THE STORY
When heroes fall, families rise. Journey into Grace’s world as her blended family navigates life against the surreal backdrop of a childhood hero’s death.
As the youngest of five children, Grace’s blended family was never easy to explain to her friends. As soon as graduation came around, she left the confusion and rawness of her home life behind. When the film finds her more than a decade later, she has built a new life for herself in Los Angeles and cemented her place as the outsider of the family. But her new life is upended when she learns that her older brother AJ has cancer and her now estranged family comes to town to support him. The film is set during the days after Michael Jackson’s death in the Los Angeles hospital that is next door to the L.A. Coroner’s Office, where the King of Pop was autopsied. As we unravel the family’s traumatic past, the pivotal role AJ played as Grace’s protector, and the chasm that now exists between them as adults, Grace comes to terms with the ghosts of her past and her former role as the family’s “Golden Child.” Michael Jackson played an important role in the siblings' childhoods and the irony of the timing isn’t lost on Grace. As she tries to reconcile her complicated relationships with her siblings, she’s also saying goodbye to the icon who was the soundtrack to that chapter of her life.
PRESS
“I’ll Be There, written and directed by University of Texas professors, Cindy McCreery (writer)and Andrew Shea (director), (is) the tender family drama about a family reckoning with its traumatic past is the throwback type of original storytelling that the Austin Film Festival was created to showcase.” — Matthew Odam, Austin American Statesman
“You’re captivated from beginning to end with this film, courtesy of the magnificent direction of Andrew Shea and the majestic writing of Cindy McCreery and all of these elements work to combine to provide the viewer… with a deeply personal viewing experience. One that truly calls to us and leaves us wondering what we should do with our own family concerns and troubles or celebrate what is in front of us. For we only get one family in this life, and it is important we remember that.” — John Edward Betancourt, Nerds That Geek
“McCreery's script may be set against a backdrop of one of pop culture's most memorable moments, but its tender examination of what it means to be family has a definite timelessness to it.” — Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
Principal Cast
JASMINE BATCHELOR
Grace
RYAN COOPER
AJ
DORIEN WILSON
Clint
VICTORIA KELLEHER
Felicia
Creative Team
ANDREW SHEA Director/Producer
CINDY McCREERY Screenwriter/Producer
BARBARA MORGAN Producer
MELISSA SHEA Editor/Producer
ALONSO J. LUJAN Cinematographer
STEPHEN TRASK Composer
SHAMEKA DWIGHT Singer/Songwriter
SEAN MULLIGAN Music Supervisor
TIFFANY SU Music Supervisor
SCOTT COLQUITT Production Designer
JULIANA HOFFPAUIR Costume Designer
Director’s Statement
What drew me to the story when I first read it was how raw and real it was. Based on real events, I’ll Be There is a heartfelt story about a young woman finally finding peace with her blended family. I was also drawn to the deeply interior and dreamlike moments in the story, which become more frequent and surreal for Grace with each passing sleep-deprived day.
This was always envisioned as an Austin-based project, and one of the many challenges we faced in development and pre-production was finding a credible approach to doubling Austin, Texas for 2009-era Los Angeles. Our locations team was up to the task and found terrific options for the myriad locations called for in the script, including Circuit of the Americas, an F1 race track that doubles beautifully for the 5 Freeway! Our cast is led by the brilliant New York- and L.A.-based actors Jasmine Batchelor, Ryan Cooper, Dorien Wilson, and Victoria Kelleher, but filming in Austin also allowed us to take advantage of a wonderful pool of diverse talent behind and in front of the camera, including Texas-based actors Marc Pouhé, Ajna Jai, Donny Boaz, Mikala Gibson, Jeremy Batiste, Celestina Harris, Casandra Canales, Kianna Sanchez, Cleofas Soto, Kenneth Bradley, and Erik Mathew.
