Knoxville, TN - The Visit Knoxville Film Office along with the Tennessee Entertainment Commission (TEC) today announced the feature film Road Less Traveled starring American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina and co-starring Charlene Tilton (Dallas) has begun production in Knoxville, TN. The film is produced by MarVista Entertainment and Executive Producers Fernando Szew (A Deadly Adoption) &  Kristofer McNeeley (Great Plains), and producer Stacia Crawford(River Guard),directed by Blair Hayes (Bubble Boy), and written by Michael Shear and Samantha Shear (Killer App). The production is working closely with the Visit Knoxville Film Office to secure locations, crew, talent, and office space.


“We’re proud to welcome MarVista Entertainment and the cast and crew of Road Less Traveled to Knoxville," said Curt Willis, Visit Knoxville Film Office Director. “This city has worked hard to establish itself as a competitive option for film production in the south and attracting projects like this is exactly what we had in mind.”
 
SYNOPSIS
 
    CHARLOTTE has two problems. First, she’s less than a week from marrying her fiancé, SPENCER, and she hasn’t found the perfect wedding dress. Second, she’s a country songwriter in Los Angeles, but she has writer’s block and her agent and label are pressuring her to write a new hit song. When it dawns on Charlotte that THE dress she’s been searching for is the one worn by the mother she lost too young -  a dress her tough-as-nails GRANDMA ROSE refuses to let Charlotte borrow - she convinces her friends to appease her family and move her bachelorette party to her small country hometown of Harmony, Tennessee in the hopes that she can change Grandma Roses's mind.

    Upon arrival, Charlotte runs into her ex-boyfriend and high school sweetheart Ray, and it’s clear there are still some sparks left in that relationship.Meanwhile, Charlotte’s Maid of Honor, KATHLEEN, dissatisfied with her job and love life, searches for a new career direction while finding herself attracted to Charlotte’s younger brother HANK. As emotions with Ray get more complicated, Charlotte finds herself wondering what life would have been like if she had never left Harmony, and she is confronted the question of who she wants to spend her life with: the city man of her dreams or the boy she left behind.


"As a boy growing up in Oklahoma, country music and it’s roots in Tennessee were important influences for me.  We are thrilled to be here in Knoxville making our first film, and to be collaborating with Lauren and Universal Music Group Nashville. Hopefully this is just the beginning of a long relationship in the state bringing Tennessee and country music to millions of fans worldwide through film.”  - Kristofer McNeeley

Most recently the Visit Knoxville Film Office hosted Dog Years, an independent feature written and directed by Adam Rifkin, starring Burt Reynolds and Ariel Winter, and executive produced by Gordon Whitener and Neil Mandt.

About the Visit Knoxville Film Office Established in 2013, the mission of the Visit Knoxville Film Office is to strengthen Knoxville's economy through the promotion of the city as a premiere filming location. For more information on filming in Knoxville, please visit FilmKnoxvilleTN.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Visit Knoxville (Knoxville Convention and Visitors Bureau) is the official CVB for the City of Knoxville and Knox County. Visit Knoxville is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, private company that works together with the community, business leaders and local and state government to further develop Knoxville as a premier leisure, meetings and travel destination. Join the Visit Knoxville conversation with the hashtag #knoxrocks on all of our social platforms


About MarVista Entertainment
 
Founded in 2003, Los Angeles-based MarVista Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment studio that produces, acquires and distributes premium film and television content worldwide.  With a library showcasing nearly 2,500 hours of content, and with approximately 40 new movies per year added to the company’s distribution pipeline, MarVista has become one of the largest suppliers of movies to the worldwide marketplace. MarVista has an expansive distribution footprint spanning more than 125 global territories, and has grown to become a pre-eminent supplier of programming to major cable networks in the U.S., including Disney Channel/Disney XD, Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon and MTV Networks, as well as key international broadcasters, cable networks and digital platforms.

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