Chicago-Michigan love story debuts at Music Box
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Mark McKenna and Lukita Maxwell star in "An Autumn Summer." Photo courtesy of Jared Isaac.
Like a lot of Chicago kids, Jared Isaac cherished his summer escapes to a lake house in Michigan.
Why it matters: The now 34-year-old filmmaker shares memories of that time in the charmingly nostalgic "An Autumn Summer," enjoying its Chicago premiere Thursday at the Music Box Theatre.
Backstory: "An Autumn Summer" tells the story of Chicago friends who gather at the Michigan lake house of Kevin (based on Isaac's childhood best friend at Northside College Prep) for one last hurrah before college.
- Expect warmth, laughter and a heartbreaking, end-of-summer romance between Kevin, played by Milk frontman Mark McKenna, and Cody, played by Lukita Maxwell from "Shrinking."
- If you've ever chased love on a sparkling lake in the fading August light, this "timeless" film is for you, Isaac tells Axios. And if it happened in Michigan, even more so.
What they're saying: "It's pure and uncynical, unapologetically romantic. It's about the few individuals who stay with us forever, whether we're conscious of it or not," he says.
Bagel bonus: The real Jared and Kevin met at Hawthorne Scholastic Academy in Lakeview, near the Chicago Bagel Authority (CBA) on Belmont. Isaac pays homage to their favorite spot by dressing Kevin in a CBA shirt in the movie.
- CBA owner Greg Gibbs tells Axios that he was so impressed by an early cut of the film that he signed on as an investor. He's now featuring a "Sleeping Bear" sandwich (with Michigan cherry jam) this week in its honor.
If you go: "An Autumn Summer" premieres at 7pm Thursday at the Music Box Theatre, followed by a Q&A with Isaac, led by fellow Chicago filmmaker Joe Swanberg.
- The film will enter wider release on May 1 and is expected to go to streaming in June.