The Samuel Project is a powerful story about one teen’s discovery of the heroism within his own family history when he chooses his grandfather as the subject of his senior art project. Particularly relevant today, the film explores the use of art to tell a story of generations coming together and preserve the history of an individual who kept his painful story secret, even from those he loved.
Eli (Ryan Ochoa) is a teen who dreams of being an artist, and his grandfather, Samuel (Emmy® and Tony award® winner Hal Linden) calls his grandson’s artwork “doodling.” As they work together on Eli’s art project, they get to know each other for the first time, and eventually Eli learns how his grandfather was saved as a boy in Nazi Germany. The result is a story Samuel hasn’t told in 75 years, and one that allows three generations of Eli’s family to finally connect with one another.
Hal Linden is a Tony Award®-winning actor, singer and musician known for stage projects like The Rothschilds and The Gathering as well as the long-running detective sitcom Barney Miller. Featuring a distinctive, groovy theme song, Millerwas a long-running hit. Linden received seven consecutive lead actor Emmy® nominations for the show. Linden would go on to win several Daytime Emmys®. Over the decades, he has continued to forge a rich career as both a screen actor and live performer in a range of projects. In 2011, Linden released his debut album, a collection of standards dubbed It’s Never Too Late.
Ryan Ochoa was discovered at age five, running around his dad’s furniture store in San Diego, when a talent manager approached and said “he should be in commercials.” His feature film debut came in The Perfect Game. Ochoa’s big break came in 2008 when he was cast in Disney’s A Christmas Carol, written and directed by Academy Award® winning director Robert Zemeckis and starring Jim Carrey. Ryan was then cast as ‘Chuck Chambers’ in a recurring role on Nickelodeon’s hit show iCarly, and as a series regular on Disney XD’s Pair of Kings. He was also lead in the movie Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend. Ryan is in a music group with his three brothers called “The Ochoa Boyz.”
The Samuel Project in Theaters Nationwide Oct 5th
