''Grow Up, Tony Phillips'' is a 2013 comedy film by American director

Emily Hagins Emily Hagins (born October 27, 1992) is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker. Biography Emily Hagins made her first feature at the age of 12 in her hometown of Austin, Texas – a zombie movie called ''Pathogen''. The documentary '' Zombie Girl: The Mov ...

and her fourth feature film. It was first released on October 31, 2013, at the

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

film festival and stars Tony Vespe as Tony Phillips, a young teenager's love for Halloween. Unlike her prior feature-length films, ''Grow Up, Tony Phillips'' does not feature any supernatural elements seen in past films such as ''

Pathogen In biology, a pathogen (, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of"), in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a Germ theory of d ...

'' or ''

My Sucky Teen Romance ''My Sucky Teen Romance'' is a 2011 American comedy horror film directed by Emily Hagins and her third feature-length film. It was first released on March 15, 2011, at the South by Southwest film festival and stars Elaine Hurt as a young teenager ...

''.

Synopsis

Tony (Tony Vespe) is conflicted. He loves

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

, but this year all of his high school friends have decided that Halloween is too juvenile for him. What is Tony to do when nobody his age really understands what Halloween means to him?

Cast

*Tony Vespe as Tony Phillips *Caleb Barwick as Mikey *Devin Bonnée as Craig * A. J. Bowen as Pete * Seth Lee as Brian Cooper *Byron Brown as Gary *Janet Travis as Claire *

Korey Coleman Korey Coleman (born September 9, 1971) is an American film critic, animator, podcaster, filmmaker, voice actor, and comedian. He is best known for his now defunct film review site, Spill.com, and its current spiritual successor, Double Toasted. ...

as Principal Blackman *Arthur Dale as Young Tony *Katie Folger as Elle *Tanner Fontana as Young Craig *Catherine Ann Hicks as Trick-or-Treater *Trevon D. Anderson as Trick-or-Treater *Emmet Barwick as Trick-or-Treater *Paris Cudini as Trick-or-Treater *Hunter Cudini as Trick-or-Treater *Alyssa Michelle Jimenez as Teenage Partier, Dance Crowd

Production

Funding for ''Grow Up, Tony Phillips'' was partially raised through a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign, which raised $75,000. While writing the script, Hagins wanted to focus on the transition between adult and child that occurs with Halloween, which she felt was often overlooked in many films. The script was a departure the genre from her previous films, as the dark tones depressed her and Hagins wanted to "a movie that had no genre at all". In 2012 A. J. Bowen was confirmed to be performing in the film. Filming began in mid-November 2012 in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Hagins experienced some difficulty with shooting, as some businesses already had

Christmas decoration A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at Christmas and the greater Christmas and holiday season. Typical images on Christmas decorations include Baby Jesus, Mother Mary, angels, Father Christmas, Santa Cla ...

s up but decided to work them into the script as a plot point.

Reception

Critical reception for ''Grow Up, Tony Phillips'' was mostly positive. Common criticisms revolved around the film's storytelling, as some reviewers such as ''

Film School Rejects Film School Rejects is an American blog devoted to movie reviews, interviews, film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, prod ...

'' felt that there were "some serious story elements that are left dangling in all but the most superficial ways", which interfered with a film that they otherwise enjoyed. Hagins received praise for the film's acting and for what the ''

Daily Texan ''The Daily Texan'' is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States, with a daily circulation of roughly 12,000 during the fall and spring semesters, and is among th ...

'' saw as "genuine truths about how high school can dissolve the most intense friendships". '' Vox'' and ''

Twitch Film ScreenAnarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

'' both gave mostly positive reviews, with ''Twitch Film'' praising the movie's cinematography and film score.

References

External links