Brett Caroline Levner (Film) directed The Track, which is having its world premiere June 12 at the Dances with Films festival in Los Angeles.
The Track is an independent feature film about underage sex trafficking in Las Vegas. It stars Missy Yager (Mad Men), Sam Trammell (True Blood, The Fault in Our Stars), Michael Muhney (Veronica Mars, The Young and the Restless), and Clarence Gilyard (Die Hard, Walker, Texas Ranger) and introduces Mariah Kirstie.
Levner is a graduate of Columbia University’s graduate film program who has been teaching at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ for five years. Prior to that, she produced non-fiction television for cable channels such as MTV, A&E and WE and won the 2004 Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award for her short film, Being Reel.
The Track is a true interdisciplinary project incorporating the talents of multiple departments and schools at 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ. Professor Alexis Kennedy of the criminal justice department came aboard as an associate producer and consultant on the project. Professor Diego Vega from 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s School of Music composed the original music. Professor Eric Franklin from 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s William S. Boyd School of Law provided legal counsel and contributed a song to the soundtrack. Professor Clarence Gilyard of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ film and theater departments played a role in the film.
The Track was produced and crewed by many members of the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ film department community, including students and alumni such as May May Luong ’06 (producer), Domenica Castro ‘13 (producer), Clayton Moore ‘15 (cinematographer), Lynsey Cook ‘15 (assistant camera), Ryan Galvan ‘14 (gaffer), TJ Hess ‘13 (sound recordist), Jason Edmiston ‘02 (editor), Carieann Cahall ‘16 (additional editor), Alexander Miller ’15 (additional editor), Molly Bailey ‘14 (production designer), Jenny Egidio ‘15 (makeup), Morgan Gould ‘15 (music supervisor), Benton Corder ’09 (sound designer), and Rob Sholty ’10 (color corrector), amongst many others. Other collaborators include Matthew McCue (screenwriter/producer) and Steve Sole (producer).
Shot exclusively in Las Vegas, The Track tells the story of a woman from the suburbs who crosses paths with a sexually exploited teenage girl working the streets of Las Vegas. The two strike up an unlikely friendship that blossoms into a mother-daughter relationship that saves both their lives.
The film is aimed at educating the public about the very real dangers of underage sex trafficking in our community. According to Las Vegas Metro police, more than 2,000 underage prostitutes where picked up by Las Vegas police from 1994-2012. The hope is that the film will open the doors of communication about this issue and help lead to finding solutions to this very real epidemic.
The Track will have its world premiere at Dances with Films on Sunday, June 12, at 2:45 p.m. at TCL Chinese Theatres, 625 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, California. online.
online or by contacting Brett Levner at Brett.Levner@unlv.edu or at 917-952-6657.
