The Come Up

In late 2009, Director Kirk Sullivan found himself working on the crew of his first major studio film. There, in the whirlwind of a production environment, THE COME UP was born.

Kirk collaborated with his long-time writing partner, Chris Boyd, to craft the screenplay. Kirk and Chris have been working together since they finished film school at USC, and they saw this film as an opportunity to showcase their abilities.

In 2011, with the script in hand, Kirk met Alyson Bruno while both were working as assistants on the Warner Bros. lot, and her enthusiasm catapulted the project forward.

With the trio of producers in place, the production team turned to Kickstarter to raise money for the budget. The response was overwhelming, as they met their goal in a matter of weeks.

At USC, Kirk and Chris had been fortunate enough to be friends with Patrick J. Adams, and when they reached out to him with the role of Steve he responded enthusiastically.

The producers couldn’t have been luckier to land Troian Bellisario for the role of Jessica. They were then able to secure Michael Paré as mega-producer Ron Zimmermann, adding a Hollywood veteran to the cast and rounding out the three main roles.

Shooting got underway at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank in December of 2011. The crew spent two days shooting on the lot and a third day of shooting was spent at The Culver Studios in Culver City. Post-production wrapped in mid 2012, the team having made their movie dream a reality.