''Dakota's Summer'' is a 2014 independently produced family drama, written and directed by Timothy Armstrong, and starring

Haley Ramm Haley Michelle Ramm (born March 26, 1992) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Jen Long in the police procedural series ''Without a Trace'' (2007–2008), Brenna Carver in the ABC Family drama ''Chasing Life'' (2014–2015), a ...

and

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

. It is a sequel to the 2012 film ''

Cowgirls 'n Angels ''Cowgirls 'n Angels'' is a 2012 American family film starring Bailee Madison, James Cromwell, and Jackson Rathbone. The film was directed by Timothy Armstrong from a script by Armstrong and Stephen Blinn. Plot 12-year-old Ida Clayton (Bailee Ma ...

''. The film premiered at the 2014

Dallas International Film Festival The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF), presented by Dallas Film, is an annual film festival that takes place in Dallas, Texas. About Dallas Film Dallas Film, established as Dallas Film Society, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ...

Plot

Dakota Rose (

) dreams of following in her famous family's footsteps and becoming a champion trick rider. However the shocking news that she was in fact adopted at birth leads her to question both herself and her place in her family's legacy.

Cast

as Dakota Rose *

as Austin Rose *

Jade Pettyjohn Jade Pettyjohn (born November 8, 2000) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as McKenna Brooks in '' An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars'', as Summer on the Nickelodeon television series ''School of Rock'', as Lexie Rich ...

as Summer Jennings *

Emily Bett Rickards Emily Bett Rickards (born July 24, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Felicity Smoak on The CW series ''Arrow'', her first television credit. She has also reprised the role in the Arrowverse shows ''The Flash'', ''Legends ...

as Kristin Rose *

Marin Hinkle Marin Elizabeth Hinkle (born March 23, 1966) is an American actress. Among many television and movie roles, she is best known for playing Judy Brooks on the ABC television drama ''Once and Again'', Judith Harper-Melnick on the CBS sitcom ''Two an ...

as Clara *

Julie Ann Emery Julie Ann Emery (born January 16, 1975) is an American television and film actress. She is best known for her roles in the television series ''Better Call Saul'', ''Preacher'', and ''Five Days at Memorial''. She has appeared in films such as '' H ...

as Annie Cayne *

Bryan Dechart Bryan Patrick Dechart (born March 17, 1987) is an American actor and Twitch streamer. He is known for his role as Connor in the video game '' Detroit: Become Human''. He also played Eli Chandler on '' Jane by Design'' and has made appearances on ...

as Taylor Chase *

Spencer Boldman Spencer Boldman (born July 28, 1992) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Adam Davenport on Disney XD's ''Lab Rats'', and for playing Gio in the film '' Cruise''. Personal life Spencer was born in Dallas, Texas, and graduated from P ...

as Bryce *

Leslie-Anne Huff Leslie-Anne Huff is an American actress. Life and education Huff was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She was born to an American father and a Filipino mother. She attended the University of California, Berkeley. She was highly invo ...

as Madison De La Cruz *

Glynn Turman Glynn Russell Turman (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor, writer, director, and producer. Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera '' Peyton Place'' (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson ...

as Isaac Benson * Kimberly Whalen as Dawn Morton

Production

Casting

In July 2013, it was announced that

would be starring in the movie, opposite

Filming

The film was originally planned to be filmed in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

but producer Ben Feingold took the decision to relocate the production to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

just weeks before shooting was due to begin because of tax credit incentives offered by the state. Much of the filming took place in the town of Keachi. Ramm had previous experience horse-riding but was only permitted to perform limited 'horse-tricks', due to concerns that the actress may get hurt. The majority of the horse-riding stunts featured in the film were performed by Texas-based all-female trick-riding group 'The Dynamite Dames'.

Soundtrack

Country artist Amber Hayes recorded a cover version of "

Cotton-Eyed Joe "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (also known as "Cotton-Eye Joe") is a traditional American country folk song popular at various times throughout the United States and Canada, although today it is most commonly associated with the American South. The song is a ...

" for the film, produced by

Charles Kelley Charles Burgess Kelley (born September 11, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and lead singer and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, which was formed in 2006 and are signed to Big Machine Records. Early life and career Kelle ...

. The singer appears in a cameo role in the film, performing the track. Her original track "Home" also features on the film's soundtrack.

Release

The film premiered at the 2014

. The film was released digitally on April 1, 2014, and on DVD on April 25, 2014.

References

External links

* {{Cowgirls 'n Angels 2014 films American independent films Films about horses Horse sports in film Direct-to-video sequel films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films