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In this week’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo goes back in time over and over again to discuss the sci-fi indie “Omni Loop.” The film follows a woman who lives the same week over and over in order to try to save her own life. The Bernardo Britto-directed (known for “Los Espookys”) film stars Mary-Louise Parker, Ayo Edebiri, Hannah Pearl Utt, Chris Witaske, and more.

Read More: 2024 Fall Film Preview: 50 Movies To Watch

The film’s stars, Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri, join the podcast to discuss their roles in the existential time travel film.

Continue reading ‘Omni Loop’: Ayo Edebiri & Mary-Louise Parker On Their Time Loop Drama, ‘The Bear’ Season 4, A Failed ‘Weeds’ Revival & More [The Discourse Podcast] at The Playlist.

Measuring end-of-life anxiety with an open heart if not the most disciplined head, science-fiction-tinged drama Omni Loop serves up a couple nice moments for its lead performers, but otherwise relies on a viewer’s offscreen feelings about mortality to supply its punch. The result, pleasant enough but frustratingly bland, exists in a soupy,...

When doctors tell Zoya Lowe (Mary-Louise Parker), the quantum physicist at the center of Omni Loop, that she has a black hole growing inside her chest and little time left to live, she seems oddly unfazed. A montage speeds us through the next few days of her life as she’s taken home from the hospital, then to the beach by her family, who surprise her with a candle-covered cake two weeks ahead of her actual birthday, which she likely won’t live to see.

Throughout each of those scenes, Zoya sits in the center of the frame, staring forward with a placid look on her face. It would be fair to assume that hers is a state of shock—the look of a woman who’s unable to process the finality, maybe even the absurdity, of her diagnosis. In truth, though, Zoya seems so unmoved because she’s seen all of this before.

After starring in five films and eleven TV series last year, Ayo Edebiri’s 2024 is just slightly less crazy. Following up The Bear and Inside Out 2 this summer, she’ll next be seen in Omni Loop, a sci-fi feature that premiered at SXSW earlier this year. Now set for a September 20 theatrical and digital release from Magnolia Pictures, the first trailer has arrived.

Written and directed by Bernardo Britto, the film follows a quantum physicist (Mary-Louise Parker) who finds herself stuck in a time loop, with a black hole growing in her chest and only a week to live. When she meets a gifted student (Edebiri), they team up to save her life – and to unlock the mysteries of time travel.

Also starring Hannah Pearl Utt, Chris Witaske, Carlos Jacott, Harris Yulin, Steven Maier, and Eddie Cahill, see the trailer and poster below.

The post Ayo Edebiri and Mary-Louise...

“Omni Loop” is a new live-action, science fiction comedy feature, directed by Bernando Britto, starring Ayo Edebiri, Mary-Louise Parker, Hannah Pearl Utt, Chris Witaske, Carlos Jacott, Harris Yulin, Steven Maier, and Eddie Cahill, opening September 20, 2024 in theaters:

“…a quantum physicist finds herself stuck in a ‘time loop’…

“…with only a week to live..

“But when she meets a gifted student…

“…there’s a chance to save her life — and also potentially unlock the mysteries of time travel…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

"Let's solve time travel." Okay, sure, let's do it! Magnolia Pictures has revealed the official trailer for a sci-fi comedy called Omni Loop, the latest feature film by Brazilian writer / director Bernardo Britto, who most recently was writing episodes of "Los Espookys". This initially premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, and it's set to arrive to watch (on VOD) in September this fall. A 55-year-old woman from Miami, Florida decides to solve time travel in order to go back and be the person she always intended to be. One day she meets Paula, a young woman studying time at a lab in the local university, and together they decide to try and solve time travel so Zoya can actually go back— back into her past, back to a time before she settled, back to when her whole future was still wide open in front of her. With...

“Groundhog Day,” but make it about an inescapable terminal illness. In writer/director Bernardo Britto’s “Omni Loop,” Mary-Louise Parker plays a quantum physicist who learns she has only a week to live. Except she learns that many times over, and as she says in the trailer, “This has happened before. Many times.” IndieWire shares the exclusive trailer for “Omni Loop,” which premiered at SXSW and will hit theaters from Magnolia this fall, below.

Here’s the official synopsis: “A quantum physicist (Mary-Louise Parker) finds herself stuck in a time loop, with a black hole growing in her chest and only a week to live. When she meets a gifted student (Ayo Edebiri), they team up to save her life — and to unlock the mysteries of time travel.”

The cast also includes Hannah Pearl Utt, Chris Witaske, Carlos Jacott, Harris Yulin, Steven Maier, and Eddie Cahill.

At SXSW, Mary-Louise Parker...

If you could choose to be in a Groundhog Day scenario with any two actors, who would you choose? You could certainly do a lot worse than Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri, the stars of the new time travel dramedy Omni Loop. To lean into millennial parlance, this is a...

From social media to the big screen, Meg Stalter is peeling back her many layers as she marks her first starring role in Cora Bora.

The Ohio-born actress recently opened up about her “sweet and rewarding” part in writer Rhianon Jones and director Hannah Pearl Utt‘s new comedy-drama, which premiered at SXSW last year, as well as her journey from social media phenom to Hacks breakout and beyond.

“I think my comedy translates well to this movie because it’s a character who’s kind of losing their mind but trying to pretend like they’re not,” Stalter tells Deadline. “And that’s like a lot of the people I like to play outside of the movie. So, it kind of works.”

She stars as the titular Cora, a struggling musician who puts her career on hold to return home and win back her girlfriend Justine (Jojo T. Gibbs...

Heather Graham’s chosen family is growing.

The actress-turned-filmmaker’s latest big-screen effort, Chosen Family, has been acquired by Brainstorm Media for North America with a theatrical release set for Oct. 11.

Written, directed by and starring Graham, the Verdi Prods. film also stars John Brotherton, Ella Grace Helton, Andrea Savage, Michael Gross, Julie Halston, Thomas Lennon and Julia Stiles. Chosen Family follows a yoga teacher named Ann (Graham) who is on a path to find inner peace amidst the chaos of her manic family and miserable dating life. The situation is complicated by an inability to say no and her relentless desire to fix everyone’s problems. She also struggles to save her sister Clio (Stiles) from addiction, leading to disastrous results.

Graham said she can’t wait for audiences to see her film, which she describes as a labor of love. “I’m so excited that Brainstorm is releasing...

Exclusive: Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to the indie sci-film Omni Loop, starring Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), slating it for a day-and-date release on September 20.

World premiering at this year’s SXSW film festival, the film directed by Bernardo Britto (Jacqueline Argentine) follows Zoya Lowe (Parker), a quantum physicist who finds herself in a time loop, with a black hole growing in her chest and only a week to live. But what the doctors and her family don’t know is that she has already lived this week before; so many times, in fact, that she doesn’t even know how long it’s been. Until one day, Zoya meets a gifted student named Paula (Edebiri). Together, they team up to save her life — and to unlock the mysteries of time travel.

A 2Am and Lou Filmproduction production, Omni Loop also stars Cora Bora helmer Hannah Pearl Utt,...

Everywhere Cora (Megan Stalter) goes, she finds herself in situations that beg others to ask one simple yet pointed question: “What is wrong with you?” Cora may brush off such flippant passive-aggressive digs at her wellbeing and overall sense of composure, but it’s soon clear that Hannah Pearl Utt’s wry comedy “Cora Bora” will forcefully (and hilariously) get this aspiring musician to reckon with the life she’s trying to build for herself in Los Angeles, away from her family, her girlfriend and a past she’ll soon no longer be able to run away from.

Life in L.A. doesn’t seem to be going well for Cora. In between daytime gigs at mostly empty coffee shops and late night gigs at even emptier bars, her solo career looks to be floundering. With titles like “Dreams Are Stupid” and “Don’t Wanna Hear You Anymore,” her embittered...

Cora Bora Photo: Brainstorm Media Meg Stalter is a star. Her first-ever leading lady, Cora, is…not. Constantly lugging her acoustic guitar around like a depressed millennial Linus dragging his little blue blanket, Cora is an especially chaotic breed of girlfailure. She’s brash, cruel without cause, and not particularly self-aware about her own affect,...

Cora BoraPhoto: Brainstorm Media

Meg Stalter is a star. Her first-ever leading lady, Cora, is…not. Constantly lugging her acoustic guitar around like a depressed millennial Linus dragging his little blue blanket, Cora is an especially chaotic breed of girlfailure. She’s brash, cruel without cause, and not particularly self-aware about her own affect,...

Ayden Mayeri has joined the cast of an upcoming Peacock comedy series led by Steph Curry and Adam Pally.

Per the official logline, the currently untitled series follows Danny (Pally), “a down-on-his-luck memorabilia dealer who looks for redemption by reuniting with his sixth-grade teammate, NBA legend Steph Curry.”

Mayeri will play Samantha, Danny’s ex-wife.

Mayeri is best known for playing Beth Ann in the 2022 Showtime comedy series “I Love That For You.” She also starred in Season 1 of “The Afterparty” on Apple TV+ as Jennifer No. 2, with other TV credits including “Into the Dark” on Hulu, “Veep” on HBO, “New Girl” on Fox, “Grace and Frankie” on Netflix and “Homecoming” on Amazon.

In film, Mayeri has appeared opposite Alison Brie and Aubrey Plaza in “Spin Me Round” (2022), Greg Mottola’s “Confess, Fletch” (2022), Dave Franco’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” (2023), Netflix’s “Alex Strangelove” (2018), Lionsgate’s “Wander Darkly...

Kit Zauhar will adapt “How Should a Person Be?,” the 2010 novel from acclaimed Canadian author Sheila Heti, for the screen. Neon Heart Productions, which previously worked with Zauhar on her second feature “This Closeness,” is developing the book. According to the logline, the film adaptation will focus on “a young artist [who] faces an early mid-life crisis when a new friendship makes her question her marriage and everything else about her current life path.”

Heti is the author of eleven books to date including “Pure Colour,” “Alphabetical Diaries” and “Motherhood,” which was shortlisted for the Giller Prize. “How Should a Person Be? will be the first film adaptation of her work.

Zauhar’s most recent film, “This Closeness,” is a relationship drama that she directed and wrote. It premiered in theaters this week after debuting at SXSW to critical acclaim. Her feature directorial debut, “Actual People,” premiered at Locarno Film Festival...

"You are the one that left." "For my career." "I don't buy that." Brainstorm Media has revealed the trailer for an indie comedy titled Cora Bora, the latest from indie filmmaker Hannah Pearl Utt. This premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival and it also played at the Provincetown, Frameline, Outfest LA, and Stockholm Film Festivals last year. Now set for a release in June in limited theaters. Cora Bora stars Hack's standout talent Meg Stalter as Cora. After a floundering music career, she goes back home to win her girlfriend back but will realize that it's much more than her love life that needs salvaging. The ensemble cast includes Jojo T. Gibbs, Manny Jacinto, Ayden Mayeri, Thomas Mann, Chrissie Fit, Andre Hyland, Margaret Cho, with Chelsea Peretti and Darrell Hammond. This looks light and screwy and funny. Might be fun. // Continue Reading ›...

Megan Stalter Screenshot: YouTube Anyone who’s watched a few episodes of HBO’s excellent, very funny Hacks has already been exposed to the comedic wrecking ball style of Megan Stalter, who manages to steal pretty much every scene she shows up in as devotedly incompetent agents’ assistant/boss’ daughter Kayla.

Megan StalterScreenshot: YouTube

Anyone who’s watched a few episodes of HBO’s excellent, very funny Hacks has already been exposed to the comedic wrecking ball style of Megan Stalter, who manages to steal pretty much every scene she shows up in as devotedly incompetent agents’ assistant/boss’ daughter Kayla.

Meg Stalter is taking the lead in her latest feature “Cora Bora.”

The comedy, which premiered at the 2023 SXSW Festival, stars the “Hacks” breakout actress as the titular musician who goes home to win back her girlfriend only to realize it’s much more than her love life that needs salvaging.

Hannah Pearl Utt directs the comedy from a script by Rhianon Jones. The cast includes Jojo T. Gibbs, Manny Jacinto, Ayden Mayeri, Thomas Mann, Chrissie Fit, Andre Hyland, Margaret Cho, Chelsea Peretti, and Darrell Hammond. The film features original music and a score composed by indie artist Miya Folick.

“I’m thrilled for audiences to get to see Meg in a leading role and to fall for her character the way I have,” director Utt said in a press statement.

The IndieWire review called Stalter a “whirlwind and a universe unto herself” who boasts “her unique brand of uncomfortably confident loser” onscreen.

History repeats itself in this ingenious but surprisingly heartfelt sci-fi, which takes the premise of Groundhog Day and fashions from it a poignant statement about life and mortality. Refreshingly for the genre, it focuses on a middle-aged woman — a scientist-slash-physicist, even — whose 55th birthday and final breath will occur within the same week. But though there is an element of resistance to the latter, Omni Loop is unusual in that it isn’t simply about breaking the cycle; Bernardo Britto’s film is about facing the inevitable, gently phasing out the genre elements to reach an understated but emotional climax.

Zoya Lowe, when we first meet her, is a little girl who, a voiceover tells us, is predicted “to do incredible things one day” and “change the world”. The next time we see her, Zoya is now played by Mary-Louise Parker and things are not so positive: X-rays show a...

One of the distinguishing features that has propelled Mary-Louise Parker’s rise through the ranks of stage actors has been a searching quality she brings to plays such as “Proof” and “How I Learned to Drive,” as if there are other worlds beyond where she is immediately stationed and places her characters can’t reach no matter how much they extend themselves. Although Parker’s been great in films and TV, too, she’s hasn’t had the same opportunity onscreen to demonstrate her curiosity about the unknown. That becomes the main attraction of “Omni Loop,” writer-director Bernardo Britto’s melancholy time-travel drama, which stirs the kind of mixed emotions that Parker’s Zoya feels, having a week left to live and the ability to stave off the inevitable with a bottle full of blue pills that take her back five days at a time.

With Parker’s tactile imagination,...

Unlike the Miami transit service that gives the film its title and gets from first to final stop in just 16 minutes, Omni Loop takes time to wade through its tangled thicket of set-up and draw you in. But Bernardo Britto’s near-future sci-fi — about death, time travel and the cherished gifts in life we take for granted while pursuing that elusive something more — sneaks up on you. The same goes for the expertly synced performances of Mary-Louise Parker, bringing her characteristic flinty authenticity to a role that could easily have drowned in quirk, and Ayo Edebiri, demonstrating once again that she’s in the top tier of emerging American actors.

In a brief prologue, a 12-year-old girl (Riley Elise Fincher-Foster) stumbles upon a bottle of pills in the greenest of fields. “You’re gonna do incredible things one day,” a voice in her head tells her. “You’re gonna change the world.

NewFest, the LGBTQ+ film festival, has announced the award winners for the festival’s 35th anniversary run.

The Grand Jury prizes included Erica Tremblay’s Fancy Dance for Narrative Feature, Goran Stolevski’s Housekeeping For Beginners for International Feature, Daniel Goncalves’s Acsexybility for Documentary Feature, and Nyala Moon’s Dilating For Maximum Results for New York Short.

The announcement, which included a number of other grantees and award winners, was made today at the festival’s award ceremony in Brooklyn by NewFest Executive Director David Hatkoff, Director of Programming Nick McCarthy, and Programmer & Jury Coordinator Murtada Elfadl.

“This year’s 35th edition of The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival has demonstrated that queer cinema is stronger than ever,” said Hatkoff and McCarthy. “The awards recipients prove the breadth of our community’s stories as well as the highest caliber of cinema. We are thankful to our esteemed juries and...

Sound Unseen, the music documentary festival held in Minneapolis, is returning with a slew of rock docs including Alison Ellwood’s Cyndi Lauper film Let the Canary Sing and the North American premiere of Peter Doherty: Stranger In My Own Skin about the Libertines co-founder.

The 24th iteration of the festival runs between November 8-12.

Let The Canary Sing will open the festival on Wednesday November 8 and Katia de Vidas’s Doherty film closes the festival on Sunday November 12.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing some of the best and most buzzed about music documentaries and fiction films of the year to Minneapolis”, said Sound Unseen Festival Director Jim Brunzell. “The entire team has done an incredible job and after the success of last year’s festival, we hope the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota audiences will bring the same energy and excitement to Sound Unseen more than ever.”

Federation...

Frameline, the San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival concluded its 47th iteration on Saturday, June 24, with a screening of Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music, directed by Oscar-winning duo Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet). The documentary feature about the titular performer’s singular spectacle was preceded by the Festival’s annual Award Ceremony, which reaffirmed the dynamic future of queer cinema.

This year, the 11-day Festival ran from June 14–24, 2023, with events held in theaters across San Francisco, including the historic Castro Theatre, located in the heart of the city’s LGBTQ+ cultural district, and the Roxie Theater, Frameline’s longest-running partner theater. Frameline47 also returned to Oakland this year, featuring the Festival’s first-ever Oakland Opening Night (Jac Cron’s Chestnut) and Centerpiece (Hannah Pearl Utt’s Cora Bora) films, both of which screened at The New Parkway Theater. With a full slate of upwards of 90 in-person screenings and programs,...

Outfest announced the full line up for its 41st Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Festival presented by Warner Bros. Discovery and Genesis Motor America, taking place July 13 – 23 in venues around Los Angeles and is headquartered at the Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood. Tickets and passes are available to Outfest members today, and to the general public starting Friday, June 23rd.

The festival also announced that it will be honoring Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone with the James Schamus Ally Award during the festival’s closing night in recognition of allies’ efforts to foster Queer and Trans moving images and to promote our communities’ stories to a broader audience. Additionally, McCarthy and Falcone are both executive producers on Relighting Candles: The Tim Sullivan Story, a short documentary directed by Zeb Newman and Michiel Thomas that will be featured at this year’s festival, about a West Hollywood candle shop owner...

Frameline announced the full program for the 47th annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

Running June 14-24, with a streaming encore to follow from June 24-July 2, Frameline47 returns with nearly 90 film screenings, including 12 world, 16 North American, and 9 U.S. premieres. In celebration of the Festival’s 47th iteration, Frameline will host 47 screenings at the Castro Theatre, which equates to an average of four screenings per day throughout the 11-day event.

This announcement comes on the heels of Frameline’s recent unveiling of three marquee presentations: the Opening Night film, Andrew Durham’s FairyLand, which will feature an in-person appearance from producer Sofia Coppola; the Oakland Centerpiece, Hannah Pearl Utt’s Cora Bora, featuring Hacks star Megan Stalter; and the Pride Kickoff film, Jordan Danger’s God Save the Queens, featuring drag icon Alaska, who will perform during the afterparty at Oasis.

The 47th iteration is set to be Northern...

Frameline has announced the full program for the 47th annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Frameline47). Running June 14 through 24, with a streaming encore to follow from June 24 through July 2, Frameline47 returns with nearly 90 film screenings, including 12 world, 16 North American, and 9 U.S. premieres.

Frameline will host 47 screenings at the historic Castro Theatre and other venues throughout the Bay Area. This announcement comes on the heels of Frameline’s recent unveiling of three marquee presentations: the Opening Night film, Andrew Durham’s Sundance favorite “Fairyland,” which will feature an in-person appearance from producer Sofia Coppola; the Oakland Centerpiece, Hannah Pearl Utt’s “Cora Bora,” featuring “Hacks” scene-stealer Megan Stalter; and the Pride Kickoff film, Jordan Danger’s “God Save the Queens,” featuring RuPaul drag icon Alaska, who will perform during the afterparty at Oasis.

This year’s iteration is set to be Northern California’s largest film festival in 2023, according to Frameline.

Twelve world premieres and 16 US premieres are among nearly 90 screening titles.

The 47th annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, also known as Frameline47, has unveiled the line-up for its June 14-24 run.

The programme of nearly 90 films includes 12 world premieres, 16 North American premieres and nine US premieres, which will screen at the historic Castro Theatre and a number other venues around San Francisco and Oakland.

Organised by media arts non-profit Frameline, the festival will have a virtual follow-up from June 24 to July 2 for US streaming audiences.

Among the festival’s world premieres will be Jac Cron’s Chestnut, from...

Prettybird has announced A.V. Rockwell signed with the commercial and music video representation company. Rockwell’s feature film debut, “A Thousand and One,” won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance film festival. Prior to her feature film, Rockwell directed for television, and her award-winning short film “Feathers” was released by Searchlight Pictures and is now available to stream on the Criterion Channel.

Rockwell joins Prettybird’s award-winning roster of filmmakers, including “Everything Everywhere All At Once” Academy Award-winning duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (also known as “The Daniels”), Janicza Bravo (“Zola”) and comedy duo Tim & Eric.

“I am so excited to have A.V. join the roster. I have been following her work for years and have always been in awe of her ability to tell stories rooted in truth with intensity and intimacy – in both her written and visual language. She is a...

Frameline Film Festival will open with a screening of the Sofia Coppola-produced movie “Fairyland.” The 11-day, LGBTQ-focused festival will return to San Francisco and Oakland from June 14-24.

“Fairyland” will be followed by the festival’s Oakland Centerpiece event, which will screen “Cora Bora” on June 15. Its Pride Kickoff screening will be of “God Save the Queens” on June 22.

Produced by Sofia Coppola and directed by Andrew Durham, “Fairyland” is an adaptation of Alysia Abbott’s memoir of the same name. Throughout Durham’s directorial debut, audiences learn about the early days of gay liberation in San Francisco. Scoot McNairy portrays Alysia’s father, Steve, as he tries to balance fatherhood with exploring his sexuality. “Fairyland” will open the festival at the Castro Theater on June 14.

“’Fairyland’ is the perfect film to open Frameline47 as it’s a film anchored in the rich, gay history of San Francisco, and...

Titles join Cannes Un Certain Regard selection The Delinquents, others.

Magnolia Pictures International has bulked up its Cannes sales slate by adding international sales rights to SXSW selections I Used To Be Funny and Cora Bora.

Ally Pankiw wrote and directed the dramedy I Used To Be Funny which follows an aspiring stand-up comedian and au pair grappling with Ptsd from an experience that is revealed gradually.

Rachel Sennott from Shiva Baby stars with newcomer Olga Petsa, Jason Jones, Sabrina Jalees, Caleb Hearon, Ennis Esmer, and Dani Kind.

Pankiw makes her feature directorial debut. She previously directed and served as...

For almost 10 years, we’ve seen a slew of Gen-z coming-of-age indie comedies come and go for young people like myself to consume, laugh at, and possibly relate to. There have been great ones like Bo Burnham‘s Eighth Grade. There have been good ones like Greta Gerwig‘s Lady Bird. There have been fine ones like Olivia Wilde‘s Booksmart. Most importantly though, there have been mediocre and bad ones as well.

Cora Bora, which premiered this week at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, the latest indie coming-of-age comedy from director Hannah Pearl Utt, is, unfortunately, one of the mediocre ones.

Cora Bora follows a young musician named Cora (Hacks‘ Megan Stalter), who is struggling to both break into the L.A. music industry and maintain her long-distance, open relationship with her girlfriend, Justine (Jojo T. Gibbs). One day Cora and Justine have a video chat...

“Why do people keep asking me that?” Cora (Megan Stalter) asks somewhere around the fifth time in Cora Bora that someone angrily demands to know what is wrong with her. Her answer, when she can be bothered to give one, is that nothing is. But it’s been clear from the opening moments of Cora Bora that that’s very far from the case.

Her fledgling music career seems to be going nowhere, despite the sweaty determination with which she lugs her broken guitar case from one dismally under-attended Los Angeles club to another. Her love life is no more promising: Her open long-distance relationship with Justine (Jojo T. Gibbs) is growing only more distant, and the hookups she has on the side are more cringey than satisfying. When she begins to suspect Justine’s fallen in love with someone else, she impulsively buys a plane ticket back to Portland,...

Filmmakers and festival attendees are in Austin for the 2023 SXSW Film & TV Festival to celebrate the convergence of the tech, film and music industries across a variety of programming formats and special events. The fest runs March 10-19.

Fest-goers can expect red carpet premieres, gala Film, TV, Documentary and Spotlight events with talent expected to participate across all platforms.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves world premiered on opening night with cast members Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Daisy Head, Sophia Lillis, Jeremy Latcham, and the directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein at the Paramount Theater on Friday, March 10. Other screenings on opening night included Later Bloomers, Only the Good Survive, National Anthem, Swarm and the Sundance horror favorite Talk to Me.

Related: SXSW 2023: All Of Deadline’s Movie Reviews

Day 2 of SXSW on Saturday, March 11 featured screenings and world premieres from the films You Sing Loud,...

Ever since her breakout role on the Hollywood insider comedy “Hacks,” comedian Meg Stalter has pretty much cornered the market on lovably annoying characters. She pretty handily steals the whole show as incompetent assistant from hell Kayla on the Emmy-winning HBO comedy, turning blasé clueless rich girl into an archetype, a lifestyle, and a personal brand. It was only a matter of time before some enterprising writers gave her a star vehicle of her own, and she proves herself just as funny as the main character in “Cora Bora.”

A conventional quirky comedy about a struggling musician trying to win her girlfriend back, “Cora Bora” follows a fairly predictable formula, right down to a kooky detour at an orgiastic poly commune. Stalter is a whirlwind and a universe unto herself, and the other players merely respond to whatever zaniness she throws down. Though reliably funny, her unique brand of uncomfortably...

South by Southwest on Wednesday revealed the second half of its lineup for this year’s edition, set for March 10-19.

This includes Visions, the Global section presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to the Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight and other sections.

‘Swarm’

New on the sked is Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s Amazon Studios series Swarm and Lee Sung Jin’s Beef, respectively the opening- and closing-night TV premieres. They join the previously announced opening-night world premiere of Paramount’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

This year’s closing-night film will be announced closer to the event. In addition, there is another movie to be announced for the fest’s Monday, March 13 slot. Given the Oscars on March 12 (note the festival sets their dates five years in advance), I understand that evening’s lineup will ease a bit with amped-up...

The 2023 South by Southwest Festival has officially unveiled its second wave of headliners and TV premieres, including Opening and Closing Night episodic selections.

Set to take place March 10 through 19, the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals launched the 2023 Film & TV Lineup including all Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight, and other sections. Highlights include Donald Glover and Janine Nabers’ “Swarm” opening the TV program, with Lee Sung Jin’s TV series “Beef” debuting Closing Night.

For the film side, “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” was previously announced as the Opening Night feature. This year’s Closing Night film will be announced closer to the festival.

New Headliners additions include queer “Fight Club” film “Bottoms” and biopic “Tetris” about the videogame of the same name. Disney+ series “American Born Chinese,” starring the Oscar-nominated “Everything Everywhere All at Once” trio Michelle Yeoh,...

South by Southwest Conference and Festivals is nearly upon us, as it runs from March 10-19 in beautiful Austin, Texas. And as such, the second wave of the 2023 Film & TV Festival Lineup including all Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites plus numerous additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight, and other sections, have been announced.

Additionally, SXSW also announced that Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s “Swarm” and Lee Sung Jin’s “Beef” will be the Opening and Closing Night TV premieres. The Film & TV Festival’s opening night film is the previously announced “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” This year’s Closing Night Film will be announced closer to the event. (What will it be?)

Where else can you see the world premiere of a Hollywood blockbuster like “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” as well as documentaries on the Blackberry smart phone and Canadian music channel MuchMusic?...

Donald Glover’s Amazon show Swarm, Apple’s making-of Tetris movie and Disney+ series American Born Chinese are among the new additions to the TV and film lineup at the upcoming SXSW festival.

The Elizabeth Banks-produced MGM movie Bottoms, from the team behind Shiva Baby, is set for the headliners section, joining the Taron Egerton-fronted Tetris and previously announced titles Problemista, from A24, franchise flick Evil Dead Rise, and Eva Longoria’s directorial debut, Flamin’ Hot. Dungeons & Dragons will open the fest.

As for TV premieres, in addition to Swarm and American Born Chinese, Lee Sung Jin’s Beef, and David E. Kelley’s Love & Death will screen at the festival. Also notable on the TV front: The fest will screen Demascus, which was recently axed by network AMC amid an ongoing shake-up at the network and its hope to write down around 400 million of content...

Conan O’Brien, “SNL” star Bowen Yang and “Hacks” breakout Meg Stalter have all joined the cast of the untitled buddy comedy film from the comedy trio Please Don’t Destroy that’s in the works at Universal.

Please Don’t Destroy — which is made up of Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy — are writing, starring and executive producing the film. And also joining the cast are “The Daily Show” writer X Mayo and “Maggie” star Nichole Sakura.

Paul Briganti of “SNL” is directing the comedy film. Apatow Productions’ Judd Apatow and Mosaic’s Jimmy Miller are producing.

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In the film, the trio finds themselves in a rut and set off for the adventure of a lifetime when they hear a rumor that gold is buried in a nearby mountain.

Production for the film began in North Carolina in July,...

Late-night legend Conan O’Brien, SNL cast member Bowen Yang, Hacks breakout Meg Stalter, Emmy nominee X Mayo (The Daily Show) and Nichole Sakura (Maggie) have joined the cast of Universal’s untitled buddy comedy from Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy—the SNL comedy trio best known as Please Don’t Destroy.

The recently-announced film currently in production in North Carolina tackles the story of three childhood friends who live and work together. The trio decides they don’t like where their lives are headed and set off to find gold treasure rumored to be buried in the nearby mountain. In addition to writing the screenplay, Marshall, Higgins and Herlihy are exec producing and leading the film, which SNL‘s Paul Briganti is directing.

Apatow Productions’ Judd Apatow is producing alongside Mosaic’s Jimmy Miller, with Apatow Productions’ Josh Church, Mosaic’s M. Riley and Sam Hansen, and Michael Sledd...

Please Don’t Destroy, the comedy trio of “Saturday Night Live” fame, is putting together a starry cast for its upcoming buddy comedy.

Conan O’Brien, “SNL” star Bowen Yang, “Hacks” breakout Meg Stalter, comedian X Mayo and “Superstore” actor Nichole Sakura have joined the untitled movie, which is set at Universal Pictures.

As previously announced, Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy — the threesome behind Please Don’t Destroy — will star in the movie in addition to writing the screenplay.

“SNL” alum Paul Briganti is directing the comedy, with Judd Apatow set to produce. The movie is currently in production in North Carolina. It’s set to be released in theaters on Aug. 18, 2023.

The film follows three childhood friends who live and work together. When the trio decides they don’t like their life trajectory, they set off to find a gold treasure that is rumored to be buried in a nearby mountain.

Megan Stalter, one of the breakout stars of HBO Max’s Hacks, is fronting a new comedy in development by HBO Max and A24.

The streaming platform and A24 are developing a pilot for Church Girls, a comedy created, executive produced by and starring Stalter, inspired by her true-life experiences. The half-hour comedy follows Beth Parker, played by Stalter, a 20-year-old Christian closeted lesbian as she wrestles with her sexuality, and faith in God, while entering adulthood in suburban Ohio.

The project is co-produced by HBO Max and A24. Gabe Liedman and Mackenzie Roussos also executive produce for Range Media Partners, along with Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

Stalter can currently be seen in her scene-stealing role of Kayla, the lovably frustrating assistant to talent agent Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) in the second season of HBO Max’s Hacks. She can also be seen as a guest star on Peacock’s reboot of Queer As Folk,...

HBO Max and A24 are developing “Church Girls,” a comedy pilot from Megan Stalter.

“Church Girls” is a half-hour comedy that follows Beth Parker (Stalter), a 20-year-old Christian closeted lesbian as she wrestles with her sexuality and faith in God, while entering adulthood in suburban Ohio. The series is inspired by Stalter’s own experiences.

Stalter is best known for playing Kayla, Jimmy’s (Paul W. Downs) wealthy and dysfunctional assistant in the HBO Max comedy “Hacks.” Her other screen credits include guest starring in the 2022 reboot of “Queer as Folk” and voicing several characters in Stephen Colbert’s satirical animated program “Tooning Out the News.” As a writer, she has hosted the web series “The Megan Stalter Show,” worked on the 2019 reboot of “The National Lampoon Radio, which she also starred in, and is a touring standup comedian.

Up next, Stalter will star in the dark comedy “Cora Bora...

HBO Max and A24 are developing a pilot for the Megan Stalter-created comedy “Church Girls,” inspired by the “Hacks” breakout’s life.

“Church Girls” is described as “a grounded, half-hour comedy” that centers on Beth Parker (Stalter), a 20-year-old Christian closeted lesbian who struggles with her sexuality and faith in God as she navigates adulthood in suburban Ohio.

Stalter will also executive produce the co-production between HBO Max and A24. Additional executive producers are Gabe Liedman, Mackenzie Roussos for Range Media Partners and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.

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The comedian got her start in entertainment doing sketch comedy skits online, amassing a loyal following that eventually led to a sold-out national stand-up tour in 2021. She’s currently playing the scene-stealing Kayla in the Emmy-winning “Hacks,” an walking Hr violation of an assistant. Stalter is also...

Exclusive: Megan Stalter, one of the breakout stars of HBO Max’s Emmy-winning series Hacks, has found her first leading film role in the dark comedy Cora Bora, from director Hannah Pearl Utt (Disengaged). She’ll star alongside Jojo T. Gibbs (Fresh) and Manny Jacinto (Top Gun: Maverick).

The indie centers on Cora (Stalter), who senses her open relationship is on the rocks. When the struggling musician and messy millennial goes home to Portland to win her girlfriend back, she realizes it’s much more than her love life that needs salvaging.

Ayden Mayeri (I Love That for You), Thomas Mann (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Chrissie Fit (Pitch Perfect franchise), Andre Hyland (Big Time Adolescence) and Heather Morris (Glee) will also star in the pic, which is a co-production between the Los Angeles Media Fund and Neon Heart Productions, in collaboration with Almanor Films.

The film written...

The Sundance Institute on Friday announced this year’s Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows, a group of 10 emerging artists chosen from a global pool of over 1,600 applicants. The fellows, who range in age from 18-25, will receive a year of mentorship and support from Sundance and Adobe.

Their year kicks off next week with the Sundance Ignite x Adobe Filmmakers Lab, which runs July 26-30 on the online Sundance Collab platform. There, they’ll focus on advancing their projects and deepening their character development skills.

“These artists are at the forefront of a rising generation of independent creatives, at a time when the world is reimagining ways to tell stories and reach audiences,” said Toby Brooks, senior manager of the program. “Such bold work is the foundation of very promising filmmakers, and I’m so excited to lift them up — and to see what comes next.”

Fellows will also receive...

Exclusive: Mythical Entertainment has hired Mallory Schwartz as VP, Television & Film Development.

Schwartz served most recently as Director of Development for Alec Baldwin’s El Dorado Pictures, where she oversaw a robust slate of television and film projects under first-look deals with Universal Television and subsequently, ABC Studios.

She’ll report directly to Mythical’s Chief Creative Officer, Stevie Wynne Levine, as well as founders Rhett & Link.

In addition, Taylor Evans has also joined Mythical as Coordinator to Schwartz. She previously assisted the showrunner of HBO’s Euphoria for Season 2, in addition to prior work in content development and production at Showtime, El Dorado Pictures, Mandeville Films, and ABC Studios.

Schwartz began her career with Broadway Video working on 30 Rock, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Saturday Night Live. After her departure from El Dorado, Schwartz produced the independent film Before You Know It, written by Jen Tullock and Hannah Pearl Utt,...