Andrew Lauren Movies

Second Life is an on-line community in which participants interact in a virtual digital world that in most respects resembles our own; folks on Second Life can design an avatar to represent them that can look however they wish, and for many people Second Life offers the opportunity to be the sort of person they aren't (and can't be) in reality. Filmmaker Jason Spingarn-Koff became fascinated with the possibilities of Second Life, and joined the on-line community to find out more about it. After interacting with a variety of characters in the virtual environment, he set out to learn about their lives in the real world, and the documentary Life 2.0 examines the impact users have on Second Life, and how the experience in turn has an impact on them. In Life 2.0, we meet a couple who met in the digital world but found making their romance work outside of cyberspace was a tremendous challenge; a woman who has build a successful business designing and selling virtual clothing and accessories for Second Life avatars; and a man whose girlfriend is surprised when he explores a new side of his sexual identity in the on-line world. Life 2.0 was an official selection at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Writer-director Christopher Scott Cherot (Hav Plenty) based his second feature, G, on F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel The Great Gatsby. Tre (Andre Royo), a writer for a music magazine, goes out to the Hamptons to interview a wealthy and mysterious rap mogul, Summer G (Richard T. Jones), who's recently bought a home there. Tre first stops in on his cousin Sky (Chenoa Maxwell, who also starred in Hav Plenty) and her control-freak millionaire husband, Chip (Blair Underwood). Tre soon learns that Chip is brazenly cheating on Sky, and he even witnesses Chip smack his girlfriend around. Tre doesn't have much luck getting close to Summer G, until the music impresario finds out that Tre is related to Sky, whom he dated in college. Summer G asks Tre to arrange a meeting with Sky, and Tre, apparently upset with the way Chip has been treating Sky, helps Summer G connect with his old flame. Summer G tells Sky that he still loves her, and she begins an affair with him. The snobby old-money Chip, already predisposed to dislike Summer G because of his hip-hop lifestyle, suspects that there's something going on, and plots to have Summer G chased from their exclusive Hamptons neighborhood. G was produced by Andrew Lauren, fashion designer Ralph Lauren's son, who also appears in the film as Adam Gordon, Summer G's manager. G was shown at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival and at the 2002 Urbanworld Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

In this emotional drama, a group of young professionals tries to get away from their problems, only to find that their friends create new annoyances. The marriage of Ellie (Jennifer Connelly) and Ryland (Jim True) has been strained by the recent death of their infant daughter. Hoping that some time away will ease Ellie's mind, Ryland organizes a weekend getaway in the nearby resort of Far Harbor, where they'll stay at a beach house with several friends, including Arabella (Marcia Gay Harden), Ellie's sister, and Frick (Edward Atterton), Ellie's ex-husband. Frick, a struggling filmmaker, hears a rumor that a yacht anchored off the beach belongs to David Speckman, a successful movie director; and the soothing weekend soon turns maddening, as he devises scheme after scheme to meet Speckman, oblivious that those around him have serious problems to deal with. Far Harbor marked the feature debut of writer/director John Huddles. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi