A film by mei makino - Inbetween Girl Film

a film by mei makino

Running Time: 89 Minutes 16 Seconds
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Origination: Sony FS7
Aspect Ratio: 1.9:1
Language: English
Country of Origin: United States
Year: 2021

Press Inquiries: lena@frankpublicity.com
Website: inbetweengirlfilm.com

logline                                                                                      cast
Teen artist Angie Chen turns to secret hookups with the heartthrob of her private school     Emma Galbraith, William Magnuson, Emily Garrett, Liz Waters, KaiChow Lau, Thanh Bui,
after her parents’ sudden divorce.                                                           Shanshan Jin, Kelsey Buckley

synopsis                                                                                     crew
Teen artist Angie Chen does NOT like Liam—she just likes getting rides home from him         Writer, Director: Mei Makino
after soccer practice. Okay, so he has great eyebrows, but he’s with Sheryl, the Instagram   Producer: Matt Stryker
princess of their Episcopalian private school. After Angie is blindsided by her parents’     Co-Producers: Mei Makino, Connor Pickens, Emily Gollahon, Kate Gollahon, Udoy Rahim
sudden divorce, Liam serves as a welcome distraction. However, when that distraction         Executive Producers: Mary Reid Klinger, Richard Klinger, Jane Schwartz, Carole Elia
comes knocking on her window in the middle of the night, a secret hookup will set Angie on   Cinematographer: Ivy Chiu
a journey of sexual awakenings, racial insecurities, and artistic expression as she comes    Editor: Connor Pickens
to discover what she wants—and who she wants to be.                                          Production Designers: Charlotte Friend & Ana Treviño
                                                                                             Sound Designer: Marcelo Tesón
                                                                                             Composer: Andrew Zhang
                                                                                             Illustrator: Larissa Akhmetova

mei makino, writer & director
For three years, Mei Makino taught filmmaking to youth in the Austin area which inspired
her to tell honest stories about kids and teens. She’s written and directed short films that
have played at The Dallas VideoFest, PBS, and ESPN’s Longhorn Network. She’s also an
AFS grant recipient. Makino is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in
Radio-TV and Film.

emma galbraith, “angie chen”                                william magnuson, “liam samson”
    Emma Galbraith began acting at the age of 15, and received critical acclaim (and a B.   At 21 years old, William Magnuson has been creating films or acting in them since middle
Iden Payne Award nomination) for her performance in good friday at the VORTEX Theater       school. He enjoys networking in support of his film company 38 1/2 Productions, and can
      in Austin, TX. She spent many memorable summers with her family in China and is       be found hiking or rock climbing around Austin, Texas. Recent credits include SKAM: Austin
passionate about supporting environmental and political policies aimed at protecting our    and Something’s Wrong with Peter.
                          planet. Emma is also an accomplished piano and violin player.

director’s statement
A lot of things motivated me to make Inbetween Girl, but it started most with developing the character of Angie. I wanted to explore the psyche of a young woman starting to understand her
passions and place in the world with the undertone of a blossoming sexuality and a confusion over racial identity. Many of the coming-of-age films about teenage girls I watched growing up felt
too polished, perfect, and were mainly about young white women who didn’t have to contend with feeling othered -- I enjoyed them, but never really related to them. I wanted Angie’s journey to
feel as messy and confusing as real life. I wanted her to unabashedly explore her sexuality, passions, and to make mistakes because that’s human.

From its first draft Angie was always a woman of color, but it wasn’t until I met actress Emma Galbraith who played Angie that I made the decision to make Angie half white and half Chinese
as a reflection of Emma’s heritage. Being half Japanese and half white myself, it was a therapeutic experience exchanging stories with Emma on being biracial. Emma uses the perfect word to
describe it: floating. While our experiences of being biracial are different, we both have moments in our life where we felt out of place on both sides of our genetic makeup, and we rarely had
heroines who looked like us on the silver screen or dealt with the problems that come with being mixed.

Rewriting the script with Emma as Angie forced me to examine my identity in a way I’ve never done before and contend with feelings of racial inadequacy and fraudulence I felt growing up. While
the duality and details of Angie’s life are her own, it is my hope that Inbetween Girl sparks a feeling of relatability and belonging in individuals whose stories are typically not seen in media.

press inquires
lena@frankpublicity.com

       website
 inbetweengirlfilm.com