THE ART OF GETTING BY is the funny coming-of-age story of George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work.  He is befriended by Sally, a beautiful and complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
As the end of senior year approaches, George (Freddie Highmore) has managed to make it almost all the way through high school without actually doing any work. Even in art class, the one subject that interests him, he doodles instead of completing the assignments. With graduation just months away, he spends most of his time alone, cutting class instead of planning for prom and looking at colleges. Then he impulsively takes the rap for one of the school's prettiest and most popular girls when she is caught smoking on the roof.
In return, Sally (Emma Roberts) sweeps him into her vivid world. She invites him to hip parties, accompanies him to galleries and museums, skips school with him and eventually becomes his best friend. Almost inevitably, the unsophisticated George finds himself falling for the flirtatious Sally, but can't find a way to tell her how he feels. When he thinks he has found a role model in school alumnus Dustin (Michael Angarano), an up-and-coming young painter he meets on his school's career day, George begins to envision life as an artist, with Sally as his muse.
Sally provides George with a refuge from both the mundaneness of school and the uncertainty of home, where things are not what they appear to be between his mother and stepfather. Then, with the end of senior year coming up fast, George gets an ultimatum from the principal (Blair Underwood): make up the school work he has failed to do all year in the next three weeks or he won't graduate. George soon sees how quickly the world comes apart when you have perfected the art of getting by.
The film is written and directed by Gavin Wiesen

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
For his first feature film, THE ART OF GETTING BY, writer and director Gavin Wiesen has returned to a moment he believes is the first life-changing crossroads in many people's lives. "At 17 or 18, most of us are at a critical point," he says. "We are about to graduate from high school and enter a scary unknown--the adult world. You have to shed childhood very quickly."
With that in mind, Wiesen hit upon the idea for a movie about a high school student who feels out of step, not just with his peers, but also with the world at large, and protests the futility of senior year by doing as little as he can. "For George, high school is a useless task," he says. "But homework in this case is a metaphor for life. It's the thing that we don't want to do, but we have to do if we are going to have any life at all including love, sports, art, family, growing up."
But George is going through all this without having found meaning in anything he's ever done, according to Wiesen. "He has no reason to try and no idea where his life is going. When he gets to know this very special girl, he suddenly has something that gives his life meaning. Even if she's not reciprocating his feelings and they're just becoming friends, it still spurs him into action."
The writer-director was at a critical point himself when he conceived the idea. "I'd been working on scripts based on other people's ideas for a while," he says. "But the whole time, I was thinking about the kind of films I wanted to see and make. So I decided to come up with something emotionally personal, if not completely autobiographical."
Once he settled on the concept, the first draft came quickly. Wiesen spent about a year showing his completed script to friends, getting feedback and rewriting. The screenplay finally made its way to actor and artist Andrew Levitas, who agreed to executive produce the film, and brought in P. Jennifer Dana to produce.
Dana responded to the script's sensitive depiction of first love and emerging adulthood. "I remember well what it was like to be a senior in high school," she says. "The script looks back nostalgically at that period, and that spoke to me."
Dana worked closely with the first time writer and director to polish his screenplay. "When he walked in the door, he had a very clear sensibility and a unique voice on the page," she says. "We would read a draft, and then talk about what was working and what needed to be tweaked. Ideas were traded back and forth and Gavin would go back and work on them. Every time there was a new draft, he brought it back with richer characters and story. It was great watching it take shape."
Joining Dana as producers are Kara Baker, Darren Goldberg and Gia Walsh. Baker and Walsh had recently completed production on their first film, THE WINNING SEASON, which starred Emma Roberts. They got a call from Roberts' manager, who had read the script and was very excited about it. "He told us this amazing young writer-director had this wonderful script," remembers Walsh. "And Emma Roberts wanted to be in it. Knowing that we were looking for our next project, he sent it over."
Walsh arranged a meeting with Wiesen within 24 hours of finishing the script. "He has incredible integrity and that came across immediately," says the producer. "After sitting with him, there was no doubt in my mind that this is what he was meant to do. There was no way I was going to let him make this movie without me."
The main character won Walsh over from the start. "I fell in love with George," she recalls. "The way his struggle is presented is very touching. He's falling in love with Sally in a completely awkward, absolutely real way. It's a classic coming-of-age story, so beautifully written and heartfelt that I think teenagers and adults will identify with him.
"I kept thinking of J.D. Salinger," she continues. "George is very Holden Caulfield-esque."
George is going through more than one life-changing experience simultaneously, observes the producer. "It's his first love affair. At the same time, he realizes there is more to life than his problems. He discovers that his stepfather is profoundly imperfect and that his mother needs him in ways he never imagined.
"I think that is a rite of passage for most teenagers," she adds. "They are in trouble, for not applying themselves or breaking the rules in some way. And they're answering for it to the adults around them, who themselves don't have all the answers. He's under pressure, he has to perform, but at the same time, he's struggling with how the people around him are all disappointing him." 
While the events of THE ART OF GETTING BY are purely fictional, the lead character is very close to Wiesen. "George is an exaggerated version of the kid I was," the director says. "He has given up before he's even tried. He gets all the way through school just by showing up. And all it takes to make him understand the value of making an effort is for a certain girl to come along and capture his imagination."
Taking on both writing and directing chores for a first film might be overwhelming for some, but Wiesen says that, for him, it was the ideal situation. "One of the frustrations of being a screenwriter is that the end result is not necessarily what you envisioned," he says. "It's like being an architect and only creating the blueprint. It's not often that an opportunity like this comes along to oversee your vision from inception to completed film."

ABOUT THE CASTING
When it came to casting his first film, Wiesen set his sights high, bringing as much passion and enthusiasm to the process as he did to developing the script. That commitment won over each of the actors he met with, says Walsh. "Every time we had a casting conversation, I would finish by saying, 'Gavin, go to lunch with that person. If you do, there is no way they will not do the movie.'"
Freddie Highmore, who plays George, is most familiar to American audiences for his work as a child actor in FINDING NEVERLAND and CHARLIE AND CHOCOLATE FACTORY. In THE ART OF GETTING BY, he plays his most mature role to date. "Realizing he was the right age to play George was a surprise to me," says Dana. "I feel like we're rediscovering him in this film."
Highmore was about to turn 17 when Wiesen first met him, about a year before shooting was scheduled to begin. "That meant that he would be the exact age of the character when we started filming," the director says. "The thought of capturing him at the same moment in life as George was very attractive. And then, of course, he is an extraordinary actor. There is a sweetness about him that I thought would go against the grain of George's more obnoxious side. He's so different from other actors his age. That otherness makes the character quite special."
Highmore, who made a splash at 11 years old with an astonishingly mature performance opposite Johnny Depp in FINDING NEVERLAND, was just finishing up high school when he was cast in the film. "Ironically, I was still doing my homework," he says. "George is not incredibly focused. He is quite clever, but not in the way that people are assessed on paper. He's quick and he's witty, so despite not doing his work, he has a good rapport with his teachers. That's why they let him get away without doing much work, because he's quite a likeable guy."
"George's contradictions made him an interesting character to tackle," says the young actor. "When we see him at the start of the film, he doesn't really have any friends. He's scared to talk to anyone he finds attractive. He's quite insular, but he falls in love with Sally. And even though he's not sure what her intentions are, it brings him out of his shell."
With Highmore committed to playing George, it was time to find his Sally. Emma Roberts, a rising star with a growing reputation in the worlds of both studio films and independent projects, was the filmmakers' first choice. They were determined to land her and were elated when Roberts read the script and quickly signed on.
The two young stars had immediate chemistry. "We got along incredibly well, which made it easy to do the more intimate scenes. And kissing Emma Roberts isn't such a bad gig anyway," says Highmore of his co-star.
Roberts was impressed by the script's authentic take on high school life and the relationship between Sally and George. "It's unique to connect with a project on a personal level and I really did with this one," says Roberts. "I loved how honest Gavin made all the characters and how relatable everyone was. A lot of parts written for teenage girls rarely capture the voice of a real young woman. Often, characters in movies about teenagers are easily categorized--the geek, the popular kid, the jock. I think Sally is very much the way we really are and I liked that about her. There's so much more to her than just one thing."
Sally may seem to have it all together compared to George, but Roberts saw something else under the façade of sophistication the teenager cultivates. "Like George, she is at that confused age when she doesn't really know what she wants in life," Roberts says. "She's trying to figure it out and still have fun. I'm actually at that same age and it's complicated. You don't really know who you are yet, and you are trying to find out."
She was also attracted to the multi-layered relationship between Sally and George. "Everything in the script seemed really honest," she says. "Sally and George have a relationship that is similar to the relationships I have in real life. There are always some problems to overcome, for each person individually as well as together, but this is a special relationship for both of them."
"In this case, neither of them quite understands what the other wants either," she adds. "She is used to guys wanting to date her and he's used to people needing him for his book smarts.  When the two start talking, they're trying to figure each other out." 
Compared to the other boys at school, George seems complex to Sally and that adds to his allure. "He doesn't lay all his cards out on the table," Roberts says. "She's intrigued by that. Most of the boys she's dated or been friends with are more what-you-see-is-what-you-get. George's air of mystery interests her."
With Sally to inspire him, life suddenly starts to matter and George begins to open up. When he encounters school alumnus Dustin, played by Michael Angarano, he begins to recognize the possibilities open to him, if he can just apply himself. "Dustin comes to his school to talk about being a professional artist," says Wiesen. "For the first time, he sees someone he thinks he could be like. Dustin is a possible version of himself in five years and he starts to get an idea of what his future could be."
Angarano says of his character, "I think Dustin has gone through the same kind of crisis that George is struggling with, finding your voice and yourself.  They are very similar guys. They're both smart and they're both visual artists, but Dustin is 25 years old and living in his own loft in Brooklyn. He has the ideal life for a young artist.
"George is very impressed with Dustin's blissful self-confidence," he says. "It's something George completely lacks. Dustin looks at George and sees somebody he can really have an influence on."
The story rang true to Angarano in many ways. "THE ART OF GETTING BY manages to capture some of those real moments that go on in and out of the classroom so well that it often didn't feel like a movie. It seemed like I was being handed someone's real-life experience."
Like many New York teens, George and Sally enjoy a lot of freedom to roam the city night and day. But their worlds are, for better and worse, still influenced by their parents. "George and Sally have interesting and complicated relationships with their mothers," says Wiesen. "They mirror normal parental relationships, but in totally different ways. George and his mother don't get along. They're estranged from each other in a way that is not related to any specific drama. They just grew apart. They stopped understanding each other."
George's mother, Vivian, is a New York City businesswoman with problems she chooses not to burden her son with. "Vivian has some personal issues of her own that she doesn't share with George," says Rita Wilson, who plays Vivian. "It's complicated by the fact that she's raising a child in the middle of New York City. The script resonated with me. I have two teenagers and I've seen a lot of the issues that are in this script.
"At that age, we're searching for our identities," she adds. "You get glimpses of life experiences that hopefully come together at a certain point and provide some insight into who you might be. That's what George's journey is in this film. Who am I? What am I going to do with my life?" 
"I think Vivian is very concerned about George's future and has no idea how to help or fix it," says Wiesen.
Sally, like George,  is also struggling with a complicated home life, despite the picture-perfect image she projects.  In contrast to Vivian's distracted concern, Sally's mother, Charlotte, played by Elizabeth Reaser, has turned her teenage daughter into her best friend. "Charlotte had Sally when she was 16," says Wiesen. "They're more like sisters. They drink and sit in the garden and smoke cigarettes, probably talking about boys and clothes. But actually there's a much deeper divide between them. They have totally different goals and, at the age of 35, Charlotte is more concerned for her own future than she is for Sally's. She loves Sally, but she's still figuring herself out
Sally and her mom have only had each other for a number of years and have become extremely close, says Roberts. "A lot of times Sally feels like she's the mom. Elizabeth Reaser and I bonded a lot. We were always laughing because it felt similar to our relationship in the movie."
At school, George is both championed and challenged by three dedicated educators: his principal, his English teacher and his art instructor. Played by a trio of veteran actors , they each confront him about his lack of initiative and its consequences. At first annoyed by their interference, George eventually realizes that they have had his back all along. 
  It is the school principal, played by Blair Underwood, who finally draws a line in the sand for the defiant student, insisting he complete a year's unfinished homework if he wants to graduate with his class. "Principal Martinson is not at all the hardnosed principal," says Underwood. "My character is one of those authority figures we've all had or hope to have, who challenge us from a caring place. Certainly I have had angels in my life who thought enough of me not to let me slack off, people who pushed me because they believed in me. And that is who my character is. He has a real connection with George and wants him to succeed."
Principal Martinson sees something in George that the young man is unable to see in himself. "George, much like Freddie, has a wonderful spirit with a vulnerability and openness about him," Underwood says. "Principal Martinson recognizes that and it's frustrating for him to see someone who is not a bad kid, but is just not applying himself. It takes a little extra push, and that's certainly where my character comes in."
George gets plenty of tough love from his art teacher, Harris McElroy, played by Broadway veteran Jarlath Conroy. He sees the boy's talent and is fierce in his insistence that George do something with his life. "He works very hard to get George to express himself through the arts," says Conroy. "He doesn't treat George, or anyone else, with kid gloves, but he's extremely compassionate. I respect teachers who want to shake people up and Gavin has written a wonderful character."
Sally and George escape the pressures of school and family with their friends Zoe and Will, whose late night parties and life without parents are a new experience for the more sheltered George. "It was good fun working with other people my age," says Highmore. "We all got on really well. I never felt like the outsider in a group, like George does at the start of the film. They were really welcoming people." 
Marcus Carl Franklin plays Will. "He's 19 and such a cool guy," says Franklin. "He drives a BMW and he organizes fabulous parties, so it was a fun character to play. I was attracted to his sense of fashion, because I really like clothes myself. I went on a huge shopping spree to get ready."
His partner-in-crime, Zoe, is played by Sasha Spielberg. "Zoe has a lot to say about everything, whether she expresses that through fashion or the words that come out of her mouth," says Spielberg. "She's very opinionated. Zoe loves her friends, but she loves herself just a little bit more."
Spielberg was impressed with Wiesen's nuanced portrayal of high school students and their shifting allegiances. "Gavin conveyed the story with such simplicity," she says. "I loved the relationship between George and Sally, which really drives the script. I loved how each character is different.  I could relate to it and I think that's what is most important in a movie."
Which is, of course, exactly what Wiesen was aiming for when he began this project. "I had been through similar experiences as a teenager that I have never forgotten," he says. "I know they were relatively normal experiences that many people have, but they took place at a time when everything seemed so important. As George, Sally and Dustin took on lives of their own, I always went back to the specifics to help ground it all in a reality that an audience could believe in and relate to. I felt that if I could capture those emotions, it would make for a great movie.
"I was lucky enough to have had an incredible team of people on this project," says Wiesen. "They helped me to breathe life into the details I had envisioned for so long. And I was especially lucky to have wonderful actors, starting with Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts. They were able to convincingly navigate their characters' transition from innocence to experience, and to embody the delicate nuances of that particular moment in life."

ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK
New York City serves as a sweeping, high-energy backdrop for THE ART OF GETTING BY's intimate story. Iconic locations from Central Park's Sheep's Meadow and Chinatown to the recently completed Highline Park in Chelsea provide George and Sally with refuge from school and home. They wander the West Village, cross the Brooklyn Bridge to visit Dustin's loft in the thriving artists' community of Greenpoint and visit some of Lower Manhattan's glittering clubs and seedy dives. Read more

GAVIN WIESEN (Written and Directed by) was born and raised in New York City, and attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts undergraduate program, majoring in film production with a concentration in cinema studies. After college he worked in Los Angeles as a script reader for several producers, and spent two years assisting director Bruce Paltrow, from development through completion of the feature film DUETS. Gavin then returned to the East Coast to produce the no-budget indie film DRAFTDODGING which premiered at the 2002 Cinevegas Film Festival. He went on to write several screenplays and television pilots, developing them for various production companies.  In 2007 wrote and directed the 35 mm short KILL THE DAY, which premiered at the 2008 Gen Art Film Festival in New York City. He also programmed and moderated the film series (Re)Discovering World Cinema for Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY, 2008-2010.

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