Exclusive: Dina Meyer (All American), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), Julia Tolchin (Loveland), Colin Bates (Broadway’s Girl from the North Country) and Jason Wiles (Third Watch) will star in the comedy Katie’s Mom (formerly The Dropout), marking the feature directorial debut of Tyrrell Shaffner.
The film is about a divorcée, played by Meyer, whose holiday celebration with her adult children derails when she falls for her daughter’s charming new boyfriend, played by Dominguez. Its cast also includes Jade Ramirez (You Cannot Hide), Clara York (Euphoria), Lexie Stevenson (The Young and The Restless) and Shannon Dee (Good Girls).
Shaffner and Meryl Branch-McTiernan wrote the script, which was a quarterfinalist in the Academy’s Nicholl screenplay competition two years in a row. Branch-McTiernan and Shaffner are producing for their banner Ex Files Productions alongside Corey Moss (White Elephant) of Bold Soul Studios. Executive Producers include Milan Chakraborty...
The film is about a divorcée, played by Meyer, whose holiday celebration with her adult children derails when she falls for her daughter’s charming new boyfriend, played by Dominguez. Its cast also includes Jade Ramirez (You Cannot Hide), Clara York (Euphoria), Lexie Stevenson (The Young and The Restless) and Shannon Dee (Good Girls).
Shaffner and Meryl Branch-McTiernan wrote the script, which was a quarterfinalist in the Academy’s Nicholl screenplay competition two years in a row. Branch-McTiernan and Shaffner are producing for their banner Ex Files Productions alongside Corey Moss (White Elephant) of Bold Soul Studios. Executive Producers include Milan Chakraborty...
- 7/15/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
"My mother wants to meet you..." Music Box Films has released an official US trailer for an indie romantic comedy titled Signature Move, from filmmaker Jennifer Reeder, with a script written by Lisa Donato and Fawzia Mirza (who stars in the film). This originally premiered back in 2017 at the SXSW Film Festival, and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best US Narrative Feature at Outfest 2017, and is finally getting a release this year after a long delay. Zaynab, a thirty-something Pakistani, Muslim, lesbian in Chicago takes care of her sweet and TV-obsessed mother. As Zaynab falls for Alma, a bold and very bright Mexican woman, she searches for her identity in life, love and wrestling. Starring Fawzia Mirza as Zaynab, along with Shabana Azmi, Sari Sanchez, Audrey Francis, Charin Alvarez, and Molly Brennan. This looks like good fun, although it seems a bit cliche exploring this kind of relationship, but...
- 11/2/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
When director Lisa Donato came on board to helm “Gossamer Folds,” casting a trans actor to play the lead was imperative. “It was non-negotiable,” she says of her directorial debut.
Even more important was getting the framing and lighting right, and for that, Donato recruited her frequent collaborator and trans cinematographer Ava Benjamin Shorr to make the right choices when it came to “accurately depicting a trans person.”
“Gossamer Folds,” now screening at Outfest LA’s film festival, tells the story of a friendship between Gossamer, played by “Transparent’s” Alexandra Grey, and a young white boy named Tate (Jackson Robert Scott). But Tate’s transphobic father learns about Alexandra and forbids him from talking to his new friend. However, Tate defies his father’s orders to form a powerful friendship.
Yeardley Smith who voices Lisa Simpson on “The Simpsons” served as a producer said, “In our film, Gossamer is...
Even more important was getting the framing and lighting right, and for that, Donato recruited her frequent collaborator and trans cinematographer Ava Benjamin Shorr to make the right choices when it came to “accurately depicting a trans person.”
“Gossamer Folds,” now screening at Outfest LA’s film festival, tells the story of a friendship between Gossamer, played by “Transparent’s” Alexandra Grey, and a young white boy named Tate (Jackson Robert Scott). But Tate’s transphobic father learns about Alexandra and forbids him from talking to his new friend. However, Tate defies his father’s orders to form a powerful friendship.
Yeardley Smith who voices Lisa Simpson on “The Simpsons” served as a producer said, “In our film, Gossamer is...
- 8/24/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Outfest Los Angeles is going virtual this year and they have unveiled their stacked lineup for the 11-day festival which kicks off August 20.
The LGBTQ film fest fest will include over 160 films with 35 world premieres, 10 North American premieres and 4 U.S. premieres to Los Angeles for 2020. The fest will live on http://www.outfestla2020.com and there will also be “Outfest LA Under the Stars”, a drive-in experience will take place at the stunning Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, where for two extended weekends the Festival will be hosting a series of drive-in screenings across six-nights on two lots, including both kick-off and closing events. The drive-in screenings will start with the Sundance pic The Nowhere Inn starring musicians Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein. Other screenings will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Over 70% of films at Outfest LA directed by female, trans, and Poc filmmakers. The Breakthrough Centerpiece will be...
The LGBTQ film fest fest will include over 160 films with 35 world premieres, 10 North American premieres and 4 U.S. premieres to Los Angeles for 2020. The fest will live on http://www.outfestla2020.com and there will also be “Outfest LA Under the Stars”, a drive-in experience will take place at the stunning Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, where for two extended weekends the Festival will be hosting a series of drive-in screenings across six-nights on two lots, including both kick-off and closing events. The drive-in screenings will start with the Sundance pic The Nowhere Inn starring musicians Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein. Other screenings will be announced in the upcoming weeks.
Over 70% of films at Outfest LA directed by female, trans, and Poc filmmakers. The Breakthrough Centerpiece will be...
- 8/11/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
The Bentonville Film Festival set the lineup for its sixth edition Tuesday, with the festival co-founded by Geena Davis unveiling its spotlight and competition program of indie feature films, shorts and episodic titles.
The fest is set to run August 10-16 in the Arkansas city and is being engineered as a hybrid event because of coronavirus concerns, with digital screenings, panels and events to run alongside some on-the-ground premieres and conversations.
This year’s lineup includes four Spotlight pics including the U.S. premiere of Misbehaviour, starring Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, which tells the true story of protest and controversy at 1970 Miss World contest, and Parkland Rising, a documentary that looks at the students of Parkland, Fl, who started an international movement to call attention to the need for better gun laws.
As per usual, this year’s lineup focuses on underrepresented voices in film. Of the 68 titles, more...
The fest is set to run August 10-16 in the Arkansas city and is being engineered as a hybrid event because of coronavirus concerns, with digital screenings, panels and events to run alongside some on-the-ground premieres and conversations.
This year’s lineup includes four Spotlight pics including the U.S. premiere of Misbehaviour, starring Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, which tells the true story of protest and controversy at 1970 Miss World contest, and Parkland Rising, a documentary that looks at the students of Parkland, Fl, who started an international movement to call attention to the need for better gun laws.
As per usual, this year’s lineup focuses on underrepresented voices in film. Of the 68 titles, more...
- 7/22/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Yeardley Smith and Ben Cornwell’s Paperclip Ltd is developing an adaption of Ami Polonsky’s coming-of-age transgender young adult novel Gracefully Grayson with non-binary filmmaker Henry Alberto on board to write the script for the feature.
Gracefully Grayson tells the story of the titular sixth-grader Grayson Sender, who has been holding on to a secret — that she is a trans girl. Sharing that secret could mean rejection, ridicule, or worse. After a tragedy occurs, an unexpected friendship helps Grayson learn to inhabit the spotlight she was born to shine in.
Polonsky’s novel has become required reading for many schools across the country and the news comes at a time when authentic storytelling and representation are paramount. The choice of tapping Alberto as the writer further moves the needle when it comes to inclusivity behind the camera as much as it does in front of it.
“I’m...
Gracefully Grayson tells the story of the titular sixth-grader Grayson Sender, who has been holding on to a secret — that she is a trans girl. Sharing that secret could mean rejection, ridicule, or worse. After a tragedy occurs, an unexpected friendship helps Grayson learn to inhabit the spotlight she was born to shine in.
Polonsky’s novel has become required reading for many schools across the country and the news comes at a time when authentic storytelling and representation are paramount. The choice of tapping Alberto as the writer further moves the needle when it comes to inclusivity behind the camera as much as it does in front of it.
“I’m...
- 3/3/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Alexandra Grey is set to recur on Fox’s Empire for the musical drama’s sixth and final season.
Grey will make her Empire debut on tonight’s episode as as Melody Barnes, who is described as “a badass singer/songwriter/producer with a quick mouth covered by a chosen shyness.”
Grey recently reprised her role as Elizah in the Transparent finale movie. She also recurs as Denise Lockwood on NBC’s Chicago Med and next will be seen in the title role on the forthcoming Lisa Donato-directed Gossamer Folds. Deadline exclusively broke the story that Grey will play a trans woman who befriends a young man in a small town. The film comes from Yeardley Smith and Ben Cornwell’s Paperclip Ltd. and also stars Jackson Robert Scott (It) Sprague Grayden, Shane West, Ethan Suplee and Franklin Ojeda Smith.
Empire kicked off its sixth and final season...
Grey will make her Empire debut on tonight’s episode as as Melody Barnes, who is described as “a badass singer/songwriter/producer with a quick mouth covered by a chosen shyness.”
Grey recently reprised her role as Elizah in the Transparent finale movie. She also recurs as Denise Lockwood on NBC’s Chicago Med and next will be seen in the title role on the forthcoming Lisa Donato-directed Gossamer Folds. Deadline exclusively broke the story that Grey will play a trans woman who befriends a young man in a small town. The film comes from Yeardley Smith and Ben Cornwell’s Paperclip Ltd. and also stars Jackson Robert Scott (It) Sprague Grayden, Shane West, Ethan Suplee and Franklin Ojeda Smith.
Empire kicked off its sixth and final season...
- 10/1/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Just in time for Pride Month, the winners for this year’s Inside Out Lgbt Film Festival were announced today in Toronto at the annual awards ceremony. Winners included Garin Nugroho for Memories of My Body which received the Inside Out Special Award for Innovation as well as Xiang Zi for A Dog Barking at the Moon for Best First Feature.
Other winners from the fest included Megan Wennberg for her film Drag Kids which received Best Canadian Feature while Audience Award winners included Samantha Lee’s Billie and Emma for Best Narrative Feature, Linda Goldstein Knowlton’s We Are Radical Monarchs for Best Documentary Feature and Jamie Dispirito’s Thrive for Best Short Film.
This was the third year for the festival’s annual Lgbtq Finance Forum and it has become an international home and incubator for Lgbt filmmakers, both emerging and established. They also awarded its annual “Pitch,...
Other winners from the fest included Megan Wennberg for her film Drag Kids which received Best Canadian Feature while Audience Award winners included Samantha Lee’s Billie and Emma for Best Narrative Feature, Linda Goldstein Knowlton’s We Are Radical Monarchs for Best Documentary Feature and Jamie Dispirito’s Thrive for Best Short Film.
This was the third year for the festival’s annual Lgbtq Finance Forum and it has become an international home and incubator for Lgbt filmmakers, both emerging and established. They also awarded its annual “Pitch,...
- 6/2/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
In today’s film news roundup, Coldplay documentary “A Head Full of Dreams” performs well, Jon Heder’s “When Jeff Tried to Save the World” gets distribution and shooting has begun on transgender drama “Gossamer Folds.”
Box Office
Trafalgar Releasing has reported more than $3.5 million in box office revenue in one day for the Coldplay documentary “A Head Full of Dreams” from director Mat Whitecross.
Trafalgar said the film sold more than 300,000 tickets in over 70 countries worldwide and across 2,650 movie theaters on Nov. 14. It was the no. 1 title in the Netherlands, no. 2 in the UK, Australia and Italy and no. 5 in the Us.
The release was in collaboration with Coldplay’s management team at Warner Music, Parlophone and Dave Holmes Management. The film showcases live performances and backstage footage from the global stadium tour A Head Full of Dreams, alongside archive material captured over 20 years.
Coldplay manager Dave Holmes said,...
Box Office
Trafalgar Releasing has reported more than $3.5 million in box office revenue in one day for the Coldplay documentary “A Head Full of Dreams” from director Mat Whitecross.
Trafalgar said the film sold more than 300,000 tickets in over 70 countries worldwide and across 2,650 movie theaters on Nov. 14. It was the no. 1 title in the Netherlands, no. 2 in the UK, Australia and Italy and no. 5 in the Us.
The release was in collaboration with Coldplay’s management team at Warner Music, Parlophone and Dave Holmes Management. The film showcases live performances and backstage footage from the global stadium tour A Head Full of Dreams, alongside archive material captured over 20 years.
Coldplay manager Dave Holmes said,...
- 11/16/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Yeardley Smith and Ben Cornwell’s Paperclip Ltd and Mill House Motion Pictures announced today that their forthcoming drama Gossamer Folds starring Alexandra Grey and Jackson Robert Scott (It) has begun production. The Lisa Donato-directed film written by Bridget Flanery has also added Sprague Grayden, Shane West, Ethan Suplee, and Franklin Ojeda Smith.
Yeardley Smith will also appear along with Brenda Currin and Jen Richards. Ava Benjamin Shorr serves as Dp.
The film is set in 1986 and tells the story of ten-year-old Tate (Scott) who is uprooted from the big city and unceremoniously moved to a small town where he is forced to spend a lonely summer bearing witness to his parents’ disintegrating marriage (West and Grayden). Tate ends...
Yeardley Smith will also appear along with Brenda Currin and Jen Richards. Ava Benjamin Shorr serves as Dp.
The film is set in 1986 and tells the story of ten-year-old Tate (Scott) who is uprooted from the big city and unceremoniously moved to a small town where he is forced to spend a lonely summer bearing witness to his parents’ disintegrating marriage (West and Grayden). Tate ends...
- 11/15/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Chicago – The Made-in-Chicago film “Signature Move” will have a Midwest festival premiere through a “first Tuesday” showcase at the Midwest Independent Film Festival on October 3rd, 2017, and it will take place at a different location, the Music Box Theatre in Chicago (usually the Festival is at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema). Lead Actor Fawzia Mizra, director Jennifer Reeder and other cast/crew members are all scheduled to attend.
Actors Fawzia Mizra and Molly Brennan on the Red Carpet for ‘Signature Move’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Shot entirely in Chicago, the romantic comedy “Signature Move” was written by Fawzia Mirza and Lisa Donato. The film features women wrestlers and lovers, a play on the common theme of the “signature move.” Mizra portrays Zaynab, an immigration lawyer whose mother (Shabana Azmi) is pressuring her to marry. But it’s not a man that Zaynab desires, it’s a Mexican...
Actors Fawzia Mizra and Molly Brennan on the Red Carpet for ‘Signature Move’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Shot entirely in Chicago, the romantic comedy “Signature Move” was written by Fawzia Mirza and Lisa Donato. The film features women wrestlers and lovers, a play on the common theme of the “signature move.” Mizra portrays Zaynab, an immigration lawyer whose mother (Shabana Azmi) is pressuring her to marry. But it’s not a man that Zaynab desires, it’s a Mexican...
- 10/1/2017
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – Made-in-Chicago filmmaking gets the big spotlight at the Music Box Theatre on Friday, September 29th, 2017, as “Signature Move” premieres with a Red Carpet event. Walking that carpet will be the female lead, Fawzia Mirza, who portrays a closeted gay Pakistani woman negotiating love and wrestling moves.
Shot entirely in Chicago, “Signature Move” is the first production of New City Films, an off-shoot of the longtime Windy City entertainment magazine, through their “Chicago Film Project” (in collaboration with Full Spectrum Pictures). The film was written by Mirza and Lisa Donato, and directed by Jennifer Reeder. This romantic comedy features women wrestlers and lovers, a play on the common theme of the “signature move.” Mizra portrays Zaynab, an immigration lawyer whose mother (Shabana Azmi) is pressuring her to marry. But it’s not a man that Zaynab desires, it’s a Mexican chica named Alma (Sari Sanchez). And what is the...
Shot entirely in Chicago, “Signature Move” is the first production of New City Films, an off-shoot of the longtime Windy City entertainment magazine, through their “Chicago Film Project” (in collaboration with Full Spectrum Pictures). The film was written by Mirza and Lisa Donato, and directed by Jennifer Reeder. This romantic comedy features women wrestlers and lovers, a play on the common theme of the “signature move.” Mizra portrays Zaynab, an immigration lawyer whose mother (Shabana Azmi) is pressuring her to marry. But it’s not a man that Zaynab desires, it’s a Mexican chica named Alma (Sari Sanchez). And what is the...
- 9/28/2017
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The Starz series American Gods, directed by David Slade and based on Neil Gaiman's novel of the same name, will have its world premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2017. Also in today's Highlights: She Rises Us premiere details and three images from Duncan Jones' Mute.
American Gods to Make World Premiere at SXSW 2017: Press Release: "Austin, Texas, January 5, 2017 - South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2017) announced the World Premiere of celebrated director Terrence Malick’s Song To Song as its Opening Night Film to screen on Friday, March 10th, 2017.
SXSW also divulged select titles to premiere at the 2017 event, showcasing the diverse range of styles that together embody the unique spirit of SXSW culture. Festival highlights announced today include Eshom and Ian Nelms’ hybrid action thriller with dark humor, Small Town Crime, Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen’s lyrical portrait of a tiny hill town in Tuscany,...
American Gods to Make World Premiere at SXSW 2017: Press Release: "Austin, Texas, January 5, 2017 - South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2017) announced the World Premiere of celebrated director Terrence Malick’s Song To Song as its Opening Night Film to screen on Friday, March 10th, 2017.
SXSW also divulged select titles to premiere at the 2017 event, showcasing the diverse range of styles that together embody the unique spirit of SXSW culture. Festival highlights announced today include Eshom and Ian Nelms’ hybrid action thriller with dark humor, Small Town Crime, Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen’s lyrical portrait of a tiny hill town in Tuscany,...
- 1/6/2017
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Credit: Van Redin / Broad Green Pictures
South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2017) announced the World Premiere of celebrated director Terrence Malick’s Song To Song as its Opening Night Film to screen on Friday March 10th, 2017.
SXSW also divulged select titles to premiere at the 2017 event, showcasing the diverse range of styles that together embody the unique spirit of SXSW culture. Festival highlights announced today include Eshom and Ian Nelms’ hybrid action thriller with dark humor, Small Town Crime, Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen’s lyrical portrait of a tiny hill town in Tuscany, Spettacolo, second feature after their award-winning Marwencol; first time filmmaker Jennifer Reeder’s coming-of-age Muslim melodrama Signature Move starring Fawzia Mirza, and Latin American phenomenon René Pérez Joglar’s chronicle of his global exploration of his genetic roots in Residente.
“Terrence Malick is a world class revered cinematic poet. His work is a...
South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2017) announced the World Premiere of celebrated director Terrence Malick’s Song To Song as its Opening Night Film to screen on Friday March 10th, 2017.
SXSW also divulged select titles to premiere at the 2017 event, showcasing the diverse range of styles that together embody the unique spirit of SXSW culture. Festival highlights announced today include Eshom and Ian Nelms’ hybrid action thriller with dark humor, Small Town Crime, Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen’s lyrical portrait of a tiny hill town in Tuscany, Spettacolo, second feature after their award-winning Marwencol; first time filmmaker Jennifer Reeder’s coming-of-age Muslim melodrama Signature Move starring Fawzia Mirza, and Latin American phenomenon René Pérez Joglar’s chronicle of his global exploration of his genetic roots in Residente.
“Terrence Malick is a world class revered cinematic poet. His work is a...
- 1/6/2017
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – Chicago’s own Fawzia Mirza continues to break ground with her cutting edge stage and film work, and is presenting her latest short film effort, “Spunkle,” at the 7th Annual Chicago South Asian Film Festival (Csaff). The film will screen at the Showplace Icon theatre in Chicago on October 9th, 2016, part of five days of South Asian themed films through October 10th. (see below for details).
“Spunkle” – which Mirza co-wrote with director Lisa Donato and long time collaborator Ryan Logan – is a play on terms “Sperm Donor” and “Uncle.” Matt (Jake Matthews) is asked to donate the necessary biological protocol for his older sister Saira (Fawzia Mirza), and her free spirited wife Maggie (Laura Zak). The film also recently played the Chicago Reeling2016 Lgbtq+ Film Festival.
Fawzia Mizra (right) with Laura Zak and Jake Matthews in ‘Spunkle’
Photo credit: Sparkle Motion Films
The Chicago South Asian Film Festival is in its seventh year,...
“Spunkle” – which Mirza co-wrote with director Lisa Donato and long time collaborator Ryan Logan – is a play on terms “Sperm Donor” and “Uncle.” Matt (Jake Matthews) is asked to donate the necessary biological protocol for his older sister Saira (Fawzia Mirza), and her free spirited wife Maggie (Laura Zak). The film also recently played the Chicago Reeling2016 Lgbtq+ Film Festival.
Fawzia Mizra (right) with Laura Zak and Jake Matthews in ‘Spunkle’
Photo credit: Sparkle Motion Films
The Chicago South Asian Film Festival is in its seventh year,...
- 10/8/2016
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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