Whoopi Goldberg Stars in Jen Rudin's Short Film LUCY IN THE SKY at Indy Shorts

Heartland Film's Indy Shorts Film Festival will present the Midwest premiere of award-winning writer and casting director Jen Rudin's short film Lucy in the Sky starring Whoopi Goldberg, Zoe Margaret Colletti, Catherine Curtin, Danny Burstein, Kelly Hu, Quinn McColgan, Isabella Russo, Madison Zamor, Lexi Gwynn, and Adrian Raio. The festival runs July 25-28 in Indianapolis.

The film is a stand-alone short and also proof of concept for a full TV series and follows 14-year-old Lucy on the autism spectrum as she starts mainstream high school, and the impact on her entire family. The full pilot script received an Alfred P. Sloan grant and a Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation award. Rudin penned the pilot script while earning her MFA in Dramatic Writing at NYU.

"This is the first time we see a female on the spectrum as the star of the story. And we were so lucky to have the amazing Zoe Margaret Colletti (upcoming star of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Skin) play Lucy and EGOT-winner Whoopi Goldberg who stars as the acting teacher at Lucy's new high school."

It's a full circle to return to Indiana where Rudin worked closely with Indiana

University professor, Dr. Sarah Hurwitz, doing research on teenagers on the autism spectrum. Dr. Hurwitz served as one of the Science consultants on the short film. "In Lucy," says Dr. Hurwitz, "we see an authentic portrayal of a teenager with autism who struggles to find her path through a complex social world."

The film screens on July 25 and July 28 in Indianapolis. For more information, visit www.lucyintheskyfilm.com and www.heartlandfilm.org/indyshorts/

Photo credit: Topher Maslanka