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Logline

Teen foster sisters Lulu and Sam run away to LA, chasing a TikTok modeling opportunity – and are thrust into a collision between homelessness and the world of influencers, uncovering the power of human connection and the failures of modern systems.

Synopsis

Alleys is a coming-of-age story set in contemporary Los Angeles, told through a hybrid of classical storytelling and modern social media aesthetics. It follows teen foster sisters, Lulu and Sam, as they run away from their foster home in San Bernardino to pursue a TikTok modeling audition in LA.

Lulu, 17, is a fiery, charismatic, precocious lady, masking her deep wounds with humor and defiance. She struggles with withdrawal symptoms from Vicodin, given to her by a doctor. Sam, 18, is sweet, dreamy, musically gifted and hopeful that social media fame will be their way out. Their bond is fierce and unconditional, but both girls must face the external forces and internal battles that threaten to pull them apart.

Structured like a lyrical urban odyssey, Sam and Lulu navigate through a series of obstacles: homelessness, exploitative influencers, the precarity of survival, and meeting new companions among LA’s youth. The plot blends scripted scenes with spontaneous-feeling interludes, to mirror the fragmented yet vibrant experience of today’s youth.

Over the course of the story, the sisters’ paths diverge. Sam is seduced by the influencer world, a shiny, illusory promise of success, while Lulu struggles with the pull of addiction and street survival, while finding passionate love with a sweet street hustler, Tony Boy. Their relationship, tested by a broken system and internal emotional battles, is the heart of the film.Ultimately, Alleys is a timeless story of transcendental love, friendship, and hope in the future, understanding that our internal power is all we need. Alleys balances humor, heartbreak, beauty, and grit. It oscillates between youthful optimism and the raw reality of societal failure. It aims to humanize those often dehumanized and celebrate the spirit of young people who, against all odds, choose hope.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

Nitzan Levinson — Director
Nitzan Levinson is a director, screenwriter, AFI Conservatory and Universidad del Cine (Buenos Aires) graduate. She directed numerous award-winning short films, including Children of Change (AFI Fest, winner of the Athens Film Festival and European Cinematography Award, Clermont-Ferrand) Symphony of the Being (distributed in England), White Orchids (Sundance Ignite), and others. Since Nitzan was eighteen, she directed commercials, music videos and documentaries. Some of her accolades include the Cheech Marin Scholarship, the Bridges-Larson Scholarship, the Sundance Ignite Program, the David M. Milch Foundation scholarship, and the AFI Scholarship. Children of Change received the Environmental Media Association award for being carbon neutral. Nitzan was born in Mexico City to an Argentine mother and an Israeli father. She spent her childhood between Mexico City, Jerusalem and Los Angeles. She recently opened her production company LunAzul Films, producing
commercials, docs and fashion films.

Atit Shah — Producer
Atit Shah is an award-winning independent film producer based in Los Angeles and the CEO of Create Entertainment. Over the last eight years, he has successfully produced over ten feature films, a TV show, and a documentary, along with scores of short-form content. Shah’s recent film, the rom-com Remember Me, was released by Universal Pictures in which he led a co-production between the US, Spain, and France. In 2016 Netflix released Brown Nation globally, a TV show he both independently produced and line produced. His other films as lead producer include the 2016 worldwide 20th Century Fox and Netflix release Money, starring Jesse Williams, Kellan Lutz, Jamie Bamber, and Jess Wexler. The film has won 23 awards worldwide including nine for Best Picture. In 2014 he produced and line produced The Crash starring Oscar Nominee Minnie Driver, Ed Westwick, Frank Grillo, Dianna Agron, AnnaSophia Robb, Maggie Q, and John Leguizamo. The film was sold by CAA and released theatrically in January 2017. His debut feature An Act of War won four awards during its festival run and was released on Netflix in June 2015. His other recently released titles include Monsoon (Amazon) and the WW2 documentary Forgive Don’t Forget (Hulu).

Eythan Maidhof — Cinematographer
Eythan Maidhof is a non-binary cinematographer from Long Island, New York. Their work includes the short narratives of, Tacocunr which will premier at Slamdance Film Festival in 2025. Allen Anders: Live at the Comedy Castle (SXSW, 2018). The feature documentary, Invisible Gay Women in Southern Music, which won the audience award at New Fest and Frameline 45 in 2021. They also lensed the feature film, A New York Christmas Wedding, cited by the New York Times as a must see for the 2020 holiday season on Netflix. They began their career as a colorist and editor for the advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather. In 2013 they moved on to work in narrative, documentary, and fashion film. They graduated from the renowned American Film Institute in 2021. They’re a resident DP for AFI’s Director’s Workshop for Women+ as well as an associate member of the Society of Camera Operators, an active member of IATSE Local 600, and a member of BAFTA CONNECT. Eythan was selected as a mentee for the 2024 ASC Mentorship Program and selected as an honoree for ICG’s Emerging Cinematographer 2025. Eythan is represented worldwide by The Gersh Agency.

Tani Cohen/Bobby Rock — Executive Producers
Tani Cohen and Bobby Rock partnered to form team 713 Entertainment, a production and management company. They represent a diverse list of writers along with writer/directors. Bobby was Senior VP of Acquisitions at Random Media. Prior to that, Rock was Head of Acquisitions at Echo Bridge Entertainment. For the previous eight years, he was at Francis Coppola’s American Zoetrope as Senior V.P. of Production and Development. Tani started her career alongside Brian De Palma. Three of her projects have screened in competition at Sundance – Inside Monkey Zetterland, starring Patricia Arquette, Sandra Bernhard, Sofia Coppola, Rupert Everett, and others. Cohen received an Emmy nomination for executive producing the feature Snow in August.

Shepherd Frankel — Executive Producer
Shepherd Frankel is a large-scale production designer (Ant Man and the Wasp, Uncharted, 27 Dresses, Horrible Bosses, Harold and the Purple Crayon). Born and raised in New York City, Shepherd Frankel attended the LaGuardia School of the Arts, before relocating to the West Coast and earning & Masters in Architecture from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at UCLA. He is now venturing into Indie film producing, with Alleys as one of his first big bets.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.