The festive holiday romance SIT. STAY. LOVE, starring Georgia Flood (American Princess), Ezekiel Simat (Lambs of God) and a cast of canine friends, will release in select cinemas across Australia from Thursday December 2.
The perfect movie for the holiday season, SIT. STAY. LOVE follows the story of aid worker Annie Blake (Georgia Flood), who has devoted her life to helping people in need. After finishing a mission in Nepal, she decides to return to her hometown of North Haven, Vermont, to spend Christmas holidays with the family she hasn’t seen for three years. Upon arriving in the small town, Annie finds a flyer from the local animal shelter looking for foster carers and excitedly heads to the shelter to sign up. But the shelter has since closed, and all the animals moved to the local vet’s surgery where Dylan (Ezekiel Simat) – the local vet and Annie’s old school nemesis – has collected a ragtag bunch of animals looking for homes. Determined to save the shelter and find homes for the animals, Annie enlists her family, Dylan, and the entire community, to create a Christmas that nobody will ever forget.
SIT. STAY. LOVE was written by Holly Hester, and directed by Tori Garrett (Don’t Tell). Garrett comments “The tougher the times, a Christmas rom-com like Sit. Stay. Love. is just the kind of movie everybody needs, especially animal lovers. It was just as fun to direct as it is to watch. All you need is love, family, and three beautiful puppies to make you feel like anything is possible!”
The supporting cast includes Anthony Phelan, Anna McGahan, Christine Amor and Kaushik Das. Following the film’s animal shelter storyline and the growing international movement in favour of adopting animals, the three lead dogs that feature in the film – Digger, Mini and Salty – are all adopted. In fact, 90% of the animals that feature in the film are either rescued or adopted.
SIT. STAY. LOVE was filmed at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast by The Steve Jaggi Company in late 2020, with the Vermont winter wonderland brought to life by a talented crew under strict COVID-safe filming guidelines. The film is the latest in the romance genre from The Steve Jaggi Company, following the recent success of Romance on the Menu, This Little Love of Mine and the forthcoming Love In Bloom, which had its world premiere at the 2021 Brisbane International Film Festival.
SIT. STAY. LOVE is produced by Spencer McLaren, Kelly Son Hing and Steve Jaggi, with Kylie Pascoe co-producing. The film was financed with the assistance of Creativity Capital, Filmology Finance and Asia Pacific Film Investment Group (APFIG). Executive producers are Julianna Hays, Larry Grimaldi, Hannah Pillemer, Fernando Szew, Patrick Fischer, Ben Kaye, Jack Christian and DJ MacPherson.
SIT. STAY. LOVE will be released theatrically by Athabasca Film, screening in select cinemas across Australia in an exclusive deal with Event Cinemas and Village Cinemas.