Sofia Alvarez is ready to take you for a ride…
The part-Spanish American screenwriter has teamed up with Netflix to write and direct a feature adaptation of the YA novel Along for the Ride, from New York Times bestselling author Sarah Dessen.
Emma Pasarow and Belmont Cameli star alongside Kate Bosworth, Laura Kariuki, Andie MacDowell and Dermot Mulroney.
The film, which will mark Alvarez’s directorial debut, centers on Auden (Pasarow), who during the summer before college meets the mysterious Eli (Cameli), a fellow insomniac. While the seaside town of Colby sleeps, the two embark on a nightly quest to help Auden experience the fun, carefree teen life she never knew she wanted.
Rounding out the cast are Genevieve Hannelius, Samia Finnerty, Paul Karmiyran, Marcus Scribner and Ricardo Hurtado.
Screen Arcade’s Bryan Unkeless and Eric Newman are producing the project, which is slated to shoot in North Carolina.
Along for the Ride was the winner of the Goodreads Choice Award for Best YA Fiction. Netflix has optioned a number of YA novels from Dessen including This Lullaby, Once and For All, and, most recently, The Truth About Forever. Her books have been translated into 35 languages, with more than 10 million copies in print worldwide.
Alvarez was the screenwriter behind the Netflix hit To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You.
She was a writer on the FXX series Man Seeking Woman and USA’s Sirens.
Alvarez has also written a number of plays including NYLON (BTP / Theaterlab), Friend Art (Second Stage Uptown), The Fish Bowl (Juilliard) and Between Us Chickens (SCR / EST LA).
