In Brett Hayley’s newest film “All Together Now,” we learn that the facade of a person harbors so much more than just what we can see.
Amber Appleton is a happy go lucky, positive, and energetic student, who dreams of attending Carnegie Mellon University one day. What Amber’s friends don’t know, however, is that underneath her smile, her life is full of complications that no 17 year old should ever endure. Through the ups and downs of her life, we see Amber grow as a person and fight through the lows in order to have a better future, with a little help from the community around her.
Using music to create a beautiful and meaningful cinematic experience, Director Brett Hayley brought Matthew Quick’s novel Something Like A Rockstar to the screen. “It was about nailing the character of Amber Appleton and finding sort of the balance of her optimism and making her a realistic, grounded character,” Brett said while speaking exclusively to The Knockturnal about the film. “I think that Auli’i really brought that to her, you believe that she’s this optimistic, hopeful character, but that she also is suffering and going through some tough times. That balance was really important to all of us.”
We sat down for an exclusive interview with Brett, along with cast members Auli’i Cravalho, Rhenzy Feliz, Judy Reyes, and Justina Machado to discuss the film and their experience bringing it to life.
All Together Now will be available for streaming on Netflix on August 29th!
