He's in the "loose and club-like" collective Waverly Films, which once made music videos and has a shared YouTube channel.

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Paul's Lutheran School in Waverly, Iowa, became a national sensation in a YouTube video pleading with the White House to reopen tours.

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Food writer Waverly Root calls garlic the "tuba" of the spice orchestra--rotund and ridiculous, perhaps, but essential to the complex "tonality" of a dish.

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The current crop, which also includes groups such as Red Bucket films and Waverly Films, stems from a steep downturn in the independent-film market in 2008.

WSJ: The Groups Behind 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' and More

Thanks to racy turns by its former Disney leads (Gomez stars on Wizards of Waverly Place and Hudgens is best known for High School Musical), the film has attracted plenty of press attention.

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Mendler, who bubbled to the top of the Disney talent pool after appearances on The Wizards of Waverly Place (with Selena Gomez), and her vehicle Good Luck Charlie debuted in April to 4.6 million viewers.

FORBES: The Disney Star Machine