Zach Braff’s sophomore feature, Wish I Was Here, has been progressing incredibly well in recent weeks.
Braff launched the project in April on Kickstarter, and after completing its goal within a matter of days, it was fully funded at just over m. at the end of last month.
With much of the leading cast already set, Braff has begun meeting with people to work on the other side of the camera alongside him, and after sitting down with Betsy Heimann, he’s announced that she’s officially on board to be the costume designer for Wish I Was Here.
Heimann’s career spans across three decades, and she has worked on some of the most memorable and acclaimed films over the years, including (but certainly not limited to) Reservoir Dogs, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, Art School Confidential, Funny People, and what Braff notes is his personal favourite, Pulp Fiction.
She has worked on an impressively wide variety of films, on big blockbusters like Rush Hour 3 to low-budget independent films like Hotel Noir, and now Wish I Was Here.
“WISH I WAS HERE” tells the story of Aidan Bloom, a struggling actor, husband and dad who at 35 is still trying to find his true place in life. He and his wife are barely getting by financially, and Aidan passes his time fantasizing about being the futuristic Space Knight he always dreamed he’d be as a little kid.
When his ailing father can no longer afford to pay for private school for his two kids, and with the only available public school on its last legs, Aidan reluctantly agrees to attempt to home-school them. The result is chaos, until Aidan decides to scrap the traditional academic curriculum and come up with his own. Through teaching them about life his way, he gradually discovers the parts of himself he couldn’t find.
Braff is directing from a script he co-wrote with his brother, Adam. He’ll be taking the lead in front of the camera once more, starring opposite Kate Hudson as his wife. And the two are so far joined by Anna Kendrick, Josh Gad, Mandy Patinkin, Jim Parsons, and Donald Faison.
Wish I Was Here is set to shoot this summer in Los Angeles, with Braff previously speaking about eyeing a debut at Sundance, like his directorial debut, Garden State.
