GRB Entertainment announced today at Playlist Live that they will be producing their first full-length feature film—Bad Night. The film will be executive produced by Gary R. Benz and Michael Branton, was written by Daniel Kinno, directed by Nick and Chris Riedell (Camp Takota) and produced by AJ Tesler (former Head of Production, JASH).
Starring breakout YouTube personalities Lauren Elizabeth Luthringshausen (LoveLaurenElizabeth) and Jenn McAllister (JennxPenn), Bad Night is a story of two girls, friendship, and survival. When Kate (Luthringshausen) and Abby (McAllister) decide to have a little adventure on their school’s field trip, they expect to have the time of their lives. They’ve never been more right. Though, when they get in the wrong car, it’s not just their high school graduation at risk…it’s their lives.
Lauren is an actress, comedian and the creator of the hit YouTube channel “Lauren Elizabeth”, which has amassed a following of over 850,000 fans and nearly 38 million views. Jenn – who is a big part of the reason it’s now cool to be a geeky girl – has gained notoriety over the last 6 years on YouTube with her channel “JennxPenn”, which has over 1.8 million fans and nearly 100 million views. Both Lauren and Jenn are managed by Big Frame. Their managers, Byron Austen Ashley and Rana Zand, in addition to Lauren and Jenn will serve as producers on the film.
Bad Night will also star Matt Walsh (Hits, Ted), Julianna Guill (Crazy Stupid Love, “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce), Judy Marte (NYC 22, Nasty Baby), Owen Smith (Everybody Hates Chris, Are We There Yet?) and Gareth Reynolds (Failosophy, Sulllivan & Son), and feature Casey Wilson (Happy Endings, Gone Girl), Adam Pally (Happy Endings, The Mindy Project), Eric Edelstein (Jurassic World, Clarence) and James Kirkland (Community)
Set to be an unconventional production, Bad Night’s history is as funny as the talent involved. Hired by GRB, Tesler cast the movie first and developed the script from scratch with the directors, writer, and GRB’s creative team around the chosen talent.
“It’s a new way to make a film, and I think a process that will be repeated over and over again as these digital influencer movies become more commonplace,” said Tesler. “The creative freedom that GRB has afforded me and my team to make the movie the way we wanted to, with the story we wanted to, has been spectacular, and that’s a large reason everyone working on this is so excited about this.”
Gary R. Benz, president of GRB Entertainment, added, “We’re excited to be providing our first feature in the digital space which will reach an audience of young viewers where they live. It’s a terrific project that has marketing already built in it — it’s a formula that we hope we can repeat with a multitude of incredible Youtube personalities. Much like everything that GRB does, we’ve brought in a team of experts to make this film, and we know that it will be reflective of the high quality entertainment GRB has become known for.”
The film begins its two-week production on February 10th in Los Angeles.