Under the Stars follows a struggling romance novelist in a passionless relationship. A trip to Italy for inspiration leads him to the girl of his dreams.
LONG SYNOPSIS: A young English writer, Ian, after discovering that his girlfriend has been cheating on him with his editor, is encouraged by his aunt, Audrey, to undertake a trip with her to Puglia, to find inspiration and thus finally complete his novel. Once they arrive at La Masseria where they will stay, they meet Giacomo, the owner, and his daughter, Arianna.
An initially stormy relationship will transform into an overwhelming love story and a journey of rediscovery of oneself. Under the Stars is a funny, heartfelt romantic comedy about love, truth, beauty, human connection, and the romance genre itself. The contrasts between our protagonists and their dynamics, as well as that of the two main settings: the bustle of London and the serenity of Puglia - facilitate the bond that develops between them, and the exploration of what people look for in others and from their own lives. It's a love story among young and old, with genuine and unusual humor, which will entertain audiences of all ages.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT – Michelle Danner
Under the Stars is a fun and heartfelt romantic comedy about love, truth, beauty, family, human connection, and in many ways the romance genre itself. The contrasts between Ian and Ariannaa, as well as the two main settings - the bustle of London and the serenity of Puglia - allow for the bond that develops between them to explore what people look for in each other and out of life. Puglia is shot in a cinematic style that flows with authentic Italian music and plays a crucial role in the world of the story.
The family home of La Massaria with all of its life and rich history is the cornerstone of all that unfolds over the course of the film. It is a setting made for romance. This is a sincere love story of the young and not-so-young with great humor and heart that will entertain and move audiences across generations. Romance films are made to give people hope about love, and watching these two strangers genuinely form that tender connection is something I hope it inspires our audience. In the tradition of Under the Tuscan Sun and Letters to Juliet - with plenty of inspiration owed to the Before trilogy - this is a film that will take you someplace else where people are able to find that love, because it’s never too late to start another chapter.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS:
MICHELLE DANNER, Director
Michelle Danner is a film and stage director, an author, and a world-renowned acting coach. She
teaches her Golden Box Acting workshops in South America, Europe, Toronto, Vancouver, Dubai,
New York, Sydney and Australia. It was her father, Alexander Valdez, who opened the very first
William Morris Agency in Paris, France, that instilled a strong passion and work ethic that has
stayed with her throughout her life.
Michelle has taught acting for the last 30 years and has worked with many A-List Actors
privately and on set including: Chris Rock, Gerard Butler, Seth MacFarlane, Penelope Cruz,
Melanie Brown, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Verne Troyer, Grant Bowler, Kate Del Castillo, Michael Pena,
Isla Fisher, Common, Jennifer Grant, Salma Hayek, Chris Martin, Brian McKnight, James Franco,
Marcia Cross, Christian Slater, Catherine Bell, Zooey Deschanel, Gabrielle Union, Justin Chatwin,
Jennifer Coolidge, Justine Wadell, Rob Estes, Rick Fox, Henry Cavill, Michelle Rodriguez,
Seychelle Gabriel, Rita Ora and many others.
Voted favorite acting coach by Backstage readers. She was brought in for her expert coaching
on the WB show The Starlet and was featured with Andy Richter on The Tonight Show with
Conan O’Brien.
Michelle trained extensively in Paris and New York with Stella Adler and Uta Hagen. She was the
Managing Director of the Larry Moss Studio since its inception in Los Angeles for 20 years.
She is the Founding Director of the Creative Center for the Arts (formerly known as the Edgemar
Center for the Arts) and raised $1.3 million to construct the two theaters and the art gallery at
the Center. At the opening ceremony, Steven Spielberg commented, “Here we have a venue that
can turn out some extremely experienced, daring and resourceful artists.”
She served as Artistic
Director of the Edgemar Center for the Arts for the last 20 years, now Creative Center for the
Arts, and teaches ongoing classes at the Michelle Danner Studio and the Los Angeles Acting
Conservatory.
Michelle has directed and acted in over thirty plays and musicals in New York and Los Angeles.
Her favorite acting credits include Tennessee William’s The Rose Tattoo, which garnered critic
picks and awards including best actress; House of Yes, Bright Ideas, Ibsen's Ghosts , and One
White Crow .
Her highlights at Edgemar have been pioneering new works that include The Night of the Black
Cat , a world premiere and winner of the 2005 Best Musical of the Year at the Los Angeles Music
Awards, which had a revival as recently as 2016. She directed the world premiere of Mental the
Musical, winner of several 17th Annual TicketHolder awards for acting and musical score. She
wrote and directed the world premiere of You're on the Air , an improv based comedy which is in
development to become a movie.
She directed the west coast premiere of Hello Herman by
John Buffalo Mailer and co-directed Jane Fonda in The Court of Public Opinion starring
Academy Award and Golden Globe Nominee Anne Archer. The play Vanya and Sonia and Masha
and Spike by Christopher Durang won 5 Scenies, StageSceneLA Awards, including for best
actress in a Comedy for Michelle’s portrayal of Sonia.
Her acting film credits include playing the part of Alexandra, the psychic, in the feature film
Ovation directed by Henry Jaglom as well as Mrs. Mack in Reach directed by Leif Rokesh.
Michelle also produced and acted in the award-winning short film Dos Corazones, which
premiered at the Nashville Film Festival and went on to win Best Cinematography & Audience
Favorite at the Malibu Film Festival.
In 2006, she made her feature film directing debut How to go Out on a Date in Queens, which
was nominated and won four L.A. Film Awards including Best Director. It starred Jason
Alexander, Esai Morales, Ron Perlman, Kimberly Williams, Rob Estes and Alison Eastwood.
Her second film Hello Herman starring Norman Reedus (AMC’s The Walking Dead), Martha
Higareda, and Garrett Backstrom.
The film premiered at the Hollywood Film Festival and had its
international premiere at the Monaco Charity Film Festival where it won the award for social
relevance. It opened theatrically nationwide and was distributed by Warner Brothers.
The Bandit Hound, a family comedy starring Catherine Bell, Lou Ferigno, Judd Nelson, Paul
Sorvino, and Verne Troyer, was released in 2016. In 2017, Michelle shot a short documentary
about Mariana Rizo Sigueme, a transgender Mexican Woman with a fascinating story to tell.
The
Documentary premiered at the Cinema At The Edge Film Festival in 2018 and has since been
shown in several prominent LGBT and Latin Film Festival all across the US, including
Indianapolis LGBT, Tampa Bay Latin and OutFest Fusion in Los Angeles.
Michelle’s film, Bad Impulse, premiered in the US in December 2020 with a wonderful cast
including Paul Sorvino, Sonya Walger, Grant Bowler and Dan Lauria. Bad Impulse is a
psychological thriller that successfully played at many Film Festivals, winning both Audience
and Jury awards including: Audience Award for Best Feature Film at the Golden State Film
Festival, Best Director for a Feature Film at the Culver City Film festival and Best Feature Film at
the London International and Manhattan Film Festivals.
Michelle’s film, The Runner, an action-thriller, is starring Cameron Douglas, Elisabeth Rohm, Nadji
Jeter, Eric Balfour, Kerri Medder, Jessica Amlee and Edouard Phillipponnat and was released by
Saban Films in 2022. This is a very personal story about children getting lost in the war on drugs
and paying the price for it. The Runner premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival in March 2021
and screened at the Houston WorldFest as well as Internationally at the Ischia Global Film
Festival, winning Best Independent Feature Film as well as best Cinematography at the Toronto
Independent Film Festival and Best Director at the Vancouver Film Festival, Paris Play Festival,
Milan Gold Award and L'age d'Or International Arthouse Film Festival.
Her latest Film, Miranda’s Victim, was filmed in New Jersey in the summer of 2022 and will
premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in early 2023 starring Abigail Breslin,
Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Emily VanCamp, Mireille Enos, Josh Bowman, Andy Garcia and
Donald Sutherland. It’s a riveting true story of the creation of the Miranda Rights told from the
perspective of the victim.
She filmed the family comedy The Italians during the strike with a SAG interim agreement,
starring Matthew Daddarion, Rob Estes, Perrey Reeves, Olivia Luccardi, Lainia Kazan and Abigail
Breslin. It premiered at the ITALIA Film Festival in March 2024 to a sold out crowd and has been
winning awards at film festivals around the country and was released on Amazon Prime Video
in Spring 2025.
She is currently filming the Rom-Com Starstruck and is in pre-production for a Sci-Fi thriller,
Helios, a space thriller and, Party Crasher.
She is putting the finishing touches on her acting book, The Golden Box , which will be released
this year as well as the one-woman show A Ticket to the Circus, starring Anne Archer, about the
life of Norris Church Mailer, the wife of Norman Mailer.
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