When a studio guts her personal screenplay, passionate writer Ellie and ambitious exec Liam go rogue to produce it guerrilla-style, battling sabotage and a system allergic to realism.

SYNOPSIS:

Ellie Harper dreams of becoming a screenwriter. Her latest script, Keep the Rom, Leave the Com, is a heartfelt adaptation of her Aunt Bev’s 1960s romance. While she waits for her break, Ellie works as a barista, clinging to her creative hopes.

Her script catches the eye of Liam Carter, a seasoned studio executive growing weary of hollow, market-driven films. Moved by the story’s sincerity, he invites Ellie to pitch it to the board and champions the project—provoking the ire of Vanessa, a powerful colleague and former lover. The project is greenlit.

Ellie joins the development team, only to see executives—led by scorned Vanessa—warp her aunt’s love story into something formulaic. After repeated clashes, Ellie walks. Disillusioned himself, Liam tracks her down and offers to produce the film independently.

With limited studio resources and a tiny budget, Ellie steps into the director’s chair and rallies a crew of friends-film-hopefuls, and fellow creatives to bring her vision to life. Despite endless production headaches, the scrappy team pushes forward.

As behind-the-scenes clips go viral, buzz builds. Ellie, inspired but overwhelmed, juggles growing doubts and mounting pressure. Liam remains her steady counterpart, and a quiet romance begins to bloom. Meanwhile, Vanessa, envious and vengeful, orchestrates a covert campaign to sabotage the project—eventually succeeding in halting the shoot.

In an act of humility, Liam seeks help from his estranged mother, a powerful industry figure, and the film is finally completed.

What begins as an underdog side project becomes a joyous guerrilla love letter to storytelling—and to the messy, miraculous act of making art at all.

KEEP THE ROM, LEAVE THE COM