After its premiere at the Napa Valley Film Festival, UNLIKELY returns to Akron for a free community event at the Akron Civic Theatre on Nov. 13, 2018, at 6 PM. A collaboration between ArtsNow and the Akron Civic Theatre, this event will feature food, music, film, and conversation to celebrate the City of Akron and its incredible students.

Set in the cities of Akron, Atlanta, Boston, and Los Angeles, UNLIKELY follows five individuals failed by America’s higher education system as they fight for a second chance at opportunity. Featuring interviews with LeBron James, Howard Schultz, and our nation’s leading voices in education, this penetrating and personal new film investigates America’s college dropout crisis and highlights the innovators reimagining higher education for the 21st century.

Filmed in Akron between March 2016 and August 2017, UNLIKELY follows Clarissa Santana, a student enrolled in the Adult Focus Program at the University of Akron, and Miah Massey, an 11th grader in the LeBron James Family Foundation I Promise Program, who found their way forward with the help of community, Akron Public Schools, and the University of Akron.

Akron is featured in the film through footage on The University of Akron campus, the Downtown Akron area, and archival footage provided by the Akron Historical Society and the LeBron James Family Foundation.

Los Angeles based husband and wife filmmaking team Adam and Jaye Fenderson are the founders of Three Frame Media and producers of the award-winning documentary film First Generation. With a combined 25 years of film and television experience with credits spanning shows for NBC, MTV, Lifetime, Discovery, ABC Family, E!, CNBC, and Spike, the Fenderson’s are passionate about harnessing the power of media to advocate for issues of social justice and mobilize audiences to effect change.

“We’re so grateful to everyone in Akron who shared their time, energy, stories and lives with us,” Jaye Fenderson stated. “And it’s a wonderful honor to be able to bring the film back to where it started to celebrate the amazing students and community.”

UNLIKELY’s Akron premiere will feature an engaging conversation about local education and its future moderated by WKYC’s Amani Abraham with a panel that includes:

David James – Superintendent, Akron Public Schools

Jolene A. Lane – Chief Diversity Office and VP of Inclusion & Equity, TheUniversity of Akron

Clarissa Santana – UNLIKELY cast member

Derran Wimer – Executive Director, Summit Education Initiative

Adam and Jaye Fenderson – Filmmakers

The free community showing of UNLIKELY at the Akron Civic Theatre on Nov. 13, 2018, at 6 PM is free to attend through generous support from the GAR Foundation, Burton D. Morgan Foundation, The University of Akron, and Huntington Bank.

“UNLIKELY is a story of resilience and a celebration of our local students and the institutions that support them,” says Howard Parr, Executive Director of Akron Civic Theatre. “The Civic is thrilled to partner with ArtsNow to bring this premiere home to Akron and Main Street.”

For more information and to register for this free event please head to https://unlikely.eventbrite.com.