Alyssa Addison had veered away from her first love—drama—to pay the bills. She’d been easing back into theater with several churches’ drama programs, nursing hopes of going back to her native California, where her love of theater had blossomed. Then, her husband’s job took them to Knoxville, TN, and she remembers thinking, “How will I find any acting opportunities here?” The move was fortuitous. She made connections that led to an independent film production of her screenplay, Laughing at the Moon, opening in theaters in select cities, starting September 9, 2016.