2018 Sundance Film Festival Predictions: Silas Howard’s A Kid Like Jake

A busy bee as of late directing notable television gigs such as Hudson Valley Ballers and Transparent, Silas Howard premiered his debut film at Sundance way back in 2001 with By Hook or by Crook. Referenced as a pioneer for New Trans Cinema, Howard was a recent invite at the 2017 Sundance Institute New Frontier Story Lab for a VR project, and this past June began production on a third feature film on a project that on paper appears to be the perfect DNA match for the director. Based on Daniel Pearle’s script via his Lincoln Center play, the NYC set A Kid Like Jake is “dressed” with parenting figures Claire Danes and Jim Parsons, with a not too shabby supporting crew of Priyanka Chopra, Amy Landecker, Ann Dowd and Octavia Spencer. A tale about protecting and policing, this will surely shake up future PC auds.

Gist: Alex and Greg Wheeler (Jim Parsons and Claire Danes) have high hopes for their son Jake, a bright and precocious four-year-old who happens to prefer Cinderella to GI Joe. On the eve of the admissions cycle for New York City kindergartens and aware they can’t afford private school tuition, Judy, the director of Jake’s preschool, encourages them to accentuate Jake’s “gender variant” expression to help him stand out and try and get a scholarship.

Production Co./Producers: That’s Wonderful Productions’ Parsons, Todd Spiewak and Eric Norsoph, Burn Later’s Paul Bernon (Lemon), XS Media’s Rachel Song.

Prediction: Premieres section seems logical. SXSW or Tribeca world premiere slots a distinct possibility.

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. CAA (domestic). Bankside Films (international)