Emo Meets Golf in Country-Club Crime Comedy with Original Soundtrack; Co-Stars Scott Cohen, Ashby Gentry, Will Chase, Katerina Tannenbaum, and Geneva Carr
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, August 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, has just released MOOCH, the latest feature from writer, director, and star Jeff Ryan. Following its sold-out Center Stage premiere at IFFBoston and an Audience Award win at the Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival (PUFF), the film is now available across North American digital HD internet, DVD, cable, and satellite platforms starting on August 14, 2026.
Ryan’s First-Names Films, which retains theatrical rights to MOOCH, are in conversations with Emo Nite — the national emo and pop-punk collective behind sold-out events in cities across the country — to bring MOOCH to audiences over the coming year through a series of live event screenings, concerts, and album moments that pair the film with performances from its soundtrack artists and the wider Emo Nite community. Details to be announced shortly.
A First-Names Films production in association with Schaefer Cinema, MOOCH was written, directed by, and stars Jeff Ryan (MEAN SPIRITED). The ensemble cast includes Scott Cohen (THE PENGUIN, GILMORE GIRLS, KISSING JESSICA STEIN), Katerina Tannenbaum (AND JUST LIKE THAT…, BETTY, AJ AND THE QUEEN), Geneva Carr (BULL, WONDER WHEEL, IT’S COMPLICATED), Molly Brown (DEXTER: ORIGINAL SIN, BILLIONS, EVIL), Ashby Gentry (MY LIFE WITH THE WALTER BOYS, ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?), Will Chase (STRANGER THINGS, DOPESICK, NASHVILLE), Louis Cancelmi (SORRY, BABY; IN THE HAND OF DANTE; KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON), Olli Haaskivi (OPPENHEIMER, WIDOW’S BAY, THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER), Lucy Walters (POWER, GET SHORTY), Ian Dolley (THE HOLDOVERS, STRANGER THINGS: THE FIRST SHADOW), Natalie Roy (THE EQUALIZER, THE AFFAIR), Charlie Pollock (THE GOOD WIFE, ELEMENTARY), and Oscar Williams (POKER FACE, DON’T GET HIGH, FBI: MOST WANTED).
Set against the backdrop of suburban New Jersey, golf courses, neighborhood bars, and DIY music culture, MOOCH features an original emo soundtrack co-produced by Aaron Gillespie (Underoath) and Ryan that reflects Shane’s identity as a musician and underscores the film’s central question of where he belongs. The eleven-track album features Kellin Quinn (Sleeping With Sirens), Derek Sanders (Mayday Parade), Spencer Chamberlain (Underoath), JT Woodruff (Hawthorne Heights), John Vesely (Secondhand Serenade), Cassadee Pope (Hey Monday), and Sierra Kay (VersaEmerge). The filmmakers are in ongoing discussions with Emo Nite — and its record label, Graveboy Records (Insomniac Music Group) — about releasing the album in tandem with the film.
Nearly thirty and still the oldest caddy at his local golf club, Shane (Jeff Ryan) has mastered the art of getting by without ever quite growing up. When a botched theft of four hundred dollars unexpectedly lands him a job digging up dirt for a charismatic New Jersey nightclub owner, he finds himself navigating amateur investigations, broken relationships, and increasingly questionable decisions. Equal parts heartfelt and absurd, MOOCH is an offbeat crime comedy about friendship, ambition, and the long road toward adulthood.
“MOOCH is part autobiography, part fantasy, and part apology to the people in my life who have had to endure years of me falling face-first. In high school, a friend’s father sat me down and told me I was a mooch and that I was going to fail in life. I decided to put that on screen and build a character around it — to air out my own dirty laundry for everyone to enjoy, through the lens of a noir comedy loosely inspired by the Raymond Chandler novels I love. The rest of it clicked at an emo show in Jersey City. Looking around at a generation raised on Warped Tour that now fills When We Were Young, I saw a room full of people you’d assume were misunderstood — people who, like Shane, just want to be seen and accepted for who they are. The world has a harder time with that than it should.” – Jeff Ryan
The film was produced by Joe Adams and Jacob Andres Padilla; co-produced by Aaron Gillespie, Eamon Downey, Molly Welsh, and Jonathan Coleman; and executive produced by Peter Phok, Chris Marino, Patrick Martin, Nick Isder, Sam Schaefer, Paula Schaefer, Theo Schaefer, Owen Williams, Chris Bilezikian, and Peter Danis.
Freestyle Digital Media negotiated a deal to acquire MOOCH directly with the filmmakers.
MOOCH website: https://www.moochfilm.com/
ABOUT FREESTYLE DIGITAL MEDIA
Freestyle Digital Media, the digital distribution unit of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, is one of the largest all-rights independent film distributors in the world. The company specializes in VOD and streaming distribution, film acquisition, and direct partnerships across all major cable, satellite, digital, and streaming platforms. With a veteran sales team and robust infrastructure, Freestyle Digital Media is a premier destination for independent filmmakers seeking multiplatform theatrical, VOD, and streaming distribution. Recent releases include UP THE CATALOGUE featuring Jonathan Bailey, ALLSWELL IN NEW YORK starring Emmy Award-winning Liza Colón-Zayas of FX’s THE BEAR, DIARIO, MUJER & CAFÉ starring Roselyn Sánchez in her directorial debut, and CHARLIEBIRD, winner of the Founders Award at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. Additional titles in the Freestyle library include SURVIVE starring Sophie Turner and Corey Hawkins, DEAR ZOE starring Sadie Sink of STRANGER THINGS, and BEST SUMMER EVER, produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, Maggie
Gyllenhaal, Mary Steenburgen, and Ted Danson. For more information, visit freestyledigitalmedia.tv.
ABOUT FIRST-NAMES FILMS
MOOCH is the fourth feature from First-Names Films, the independent production company founded by writer-director Jeff Ryan. Previous First-Names Films features include the award-winning mockumentary YOUTHMIN: A MOCKUMENTARY (Peacock), the horror-comedy MASS HYSTERIA (Shudder), and the found-footage horror-comedy MEAN SPIRITED (Shudder). A New Jersey-born filmmaker, Ryan has also appeared on Netflix’s ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, AMC’s TURN, and the Sundance hit THE WAY, WAY BACK. First-Names Films retains theatrical rights to MOOCH.
For more information, visit:
www.firstnamesfilms.com
www.moochfilm.com
Eric Peterkofsky / Sarah Madden
Allen Media Group/Freestyle Digital Media
Eric@es.tv / Sarah.Madden@es.tv
Official FDM Trailer – MOOCH (2026)
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