Press release - Movies

September 27, 2022

Disney Branded Television Teams With Imagine Kids+Family for Disney Original Movie ‘The Slumber Party’

— Veronica Rodriguez (‘Let’s Get Married’) to Direct Coming-of-Age Comedy Based on Jen Malone’s Popular Book ‘The Sleepover’

 

— Talented Young Cast Includes Darby Camp (‘Big Little Lies’), Emmy Liu-Wang (‘Raven’s Home’), Valentina Herrera (‘Black Widow’), Dallas Liu (‘Pen15’), Alex Cooper Cohen and Ramon Rodriguez —

Top, From Left: Darby Camp, Emmy Liu-Wang, Valentina Herrera,
Bottom from Left: Alex Cooper Cohen, Ramon Rodriguez, Dallas Liu
Photo Credits:
Top, From Left: Emily Sandifer, Guido Venitucci, Doreen Stone
Bottom, From Left: Alison Donahue, Dana Patrick, Jonny Marlow
Link to photos HERE

Disney Branded Television has ordered the Disney Original Movie “The Slumber Party,” based on the well-known teen novel “The Sleepover” by Jen Malone, from Imagine Kids+Family. Academy Award winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard serve as executive producers of the movie, along with Stephanie Sperber and Jennilee Cummings for Imagine Kids+Family and production partner Jax Media’s Jake Fuller, Tony Hernandez and John Hodges. “The Slumber Party” is directed by NAACP Image Award nominee Veronica Rodriguez (“Let’s Get Married,” Disney’s “Gabby Duran & the Unsittables”), and Eydie Faye (“Fuller House”) is the writer. Production on the adventure-filled comedy begins today in Atlanta.

Lauren Kisilevsky, senior vice president of Original Movies, Disney Branded Television, said, “‘The Slumber Party’ is a hilarious ride that looks at female friendship and self-discovery through a sophisticated, cinematic lens. We aim to deliver humor, surprise and delight to our viewers with a movie that will be relatable to audiences of all ages.”

“We are so excited to partner with Lauren Kisilevsky, Jen Dubin and the team at Disney Branded Television on ‘The Slumber Party.’ Eydie Faye captured the voice and coming-of-age comedy so beautifully in her script, and Veronica Rodriquez is bringing a fresh vision and creative style to the screen,” said Stephanie Sperber, President of Imagine Kids+Family. “With this film marking IKF’s first feature production, we couldn’t have found a better home than with Disney Branded Television and their proven ability to reach YA and family audiences with timeless and entertaining content.”

“The Slumber Party” depicts the hilarious aftermath of a sleepover birthday party hypnotism gone wrong as best friends Megan and Paige, along with soon-to-be step-sister Veronica, wake up with absolutely no memory of the night before. Now they must retrace their steps to find missing birthday girl Anna Maria … and explain why there’s a flock of baby ducks in the bathtub, what happened to Megan’s left eyebrow, and why she’s wearing unattainable hottie Jake Ramirez’s signature black hoodie.

“The Slumber Party” stars Darby Camp (“Big Little Lies”) as Megan, Emmy Liu-Wang (“Raven’s Home”) as Paige, Valentina Herrera (“Black Widow”) as Anna Maria, Dallas Liu (“Pen15”) as Mikey and newcomers Alex Cooper Cohen as Veronica and Ramon Rodriguez as Jake.

Over the past two years, the Disney Branded Television Original Movies team, led by Kisilevsky, has broadened its production slate of universally appealing movies to reach kids, families, young adults and millions of the young at heart who embrace the unparalleled Disney brand of entertainment. The team most recently shared a first look at the highly anticipated upcoming spring movie “Prom Pact” at Disney Branded Television’s showcase presentation at D23 Expo.

About Imagine Kids+Family
Imagine Kids+Family was formed in 2019 by Imagine Entertainment Chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard with a focus on developing and producing premium kids and family entertainment with capabilities in consumer products and franchise building. Imagine Kids+Family is run by President Stephanie Sperber, a veteran kids entertainment executive with a successful career in building kids and family businesses, IP, and franchises. IKF is currently producing The Tiny Chef Show for Nickelodeon and acquired an equity stake in the The Tiny Chef brand to develop the original short-form stop-motion animation Tiny Chef character across all platforms including short-form, tv series, and digital, as part of a strategic global franchise plan which also includes consumer products. IKF is also producing Bossy Bear for Nickelodeon, co-developing consumer products with Viacom and with an eye towards a global franchise build.   Other projects include Kalamata’s Kitchen for Apple and a film series based the YA Best Wishes series, to name a few. Previous productions included the live-action series The Astronauts, also for Nickelodeon. IKF is also producing Max Einstein under its partnership with James Pattersons’ kid imprint Jimmy Books, and has a first-look partnership with Academy Award-winning animation company Lion Forge (Hair Love) around its existing IP of both licensed and original ideas.

www.imagine-entertainment.com

About Disney Branded Television
Disney Branded Television encompasses the creative storytellers, and production and marketing teams responsible for Disney-branded television series, movies and other programming spanning live-action, animated and unscripted formats. The group helps fuel the Disney+ streaming platform and Disney Channel, Disney XD and Disney Junior linear networks with content geared toward kids, tweens, teens and families, with stories that are imaginative, aspirational and reflective of their world and experiences. Recent projects include “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” “Monsters at Work,” “The Mysterious Benedict Society” and “Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends.” Disney Branded Television has created some of the most iconic and award-winning properties and franchises, including Peabody Award winners “Doc McStuffins” and “The Owl House”; Emmy® Award winners “Big City Greens” and “Elena of Avalor”; the beloved “Mickey Mouse” cartoon shorts plus the Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) franchise, comprised of more than 100 titles.

 

Disney Branded Television Media Relations
Julie Mitchell
julie.m.mitchell@disney.com