Summer Shelton and Clayne Crawford Reconnect with Love and Art through You & I

There are times in life when each of us yearns for a second chance at something that fell through our fingertips, whether it’s a failed romance, a missed career opportunity or merely the chance to say something we should have said long ago. In the new film You & I, first time writer director Summer Shelton and actor Clayne Crawford explore this theme, both on screen and off. 

“I wanted to create something that reminded me what it felt like to be seen,” Shelton says.

“I’ve been in the industry for about 15 plus years,” Shelton says. “I built a career as a coordinator, manager and post-production supervisor, learning all the ins and outs of physical production. But during the pandemic, I was really concerned about whether I’d still have a career afterward.” A North Carolina native, Shelton is the 2018 recipient of the Independent Spirit Producers Award, and has served as a producer on films such as At Any Price (2012), starring Zac Efron and Dennis Quaid, Adult Word (2013) with Emma Roberts, Evan Peters and John Cusack, and the Sundance 2023 Dramatic Competition Audience Award winner The Persian Version. After spending nearly 15 years of her life on set, the sudden work stoppage that came with Covid-19 forced Shelton to take stock of her life and career, and what she still had left that she wanted to do with both. This period of isolation inspired Shelton to write a screenplay about people who have lost touch with each other suddenly reconnecting. Sara and Joseph, former lovers whose relationship was long over years ago, are unexpectedly reunited for a weekend, allowing them to revisit the past and explore the “what ifs” that have lingered between them.  For Shelton, You & I was more than just a project; it was a form of emotional survival. “I wanted to create something that reminded me what it felt like to be seen,” Shelton says. As she was writing the script, she found herself writing the role of Joseph with a specific actor in mind—Clayne Crawford, whom she had seen in his acclaimed run as Teddy Talbot on the Sundance TV series Rectify.  “I grew up with lots of guys like Teddy, and his performance was so natural that he felt familiar,” Shelton says. “I wrote Joseph’s dialogue with the cadence of his voice in mind.”

Crawford, who had been navigating his own personal crossroads, found the project to be a perfect match for where he was in his career. “I went through something very similar,” Crawford says. After a tumultuous experience on the FOX hit Lethal Weapon, which brought a new level of stardom but was fraught with highly publicized behind-the-scenes tension that resulted in an abrupt exit, Crawford was considering giving up acting. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this anymore,” Crawford says. “I felt like I had reached a level I’d been striving for, and once I got there, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.”  Crawford refocused on producing and acting in smaller and more intimate independent films, including Sundance Film Festival 2023 hit The Killing of Two Lovers, directed by Robert Machoian, an associate professor of photography at Brigham Young University. The experience of this raw and powerful film, which holds a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, helped Crawford begin to find himself in the art again. After reteaming with Machoian for The Integrity of Joseph Chambers (2023), Crawford was all the more committed to trying new things and taking chances. “I wanted to leave it all on the field one time, doing it my way, not someone else’s,” Crawford says. When Shelton brought him the script for You & I, Crawford immediately connected with her vision. “She was relatable in what she was trying to do, and I admired her,” Crawford says. “Not only her work ethic but her tenacity to say, ‘I’m going to do it all. I’m going to wear all the hats.'” Much like Shelton, Crawford was ready to approach his work with renewed authenticity. For Crawford, the film allowed him to step outside his comfort zone and explore a side of acting that he hadn’t fully embraced before. This included playing a romantic role opposite Shelton in the role of Sara, despite the fact that she didn’t have an acting background. “I didn’t know how she was going to be as an actress,” Crawford says. “But she was so thorough with everything else that I knew she wouldn’t attempt something she couldn’t achieve.” This mutual trust became the foundation for their collaboration on You & I. Shelton’s meticulous approach gave Crawford the confidence to explore a side of himself he hadn’t tapped into before.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this anymore,” Crawford says. “I felt like I had reached a level I’d been striving for, and once I got there, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.” 

At its heart, You & I is a story about second chances and the unresolved emotions that linger after love fades. For both Shelton and Crawford, the film became a way to process their own experiences, both creatively and personally. As Crawford returns to television as part of the ensemble cast of Hulu limited series Chad Powers, a comedy series set in the world of the NFL starring Glen Powell and Steve Zahn, Crawford remains committed to exploring the possibilities of independent film and growing as an artist and as a person. As for Summer Shelton, You & I is only the beginning of a trailblazing path, and as the film opens in Los Angeles on October 18 with additional cities and a streaming release to follow, Shelton is already busy at work on her next bold filmmaking endeavors.

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