Katie Aselton, Toni Collette, Bridget Everett and Molly Shannon are starring in the ensemble comedy “Fun Mom Dinner” with shooting starting Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The film marks the directorial debut of Australian helmer Alethea Jones. Other cast members include Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation”), Rob Huebel (“Transparent”), Adam Levine and Paul Rust.
Jones is directing from a script by Julie Yaeger Rudd, centering on four moms whose only common ground is their kids’ preschool class, who decide to get together for a harmless “fun mom dinner.” When the night suddenly takes an unexpected turn and things gets real, these unlikely new friends soon realize they have more in common than just marriage and motherhood.
June Pictures and Gettin’ Rad Productions are the production companies. Producers are June Pictures’ partners Andrew Duncan and Alex Saks with Gettin’ Rad’s Naomi Scott. Paul Rudd and Adam Scott will executive produce.
“We’re really pleased that this has become such a female-driven project,” Naomi Scott told Variety. “It really is a love letter to moms.”
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She said that “Fun Moms Dinner” had its origins in discussions about motherhood that she had with Julie Yaeger Rudd, Paul Rudd’s wife. Naomi Scott is married to Adam Scott.
“A lot of the story is based on our common experiences,” she added. “Julie’s script is hysterically funny.”
Saks said she became aware of the project as the result of working at ICM Partners in the packaging of Gettin’ Rad’s first feature “The Overnight,” which starred Adam Scott, Jason Schwartzman and Taylor Schilling and premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
Shannon starred with Jesse Plemons in Gettin’ Rad’s “Other People,” which opened the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Aselton has appeared on the series “Casual,” “Togetherness” and “The League”; Collette starred in “Miss You Already” with Drew Barrymore; Bridget Everett appears in “Lady Dynamite” and “Trainwreck”; and Molly Shannon has HBO’s “Divorce” debuting this fall, and also starred in “We Don’t Belong Here” and “Other People.”
Duncan and Saks founded June Pictures earlier this year. The fledgling banner is also in production on “The Florida Project,” written and directed Sean Baker (“Tangerine”) with a pair of films in post-production: drama-comedy “Dude,” written and directed by Olivia Milch, starring Lucy Hale, Kathryn Prescott, Alexandra Shipp and Awkwafina; and the psychological thriller “Throughbred,” written and directed by Cory Finley, starring Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy and the late Anton Yelchin.
June Pictures is also currently in production on feature-length documentary about Hong Kong student activist and politician Joshua Wong. Earlier this year, June Pictures sold its first feature, “Operator,” starring Martin Starr and Mae Whitman, to the Orchard for distribution.
Gettin’ Rad Productions is Adam and Naomi Scott’s film and television production company with “Fun Mom Dinner” as the company’s third feature film in as many years following “Other People” and “The Overnight.”
Gettin’ Rad produced Chris Kelly’s “Other People,” starring Jesse Plemons and Shannon, which opened at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. The Scotts also have a development deal with Universal Television under the Gettin’ Rad umbrella.
