Tickets are now available for the world premiere of A.B.L.E. Ensemble’s second feature film THE SPY WHO KNEW ME!
This event is free, but seating is limited so advanced reservations are recommended. Donations are requested.
Screening begins at 11am, reception immediately following in the Century Center suite #412.
More About The Movie
A riff on the classic spy-adventure genre epitomized by James Bond, THE SPY WHO KNEW ME follows super spy Tabitha Link and the ladies of the all-female agency U.N.I.T.E. After receiving an anonymous tip, Tabitha winds up at the scene of a jewelry heist where she sees a familiar face from her past. She and her fellow spies must race to find the connections between a series of thefts, a top-secret military experiment, and several missing operatives before they lose themselves completely to the evil organization E.C.H.O.
A.B.L.E. co-founder and teaching artist Lawrence Kern crafted the screenplay for THE SPY WHO KNEW ME with each actor’s individual strengths and personality in mind. Kern, who also directed the film, incorporated monologues the cast wrote themselves about who they are, what they love, and what they can do. The story celebrates differences and stresses the importance of holding on to what makes us unique. “People are more than one thing,” Tabitha reminds us. “A world where everyone’s the same isn’t worth living in.”
A number of local artists and organizations worked together to support the ensemble. Cameras and lighting equipment were provided by Daufenbach Camera. Cast and crew filmed at various locations around the city including The Field Museum, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Formally Modern Tuxedo, Fey & Co. Jewelers, The Union League Club, Firehouse Studios, The Menomonee Club, and The Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo. The spies also drove cars and flew jetpacks using the green screen facilities at Space Stage Studios. The movie features an original score by Chicago-based musician Alex Sokol, and Grammy-nominated composer and producer Carlos Villalobos, Jr., known for his work on the Fox series EMPIRE. Recent Jeff Award-nominee Brock Alter designed visual effects.
Funding for the film was made possible through a campaign on crowd-funding platform, Hatchfund. Donations ranged from $10 to $2000, and 142 individual donors contributed a total of over $22,000 in exchange for exclusive project “perks” including autographed scripts, film props, and invitations to an exclusive staged reading of the screenplay with the cast and crew.
The finished film will be about 80 minutes long and, after the September premiere, will be shared at schools and community centers around Chicago, and on the local and international film festival circuit to help raise awareness and show what individuals with Down syndrome can do when they are given equal access to creative opportunities.
