American Film Market Dailies

Billy Crystal by Steve Schofield  Tiffany Haddish by Keith Major 

Penn Badgley (“You”), Laura Benanti (“Younger”), Louisa Krause (“Billions”), Anna Deavere Smith (“Black-ish”), and Nyambi Nyambi (“The Good Fight”), are set to join multi Emmy-award Winner and Golden Globe Nominee Billy Crystal and Emmy-award Winner Tiffany Haddish in the hilarious and heart-warming feature film Here Today, it was announced today by Astute Films’ President Fred Bernstein. Principal photography is underway in New York City.

Here Today is a May/September romantic comedy – but without the romance. Veteran comedy writer Charlie Burnz (Crystal), who is slowly but surely losing his grip on reality, befriends a talented young New York street singer Emma Payge (Haddish). Together, they form an unlikely yet hilarious and touching friendship that kicks the generation gap aside and redefines the meaning of love and trust.

Here Today will be Crystal’s eighth time directing and his third on a feature film. Crystal co-wrote the screenplay with his fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum and Emmy-award winning writer Alan Zweibel based on the short story “The Prize” also written by Zweibel.  Executive Producers are Rick Jackson, Claudine Marrotte & Samantha Sprecher.  Fred Bernstein, Billy Crystal, Dominique Telson, Alan Zweibel and Tiffany Haddish serve as Producers on the film. Here Today is an Astute Films production in association with Crystal’s Face Productions and Big Head Productions.

“We’ve assembled a terrific and gifted cast,” said Bernstein. “Billy and Alan Zweibel gave us a wonderful script, and great actors want to work with Billy. We are thrilled!”

Penn Badgley currently stars as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix psychological thriller hit series “You.” Badgley’s film credits include Greetings from Tim Buckley where he starred as Jeff Buckley, Margin Call, and John Tucker Must Die among others. Badgley starred as Dan Humphrey in The CW’s hit drama TV series “Gossip Girl.”

Tony Award-winner and five-time Tony Award nominee Laura Benanti is the highly celebrated stage and screen actress, who will star in the upcoming film, What is Life Worth opposite Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci.  Her Broadway credits include her critically acclaimed run as Eliza Doolittle in Lincoln Center’s revival of “My Fair Lady,” Steve Martin’s “Meteor Shower,” Amalia Balash in “She Loves Me,” Gypsy Rose Lee in “Gypsy” opposite Patti LuPone, and “Nine” (starring Antonio Banderas). Her television credits include “Younger,” “The Detour,” NBC’s “The Sound of Music Live” and as First Lady Melania Trump on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Supergirl,” “Law & Order: SVU,” and “The Good Wife.” 

Krause recently appeared in the independent feature Skin, starring opposite Jamie Bell and Danielle McDonald and will next be seen opposite Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway in Killer Films’ Dark Waters, directed by Todd Haynes, which will be released in November. On television, Krause will next be seen in a recurring arc on Showtime’s “Ray Donovan” opposite Liev Schreiber. Previously, she starred opposite Anna Friel in the critically acclaimed Starz series, “The Girlfriend Experience”. She had a major recurring arc on Showtime’s “Billions” as “Louise ‘Lu’ Benjamin”.

Anna Deavere Smith’s feature film credits include the beloved Philadelphia, Dave, and The American President.  Her recurring TV roles include the series “The Practice,” “The West Wing,” and “Nurse Jackie.”  In 2013, she received the 2012 National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama and in 2015 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected her for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government's highest honor for achievement in the humanities.

Nyambi Nyambi co-starred in the New York City Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park in "The Merchant of Venice" and "The Winter's Tale" with a cast that included Al Pacino, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Hamish Linklater. His other theatre credits include the first Broadway revival of August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," "The Tempest" opposite Mandy Patinkin for the Classic Stage Company, "Coming Home" at the Wilma Theatre, and various productions with the Classical Theatre of Harlem (where he is a company member) and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. His TV series work includes “The Good Fight,” “Mike & Molly,” “American Koko,” and “Saint Janet.”

Rocket Science is handling international sales on the highly anticipated feature. CAA is handling US rights.

Badgley is repped by CAA, Anonymous Content, and Adam Kaller. Benanti is repped by UTA and Untitled Entertainment. Deavere Smith is repped by The Gersh Agency and Judi Farkas Management. Krause is repped by ICM Partners, United Agents (UK), Brookside Artist Management, and David Schachter. Nyambi Nyambi is repped by Abrams Artists Agency and ATA Management.

ABOUT ASTUTE FILMS

Veteran film production executive Fred Bernstein launched Los Angeles-based, privately-funded motion picture financing and production company Astute Films, LLC with Rick Jackson in 2015. Bernstein, who previously headed production at Columbia Pictures, and the business and operations of Universal Pictures, created Astute Films with Jackson to facilitate the production of quality films that both entertain and matter.

Astute Films is in post-production with Never Too Late featuring an all-star cast led by Academy Award-winner Ellen Burstyn and Academy Award-nominee James Caan. Their last film, “The Best of Enemies” starring Academy Award nominee Taraji P. Henson and Academy Award winner Sam Rockwell, was released by STX in April of 2019.

Astute Films’ sister-company Giving Films is a production company that funds life-giving stories and donates all profits to charity. Giving Films produced Michael Polish’s “90 Minutes in Heaven” starring Hayden Christensen and Kate Bosworth in 2015, and “Paul, Apostle of Christ” starring Jim Caviezel and James Faulkner which was released by Sony Affirm in 2018.  “An Interview with God” starring Academy Award-nominee David Strathairn and Brenton Thwaites, was produced by Astute Films and Giving Films and released in August 2018.