EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Podemski (Reservation Dogs) and Rosa Blasi (The Thundermans) have signed on to star alongside Andrew Dice Clay and Jordan Johnson-Hinds in Quiver Distribution’s basketball drama Warrior Strong, which Shane Belcourt (Red Rover) is directing from Dan Gordon’s (Wyatt Earp) script.
The film currently in production in Canada centers on basketball protege and egocentric Bilal Irving (Johnson-Hinds), who is asked by school principal Jules (Podemski) to serve as the assistant coach of his former high school team, the Dumont Warriors, alongside Coach Avery Schmidt (Clay). Bilal subsequently learns that true coaching involves far more than simply teaching the game. The question is, will this rag-tag team of misfits have what it takes to put aside their differences and become Warrior Strong?
Blasi will play Vicki, who runs the local diner and slowly helps Coach Schmidt out of grieving for his deceased wife, prompting him to move on with a new relationship. Nicholas Tabarrok and Leah Jaunzems are producing for Darius Films, with Quiver’s Berry Meyerowitz, Jeff Sackman and Larry Greenberg serving as exec producers. Quiver holds worldwide rights to the film and will be introducing it for sale at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.
Podemski is an Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi actor from Toronto who can currently be seen playing Bear’s (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) mother Rita on FX’s acclaimed comedy series Reservation Dogs, which returned this month for its second season. The actress has also been seen in films like Mekko, and on such series as Syfy’s Resident Alien, The CW’s Coroner and Prime Video’s Tin Star, among others.
Blasi has appeared in films like The Grudge, and on series including Netflix’s Team Kaylie, Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans, ABC Family’s Make It or Break It and Lifetime’s Strong Medicine, to name a few.
Podemski is represented by Toronto’s Creative Drive Artists and Industry Entertainment; Blasi by Bobblehead Entertainment and Link Entertainment.
