EXCLUSIVE: Race car driver, auto enthusiast and actress Emelia Hartford is rolling cameras on Streets with Ali Afshar’s ESX Entertainment and Warner Bros’ Crew HQ.
In addition to starring, Hartford created the world and co-wrote the script in a story that’s inspired by one of the automotive world’s most enduring real-life mysteries—the 1939 disappearance of Jean Bugatti’s personal Type 57S Atlantic, considered the $100+ million “Holy Grail” of classic cars. Streets follows an East LA street racing crew thrust into a dangerous, high-stakes hunt across Southern California, where every turn presents a new clue and a potential disaster. Pic is being directed by Shaun Paul Piccinino (Lady Driver), Streets being his tenth feature film with ESX.
Hartford is also producing under her new production banner, Running Lean Productions.
Streets was granted a California Film & Television Tax Credit with shooting occurring on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. Filming will wrap by the end of this month. In a central highlight of the production, Streets is serving as a premier launchpad for local workforce development in partnership with Warner Bros. Studios’ CrewHQ, a workforce initiative designed to train, mentor, and cultivate the next generation of film and television crew talent in California.
Producer Ali Afshar and Hartford share similar paths coming from the automotive world. Afshar is a world champion drag racer himself while Hartford is a world record breaking driver who recently became the fastest women on four wheels on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Also producing are Daniel Aspromonte, and Sean Donohue of Running Lean.
“We are thrilled to be back filming in California. Securing the California tax incentive is a huge milestone for us—it’s the first time in years that we have been able to bring a production of this scale home after shooting so many projects out of state and overseas,” said Afshar, founder and CEO of ESX.
Hartford added, “To write, produce, and star in a project that captures the real adrenaline, passion, and culture of the automotive world while telling such a thrilling story is a dream come true, and to shoot on the legendary Warner Bros lot and around LA doesn’t feel real.”
Afshar added, “It’s been a goal to bring this passion project to life with Emelia and we couldn’t be prouder to shoot on the Warner Bros. lot while putting the Warner Bros. CrewHQ program front and center to help train, empower, and build the future of California’s crew base.”
He continued “Having Sean Paul Piccinino directing his tenth movie with us, alongside Emelia co-writing and producing with Daniel, Sean, and me, ensures that Streets is an immersive, pulse-pounding ride built from the ground up by real car enthusiasts.”
As a social media content creator, Hartford built one of the largest automotive audiences on YouTube with now more than 600M views before launching her Hollywood career in Sony’s Gran Turismo, Apple TV’s Circuits in Focus, and the upcoming Fox series Hot Laps.
She added, “Collaborating on this alongside Shaun, Ali, Daniel, Sean Donohue, and getting to shoot right here in California while championing incredible career pathways like CrewHQ means we’re going to deliver something truly special both on screen and behind the scenes.”
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