Five New Shorts!

Operation Toy Drop with Captain Malloy.  Photo by Benjamin Kanes.

What a way to end the year, working on FIVE new projects back to back!  It’s been a wild ride with some of the most diverse storytelling I’ve ever done in such a short period of time, and man, am I proud of this lineup.

Here are a few first glimpses of these projects as they start to roll out:

OPERATION: TOY DROP, a short documentary about the 82nd Airborne’s combined airborne operation and charity event, written and directed by Benjamin Kanes.  I was fortunate enough to head down to Fort Bragg with Ben’s company, Vision Pictures, (along with his partner, John Welsh) to capture some incredibly moving stories of life as a paratrooper. 

Madame Helena will see you now. "The Seance." Photo: Leigh Scott.

THE SEANCE, a short 1920’s black and white horror film written and directed by Leigh Scott.  I play Madame Helena, a spooky psychic with an accent that’s impossible to place.  I channel spirits on behalf of the ladies who seek my skills in communicating with the dead, but someone seems to have an ulterior motive… 

CORNELIA, a dramedy web series about a Latino family’s experience with gentrification in the neighborhood they’ve loved for decades, Bushwick, Brooklyn, directed by Eric Lommel & Adam Lowder, written by Rose Gutierrez.   I play Tori Cruz, the conniving wife of the main character’s old high school flame (yep, I'm kind of a bitch!  Fun!).  This is a heartfelt and relevant look at the way we navigate cultural differences and changing times, plus the cast is sooooo goooood.

ENTANGLEMENT, a short narrative drama directed by Jeremiah Kipp, written by Joe Fiorillo.  Two strangers in New York City meet in person for the first time and may just change each other’s lives in a poetic meditation on relationships and infidelity.  I play Jenny, the female lead, who has an affair with a mysterious stranger.  This is my second collaboration with Jeremiah and Joe (after last year’s “The Minions”), and my third time on screen with the inimitable Lukas Hassel, an actor who I love, trust implicitly, and am forever grateful for.  It’s always refreshing to work with a DP who knows how to make women shine on camera-- I had been looking forward to working with Dominick Sivilli for a long time, and it was worth the wait.

Still from Entanglement.  Photo: Dominick Sivilli.

INTERFERENCE, a short drama about a couple who happens upon a traffic stop between a police officer and an African-American civilian that leaves one man dead, written by…. me.  I finished writing the script for what I hope will be my directorial debut.  Taking on a controversial topic like this made me incredibly nervous (and still does)--it's important to me to get this story right. 

The first professional coverage of “Interference” included the best screenwriting note I’ve ever gotten: “Tackling a topical social issue, this script about racism shows the fear and complications that arise from murky circumstances where prejudices hold more weight than truths. Without preaching or reducing people to stereotypes, the story reflects a nuanced and critical understanding of the ways a situation can spiral out of control despite the best of intentions.”

All in all, it’s been a wild ride these past few months.   The fun thing about shorts is that you get thrown into a world packed with the “greatest hits” moments of a story.  It's fast and intense, and there's less risk involved for the filmmakers, so as an actor I get a lot more leeway in the types of roles I play and the way I play them.  Not a bad way to round out a beautiful year!

FEATURED: FilmInk Magazine

This month I'm proud to share a couple of pages with some incredibly talented people in FilmInk's feature "New York's First Women of Indie Film."  (Click on the cover to check out the full article.)  I've looked up to a lot of these artists for awhile now, and it's crazy to me to even be mentioned on the same page as them.  Their films are fantastic, and they should absolutely be at the top of your watch list.

It takes a special kind of soul to make a living in filmmaking.  That goes for every department from production to catering to the (horribly under-recognized) stunt teams.  I like to think that's what makes us more ideologically similar than we are biologically different.

There are some GREAT people in this industry.  Really.  Substantial human beings who want to make meaningful, exciting work.  I've been lucky to deal mainly with the ones who recognize me as an individual and not a demographic, but it's not always like that, and many of my friends (again, of all genders) have faced different experiences.

It's been over fifty years since Lucille Ball (and all the network execs who greenlit the show) put interracial marriage to an immigrant on national television, and we're still sorting this out.  I guess people are slow to "officially" change.  Personally, I don't know any other way to do it than to just do it.  

To me, the best art comes from anger, rebellion, injustice, and tragedy, way more often than it comes from comfort.   I do think that fighting for your place in the world is healthy and makes you a better person and artist.  Hopefully, that philosophy will not one day bite me in the ass.  But I can't make any promises.

TUNE IN: Tribeca's Periscope TV

Can't wait to help break in Tribeca's new Periscope TV channel tomorrow afternoon.  I'll be hanging out with their fantastic team, talking about the making of "Aphasia" and probably a few other things too!  To watch the broadcast LIVE via Twitter, just go to their feed at @tribecafilmfest and look for the link.  (The interview stays online for 24 hours.)

Click, watch, ask me things, tell embarrassing stories about me.  Go nuts.  I accept you unconditionally.

Check it out here for the next 24 hours! 

FESTIVALS: Aphasia at Hell's Half Mile

Here we come, Bay City, MI!  Stoked to bring Aphasia to a jam-packed-with-talent lineup at the festival with perhaps the coolest name ever bestowed on a film festival (until Metalocalypse starts a film festival).  

No, but seriously, this fest is a huge supporter of indie film and is launching a pretty cool initiative to help fund films shot in the Great Lakes area and/or films made by festival alums.   Which is pretty darn nice of them.  More news to come!  Check out the festival here: http://hhmfest.com.

COMPATIBILITY Shortlisted for Prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowship

I am so excited to announce the first major milestone for my collaboration with writer/director Jack Marchetti, his brilliant and timely film, Compatibility.

His script has been named a quarterfinalist for the incredibly prominent, Academy Nicholl Fellowship, a screenwriting award selected by members of the Academy Awards voting body.  In short, this is a massive honor, and one that this script truly deserves.  

Jack and I met at Tribeca Film Festival last April, when both of our films played back to back in the same program.  I was immediately struck by how he managed to take me on a journey through my life as a music lover, and all the ways that changing music technology has unwittingly impacted my life, with his film "Evolution of a Gen-X Music Purchaser."  (The soundtrack, by the way, is rad.)  My sister and I STILL to this day talk about the time we spent hours jumping on her bed in oversized hoodies to the Rage Against the Machine CD on repeat, pretending we were Zach de la Rocha.  I STILL remember downloading Black Rob and every Metallica album, plus all the live stuff, and thinking I had hit the jackpot (sorry, Metallica.  It was Limewire though, I think, not Napster, if that helps.)  And I STILL remember going back to actually purchasing music on iTunes and feeling like I was somehow doing right by... someone.   Mumford and Sons, I guess? 

Compatibility is yet another skilled and incisive look at our relationship with the modern technology that powers our lives.  It's an exploration of love in the age of information, a time when ignorance truly is a choice, thanks to a world of data at our fingertips.  Moreover, though, this film is a vibrant, high-stakes journey into the lives of two strong characters torn between their personal ambitions and their relationship.  

We are looking forward to sharing more exciting news about this project and all the talented people and supportive organizations that are coming on board to bring it to life.

Workshopping a brand new script with Sundance Institute!

KRIS AND FITZ TAKE AMERICA, one of my two screenplays-in-progress, is spending the next five weeks in intensive development as part of Sundance Institute's new screenwriting lab!

I'm so thrilled to have the opportunity to not only work on the script with some truly incredible advisors, mentors, screenwriters, and colleagues-- but also to give feedback and input on the program itself to help shape it for future writers.  I even get to help choose a name for it!  Wild!

I really cannot speak highly enough about the nonprofit arts institutions in this country.  Without programs from the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, San Francisco Film Society, Film Independent, the Sloan Foundation, the SAG Foundation, and several other wonderful organizations-- American filmmakers and actors would be screwed.   The guidance and support these programs offer is INVALUABLE to emerging artists.  

Check them out and consider membership!  I became aware of this writing program because I was a Sundance Institute member and had already been to a bunch of readings of Sundance-supported screenplays.  Supporting the work of fellow artists is one of the best ways to learn about your own craft.  It's been a truly inspiring experience so far collaborating with the writers and learning from established artists in this program.  

Very, very grateful!

FESTIVALS: Aphasia at Palm Springs!

Luke LoCurcio (director of "Aphasia") and I, at Palm Springs 

After an unbelievably special world premiere at Tribeca in April and fresh off the Court Métrage at Cannes in May, Aphasia will be making its West Coast premiere at Palm Springs this Friday, June 19!

All the glorious details on our screening are here!  Join us for some fun and sun in the desert and an inevitable pool party or two.

Booked! SHOW ME A HERO (HBO)

Thrilled to have spent a day on the new HBO miniseries, SHOW ME A HERO, from David Simon (creator of THE WIRE), starring Oscar Isaac, Winona Rider, Alfred Molina, and many more incredible actors.

It will air later this year and is a fantastically poignant (and very timely) drama about the 1980s housing desegregation battle in Yonkers (yes, I can apparently do a native-sounding Yonkers accent!).  

"Aphasia" World Premieres at Tribeca!

Alexandra Turshen, me, Olivia Bosek, and Luke LoCurcio at the Company 3 NY Filmmakers' Party Photo: Getty Images

What an incredibly magical night (and day).  For once in my life, I took a single, full day to just relax and enjoy the wild ride that was seeing the film I wrote, produced, and acted in on a big screen with 450 people.

I started my morning drinking coffee out of the prop cup we used on set a little over a year ago and finished the night surrounded by not only the best friends a girl could ask for, but truly world-class talent.  

Actress Bridgett Luevanos (CAFE GLASS) and I wrapping up the festival (sadly!) Photo: Getty Images

I cannot thank Tribeca enough (and especially Ben Thompson and Sharon Badal, who are the kindest, most tireless people a filmmaker could ever hope to screen with) for this unbelievable opportunity.  The talent this year was truly top-notch, and I feel ridiculously blessed to have screened alongside such hard-working, gifted, and all-around GOOD people.

I cannot wait to see where everyone ends up next-- certainly expecting big things from this year's Tribeca family, and I have a feeling not a single one of them will let me down....

Great day shooting a major credit card commercial!

Hey, what's easier than shooting a commercial for a product you use and love anyway?  Spent the day on set shooting for my favorite major credit card company with a truly talented production company and agency. 

I'll share the spot once it airs!

"Aphasia" is an Official Selection of the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival!

I'm simultaneously proud and humbled to announce that Aphasia, the film I wrote, co-produced, and acted in, will receive its World Premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

It was a wild journey that became my own personal film school, and I am beyond amazed that it has come so far.  

The film was directed by Luke LoCurcio, my long-time friend who DP'ed the very first feature I ever acted in.  It was co-produced by my production-partner-in-crime, Olivia Bosek, at our company A Small Fire Productions, and it costars the incredibly gifted Frankie J. Alvarez from HBO's series, LOOKING.  This film also owes a great debt to all its 18 cast members (plus more extras!), 29 crew members, and 66 generous contributors I was lucky enough to work with along the way, and the filmmakers who let me stop by their offices/apartments/inboxes to troubleshoot my growing pains (especially Leigh Scott, David Jakubovic, Jack Doulin and our two executive producers, James Weber and Andre Mann).  

For the people that don't know me, I have been at every Tribeca Film Festival for the last seven years, and nothing could possibly mean more to me than to premiere my first film as a writer/producer at this festival.  It was a labor of love from start to finish.  

I am so excited to share this film with you all!  Please check out the trailer here and more info about the film here!  You can also view the full site with our blog, complete photos, press, and so on at www.aphasiathefilm.com and find updates about the film and festival on www.tribecafilm.com!

Back from my first international shoot in Costa Rica!

What an incredible week this last one has been!  I had the pleasure and honor of working with Benjamin Kanes, a beyond-talented actor and director (he was most recently seen in a little flick called Birdman- you may have heard of it) in the stunningly beautiful country of Costa Rica.  I can't really get too far into the details yet, but hopefully it suffices to say that the people involved in this project were an incredibly special group, and I learned so much while I was down there with them.  

Positive energy, a genuine interest in bringing goodness into the world, and a generous spirit-- these things go a long, long way in the world, and the producers/crew on this film were a lesson in that from start to finish.  The Costa Rican people we worked with were enthusiastic, intelligent, and kind hosts, and coming back to New York with that kind of energy in you is so refreshing.  

One of the things I found most inspiring (aside from the energy of the local people-- Ticos are awesome!) was actually the way the producers worked together.  They're pretty different people with very different skill sets, but MAN-- the respect and care with which they treated each other and everyone on the project set such a collaborative and comfortable tone for the shoot.  

As a director, Ben is talented and relentlessly energetic.  Working with him enables a sense of endless possibility every time the camera rolls, and I feel very fortunate to have worked on this film.  More details to come soon!