'A Better Life' -- A Love Letter To LA

Well in advance of it’s June 24th release, Chris Weitz's latest film, "A Better Life" -- a moving story of an undocumented worker and single father raising his son in East L.A. -- was already generating significant buzz. In March, Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger wrote "we could already have an awards contender on our hands for next year."

Even with Weitz attached to direct, and the support of Summit Entertainment, it took the moviemaking muscle and financial resources of two novice producers, Jami Gertz and Stacy Lubliner, to bring it to the big screen. This may be their first feature film as producers, but together they have decades of acting experience and deal-making savvy. Most importantly, though, they share a passion for character-driven scripts about subjects that really matter.

Arianna Huffington recently hosted a special screening for an audience that included L.A.'s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the senior class of the Gertz-Ressler charter high school. Afterward, Gertz and Lubliner sat down with me to talk about why they fell head-over-heels for "A Better Life," a film they call a "love letter to LA."