RANDY’S CANVAS TO BENEFIT THE AUTISM PROJECT OF RHODE ISLAND

Sugar Baby Entertainment, Eye Scream Films and Rhode Island’s Shquib TV will collaborate on Sean Michael Beyer’s latest film, RANDY’S CANVAS, starring Kevin G. Schmidt, Scout Taylor-Comton, Marycarmen Lopez, Richard Riehle, Shawn Pyfrom, Michael Emery, Massi Furlan and local actor Adam Carbone in the title role of Randy.

Written by Matthew Luke Andrews & Sean Michael Beyer and directed by Sean Michael Beyer, the film will be produced by Adam Carbone, Sean Michael Beyer, Richard “Dick” Lebeau and Kevin G. Schmidt. Debbie Pearl will serve as Executive Producer, with Raz Cunningham as Line Producer. Principal photography begins this week throughout the State.

RANDY’S CANVAS is the fictional story of a young man abandoned by his birth parents at a very young age. He lives with his “brother from another mother”, Henry, near Providence. Randy, who is autistic, is an amazingly talented artist with a kind and sensitive heart. When he falls in love for the first time, his life begins to spin out of control as he tries to deal with a roller coaster of emotions and first-time experiences.

Actor Adam Carbone said, “In preparing for my role as Randy, I spent a great deal of time with teens and young adults on the autism spectrum to ensure my portrayal is as accurate as possible. The role of Randy is more than a character I portray, it’s something important that I need to do… and do it right.”

Director Sean Michael Beyer added, “The entire film will be shot in Rhode Island, and I’m beyond excited to bring this wonderful project here. I come from Southern California; so many projects are shot there and, well, they look like it. The landscape, architecture and nice Rhode Island residents are going to make this film look amazing; something that just couldn’t be accomplished in Hollywood.”

Executive Producer Debbie Pearl commented: "Being part of a film that has the ability to touch so many lives is an extremely rewarding experience. Being able to film this movie in Rhode Island is very exciting. Besides the overall beauty, there is so much culture, which will no doubt add immensely to this film".

Producer Richard “Dick” LeBeau added, “We’ve put in a lot of effort preparing for this movie. Along with a tremendous amount of research, we have had to review the case studies of and interview many children and young adults on the autism spectrum. It's such a pleasure to be able to cast them in the movie. I just love it.”

Joanne Quinn, Executive Director of The Autism Project stated “We’ve been working with this production for quite some time as they’ve conducted their research. It’s been a learning experience not only for them, but us. We’re very grateful to Sean, Adam and the whole team for putting the work in to make the portrayal of Randy extremely authentic. We, and the kids, think this is important as we want the world to know what living on the autism spectrum is truly like.”

Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Film & TV Office, said, “I think this will be a wonderful film and look forward to seeing it come to fruition. It’s exciting to see our talented Rhode Island cast and crew join efforts for such a worthy cause. We support the production wholeheartedly.”

Once released, all profits from the film will benefit The Autism Project located in Johnston, Rhode Island (http://www.theautismproject.org).

For additional information regarding the film, visit www.randyscanvas.org.

The Rhode Island Film & TV Office is a government agency under the umbrella of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA)