Shining Bright with a New Film

Check out my most recent directing work: NEVER SEEN YOU SHINE SO BRIGHT!

I really love this little movie — the story is warm and simple but true and heartfelt (and funny!), and our cast and crew were fantastic, shiny, bright stars in every way.  We shot on a Saturday and premiered the film the following Thursday at Shoot ‘Em Up.***  Speedy post perfection thanks to our editor Sarah!

To those who committed their talents, energy, ideas, and time to making this shiny, bright gem of a film, THANK YOU.  It was a joy to collaborate with you, and I look forward to the next opportunity to work together.

***Shoot ‘Em Up is a Los Angeles based show produced by Gary Buchler and Monte LaMonte that explores the evolution of a story, to a script, to a film & takes place over three events during a three-month period. 

Starting out with a night of storytelling, 6 storytellers tell true stories from their lives. Those stories are then given to screenwriters who have a month to create a screenplay inspired by the story they are assigned. We come back a month later and have a live table read of the screenplays. The screenplays are then given to filmmakers who have a month to shoot a short inspired by the screenplays. And for one last time we come together again and screen the shorts inspired by the screenplays (inspired by the stories).

Jeepers Creepers! It WAS My Episode of Scream

My first episode of SCREAM aired this Tuesday at 10pm (if you missed it you can watch it here)!

Entertainment Weekly’s photo recap was hilarious and smart and said nice things like: “This week, “Jeepers Creepers” ended with one of the more stomach-churning acts of violence on the show yet…” AND  “I can’t help it, nobody can help it, but this plotline with Brooke and Stavo falling for each other is actually pretty charming. He is a creepyhunk, and she is a mean angel, but it still feels like a good matchup. Yeah, they had bonded while high on ayahuasca, but relationships have been founded on less.”

The best review came from my mom who said she is even more confused about who the killer is because of my episode.  She also wondered if I knew who the killer is.

I do.

I do.

Tune in next week for a gruesomely awesome ep by the one-and-only Mr. Steve Yockey!  TUESDAYS at 10PM ON MTV.

In the meantime, here some of my favorite photo recaps from my little baby episode cutey 206:

 

7 Minutes of SCREAM

The first 7 minutes of our season of SCREAM!

SCREAM Season 2 Premiere: Monday May 30

So excited to share with the world all the psychotic goodness we’ve been creating!  Our SCREAM season begins on Monday May 30 on MTV.  This strange, whimsical, creepy teaser is a perfect taste of what’s ahead for this season… twisted weirdness even in the light of day.  Yikes!!!

My Episode of AWKWARD on TUESDAY

My second episode of AWKWARD airs on Tuesday (3/22) at 10pm/9ct on MTV.  It’s called “WTF Happened Last Year?” and it’s about exactly that.  I love this episode for many reasons, like the HUGE Jenna-Matty story at its core, the uniqueness of it being a peek into the characters’ college lives, the songwriting work I got to do (Jake sings again…and in costume), the sweet Tilda Swinton burn I got to write for Sadie, and, omg, all the AMAZING directing Gail Lerner did to bring the episode to life.

See it all on Tuesday!

“Women in Television” Panel

I’m scheduled to appear! And I will.

Awkward Returns in March

The Awkward 5B trailer is OUT, and it’s full of moments of awesome from our upcoming season. In fact, its opening scene is from an episode written by yours truly. Yep. “Your boobs got bigger” is from my Shakespearean brain.

Tune in on Tuesday, March 15 for the premiere that picks up ONE YEAR AFTER the finale of last season. Keep on keepin’ on by tuning in the following week (Tuesday, 3/22) for my episode, eloquently titled: “WTF Happened Last Year?”

It’s about wtf happened last year. Without spoiling anything, I can tell you this: a lot happened last year. Just enough to make 22 minutes of half-hour dramedy gold.

PS – the beatards song the trailer is set to is def my new wedding workout jam. Dang diggy dang.

 

Holding Up in Pink

Went to see PRETTY IN PINK to celebrate a friend’s birthday and, holy crap, the movie holds up. Its emotional story is deceivingly simple. And it totally works. You got that and you got a movie. Simple doesn’t mean bad. It’s heartening to see this because, lately, it’s the emotional stories that I’ve been focusing on most in all my projects. Seems like my eye is in the right place.

Also.

The dress Molly wears to prom in that movie is still a terrible situation we aren’t going to talk about.

Jam On at the Keyboard

I’ve been accidentally enjoying Spotify’s Discovery Weekly like an ancient midwestern farmer lady who accidentally goes into her first sushi place. I tried it, liked it, didn’t really know what it was, went back again and again.

Somewhat like sushi, it’s a great accompaniment to writing…TV, movies, and even, as I’m finding, wedding registries. DW is even greater now that I’ve read this piece and “understand” all the magic (a mashup of algorithms, neural nets, collaborative filtering and at least three frog toes) that goes into making Discovery Weekly the perfect handroll to my ear.

Talk to Me Like a Baby

Been hustling on the feature (about almost girlfriends and self-worth) and on SCREAM (about teens and murder) and on a web series (about feminism and high school) and on the amazingness of wedding 2016 (about foreverness and fun) and on LIFE (about groceries and laundry) that I missed posting that LISA’S BABY’S ADVICE won “Best Scripted” at this year’s 100 Word Film Festival. Congrats to my co-director/writer/producer Regina Taufen and to the rest of the LISA team!

Hopefully we make more episodes in 2016 either of the “baby” editions or a continuation of the beloved grown-up LISAs. In the meantime, enjoy the award-winning (boo-yah) LISA’S BABY’S ADVICE: Getting Him Back and LISA’S BABY’S ADVICE: Seeing In Color.