We are moving stories

“We ended our festival run at Urbanworld Film Festival, and we got to see the film with a New York audience, who I think tend to have good comedic tastes. They know what’s funny and not funny. We’ve had a few sold out screenings in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and in watching the film with a big audience, it’s helped me get to know the film better myself. This is a comedy that’s multilayered and a little alternative, and it still plays as a straight comedy.”

“it is very funny. I love comedy, and even in grief, there are moments of hilarity. The day after my dad died we went to the mortuary and a tiny poodle greeted my mom and I at the door and stayed with us the whole time. This weird dog harbinger of death is emblematic of all the weird personalities you meet in the grieving process. The performances are fantastic in this movie. All of the actresses are titans in the comedy community in LA. They are some of the funniest women I know and I felt exceptionally lucky they agreed to do this movie.”

“I originally had a different ending in mind that involved Sandy and Camille swimming out in the ocean. As we shot, I realized how difficult water sequences are! My original ending wasn’t going to happen, especially in the middle of winter. I had to adapt and I think the way we shot it works better than my original idea.”

“We wanted to make a film that portrayed women’s lives’ and friendships’ in a natural and authentic way. We wanted to show women in a different light than what is normally seen in film and TV. And we wanted to make a film that highlighted our strengths as actresses in lead roles!”

“Vulnerability sort of reigns as the key theme of our movie. Watching a character struggle so intensely to be someone she’s not and how being dishonest with yourself in an attempt to be “normal” and accepted can lead to an even greater sense of isolation. Just love yourself!”

“A lot of improv-based comedy ends up with an argument. I’m interested in comedy that looks more like real life, where people will do anything to avoid an argument. Watching people try to avoid conflict, now that’s funny!”

“I think we have all had dating woes and this film pokes fun of them. I think it is relatable to anyone who had that one person that they know is a giant red flag.”

“Yes, it’s about death, but it’s funny I promise! I think the story is unique. It’s about death and grapples with the big questions in life, but I think it’s suffused with joy and hope.”

“I was initially told this film was too niche to be understood by the masses, but all of our feedback has been to the contrary! It turns out that Nicolas Cage is universal. Audiences have been laughing and commenting on the strength of the performances and tone!”

“I was sick. I couldn’t get out of bed. I was sleeping sixteen hours a day. Something was wrong with me. My doctor ran a bunch of tests and assured me there was nothing physically wrong with me. He told me I was depressed and I should think about adjusting my medications. I resisted at first, because when you’re depressed, sometimes the easiest things - like picking up the phone and making more doctor’s appointments - feel impossible.

So, there I was, lying in bed, and I looked around and saw all of my things, I’d collected over the years, my possessions. They were staring down at me... Like demons. And then it hit me. I suddenly knew what I was going to do. I was going to sell everything I own. I was going to sell everything I own and I was going to make an art project about it.”

“One thing you learn serving hundreds of thousands of people over a career, is that people are horrible when they’re hungry. They don’t mean to be horrible. They just are. We all are. We can’t help it. I hope people who see Megan’s Shift think about their lives, their behavior, and how hard it is for their server to maintain a valuable identity while serving others. Also, I hope people relate to the story and believe that it’s true.”

“Do you have an escape plan for the fall of civilization…?”

“Infertility is hard, lonely and can be depressing. We wanted to tell this story so that couples going through this to know they are not alone. I also feel as a woman of color, I needed to share my voice on the subject that is seen as taboo in many Latino & African-American homes. Furthermore, despite the seriousness of the subject matter, we want to also shed light on the funny parts. The absurdities of the process that made us chuckle along the way.”

“In my experience, in vitro fertilization is sold to women as a gentle and magical process, when the reality of it is traumatic and absurd. You should watch this short because it is a tiny taste of how insane it is to make yourself so incredibly vulnerable to so many people who just see you like another set of ovaries with dangling dollar signs. Also, it’s funny. In a weird way. If you like that.”

“The Birth allowed me to express the absurdity of men earnestly describing the process of filmmaking as ‘just like giving birth’, and yet excluding the ferociously strong, capable women adept at giving birth from making their films. Wrapping that somewhat bitter pill in a funny, accessible, uplifting piece of entertainment, well, that for me was an exquisite experience.”

“People take a lot of things too seriously in life, myself included. Alien Baby is a chance to look at the intense issue of childbirth in a fresh and lighthearted way.”

“We made Funkybutt because of a great film festival in Louisiana, the Louisiana film prize, which awards $50,000 for the winner. We won with over 4000 people attending the screenings, along with the judges’ vote.

Funkybutt is a family comedy in the vein the ‘50 style Disney’s musicals! The main reason we made it is to make people leave the theater smiling.”

“Freakishly Normal is funny, sad, heartwarming and real. Let’s face it, adulting is hard! We all need a little break from our routine lives to laugh, reflect and connect. Anyone in our audience can relate to the characters in our show. Maybe the lives on the screen seem a little shinier, a little better than ours, the audience, but, in the end, we all face the same challenges in life.”

“It will make you laugh, make you feel and make you think about why and how we continue to move forward to pursue our ‘perfect’ life when sometimes things aren’t always so perfect. It’s relatable and cringy funny.”

“People should watch the series because it is relatable whether you have autistic children or not. Typical family adventures shown through humor and love is something I have grown up on watching on network television. I want people to feel like it’s home. There’s this family that would do anything for their children, they have this great sense of humor, and that’s probably how most of us get through our day.”

“I start with a basic idea, add to it until it is interesting enough for me to go to the next step, which is to break the news to my wife and children that I have another idea for a project, which usually brings on multiple rolling of the eyes. The more energetic the rolling, the better the chance is that I am on a winner: “you’ve got to be kidding” is what spurs me on. In the case of this film I then approached Poppy and George and after an initial hesitation - they had never acted before in their lives - they agreed.”

“MILK is a comedy. I laughed when I wrote it and I laughed when I filmed it. It has a beginning, middle and end and is over in 88 seconds!”

“The personal and universal work in tandem in this film. At its core, this film is about two different generations testing and challenging one another, as the protagonist tries to figure out what traditions and pieces of culture to hold on to, and what to let go of. ”

“Sold out screenings at festivals with lots of laughs, reactions and people approaching me afterward sharing how moved they were by RATED. Telling me they had tears in their eyes. How much they identify with our main character, Maggie, and how much they want to improve their own “rating” in their life.”

“I think a lot of people relate to never being quite happy with the person looking back in the mirror. I wanted to take the seemingly mundane cosmetic issue of balding and completely escalate the story around that for gruesome and comedic effect. The protagonist’s hang-up essentially spirals into his own personal hell over the course of one evening.”

“We’ve broken some hearts and wowed some people, thankfully. And made them laugh. My greatest joy is how there is such a variety in what people get from it. Some people liken Gary to a demagogue, a reflection of all that is wrong with us. Others see him as a symbol to aspire to, or someone they wish they could be. Others pity him. I think all are reactions are accurate.”

“It’s a short, funny, weird, silly thing, but one viewer told us that the themes of the piece really jive with her understanding of her own Buddhist practice, and we think that’s amazing.”

“Lots of friends I tested in on, both on and off the island, laughed a lot, which was heartening because it is supposed to be a comedy. And my immediate family rolled their eyes with great vigor. ”