An American Girl Story - Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance

2017 0h 43m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 11

FamilyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1976 San Francisco, 10-year-old Ivy is a girl who must learn the balance between her two cultural identities — being Chinese, but still wishing to be just like her all-American friend, Julie.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Nina Lu
Ivy Ling
Hannah Nordberg
Julie Albright
Gwendoline Yeo
Marilyn Ling
Rob Yang
Sam Ling
Lance Lim
Andrew Ling
Elizabeth Sung
PO-PO
Tzi Ma
Gung-Gung
Caitlin McGee
Coach Gloria

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sasie Sealy
Writers: May Chan, Julie Ann Sipos
Languages: English

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 43-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 9 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "An American Girl Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sasie Sealy, shot by Steve Gainer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Danny Lux. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anna Sweeney shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nina Lu and Hannah Nordberg and Gwendoline Yeo carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt6509214 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sasie Sealy directs. Steve Gainer behind the camera. Danny Lux scores. Anna Sweeney cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 43-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Released 9 years ago.
3Part of the "An American Girl Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Sasie Sealy, shot by Steve Gainer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Danny Lux. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Anna Sweeney shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Nina Lu and Hannah Nordberg and Gwendoline Yeo carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt6509214 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 11 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Steve Gainer
Original score: Danny Lux
Editing: Anna Sweeney
Production design: Kristan Andrews
Runtime: 43 min · 0h 43m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: An American Girl Story - Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance (2017)

Part of

An American Girl Collection

American Girl is a line of books, movies, dolls, and accessories based on pre-teen girl characters from various periods of history including the 21st century. Several of the characters from the American Girl books have since had their stories adapted into films, the majority of them released as direct-to-DVD or television films