From Amy Schumer & Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck to the new series of Marti Noxon (Buffy) & Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars), discover 10 films & series by female screenwriters and cinematographers premiering in March at the SXSW South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas.
Summary: Screen Special Events| Episodic Program | 24 Beats Per Second | Narrative Spotlight | SXGlobal International | Festival Favorites
Screen Special Events
Trainwreck written by Amy Schumer
Having thought that monogamy was never possible, a commitment-phobic career woman may have to face her fears when she meets a good guy.
Director: Judd Apatow
Screenwriter: Amy Schumer
Produced by Universal Pictures
Cast: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson, Colin Quinn, Vanessa Bayer, Tilda Swinton, Lebron James, John Cena.
Work In Progress – Premieres March 15
Set to be released theatrically on July 15, 2015 in the United States, the new comedy Trainwreck directed by Judd Apatow, starring Amy Schumer and written by the popular comedian herself will be screened on March 15 as an unfinished work in progress, as the film is still in post-production.
Human Highway (Director’s Cut) co-written by Jeanne Field
The owner of a roadside diner, stuck in a town built around a nuclear power plant, plans to torch the place to collect insurance. However, an assortment of bizarre characters and weird events gets in his way.
Directors: Dean Stockwell, Neil Young,
Screenwriters: Neil Young, Jeanne Field, Dean Stockwell, Russ Tamblyn, James Beshears
Cast: Neil Young, Russ Tamblyn, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Hopper, Charlotte Stewardt, Sally Kirkland, Geraldine Baron, Gerald V. Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Casale.
Released in 1982 – 2013 Director’s Cut shown on March 19
Episodic Program
UnREAL by Marti Noxon & Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
A behind-the-scenes look at the chaos surrounding the production of a dating competition program.
March 2013, Austin, Texas: Sarah Gertrude Shapiro presents her short film Sequin Raze at the South By Southwest Film Festival, starring Anna Camp (Pitch Perfect), Ashley Williams (A Most Violent Year) and Frances Conroy (How I Met Your Mother).
Developed and shot during her scholarship at the American Film Institute Directing Workshop for Women, the short film is a gripping dark comedy set behind the scenes of a hit reality show, where a manipulative producer gets into a battle of wills with the losing contestant.
Well received, it won the SXSW Honorable Mention on March 13, 2013.
March 2015, Austin, Texas: Sarah Gertrude Shapiro is back and will present her new Lifetime series UnREAL which follows a manipulative young staffer on a hit dating show.
This is no coincidence, as Shapiro always intended to turn the short into something bigger, an aspiration which materialized four months after her SXSW win when Lifetime ordered a full-fledged series based on her film co-created by Buffy showrunner Marti Noxon.
Starring Constance Zimmer and Shiri Appleby, the pilot episode of the upcoming summer show will premiere at the Vimeo Theater on March 16 and will be followed by an extended 30 minute Q&A with Shapiro, Noxon and cast members.
Director: Peter O’Fallon,
Screenwriters: Marti Noxon, Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
World Premiere – March 16
Meet Marti Noxon, Liz Tigelaar & Mara Brock Akil at the Writers Guild of America Writers Salon
Find Marti Noxon on the Hollywomen Screenwriters Board
Find Sarah Gertrude Shapiro on the Hollywomen Screenwriters Board
Find Sarah Gertrude Shapiro on the Hollywomen Directors Board
iZOMBIE co-written by Diane Ruggiero
A medical student finds that being a zombie has its perks, which she uses to assist the police.
Published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 2010 to 2012, the graphic novel iZombie comes back as the eponymous TV series on The CW on March 17 and will premiere the day before at the Vimeo Theater in Austin in the presence of its creators, Rob Thomas & Diane Ruggiero-Wright.
Following Liz Moore, a former promising medical student until her fateful transformation as a zombie, the series goes into unexpected territories when, now working in a coroner’s office, she discovers that she can absorb the memories of the deceased by feeding off of their brains… and solve mysteries.
This is far from the first teenage procedural for writer/producer Diane Ruggiero-Wright, as she joined the writing staff of Veronica Mars during the first season and collaborated with Rob Thomas until the last episode, reuniting 6 years later for the crowd-funded 2014 movie.
Director: Rob Thomas
Created by: Rob Thomas & Diane Ruggiero
Screenwriters: Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero, Bob Dearden, Gloria Calderon Kellett
Airs March 17 on the CW
Cast: Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, David Anders.
World Premiere – March 16
Angie Tribeca co-written by Nancy Carell
Angie Tribeca is a 10-year veteran of the LAPD’s elite RHCU (Really Heinous Crimes Unit). A wildly satirical take on police procedurals starring Rashida Jones & Hayes MacArthur.
Director: Steve Carell
Screenwriters: Steve Carell, Nancy Carell
Cast: Rashida Jones, Hayes MacArthur, Deon Cole, Andree Vermeulen, Jere Burns.
World Premiere – March 14
Learn more about the documentary Hot Girls Wanted produced by Rashida Jones on 13 Documentaries In Competition Directed By Women To Discover At Sundance
Find Rashida Jones on the Hollywomen Screenwriters Board
24 Beats Per Second
Gloria (Mexico) co-written by Sabina Berman
A bold and compelling tale of ambition, betrayal and redemption, Gloria, based on a true story, chronicles the life of international pop star Gloria Trevi, the “Mexican Madonna.”
Director: Christian Keller
Screenwriter: Sabina Berman
Cast: Sofía Espinosa, Marco Pérez, Tatiana Del Real, Ximena Romo.
U.S. Premiere – March 17, 18, 19
The Jones Family Will Make a Way co-written by Lauren Sanders
A rural, Pentecostal preacher and a jaded rock critic form an unlikely alliance that pushes them both in unexpected ways.
Director: Alan Berg
Screenwriters: Alan Berg, Lauren Sanders, Jason Wehling
World Premiere – March 18, 20, 21
Narrative Spotlight
The Automatic Hate co-written by Katharine O’Brien
When Davis Green’s alluring young cousin Alexis shows up on his doorstep, he discovers a side of his family that had been kept secret his entire life. As the two get closer, they set out to uncover the shocking secret that tore their families apart.
Director: Justin Lerner
Screenwriters: Katharine O’Brien & Justin Lerner
Cast: Joseph Cross, Adelaide Clemens, Richard Schiff, Yvonne Zima, Vanessa Zima, Catherine Carlen, Caitlin O’Connell, Ricky Jay, Deborah Ann Woll.
World Premiere – March 15, 16, 20
SXGlobal – International Films
Good Things Await (Denmark) shot & co-written by Maggie Olkuska
Niels is one the last idealistic farmers in Denmark. He makes some of the worlds finest products. But Niels’s way of farming in accordance with the planets and the primal instinct’s of the animals are not popular with the authorities.
Documentary – aka “Så meget godt i vente”
Director: Phie Ambo
Cinematography: Maggie Olkuska and Phie Ambo
Screenwriters: Phie Ambo, Maggie Olkuska
U.S. Premiere – March 15, 16, 19
Festival Favorites
Adult Beginners co-written by Elizabeth Flahive
Out of a job after a disastrous product launch, a big-city yuppie retreats to his suburban childhood home, in this heart-warming and hilarious film about crashing hard, coming home and waking up.
Director: Ross Katz,
Screenwriters: Jeff Cox, Elizabeth Flahive
Cast: Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Joel McHale.
U.S. Premiere – March 15, 17
