“The Kings of Summer” stars Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias and Nick Robinson in a still from the film. (Courtesy of CBS Films)

“The Kings of Summer” is a coming-of-age film that explores how a group of teenagers cope with adolescent angst.

The off-beat comedy is directed by Jordan Vogt- Roberts and stars Nick Offerman, Moises Arias, Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso and Alison Brie.

The indie flick, originally named, “Toy’s House,” premiered to rave reviews at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

According to the director, the title was too similar to the famous “Toy Story,” making it worth changing to avoid confusion.

The story centers around three teenage boys who experience a common sentiment among adolescents, the period when teenagers grow tired enough of abiding by their parents rules that they decide to rebel.

In their own form of rebellion, the boys embrace their independence and head out on their own.

Left to their own devices, the crew spends the summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.

The film debuted at the 2013 Dallas International Film Festival on April 10.

Audiences received the film so well that “The Kings of Summer” took home the Narrative Feature Audience Award.

Vogt-Roberts, Arias and Basso attended the DIFF premiere as well as a press conference the following day, where they discussed the ups and downs experienced during the process of making the film.

Filmed in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the teenage actors spent time on their own filming in the rural location, making the filming process somewhat similar to what the characters experience while living on their own.

Only instead of living off the land, the cast and crew actually ended up staying in a retirement home while shooting.

The unlikely temporary home was chosen because it was affordable housing and near the woods where the filming took place.

At certain moments, work was like play for the teenage cast, but shooting was also difficult at times according to the director and the actors.

Having just turned 18, Arias said that it was fun shooting but the film proved to be his most challenging role to date.

Not only did Arias travel alone to Ohio to shoot, but the film also required long hours of shooting.

Luckily, the young actor discovered coffee to be the answer to the demanding time schedule.

Creating a major film on a limited budget made the shoot challenging at times for both the actors and the crew.

Just as the actors experienced new challenges while shooting, Vogt-Roberts said their characters eventually discover “the simultaneous wonder and despair of living in your own world.”

According to Vogt-Roberts, the set became very family-oriented during filming.

“We were all in it because we loved it,” he said.

“We had a family environment but it was a very hard shoot because we were constantly wanting to make it bigger,” he added.

When things got tough, passion for the project kept the actors and director pushing through the long hours.

“You are forced to make a decision whether you’re there for the love of the craft or whether you’re not,” Basso said.

Despite the limited resources, working out in the wilderness allowed for special cinematic moments to happen.

During a scene where the boys make drums out of a pipe, Vogt-Roberts said the moment was not pre-planned, but ended up as a core part of the film.

The director and the actors went out to film alone to capture the simple shoot, with the sound even recorded on Vogt-Roberts iPhone.

Arias and Basso were given the opportunity to act out the scene for themselves and ended up creating their own natural rhythm that provided the movie with a pivotal scene.

“We gave them the freedom to be boys and mess around,” he said.

Allowing the actors to be creative and improvise proved to be the right move, because it created a scene that the director said he immediately recognized as a rare, special moment that does not happen frequently when filming.

“The Kings of Summer” opens in theaters on May 31, 2013.

Come back on Friday for a review of the film.