl, collectively referred to as The CW’s Arrowverse. Additionally, Berlanti serves as executive producer on The CW’s Riverdale, Black Lightning, and NBC’s Blindspot. Upcoming television projects via his Berlanti Productions banner include Lifetime’s straight-to-series thriller You, the live-action version of DC Entertainment’s Titans, and ABC’s new series Deception.

Berlanti started in television as a staff writer on the hit show Dawson’s Creek where he was promoted to showrunner by his second year on the series. Since then, Berlanti has served as creator, writer, and producer behind several of the most creative and lauded television series in history including WB’s Everwood and Jack & Bobby, ABC’s Brothers & Sisters, Eli Stone (for which he was nominated for a WGA award), and Dirty, Sexy, Money, and the USA Network’s mini-•‐series Political Animals (for which he was nominated for a WGA, DGA and Golden Globe award). During Upfronts 2017, it was announced that Berlanti would make television history with a total of 10 scripted series on the air at the same time.

Berlanti made his film directorial debut in 2000 with “The Broken Hearts Club”. He also directed “Life as We Know It”, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, which grossed over $100m worldwide. Most recently, Berlanti wrapped production on Fox 2000’s “Love, Simon”, an adaptation of the acclaimed YA novel Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda which is releasing in March of 2018.

He currently resides in Los Angeles with his husband and child.

ELIZABETH BERGER & ISAAC APTAKER (Screenplay)

Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger are a writing team who work in features and television. The two are currently under an overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television where they co-showrun the hit NBC drama THIS IS US with Dan Fogelman and develop projects for the studio. Prior to THIS IS US, Isaac and Elizabeth wrote for half-hour series such as Fox’s GRANDFATHERED, NBC’s ABOUT A BOY, and ABC’s THE NEIGHBORS.

Isaac and Elizabeth just finished production on their feature adaptation of the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda which Greg Berlanti directed and will be released by Fox 2000 next spring.

Elizabeth hails from Queens, NY. She currently lives with her husband Jeremy and their trio of animals. Isaac is from Cambridge, MA. Isaac and Elizabeth met at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where they became friends and then collaborators before moving to Los Angeles where they both currently reside.

WYCK GODFREY (Producer)

Wyck Godfrey is a veteran Movie and Television producer, whose films have grossed over $6 billion dollars worldwide. He is a partner with Marty Bowen at Temple Hill Entertainment, a film and television production company established in February 2006. Over the last decade, the company has triumphed with a number of successful film franchises, notably the Twilight Saga (based on Stephenie Meyerʼs popular novels) and The Maze Runner trilogy, with the third installment, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, set to release January of 2018.

Godfrey began his career as a creative executive at New Line Cinema after graduating from Princeton University in 1990 with a B.A. in English Literature. While at NLC, he worked on such hit films as The Mask, Dumb and Dumber and assorted films in the popular House Party and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises. In 1995 he joined Horizon Pictures, fronted by producers Paul Schiff and Michael London, as SVP/Production, overseeing their slate of projects at 20th-Century Fox.

He next joined John Davis Entertainment as EVP, developing John Mooreʼs action hit, Behind Enemy Lines. After his promotion to president of the company, Godfrey developed and produced the comedy Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy. He reunited with director Moore on the 2004 remake of Flight of the Phoenix while also producing Alex Proyasʼ futuristic thriller, I, Robot, with Will Smith. Other projects at the time included producing (or executive producing) eight features between 2002 and 2006. Those titles included the Screen Gems remake of the acclaimed 1979 horror hit, When A Stranger Calls. He developed and executive produced Foxʼs franchise hit, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, and then produced Foxʼs 2006 fantasy, Eragon, based on Christopher Paoliniʼs bestselling novel.

In 2006 he partnered with friend and former UTA agent Bowen to form their own production company, Temple Hill Entertainment. Their first project was Catherine Hardwickeʼs The Nativity Story, a modestly budgeted, Christmas-themed movie that would lead to the company’s big break two years later, when Hardwicke would direct the first feature in the Twilight Saga franchise. Twilight claimed an opening weekend box-office record of $69.6 million on its way to a $400 million global take. The movie spawned the franchise’s four sequels (New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn - Part 1, Breaking Dawn - Part 2), with the series having now surpassed $3 billion in worldwide theatrical ticket sales.

The Twilight series established Bowen and Godfrey in the key young-adult movie-going demographic, where they continued as producers of hit romantic dramas adapted from the novels of John Green and Nicholas Sparks — The Fault In Our Stars and Paper Towns from Greenʼs books, and Lasse Hallströmʼs Dear John and Safe Haven and George Tillman Jr.ʼs The Longest Ride from Sparksʼ work.

Following the hit The Fault In Our Stars, which grossed over $300 million worldwide, Bowen and Godfrey hit pay dirt again when they launched yet another popular film franchise in the big screen adaptation of James Dashnerʻs sci-fi thriller, The Maze Runner, which earned $350 million dollars worldwide. Directed by Wes Ball, the original film’s success led to two sequels -- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and the upcoming Maze Runner: The Death Cure.

At present the pair have a multiple feature films in post: Love, Simon based on the award winning book Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, which Greg Berlanti directed with Nick Robinson; Life Itself, written and directed by Dan Fogelman (This is Us),

30 with a cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, and Annette Benning; Down A Dark Hall based on the novel by Lois Duncan, a supernatural thriller directed by Rodrigo Cortes, starring Uma Thurman and AnnaSophia Robb; The Hate U Give, based on the critically acclaimed bestselling young adult novel by Angie Thomas, with Amandla Stenberg playing the lead; Uncle Drew, a feature adaptation of the online Pepsi spots that have become a viral phenomenon yielding over 100 million views, with Kyrie Irving reprising his role of Uncle Drew; and The Kill Team, a tense character driven thriller about modern warfare, directed by Dan Krauss and based on his award winning documentary, with a cast including Alexander Skarsgard and Nat Wolff.

In production, Godfrey and Bowen have The Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, based on Jim Hansen’s biography about the historic 1969 mission on Apollo 11, with Academy Award winning director Damien Chazelle and Golden Globe winning star Ryan Gosling.

Apart from the pair’s successful film franchises, Temple Hill has also ventured into television, executive-producing the recent Fox-TV crime drama, “Rosewood,” and the long-running ABC drama, “Revenge.” Currently they are in production on David E. Kelly’s adaptation of “Mr. Mercedes”, the first novel in Stephen King’s trilogy, with Brendan Gleeson playing the lead role of Detective Bill Hodges.

MARTY BOWEN (Producer)

Marty Bowen is a partner with Wyck Godfrey at Temple Hill Entertainment, a Los Angeles- based film and television production company established in February 2006. Over their first decade in business, the company has triumphed with a number of successful film franchises, notably the Twilight Saga quinary (based on Stephenie Meyer’s popular novels) and The Maze Runner trilogy, with the third installment, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, set to be released in 2018.

A Texas native, Bowen began his career in the UTA trainee program and worked his way up to Agent and ultimately Partner. In the spring of 2006, Bowen left his post at UTA and partnered with veteran producer Wyck Godfrey to create the production company Temple Hill Entertainment. Their first project was Catherine Hardwicke’s The Nativity Story, a modestly

31 budgeted, Christmas-themed movie that would lead to the company’s big break two years later, when Hardwicke would direct the first feature in the Twilight Saga franchise. Twilight claimed an opening weekend box-office record of $69.6 million on its way to a $400 million global take. The pair continued in the same role on the franchise’s four sequels (New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn - Part 1, Breaking Dawn - Part 2), with the series having now surpassed $3 billion in worldwide theatrical ticket sales.

The Twilight triumphs established Bowen and Godfrey in the key young-adult movie-going demographic, where they continued as producers of hit romantic dramas adapted from the novels of John Green and Nicholas Sparks — The Fault In Our Stars and Paper Towns from Greenʼs books, and Lasse Hallströmʼs Dear John and Safe Haven and George Tillman Jr.ʼs The Longest Ride from Sparksʼ work.

Following the hit The Fault In Our Stars, which grossed over $300 million worldwide, Bowen and Godfrey hit pay dirt again when they launched another popular film franchise in the big screen adaptation of James Dashnerʻs Utopian sci-fi thriller, The Maze Runner, which earned $350 million dollars worldwide. Directed by Wes Ball, the original filmʼs success spawned two sequels -- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and the upcoming Maze Runner: The Death Cure.

Currently, Bowen and Godfrey are in pre-production and production on a handful of feature films: The Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, based on Jim Hansen’s biography about the historic 1969 mission on Apollo 11, with Academy Award winning director Damien Chazelle and Golden Globe winning star Ryan Gosling; The Hate U Give, based on the critically acclaimed bestselling young adult novel by Angie Thomas, with Amandla Stenberg attached to play the lead role of Starr; Uncle Drew, a feature adaptation of the online Pepsi spots that have become a viral phenomenon yielding over 100 million views, with Kyrie Irving reprising his role of Uncle Drew; and The Kill Team, a tense character driven thriller about modern warfare, to be directed by Dan Krauss and based on his award winning documentary, with a cast including Alexander Skarsgard and Nat Wolff.

In post-production, Bowen and Godfrey are finishing up Love, Simon, based on the award winning book by Becky Albertalli, Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. Greg Berlanti directed with Nick Robinson playing the lead role of Simon. They are also posting Life Itself, an original screenplay written and directed by Dan Fogelman (This is Us), with a cast that includes Oscar

Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening and Samuel L. Jackson. And they are finishing up an adaptation of Lois Duncan’s novel Down A Dark Hall, a supernatural thriller directed by Rodrigo Cortes, starring Uma Thurman and AnnaSophia Robb.

Apart from the pair’s successful film franchises, Temple Hill has also ventured into television, with Bowen and Godfrey executive producing the recent Fox-TV crime drama, “Rosewood,” the long-running ABC drama, “Revenge,” and David E. Kelly’s adaptation of “Mr. Mercedes”, the first novel in Stephen King’s trilogy, with Brendan Gleeson playing the lead role of Detective Bill Hodges.

Bowen resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.

POUYA SHAHBAZIAN (Producer)

Pouya Shahbazian earned a BAFTA nomination for his most recent production, acclaimed auteur Andrea Arnold’s American Honey. He marked his major-motion picture feature debut in 2014, with the worldwide phenomenon, Divergent, which was followed by two sequels, The Divergent Series: Insurgent and The Divergent Series: Allegiant. In 2013, The Hollywood Reporter named him to its prestigious Next Gen list, profiling 35 executives age 35 and under who are up-and- coming in the industry.

For the past eight years, he has helped to launch some of the hottest literary bestsellers while representing more than 100 international authors as head of the film and television division of Manhattan-based New Leaf Literary & Media.

Shahbazian entered the entertainment industry at Warner Bros. and later joined The Broder- Webb-Chervin-Silbermann Agency’s motion picture literary department. He co-founded ManDown Pictures & Management in 2007, where he developed and produced the Independent Film Channel (IFC) travel series Young, Broke & Beautiful.

His other current film development projects include a number of New York Times #1 bestsellers including the bestselling debut young adult novel of 2015, Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen, at Universal Pictures, with Elizabeth Banks attached to direct, and Kiera Cass' worldwide phenomenon, The Selection, at Warner Bros. He is also producing a number of high-profile

33 projects including Sony Pictures’ Apollo Rising, with Stan Lee & Avi Arad producing, American Blood at Warner Bros., with Bradley Cooper attached to star and produce, New York Times bestselling author Patrick Lee’s latest series, Runner, set up at Warner Bros., with Justin Lin attached to direct, and Evan Mandery’s Q: A Novel, set up at Lionsgate with Matt Tolmach producing and Allan Loeb scripting.

ISAAC KLAUSNER (Producer)

Isaac Klausner is the Executive Vice President at Temple Hill Entertainment, a Los Angeles- based film and television production company.

Isaac is a native of Washington DC. After getting his BA in comparative literature from Yale University, Isaac moved to Mumbai where he interned at Mukta Arts and worked as an assistant director on the Hindi film GOOD BOY, BAD BOY. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Isaac began his Hollywood career at Creative Artists Agency as an assistant in the Motion Picture Literary division. He has spent the past 9 years at Temple Hill Entertainment, where he's worked on a number of films including THE TWILIGHT SAGA, DEAR JOHN, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and PAPER TOWNS.

Isaac is currently overseeing production on FIRST MAN, which tells the story of the historic Gemini and Apollo missions through the eyes of Neil Armstrong. Damien Chazelle directed the film, based on a script by Joshua Singer with a cast that includes Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Kyle Chandler and Jason Clarke.

Over the past year and a half, Isaac saw multiple films through development and production: an adaptation of Lois Duncan’s novel DOWN A DARK HALL, a supernatural thriller directed by Rodrigo Cortes, starring Uma Thurman and AnnaSophia Robb; LOVE, SIMON, a coming-of- age story based on Becky Albertalli’s award winning novel, “Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda.” Greg Berlanti directed, with Nick Robinson playing the lead role of Simon; THE KILL TEAM, a tense character driven thriller about modern warfare starring Alexander Skarsgard and Nat Wolff. It was directed by Dan Krauss and is based on his award-winning documentary; LIFE, ITSELF, was written and directed by Dan Fogelman (THIS IS US) with a cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Annette Bening and Samuel L. Jackson; and THE HATE U

GIVE, based on the critically acclaimed bestselling young adult novel by Angie Thomas. George Tillman directed with Amandla Stenberg starring.

Isaac Klausner resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two daughters.

TIMOTHY M. BOURNE (Executive Producer)

TIMOTHY M. BOURNE (Executive Producer) is a New York City-born filmmaker, who first entered the entertainment industry working with film icons Woody Allen, Penny Marshall, and Mike Nichols on a number of prominent pictures, including Oscar-nominated classics Working Girl, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Awakenings. Early in his career, other notable films with those filmmakers include Big, A League of Their Own, A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, Radio Days, Renaissance Man, Preacher’s Wife, and Riding In Cars with Boys.

As Producer and Executive Producer, Bourne’s credits include a wide range of films, most notably Drumline, Mr. 3000, ATL, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, The Blind Side, Lottery Ticket, Footloose, Joyful Noise and the recent action comedy Keeping up with the Joneses starring Jon Hamm and Gal Gadot.

Bourne’s newest projects include Father Figures, a Warner Brothers/Alcon Entertainment production that marks the directorial debut of Lawrence Sher and stars Ed Helms, Owen Wilson and Glenn Close, plus Fox 2000’s Diary Of A Wimpy Kid—The Long Haul and director Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon.

Bourne has just completed filming George Tillman Jr’s adaptation of the New York Times bestselling young adult novel, The Hate U Give and he is currently in production on Goosebumps 2, Slappy Halloween for Director Ari Sandel.

JOHN GULESERIAN (Director of Photography)

John Guleserian studied cinematography as an undergrad at Columbia College Chicago and then as a graduate student at the American Film Institute.

While at AFI, Guleserian began a longstanding collaboration with writer–director Drake Doremus which includes Like Crazy, a romantic drama that premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and won the festival's Grand Jury Prize, an achievement that Guleserian later said "opened up a lot of opportunities" for him. One such opportunity was the 2013 romantic comedy About Time, which was the first major studio film Guleserian shot.

In 2014 Guleserian traveled to Japan for Doremus’ film Equals, a science fiction romance starring Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult, which was an official selection at the Tribeca, Venice, and Toronto International Film Fests the following year. Later that year he also filmed the critically acclaimed comedy The Overnight, directed by Patrick Brice. Guleserian has a way with the actors he is shooting, and many of them have asked him to shoot their directoral debuts. These include Chris Evans and most recently Kristen Stewart, whose debut Come Swim premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

John just wrapped production on Zoe, produced by Ridley Scott and starring Ewan McGregor and Ed Zwick’s newest film, Trial by Fire.

Guleserian's television credits include Amazon’s hit series Transparent, Hulu’s Casual, and most recently Nick Stoller’s Netflix series Friends from College.

AARON OSBORNE (Production Designer)

Aaron Osbourne is is a dynamic Emmy-award-winning Production Designer of film, television, and theatre. Most recently he designed the sets for the Fox Studio film Love, Simon, and the KFilms-produced indie The True Adventures of Wolfboy. Other feature film credits include: Keanu with Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, The Good Lie starring Reese Witherspoon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang starring Robert Downey Jr., Another Day in Paradise, The Losers, I Am Sam, Sex Drive, Dumb and Dumber To, the George C. Wolfe film You’re Not You starring Hillary Swank, and both That’s My Boy and Grown Ups 2 with Adam Sandler. He worked with the Wayans Brothers on several of their projects, including Don’t Be a Menace in South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and Dance Flick.

In television, Aaron created the signature look for many acclaimed series, designing the pilots for Constantine, Community, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, among others. In 2003, Aaron accepted the Emmy Award for Best Production Design for Without A Trace.

Like many in the film community, Aaron’s first love is theatre, whether designing the sets, treading the boards, or directing. Having experienced early success with his theatre work in New York, Aaron brought his critically-acclaimed theatrical extravaganza Theatre Carnivale to Los Angeles. There, he and his troupe had a tremendously successful 3-year-run, consistently earning “Picks of the Week” from the LA Weekly. On the heels of that triumph was an NEA Grant for his play Acid Whorehouse, produced for New York’s Franklin Furnace Theatre and Los Angeles’ Tamarind Theatre. Additionally, Aaron received the LA Arts Endowment Grant for his piece Peter Pandemonium produced at LACE.

After relocating permanently in Los Angeles, Aaron segued into production design, having the auspicious honor of working under the tutelage of cult director/producer Roger Corman. It was at Corman Studios where Aaron, like his heroes Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, John Sales, and James Cameron before him, received the equivalent of a “Master’s Degree” in film production.

HARRY JIERJIAN (Editor)

Harry Jierjian is known for his work on “The Flash”, “The Nine Lives of Chloe King” and “A Town Called Eureka”.

ERIC DAMAN (Costume Designer)

Eric Daman is an Emmy® Award winning costume designer, celebrity stylist, fashion designer, author, and is emerging as a popular television personality.

Television Costume Design credits for Daman include Showtime’s newest sensational hit “Billions”, ABC’s period miniseries “Astronaut Wives Club”, the CW’s “Sex & The City” prequel “The Carrie Diaries”, as well as the full six season run of the CW’s hit TV series "Gossip

Girl." Eric was also part of the Emmy winning design team for HBO’s celebrated high fashion hit “Sex & The City”, working as assistant designer to Patricia Field during seasons 2-4.

Gossip Girl’s style continues to be celebrated in the press and on social media often being called TV’s best dressed and most inspirational fashion show. In March 2010 Allure Magazine listed Daman among "the 7 influencers who could change everything about the way we look.” and in 2011 the NY Times Magazine listed Eric in the top 20 “one’s to watch”.

Eric's most recent film designs can be seen in 20th Century Fox's upcoming, much anticipated Love, Simon based on the popular YA "Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda".

Daman has designed secveral celebrated independent films as well including "The Door in The Floor" starring Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger, "The D.U.F.F." starring Mae Whitman, "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" starring Adrian Grenier, "Anamorph" starring Willem Dafoe and many others.

Mr. Daman resides in New York City.

JACK ANTONOFF (Executive Music Producer)

Jack Antonoff is a three-time Grammy®Award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, and producer, as well as the creative force behind Bleachers. After serving as lead guitarist in multi- platinum band fun., Antonoff launched his solo project Bleachers in 2014 with the critically acclaimed debut album Strange Desire. The album found him setting emotional meditations on anxiety, depression, and loss against a backdrop of earworm melodies and massive choruses on songs like the gold-certified “I Wanna Get Better” (which topped Billboard’s Alternative chart) and the #3 Alternative radio hit “Rollercoaster.” Antonoff toured the world for a year and a half in support of Strange Desire, building a cult fan base for his cathartic, suburban influenced anthems.

Recently, Bleachers released their sophomore album entitled Gone Now via RCA Records. The album received critical acclaim from the likes of The New York Times, which called it “anthemic, life-affirming pop-rock”, and Pitchfork, which stated “From beginning to end, Gone Now has all the affectations of an over-the-top pop masterpiece”. Gone Now includes the band’s

38 previous single, “Don’t Take The Money”, which hit #3 at Alternative Radio, as well as their current single, “I Miss Those Days”. Most recently, Bleachers released their MTV Unplugged album via RCA Records, which features live audio from their performance on the second episode of MTV’s Unplugged. The album includes new Bleachers material, as well as a special versions of “Don’t Take The Money”, “Hate That You Know Me”, and “Shadow”.

In addition to his work with Bleachers, Antonoff is an in-demand songwriter and producer for other artists, including Taylor Swift (he co-wrote and co-produced three songs on Swift's Grammy®-winning album 1989 including “Out of the Woods”, along with a number of songs on her recently released album Reputation including “Look What You Made Me Do”, “Getaway Car”, “Dress”, “Call It What You Want”, and “New Years Day”), Sara Bareilles (co- wrote her Grammy®-nominated hit "Brave”), Zayn (co-wrote and produced his No. 2 Hot 100 duet with Taylor Swift, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”), Lorde (co-wrote and co-produced her new album Melodrama), worked with P!nk and St. Vincent on their new albums, as well as with Sia, Tegan & Sarah, Carly Rae Jepsen, Troye Sivan, Grimes, and more. Jack has also been nominated for two 2018 Grammy Awards as a producer and songwriter for Album of the Year for Lorde’s Melodramma, and a as a songwriter for Best Song Written for Visual Media for “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” (Fifty Shades Darker). He was also named one of Entertainment Weekly’s 2017 Entertainers of the Year.

Antonoff also founded and curated the annual “Shadow of the City” music festival, which takes place in Antonoff’s home state of New Jersey in the parking lot of the Asbury Park Stone Pony. In addition, this year Simon & Schuster will publish Antonoff’s first book, Record Store — a heavily illustrated anthology of essays, interviews, photographs, and ephemera that will pay tribute to the cherished and endangered cultural institution.

Antonoff is also a passionate advocate for Planned Parenthood and LGBTQ rights, having collected signatures from 142 high-profile artists, writers, and creators to deliver a message to legislators in Texas considering anti-LGBTQ laws. He is a co-founder of The Ally Coalition (TAC), which encourages allies of the LGBTQ community to take action for LGBTQ equality and support its causes. TAC has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last few years for local LGBTQ homeless shelters around the US.

ROB SIMONSEN (Music By)

Composer Rob Simonsen has had a thread in the fabric of some of the most noteworthy and prestigious films of the past decade. He spanned an eternity of star-crossed romance with The Age of Adaline (starring Blake Lively and Harrison Ford), also co-writing the film’s end credits song. He collaborated with director Bennett Miller to underline the unsettling atmosphere of the Oscar-nominated drama Foxcatcher, scored the Steve Carell-starring dramedy The Way Way Back with sensitivity, sympathized with the coming-of-age The Spectacular Now, delved deep into the controversial 1969 Stonewall riots musically with Roland Emmerich’s political drama Stonewall, sweetened Zach Braff’s coming-of-middle-age film Wish I Was Here, and spiced things up with Bradley Cooper’s Burnt directed by John Wells.His work in television includes the CBS comedy Life In Pieces, the Joss Whedon Fox drama Dollhouse, the CBS ratings juggernaut Blue Bloods led by Tom Selleck. Rob recently completed the Lionsgate action thriller Nerve starring Emma Roberts and Dave Franco, the comedy The Master Cleanse, and Viral from Blumhouse Productions. Upcoming projects include New Line Cinema’s Going in Style, Warner Bros.’ comedy Bastards, and the Fox Searchlight drama, Gifted directed by Marc Webb.

Prior to flying solo, under the apprenticeship of composer Mychael Danna, Simonsen contributed additional music to the scores for Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (which won an Oscar for Best Score) and Bennett Miller’s Moneyball (Oscar-nominated for Best Picture)—as well as Catherine Hardwick’s The Nativity Story, Sony Pictures Animation’s Surf’s Up, and Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. With Danna he co-composed the score for Marc Webb’s hugely popular indie romance (500) Days of Summer.

Simonsen’s compositional voice is the product of an education in both rock and traditional orchestral music. He co-founded The Echo Society, a collective that provides a platform for composers to experiment and create for live performances around Los Angeles. “I think we all want to feel like we’re invited to an experience we can participate in, rather than being hit over the head with something telling us how to feel,” Simonsen says of film scoring. “I think we are often more successful when there is more space for the viewer. I don’t think a ‘simple’ approach makes scoring any easier. Sometimes simple is a lot more difficult to nail.”