About ten years ago, Alexandra Boylan and her sister Andrea Polnaszek examined the entertainment landscape in search of a unique brand of movies: faith-based films that are fun and female-led.
Not finding what they wanted, the duo set out to fill the void by making their own movies. They even launched their own company: The Boylan Sisters.
Six films later, it’s safe to say they’ve been successful.
Their newest movie, Identity Crisis, tells the whimsical story of an insecure college student who clones herself to try and gain confidence. Shari Rigby (Overcomer) directed it. Identity Crisis is now on home video platforms.
Their previous film, Switched, won a MovieGuide Award and was named one of Crosswalk’s best faith-based films of 2020. Their first movie was Catching Faith (2015).
“Andrea and I looked at the landscape of faith-based films at the time and didn't really see a lot of women being represented,” Alexandra told Christian Headlines, adding that their current goal is making “Disney-like movies for Christian girls.”
“We want to make hip and fun films that girls want to show at slumber parties, and they want to go to school and can't wait to tell their friends about it and not be like, ‘Oh my gosh, my mom and dad made me watch this movie. And I don't want anyone to know.’ So that's been our mission -- to talk to mother-daughters, to create content that is on par with Hollywood mainstream, but speaks into a Christian worldview.”
The success of Catching Faith, she said, made them feel like “we were onto something.”
The sisters grew up as pastor’s kids in Boston, with Alexandra traveling cross-country to L.A. at age 19 with aspirations of becoming an actress. But when that didn’t turn out as she envisioned, she began working behind the camera. She then roped in her sister, Andrea.
“I was raising three kids when she called about Catching Faith,” Andrea told Christian Headlines. “And I was the mom trying to find the content that I could enjoy with my kids. And frankly, at that time, ten years ago, the faith-based movies, they weren't things that my kids would want to watch.”
Both Identity Crisis and Switched feature the quirky comedy that attracts tweens and teens to Disney titles.
“We wanted to make the very thing that we were looking for when we were kids,” Andrea said.
Identity Crisis, she added, is “about a college freshman who is struggling with her identity, thinks that she's got all these things wrong with her, and clones herself.” The film stars identical twin actresses, Scout Tayui-Lepore and Sophia Tayui-Lepore.
“All the things she thinks are wrong -- she fixes in her clone and then sends her clone out to do all of that,” Andrea said. “And [she] finds out that actually, God, first of all, had made her with all of that potential in her to begin with. We wanted to do something for young college women. And one of the number one issues is that they feel like they have imposter syndrome.”
Said Alexandra, “We need more positive, inspiring messages for all young kids today.”
Photo Courtesy: ©Vertical Entertainment/Used with permission.
Video Courtesy: Boylan Sisters Entertainment via YouTube
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
