EXCLUSIVE: Standup comedian and actor Tone Bell (Survival of the Thickest) has been unveiled as the lead actor of dark comedy Transcending, co-starring opposite Raleigh Cain, as the production wraps principal photography in Kansas City, MO.
They are joined in the cast by Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Good Place, Barry), Nicole Byer (Nailed It!, Grand Crew), Heidi Gardner (Saturday Night Live), and Pete Gardner (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend).
Bell plays a starving artist from the big city reeling from the break-up with his wife (Howell-Baptiste), who announces she is leaving him for a DJ.
His sister (Byer) comes to his rescue with some tough sibling-love and encourages him to take a vacation at her friend’s bed-and-breakfast out in the Midwest. He finds himself in rural Kansas City, MO at a remote farmhouse where he meets his eccentric host: a hot young widow and best-selling author (Cain).
There is instant chemistry, but the situation is complicated by the fact that the bereaved woman believes her late husband’s soul has transcended into the walls of the home, leading her to be in love with the house.
The pair help one each other find peace through unconventional methods, while interacting with an array of characters including a hippie cowboy (Pete Gardner); a proud local neighbor with the spiciest chili on the block (Heidi Gardner) and a hard-shelled town musician, played by singer and song writer Kevin Morby, whose music will feature in the film.
The shoot marked a homecoming for Kansas City native Cain, who also makes her debut as a feature screenwriter on the film.
Director Mike Luciano, whose credits include HBO’s animated series Animals and the Duplass Brothers’ Creep Tapes, also makes his live-action feature debut with this project.
Luciano and Cain serve as executive producers alongside Chris K. Daniels and Jess Mastro of The Launch Company, as well as Will Runyon Jr.
Produced by Paige Blankenship and Courtney Tait, the low-budget indie production is leveraging both the Missouri Film Office transferable tax credit and Kansas City Film Office tax rebate for financing.
Transcending follows in the wake of raft of productions drawn to Kansas City, MO by its new tax incentives, including the fourth season of Ted Lasso and Paul Schrader’s upcoming picture The Basics of Philosophy.
Transcending is due to begin post-production in L.A. in August ahead of hitting the festival circuit next year.
Bell is repped by CAA and Mosaic Media Company.
