EXCLUSIVE: Yeardley Smith and Ben Cornwell’s Paperclip Ltd and Mill House Motion Pictures announced today that their forthcoming drama Gossamer Folds starring Alexandra Grey (Transparent, When We Rise) and Jackson Robert Scott (It) has begun production. The Lisa Donato-directed film written by Bridget Flanery has also added Sprague Grayden, Shane West, Ethan Suplee, and Franklin Ojeda Smith.

Yeardley Smith will also appear along with Brenda Currin (In Cold Blood, The World According to Garp) and Jen Richards (Mrs. Fletcher, Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City). Ava Benjamin Shorr (Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, Baja Come Down) serves as DP.

The film is set in 1986 and tells the story of ten-year-old Tate (Scott) who is uprooted from the big city and unceremoniously moved to a small town where he is forced to spend a lonely summer bearing witness to his parents’ disintegrating marriage (West and Grayden). Tate ends up befriending his new next-door neighbors, recently retired English professor, Edward Bryant (Ojeda Smith) and his transgender daughter, Gossamer, (Grey). Despite his father’s knee-jerk transphobia and his mother’s misplaced protectiveness, Tate forms a deep friendship with fellow misfit, Gossamer that changes his life and the lives of their families.

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The announcement of the project continues Hollywood’s slow and steady campaign for authentic representation and narratives of marginalized communities. In the case of Gossamer Folds, its transgender representation with Tate and LGBTQ advocate Donato behind the camera as director. Nick Adams, Director of Transgender Media & Representation at GLAAD, advised the project during pre-production. Paperclip reached out to GLAAD after reading the TRANSform Hollywood guide created by GLAAD and 5050by2020, a project of Time’s Up. These resources are designed to help content creators who are telling stories that include transgender characters.

Gossamer Folds is financed by Paperclip Ltd. Smith and Cornwell of Paperclip will produce alongside Jordan Foley and Jonathan Rosenthal of Mill House Motion Pictures and Adam Carl. The project is the third collaboration between Paperclip and Mill House. The two worked on All Square, which won the Audience Award at SXSW 2018. They also worked on the John Hyams thriller Alone which is slated for a 2019 release.

Grayden is represented by Untitled Entertainment and AKA Talent Agency. Franklin Ojeda Smith is represented by Headline Talent Agency and Bohemia Group.

Alexandra Grey is repped by GVA Talent Agency and Zero Gravity Management. Jackson Robert Scott is repped by Coast to Coast Talent Group and Artistic Endeavors. Shane West is repped by Paradigm and Management 360. Sprague Grayden is repped by Untitled Entertainment and AKA Talent Agency. Franklin Ojeda Smith is repped by Headline Talent Agency and Bohemia Group. Lisa Donato is Repped by Michael Kolodny at Kaplan Stahler and managed by Mainstay Entertainment.