Nurture

By Zane Rubin, with Chris Levitus

Starring MELISSA BENOIST

You can’t take your eyes off Pru Crissman (34). 

Poised, intelligent and funny, she’s the calm voice in the room. An over-achieving survivor whose greatest love and accomplishment is her 16-year-old son, Arlen.   

Pru and Arlen have the type of parent/child bond we all dream of. Despite some messy memories of how she became pregnant with him, their relationship is full of mutual respect, support, and inside jokes. 

Arlen is Pru’s best friend. That’s why it’s terrifying when Arlen’s school calls to tell her he's in trouble...

Pru’s world has just been forever rocked.

Nurture is the story of a young mother’s relentless pursuit of the truth. A frenetic thrill-ride during one very long day that sends Pru spiraling into the past. She sets out to prove her son’s innocence, but ends up confronting some complicated truths about consent… It’s a battle between nature and nurture. 

Starring and and co-produced with Melissa Benoist. Melissa will star in and produce the series THE GIRLS ON THE BUS for HBO Max, which will premiere on Thursday, March 14th, 2024.  She was last seen in the Paramount TV miniseries WACO, opposite Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch, and Pete Berg’s PATRIOTS DAY opposite Mark Wahlberg for CBS Films, as well as in Imagine Entertainment's film LOWRIDERS, opposite Demian Bichir, for Universal Studios. In 2019, she starred as the title role in BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL on Broadway. Melissa is best known for her role as the title role in the series SUPERGIRL for Warner Bros and DC Entertainment. Previous credits include the Oscar winning film, WHIPLASH, opposite Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, for director Damien Chazelle, the adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel THE LONGEST RIDE for Fox 2000, as well as Dan Fogelman's DANNY COLLINS, opposite Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer and Annette Bening. 

Co-Writer/Director Zane Rubin is a filmmaker from Los Angeles. Since directing her first feature at the ripe age of sixteen, Zane has made several shorts, including her most recent: MADDIE. She created and directed the digital series THAT’S HOW I LOST THE LAST ONE for Comedy Central and R.I.P. for Super Deluxe. Her horror short CREAT(E)URE premiered at Canneseries and is on Hulu under Bite Size Halloween. Her work has been featured on Vimeo Staff Picks, Huffington Post, Film School Rejects, Short of the Week, Film Shortage, NoBudge, NOWNESS, BUST and Vulture.

Co-written with Chris Levitus. Chris is Zane’s longtime creative partner, having collaborated with her as a writer, editor, and producer on multiple award-winning projects. A filmmaker in his own right, Chris co-wrote the short Pink Grapefruit which premiered at Sundance and won the jury prize at SXSW.

OLIVIA WINGATE p.g.a (WINGATE MEDIA) - Producer

Olivia Wingate grew up in London but has been based in New York on-and-off for 25 years, first moving there to obtain her MBA from NYU. She has developed and produced numerous TV projects including MARON (IFC) which ran for four seasons, the critically acclaimed BOBCAT GOLDTHWAITS MISFITS & MONSTERS (Tru TV), and JOE MANDE’S AWARD WINNING STANDUP SPECIAL (Netflix). In film, Olivia produced the documentary feature IT STARTED AS A JOKE which premiered at SXSW 2019, and WE STRANGERS a debut feature by Anu Valia which will world premier as one of 8 films globally in the narrative feature competition at SXSW24. Founded in 2017, WINGATE MEDIA is a production company headquartered in New York, which prioritizes under-represented voices and points of view, and focuses on developing, incubating and producing premium and cutting edge projects aimed toward a global audience. 

ATTACHMENTS:

MELISSA BENOIST to star as PRU (WHIPLASH, GLEE, SUPERGIRL)

ZANE RUBIN - WRITER/DIRECTOR

ELISHA CHRISTIAN - DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY (COLUMBUS, IMMACULATE, THE NIGHT HOUSE, THE VOYEURS)

CHARLENE LEE - CASTING DIRECTOR (BEEF/FARGO (FX)

OLIVIA WINGATE p.g.a (WINGATE MEDIA) - PRODUCER (WE STRANGERS/IT STARTED AS A JOKE)

MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST