FRIEND Film Project Mixer with Ronnie Kroell and Elliot London

Ever wanted to be a part of making a movie? Here's your chance! Ronnie Kroell (MAKE ME A SUPERMODEL) & Elliot London (THE WEDDING DANCE) have teamed-up to produce, FRIEND - a feature film about teen bullying, defining family, overcoming adversity, and the power of love. You cordially invite you to join them to learn more about the project and to consider getting involved by attending an intimate cocktail mixer at the home of Dr. Tom Klein on October 6th from 6-9PM. Appetizers provided by Minibar/Winebar RSVP on the web link below. $150 Donation/person Please make checks payable to, "Fractured Atlas" or donate via credit card via This link: https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/fiscal/profile?id=7059 Donations are tax deductible. FRIEND: The story follows Brad and Alejandro, a couple and seniors in High School. Their life is really typical high school teenager - Brad, 17, straight A student, jock, homecoming king, a man’s man. Alejandro, 17, good student, artistic, doesn’t always care about school, hipster. They met as Juniors and became a couple and it’s just a natural thing for them until Brad starts having doubts about his own gender. A new substitute teacher, Barbara, whose had gender reassignment gives Brad information that puts him on the path to becoming a girl and he opens up this realization to Alejandro, causing them to breakup because Alejandro cannot accept it. Brad, alone, searches for more information about gender identity. This leads Brad to Barbra who becomes his mentor and helps him to realize that he is a woman trapped in a mans’ body. Alejandro becomes angry that he has lost the person he loves and takes it out on other students. Rumors of Brad’s gender identification crisis spread in school and Alejandro becomes the subject of bullying. Brad steps in and saves him during a humiliation in the boy’s locker room. But this doesn’t bring Brad and Alejandro back together. Brad comes home to the safety of his room to find that his religious mother has discovered his desire to become a woman and confronts him. Brad is tired of lying and tells his parents the truth and they kick him out of the house. Alejandro comes by Brad’s house to talk and discovers Brad is gone from his mother, leading Alejandro to go to the special place he spent time with Brad. Arriving, Alejandro discovers Brad is about to commit suicide. During a revealing talk between Brad and Alejandro, the suicide attempt is stopped and the love between them is rekindled into friendship. The conversations make Brad realize that family is just as important to him as being a woman so that this need is satisfied when he moves in with Barbara and has the support of Alejandro. ABOUT ELLIOT LONDON, producer/director/co-writer New York Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/booming/18civilbehavior.html?_r=0 Elliot was born in Melbourne, Australia and soon after moved to rural Illinois for grade school. Elliot was no stranger to being bullied at a young age for being different. Elliot’s worst bullying experience was on the school bus when a fellow student called him a faggot and started spitting on him. Elliot believes that these situations need to be talked about and shared through film. Elliot attended film school at Columbia College Chicago. He interned at Jerry Springer as a PA, finally making his way to Los Angeles to pursue filmmaking. Elliot has screened his short films in over 50 film festivals around the world including Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner, Outfest, New Fest, Chicago Reeling. His most recent film “The Wedding Dance” about family scored over 300 write ups including The Huffington Post. Elliot is considered not only an openly gay filmmaker but also an advocate. He has been building a large social network over the past ten years and reaches nearly 300,000 feeds a month over many platforms. Elliot’s goal is to film “Friend” in February & have a wide release during the Summer 2013 film festival period. ABOUT RONNIE KROELL, producer/talent http://www.ronniekroell.com/ Ronnie was born and raised in the "windy city" of, Chicago, Illinois (a city that will always have his heart). It wasn't until the 6th grade that he began to realize that he was different. Some of the older kids would knock him to the ground during recess and call him gay, but he didn't really understand what that meant. All Ronnie knew, was that being different was bad because it caused him to get beat up after class and to live in fear of what was around every corner. It wasn't until he was 15 years old that his secret was released - his Mom caught him kissing his first BF in the backyard. While it wasn't his ideal way of coming out, he felt a certain weight lifted off his shoulders and a freedom to simply be who he was without lying anymore. Thankfully, Ronnie's parents have been a great source of support and empowerment over the years. With that support, he followed his dream of becoming a professional model and was cast on season one of BRAVO's, "Make Me a Supermodel, in 2008. Ronnie emerged as runner-up and fan favorite, which lead him to make the decision to move to "The Big Apple", NYC (a city that helped him develop a backbone). In 2011, Ronnie decided that he wanted to dig deeper, to learn more about who he was, and to share important stories. So, he accepted his break-out acting role in, "Eating Out-Drama Camp", and soon after moved to Hollywood, CA (a city that has been a platform for his voice). Since then, he has acted and assisted in producing numerous films including the much anticipated, "Scrooge & Marley", where he portrayed the Ghost of Christmas Past - alongside his talented friend, Bruce Vilanch. In addition to his passion for the entertainment industry, Ronnie is an activist and champion for equality. While he believes that anything is possible, he knows that it takes hard work and strong convictions. ABOUT ANDY WELLS, co-writer/producer Andy Wells is currently a key member for a national sports program on NBC Sports and has produced productions for major networks, corporations, and educational institutions including NBC, Boston Financial and the University of North Carolina. He has also produced several short films and documentaries seen at numerous film festivals across the United States, was a valuable crew member on the critically acclaimed feature JuneBug and has worked in key roles on several television series including HGTV Dream House, Whose Wedding Is it Anyway, and History Detectives.

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