Bentonville Film Festival 2019 – Hysterical Women
Hysterical Women is a dark comedy about gender in the workplace in our current political and sociological climate. Written in response to the #MeToo Movement, the series follows Alexa, the overlooked co-founder of a music marketing firm as she realizes that her buddies in the office might not be such good guys. The women in this office are ready for a revolution. Will Alexa have the guts to do anything about it? Can she be the leader they need?
Interview with Writer/Director/Actor Whitney Uland and Nora Kaye
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
We made Hysterical Women in response to the current political and sociological climate. We were about a year out from the rise of the #MeToo and Times Up movements and although some progress had been made, other things really hadn’t, Trump was still our president and Kavanaugh was being sworn in.
The media was interacting with the big stories, and Hollywood’s response seemed to be creating a lot of narratives about rape or prioritizing stories about “the first female in _____”. These stories are so so important but we felt like the nuance of sexual misconduct and gender politics weren’t really being manifested in media- especially not through a comedic lens. We also wanted to create a piece with a lot of different, complex characters- especially for women. (selfish..we know)
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Because it’s wicked fun, but also has a narrative that addresses socially relevant issues. You’ll laugh while also thinking about dismantling the patriarchy - it’s a win-win. But really- there is a physical comedy, daydream montages, a killer soundtrack and also characters faced with the same questions about gender politics we are today.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The characters are Millenials living in the present day - so they are dealing with office life, dating, normal life anxieties while also trying to figure out how to cope with gender politics and navigate this not so ideal working environment.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
When we first wrote the pilot it was way more of a broad, absurdist comedy that, in one episode, spanned the plot of a whole season. What can we say, we were ambition and a little slap-happy.
So after that draft, we rewrote, and also started planning what the arc of a whole season would look like. When we left good about this more grounded version- we decided to rehearse and shoot it. We couldn’t have been more lucky with our cast and crew- who really brought the script to life.
I mean, there are always things, in retrospect, that we would do differently but overall the pilot is a great proof of concept for the rest of the show.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We have been accepted to a bunch of television festivals and even won some awards! We took home Audience Choice and Jury Award for Best Pilot at Bentonville Film Festival and are official selections of SeriesFest, NYC Indie FF and Catalyst Content Festival - which is so exciting. And audiences seem to really relate to the pilot-- and usually, they laugh!!!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We’re always really amped when people are hungry to find out what comes next in the story. Or really resonate with a certain character and are like ‘are we going to get to know more about Jessie?!’. There really is an audience for this show and we are excited to produce the rest of the season.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We need it all! No, but we would really love a badass female executive producer who understands the show and is ready to work with us to take it to the next level. We have dreamt that, depending on their experience, this EP could also play the role of Cynthia. We are also looking for the right home for Hysterical Women - the ideal place would be a streaming service or production company the champions female made content and is excited to develop this with us!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Comedy can be so effective in allowing people to interact with difficult issues. So our hope is that people watch it, they laugh, and then they have something to think about.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We have a feature script that we are developing together. It is another dark comedy about complex women - shocker!!
We also have a few other series that we are shopping around. Whitney has a web-series Janessica- watch it on Amazon Prime!!!- which is being packaged for a longer format. And Nora co-wrote a play Baby Goes Down that will be developed in the fall.
Interview: August 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Hysterical Women
Hysterical Women is a dark comedy about gender in the workplace in our current political and sociological climate. Written in response to the #MeToo Movement, the series follows Alexa, the overlooked co-founder of a music marketing firm as she realizes that her buddies in the office might not be such good guys. The women in this office are ready for a revolution. Will Alexa have the guts to do anything about it? Can she be the leader they need?
Director: Whitney Uland, Nora Kaye
Producer: Changito Perrito Productions
Writer: Whitney Uland, Nora Kaye
About the writer, director and producer:
WHITNEY ULAND is the creator and star of Janessica, a viral web-series, streaming on Amazon Prime. The web-series garnered a combined 170,000 views and her script, Janessica’s Guide to New York was selected as a semi-finalist in the 2019 Showtime Tony Cox Writing Competition. Her directorial debut, My Best Friend’s Husband’s Funeral was an official selection of NYWIFT’s Online Shorts Festival, NewFilmmakersNY FF, Film & Her, a Female Filmmaker Showcase, Fort Worth Indie Film Showcase, and was part of the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. As an actor, Whitney’s work can be seen on stage as well as in commercials, television and film. Whitney has a BFA in musical theatre, has completed the UCB Improv Core and studied at Manhattan Film Institute for two years, as both an actor and a director.
NORA KAYE is developing a play, Baby Goes Down, which is premiering in New York this fall. She is also playing foley for a vaudevillian clown show (Beep Boop.) which is headed to Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. Nora is a lead in Happy Camper, a new series in development with Nickelodeon, and performs with her sketch comedy troupe in NYC. Nora graduated from the British American Drama Academy, the UCB School of Improv, and Manhattan Film Institute.
Changito Perrito Productions LLC is a development and production company that creates stories by women, for women. Dedicated to inclusion and diversity, we strive to make films and commercials that are as complex, honest, weird, funny, dark and intricate as the women who make them. Laugh, Cry, Changito Perrito.
Key cast: Whitney Uland (Alexa), Nora Kaye (Miranda), Angela Oh (Cynthia), Megan Masako Haley (Naomi), Matt Walker (Matthew), David Park (Robby), Madeline Grey DeFreece (Jessie)
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, producers, buyers, journalists
Instagram: @hystericalwomen
Hashtags used: #hystericalwomen #hystericalwomenseries
Website: hystericalwomenseries.com
Funders: Seed & Spark
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Catalyst Content Festival/Duluth - Oct 9-14