Lauren Cohan & Jake Epstein To Co-Star In Eric Stoltz-Directed Rom-Com ‘Both Sides Now’

EXCLUSIVE: The Walking Dead star Lauren Cohan and Jake Epstein (Degrassi: The Next Generation) are set to lead the ensemble cast of working-titled indie romantic comedy Both Sides Now.

Actor and director Eric Stoltz (Madam Secretary, Nashville) is directing from a screenplay by Hailey Lustig, founder of Three Birds Landing Productions, and composer Robbie Roth, which takes inspiration from their real lives.

The ensemble cast also features Erich Bergen (Love Story), Justin Chatwin (Shameless) and Brian Norris (The Cleaning Lady).

Both Sides Now follows a group of lifelong friends nearing 40 who return to the Jewish summer camp where they came of age to celebrate the impending wedding of Eddie (Epstein).

But when his best friend Lloyd (Bergen) invites Eddie’s first love and former camp sweetheart Erin (Cohan) to the bachelor weekend, the reunion becomes a reckoning with old relationships, unresolved love, and the question of what might have been.

Co-writers Lustig and Roth were born in the same Toronto maternity ward on either side of midnight and grew up together at summer camp and have been best friends for decades. Their friendship and shared experience of summer camp helped inspire the characters, relationships and world of the film.

The romantic comedy also features six original songs written by Roth and performed by the cast.

“We’ve been making each other laugh and sharing music and stories for as long as we can remember. Writing this film together feels wonderfully full circle,” said Lustig and Roth. “We share a history and a shorthand that made the process incredibly natural, and seeing these characters come to life, with original music woven through the story, has been thrilling.”

Stoltz said: “This script made me laugh, made me a bit nostalgic, and then caught me off guard emotionally – which is exactly what I love in a film. Hailey and Robbie have written something funny and deeply personal about friendship, first love, and the lives we choose for ourselves. Robbie’s songs are woven beautifully through that world.”

Both Sides Now is independently financed by Three Birds Landing Productions and marks the company’s debut feature film. The film is produced by Lustig, Carrie Mudd and Erin Berry, in association with Peacock Alley Entertainment.

Production began September 19 in Muskoka, Ontario, and is scheduled to wrap October 20.