News

Native filmmaker Billy Luther heads to SXSW this weekend to premiere his narrative feature debut, “Frybread Face and Me” on March 11.

Set in the ‘90s, the coming-of-age story follows Benny (Keir Tallman), a young Native American boy who plays with dolls, sports a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and watches soap operas.

Forced to spend his summer on the reservation with his grandmother, Benny finds himself impressed by his cousin “Frybread” (Charley Hogan) who opens his eyes to life on the rez.

Featuring an entirely Native cast and predominantly Native crew, Luther says it was important to cast Navajo kids at the core of his film. He says, “With the help of Midthunder Casting, which also worked on FX ‘Reservation Dogs,’ we were able to find these incredible kids. The amount of Indigenous talent – Martin Sensmeier, MorningStar Angeline, and Jeremiah Bitsui came on. And we also brought on some amazing new faces...

Casey Wilson may be best known as an actor, with roles in “Gone Girl,” “Atypical,” “Happy Endings” and “Black Monday” as well as a stint as a “Saturday Night Live” cast member, and as a podcaster (“Bitch Sesh”). However, she also has an extensive writing résumé, including co-penning feature comedy films “Bride Wars” and “Ass Backwards.” Now, she is about to publish her first book, “Wreckage of My Presence,” out May 4 from Harper, a collection of essays reflecting on her familial and romantic relationships and some of her past work, all through a humorous lens.

“Wreckage of My Presence” does talk about some of your work experiences, but it also digs deep into your personal life. How did you know how much was enough of each part of you to include? And did you approach the behind-the-scenes stories differently if they were past shows where you may have told a...

Exclusive: Showtime has set the cast of the upcoming Dexter revival. Julia Jones (The Mandalorian), Alano Miller (Sylvie’s Love), Johnny Sequoyah (Believe) and Jack Alcott (The Good Lord Bird) have joined Michael C. Hall and Clancy Brown in the 10-episode limited series, which begins production next month in Massachusetts.

The descriptions of the new characters provide a clue about the setting of the follow-up in upstate New York.

Jones will play Angela Bishop, the first Native American Chief of Police in her town in upstate New York. Sequoyah portrays Audrey, Bishop’s brash and opinionated teenage daughter. Miller will play Logan, a sergeant for the Iron Lake Police Department and the assistant wrestling coach for the local high school. Alcott is Randall, with whom Dexter (Hall) has a meaningful encounter.

As previously reported,...

Oscar-winning writer and director Taika Waititi has signed on to executive produce “Frybread Face and Me.”

The film follows two adolescent Navajo cousins from different worlds who bond during a summer herding sheep on their grandmother’s ranch in Arizona while learning more about their family’s past and themselves.

Written and directed by Native American filmmaker Billy Luther, “Frybread Face and Me” was one of the 10 projects selected as part of 2020 Sundance Institute Directors and Screenwriters Labs. The film is semi-autobiographical and Chad Burris (“City Boyz” “Ass Backwards”) is signed on to produce.

Waititi, who is in pre-production on “Thor: Love and Thunder” and the untitled “Star Wars” movie, read the script and immediately signed on, according to Luther. Waititi is the first Maori to win an Oscar and in his acceptance speech said, “I dedicate this to all the Indigenous kids in the world who want to do...

Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present, and future.

Sandwiched in between the summer’s biggest blockbuster offerings and superhero tentpoles are a pair of outrageously funny outliers — comedies that, for all their raunchy gags and wild behavior, center squarely on women and their friendships — in the form of “Rough Night” and the upcoming release “Girls Trip.” Although both films lean hard on their comedic trappings, often in the form of booze-fueled bad behavior from their leading ladies, they also both find unexpected heart and charm in their deeper explorations of the relationships between the very different women that populate them.

But even with films like “Rough Night” and “Girls Trip” hitting the multiplex with a welcome dose of girl power, it seems that even this summer isn’t immune from the most tired and toxic of lady-centric comedy tropes: the dicks before chicks sub-genre.

Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael and Elizabeth Laime have sold the project “Crystal” to ABC. Written by Laime, who will also serve as supervising producer, the project follows Crystal, a hustler from the wrong side of the trailer park who, fresh out of prison, lands a job in the suburbs as an in-home health aide. Despite having no education, experience or vaccinations she is determined to succeed at her job and change her life. The writers and stars of 2013 feature film “Ass Backwards,” Wilson and Raphael are supervising the project as part of their overall deal with ABC Television Studios.

With Casey Wilson returning to TV in Marry Me, one of the best new sitcoms of the season, it’s easy to forget she breezed through Saturday Night Live for two short seasons before being let go by Lorne Michaels. Since then, Wilson has packed her credits with a number of hilarious TV shows (Happy Endings for one), writing credits (Bride Wars, Ass Backwards), and notable film appearances (Gone Girl).

And for the uninitiated, this is your guide through the hilarious career of one of TV’s standout actresses.

Happy Endings

It should go without saying that this is Wilson’s most prominent and funniest role on TV. As Penny, Wilson took all the hang ups of late twentysomethings unwilling to accept adulthood and flipped it into a hilarious mantra: Year of Penny. Season two of the show is when Wilson and the series, as a whole, shines.

Burning Love...

With Casey Wilson returning to TV in Marry Me, one of the best new sitcoms of the season, it’s easy to forget she breezed through Saturday Night Live for two short seasons before being let go by Lorne Michaels. Since then, Wilson has packed her credits with a number of hilarious TV shows (Happy Endings for one), writing credits (Bride Wars, Ass Backwards), and notable film appearances (Gone Girl).

And for the uninitiated, this is your guide through the hilarious career of one of TV’s standout actresses.

Happy Endings

It should go without saying that this is Wilson’s most prominent and funniest role on TV. As Penny, Wilson took all the hang ups of late twentysomethings unwilling to accept adulthood and flipped it into a hilarious mantra: Year of Penny. Season two of the show is when Wilson and the series, as a whole, shines.

Burning Love...

The distributor has acquired North American rights to Russell Friedenberg and Randy Redroad’s dramedy starring Johnny Sequoyah, Amy Smart and Victoria Smurfit.

Joshua Leonard, Natalie Imbruglia, Christian Campbell, Will McCormack and Friedenberg round out the cast.

Among Ravens will open theatrically and on VOD day-and-date on July 18 following its world premiere at the Nantucket Film Festival and as opening night at Galway.

Inspired by real events, the film follows events at a combustible July Fourth family get-together as seen through the eyes of a 10-year-old girl.

The Ass Backwards trio of Heather Rae, Teddy Grennan and Dori Sperko produced. Rae brokered the deal on behalf of the filmmakers with Melanie Miller for Gravitas...

Chris Nelson ("Ass Backwards") has been tapped to direct the indie drama "Liv" at Black Label Media. Hilary Swank, Molly Smith and Trent and Thad Luckinbill will produce.

The story revolves around a 26-year-old visionary who becomes an overnight sensation when she's handed her dream job as the editor–and face–of a multi-platform media experiment.

As she begins to lose hold of her image and her magazine, she must decide how much she's willing to sacrifice for success.

The film is based on a novel by Karen Yampolsky, and inspired by the life of magazine editor Jane Pratt. Ellen Shanman will pen the script adaptation.

Source: Variety...

After directing the big, goofy Sundance comedy Ass Backwards with Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael (which I enjoyed quite a bit), Chris Nelson is back in the director's chair with future 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson for the teen sexy comedy Date and Switch. The film follows best friends Michael (Nicholas Braun) and Matty (Hunter Cope) who take the familiar oath to help each other lose their virginity before senior prom. However, when Matty reveals that he's gay, that changes their approach. At least it's an original take on this subgenre, and the supporting cast has Nick Offerman and more. Watch! Here's the first trailer for Chris Nelson's Date and Switch, originally from Yahoo: Date and Switch is directed by Chris Nelson (Ass Backwards) and written by Alan Yang ("Parks & Recreation") High school seniors Michael (Nicholas Braun) and Matty (Hunter Cope) have been best friends since the 3rd grade.

NBC has given pilot orders to two more comedies: Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael’s Mason Twins and Ben Queen/Le Train Train’s A To Z. Single-camera Mason Twins, from ABC Studios, is written/exec produced by Wilson and Raphael and exec produced by Stacy Traub who supervised the script. Having been estranged for 15 years, fraternal twins Pender and Lizzie Mason reconnect after Lizzie’s perfect city life has fallen apart, and she returns to her suburban town to find that her sister hasn’t matured past her teen queen days. The project stems from the deal Happy Endings and SNL alumna Wilson and Raphael inked with ABC Studios in August. The duo also has Dinks, a half-hour with Jonathan Groff, at ABC with a pilot production commitment. Wilson and Raphael, who met in a clown class at Nyu, are longtime writing and stage partners and best friends.

Right now you can see June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson leading their own indie comedy Ass Backwards from a script the female comedy duo wrote themselves. This writer loved the goofy film at Sundance (here's our interview with them), so we're happy to hear news from Deadline that Raphael and Wilson (who are also rocking the TV world right now) have set up another original feature film, this time with Adam McKay and Will Ferrell's Gary Sanchez production banner. The plot is being kept under wraps, but the film will feature Raphael and Wilson in the lead roles again, in addition to writing the script. Raphael and Wilson have some amazing chemistry, with their debut film as leading ladies giving off vibes of Dumb & Dumber meets Romy & Michele's High School Reunion. Raphael will next be seen on the big screen with a bit part in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,...

We can't think of two ladies we'd rather watch dominate television and film more. In case you weren't already anticipating a Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael takeover based on their NBC and ABC projects, the Ass Backwards actresses have also sold a feature pitch to Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's Gary Sanchez Productions. There are no details on the movie yet, but we're predicting a film student will someday write his or her thesis on the wave of awkward dancing that swept through the American comedy landscape in 2014 and 2015.

• Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) and Golden Globe-winner Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire) are set to join Adam Sandler in The Cobbler. Plot details are being kept secret, but The Cobbler is the brainchild of Win Win and The Station Agent writer-director Thomas McCarthy. [The Wrap]

• Ron Livingston (Drinking Buddies) has joined the cast of Supreme Ruler, a comic indie drama about two men competing to be the “Supreme Ruler” of their local Buffalo Lodge. The other lead will be played by Vincent D’Onofrio (Escape Plan). Duane Edwards is making his feature directorial debut on the project, which also stars Marcia Gay Harden...

Happy Veterans Day! Were you so busy remembering the troops this weekend that you forgot to watch a brand new episode of Best Week Ever? That’s alright! Yeah, it’s fine! Because we’ve got the whole episode right here. Find out what happened with Chrissy & Mr. Jones collided with the cast of Best Week Ever! See what delirious delights Ass Backwards‘s Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael brought to the show! Find out who really had the Best Week Ever!

Don’t forget to tune into an all new Best Week Ever this Friday, November 15 at 10/9 C! Set Your DVR!

If you listen to comedy podcasts, you have probably heard Casey Wilson, and particularly June Diane Raphael. In particular, recently you may have heard them discussing their film Ass Backwards and the tale of toil that was its creation. The two co-wrote it, and co-star in it, and the movie dealt with financing issues and long stretches of uncertainty and all the vagaries that one often finds in the world of independent film. However, they persevered, and they’ve brought Ass Backwards into the world. They should be commended for that. Of course, just because a movie is a triumph of...

Exclusive: Alloy Entertainment has hired Elysa Koplovitz Dutton to be VP and run its feature film division based in Los Angeles. She reports to Leslie Morgenstein, President of Alloy Entertainment, which is now part of the Warner Bros Television Group. Dutton was most recently exec producer on the indie comedy Ass Backwards, to be released November 8, and before that had a producing deal at HBO and was a VP Production at Fox. She’s a Brown graduate who created that school’s first series, Sob Story, which got syndicated to campuses across the country. Her work on such films as Idiocracy, Beavis And Butt-head Do America and Election will come in handy, as Alloy’s demo is young. Alloy made its name hatching fiction that has been turned into film and TV properties that include The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. “Elysa...

Exclusive: Alloy Entertainment has hired Elysa Koplovitz Dutton to be VP and run its feature film division based in Los Angeles. She reports to Leslie Morgenstein, President of Alloy Entertainment, which is now part of the Warner Bros Television Group. Dutton was most recently exec producer on the indie comedy Ass Backwards, to be released November 8, and before that had a producing deal at HBO and was a VP Production at Fox. She’s a Brown graduate who created that school’s first series, Sob Story, which got syndicated to campuses across the country. Her work on such films as Idiocracy, Beavis And Butt-head Do America and Election will come in handy, as Alloy’s demo is young. Alloy made its name hatching fiction that has been turned into film and TV properties that include The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars and Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. “Elysa...

To help you figure out what to watch on VOD this month, we've compiled a list of the 10 best indies new to VOD this November. Click on film title to learn more. "As I Lay Dying" (November 1) James Franco writes, directs and stars in this adaptation of William Faulkner's novel, that follows the death of Addie Bundren and the family's quest to honor her wish to be buried in the nearby town of Jefferson. Since premiering at Cannes, the film has received mixed responses, with some saying Franco respectfully brought the Nobel Prize winner's elegiac prose to life and others considering it another one of Franco's experimental endeavors. You be the judge. Where to Watch: iTunes, Amazon, Charter, Comcast, Google Play, DirecTV, Playstation, SuddenLink, Time Warner, Verizon Fios, Vudu, Xbox "Ass Backwards" (November 8) June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson star as Kate and Chloe, two life-long best friends united...

Sarah Silverman once told an interviewer that she'd always wanted to play the kind of role that Bill Murray used to play in the 1970s — the unflappable trickster smartasses women are never invited to portray.

Fortunately, a lot of women comics are writing and producing their own comedies now; Lauren Miller and Jamie Travis collaborated on last year's sweet For a Good Time, Call . . ., and Tina Fey is basically the boss of TV.

In Ass Backwards, Ucb alums June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson write and portray characters that shouldn't be mistaken for standard ditzy femme-com airheads. Kate and Chloe are exactly the kinds of overwrought dimwits Will Ferrell plays, freakishly egocentric with enormous psychic gaps where their self-awareness should be. In hei...

Ben Affleck has the support of former Batgirl Alicia Silverstone. The 37-year-old actress, who played Batgirl alongside George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell in the 1997 flick Batman & Robin, says she thinks Affleck will do a fantastic job playing the caped hero in the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. "That sounds so cool," Silverstone told us at last night's L.A. premiere of Ass Backwards. "I did hear about that. That sounds cool." "I think it's great," she added. "I like him." It was announced back in August that Affleck would portray Batman alongside Superman Henry Cavill in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel sequel. Silverstone joins the list of celebs...

When Happy Endings creator David Caspe proposed to Casey Wilson two months ago, the actress looked better than ever. "I knew it was happening, to be honest," she said on the Tuesday, Oct. 29, episode of Chelsea Lately. "It was supposed to be a surprise but I arrived in full hair and makeup." Casey—who co-wrote and co-starred in the movie Ass Backwards—then revealed that her father, businesmann Paul O. Wilson, has already offered up his wedding planning services. "He has asked and requested, 'Can you wear a sexy wedding dress?' I don't know what to say. And the answer is, 'I guess,'" she laughed. "I would rather that request come from my fiancé from than from my...

During the summer of 2010, before she was on Happy Endings, Casey Wilson shot a movie with comedy partner June Diane Raphael called Ass Backwards. They finally finished the film two years later (following a production delay and a subsequent successful Kickstarter campaign) and premiered it at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Set to open in theaters on November 8 (it's been available on VOD since September 30), Ass Backwards is a road-trip comedy that stars Wilson and Raphael as best friends who used to compete in beauty pageants as kids and are now trying to make up for their past failures. In this exclusive clip, their characters are low on funds and decide to enter an amateur stripping contest held by Paul Scheer.

Last Summer

Rinko Kikuchi ("Pacific Rim," "Babel") is currently at work filming the lead role in Italian indie filmmaker Leonardo Guerra Seragnoli's English-language drama "Last Summer". Lucy Griffiths, Yorick Van Wageningen and Laura Sofia Bach also star.

The story follows a free-spirited but reckless Japanese woman trapped on her father-in-law's yacht off the Italian coast. She has four days to spend with her six-year-old son before she loses custody of him to a wealthy Westerner. [Source: Variety]

Tusk

Haley Joel Osment has joined the cast of Kevin Smith's new indie comedy "Tusk".

Osment plays a best friend and podcast co-host (Justin Long) who goes missing in the backwoods of Canada. Filming begins next month in North Carolina and La. [Source: Deadline]

Business Trip

June Diane Raphael ("Ass Backwards") will play Vince Vaughn's wife in Ken Scott's comedy "Business Trip". Tom Wilkinson also stars

Vaughn plays a Midwestern businessman who takes...

Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael are two comedians/writers/actresses who have gained recognition on nearly every platform a comedian can take advantage of these days. College buddies at Nyu, they studied improv comedy at New York’s Ucb theater where they performed their long running show, "Rode Hard and Put Away Wet," before Hollywood scooped them up to write the Kate Hudson/Anne Hathaway vehicle “Bride Wars.” Since then, Wilson has put in stints on TV as an SNL cast member and on the kooky (and sadly cancelled) ABC sitcom “Happy Endings.” Raphael appeared in “Year One,” starred in the "Bachelorette"-parody web series “Burning Love” (coming soon to E!), and is a co-host of the addictive and hilarious bad movie podcast “How Did This Get Made?” Not content to leave a single media avenue unexplored, Wilson and Raphael’s co-written, co-starring indie flick “Ass Backwards,” directed by Chris Nelson,...

New Release

Parkland

PG-13, 1 Hr., 33 Mins.

This episodic drama is set in Dallas during the three days after the JFK assassination, and some of it is highly charged, like the scenes inside Parkland Memorial Hospital when the president is dying. Paul Giamatti deftly traces the anguish of Abraham Zapruder as he figures out what to do with his 8mm film. Yet the movie lacks an authentic period flavor, and it ambles over so much old ground that it doesn’t add up to much. B- —Owen Gleiberman

New Release

All Is Bright

R, 1 Hr., 47 Mins.

It’s been eight years...

June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson and Jonathan Groff have sold half-hour pilot pitch Dinks (Double Income, No Kids) to ABC through ABC Studios with a pilot production commitment. The project, which stems from the premium blind script deal Raphael and Wilson inked with ABC Studios last month, centers on a thirty-something couple (double-income, no kids) that straddles the line between life with kids and single life without them. Happy Endings showrunner Groff will executive produce through his overall deal at ABC Studios, reuniting with series co-star Wilson. Raphael, repped by UTA, Silver Lining and attorney Pj Shapiro, is attached to star as part of the holding deal she signed with ABC Studios in conjunction with the script pact. She currently stars on the Adult Swim series Ntsf. Wilson is repped by UTA, Odenkirk Provissiero and Shapiros. The duo wrote and starred in the film Ass Backwards which premiered at last...

In the grand tradition of Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion, The Sweetest Thing, Connie & Carla, Drop Dead Gorgeous and countless other female-fronted films that didn't get the respect they deserved upon release -- but have intensely devoted fan-followings -- comes Ass Backwards, a new movie written by and starring Happy Endings alum Casey Wilson and Ntsf:sd:suv's June Diane Raphael.

"I describe the movie as two asses on parade," Wilson recently told me at The 2013 Outfest Film Festival. "It's a female buddy comedy that's got it all: pageants, road trips, meth heads, a lesbian commune ... seriously. It's got everything."

Video - How Ntsf Landed A Dr. Who Star

More formally, Ass Backwards revolves around Kate and Chloe, two childhood best friends who met when they placed dead last in their hometown beauty pageant. Now, full-grown delusional NYC-dwellers, the ladies are given one last chance to win the crowns that eluded them as kids and take a roadtrip...

Everyone loves movie trailers; we can’t get enough of them here in The City of Films. It’s an art form that stands alone from the film itself and has a remarkable power to move us. Trailers can give us chills, laughs, goose bumps and sometimes even anger us. We can’t always post them all, so here’s where we play catch up; it’s Graham’s Trailer Roundup!

This Roundup Includes: All Is Bright, Ass Backwards, Palo Alto, Salinger, The Double, The Young and Prodigious Spivet

Salinger

Synopsis: An unprecedented look inside the private world of J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye.

Starring: Edward Norton, John Cusack, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Danny DeVito, Martin Sheen

Release: Limited release on September 13th

Trailer Analysis: This trailer certainly comes off as dramatic, all those sound bites and all. I have no idea what they are...

If there's one genre that's benefited from the recent boom of home viewing options, it's the indie comedy. With the glut of studio comedies regularly choking the multiplexes, it's easy for the smaller comedies to get lost along the way. The breakout success of things like "Bachelorette" has shown distributors that the audience is there and, with a little prodding, they'll click, download, and whatever else happens when you download a movie at home. Two more comedies looking for that VOD gold have just released trailers: "Ass Backwards," starring June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson and Alicia Silverstone and "Best Man Down," with Justin Long and former indie movie queen Jess Weixler, which, despite the title, is sadly not a wedding-set sequel to "White House Down." "Ass Backwards," which played at Sundance earlier this year, seems like the unholy love child of "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion,...

Nothing makes me happier than to see June Diane Raphael get work, but I’m not sure Ass Backwards is something that (so far) is going to get me jumping for joy. The star of the second season (or whatever) of Burning Love, has already made a name for herself in comedy, not least by a lot of guest appearances on sit-coms, and Funny or Die! and College Humor spots. She’s generally hilarious, and while there is a certain “watching idiots” quality to Burning Love (the mock version of The Bachelorette), it’s a very different kind of watching idiots than Ass Backwards is after. It’s in the area of Dumb and Dumber Chicks… or something.

Adding to my own personal list of things to pull me in all directions about the film, Casey Wilson also stars, and after the incredibly annoying demise of Happy Endings, which was awesome,...

A few days ago we shared the official poster for the upcoming road-trip buddy comedy Ass Backwards, which comes from director Chris Nelson, and is set to hit limited theaters this November. Today, we’re here to add the very first trailer for the whole thing, and you already know what that means: time to meet Kate and Chloe! They’re about to get a second chance to prove they’re winners, let’s give them a try! Starring June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson (watch out, those girls are responsible for the script as well!) in the leading roles, the movie tells a story of two best friends...

Click to read original and full article: Watch: First Trailer For Chris Nelson’s Buddy Comedy Ass Backwards on http://www.filmofilia.com...

We got a new trailer for the raunchy indie road trip comedy Ass Backwards, which premiered earlier this year at Sundance. Eli had a chance to watch the film and compared it to Dumb & Dumber saying...

"Like Harry and Lloyd, Kate and Chloe's combined cluelessness leads them on amazing misadventures. But the characters in Dumb & Dumber had a more endearing quality to them that the girls in Ass Backwards lack. Kate and Chloe's misperception of reality and their unflinching support of each other is more due to their enabled egos rather than from their innocence or ignorance. This makes them hard to like sometimes. Even though I didn't absolutely love the characters, there are so many absurd scenes that you just can't help but laugh at, and director Chris Nelson takes a couple of risky ideas that actually pay off really well. Overall it's a solid comedy, and yet another...

Sneak Peek a new trailer revealing footage from director Chris Nelson's upcoming comedy feature "Ass Backwards", written by and starring Casey Wilson & June Diane Raphael:

"...'Chloe' (Wilson) and 'Kate' (Raphael) are two women whose stations in life aren’t necessarily enviable to others. They run into an old acquaintance (Alicia Silverstone), who brings up the failed pageantry tales of their youth. Then they get invited to an anniversary pageant in their hometown, and they take a long road trip to prove themselves..."

"Ass Backwards" opens wide November 8, 2013.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Ass Backwards"...

A lot of the movies that come out of Sundance with a palatable buzz tend to be introspective emotional dramas that hover just outside the boundaries of comedy. But this year gave us Chris Nelson.s farcical road trip beauty pageant buddy comedy Ass Backwards, from writers and co-stars Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael. Unlike our esteemed Katey Rich, who shares her opinions of the film here, I haven.t seen it yet, but thanks to iTunes Movie Trailers, I now have the above trailer to clue me in on exactly where this movie will be taking audiences. And apparently we.re going to strip clubs and book stores! It.s almost impossible not to make comparisons to Romy and Michele.s High School Reunion and Little Miss Sunshine. Two women want to reclaim and defend the popularity of their youth (or lack thereof), and take a road trip...

Fans of beauty pageants, road trips, and Happy Endings alike are sure to get a kick out of the trailer for Ass Backwards, a movie that SNL alum Casey Wilson and equally funny lady June Diane Raphael wrote and premiered at Sundance. The film focuses on BFFs Kate and Chloe, a duo whose "fragile grip on reality" takes them on a "road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children." It includes Alicia Silverstone, a motorcycle-riding lesbian, some jail-time makeout sessions, and general calamity. There really aren't nearly enough female buddy comedies out there, so we’re looking forward to welcoming the Chris Nelson–directed movie when it's released on demand on September 30 and in theaters on November 8.

Move over, Romy and Michele: Kate and Chloe are here. The trailer for "Ass Backwards," starring June Diane Raphael ("Burning Love") as Kate and Casey Wilson ("Happy Endings") as Chloe, has premiered, and with it comes the 2013 version of the Lisa Kudrow-Mira Sorvino comedy.

"Backwards" is a buddy comedy centering on two delusional lifelong friends who return home to redeem themselves after securing last place in a child pageant years earlier. Alicia Silverstone portrays Kate and Chloe's pageant rival, with Vincent D'Onofrio, Jon Cryer, Bob Odenkirk and "Orange is the New Black" star Lea DeLaria rounding out the supporting cast. The film, written by Raphael and Wilson, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. It will hit theaters Nov. 8, following an on-demand release on Sept. 30.

No one wants to run into the mean kid from childhood as an adult. Especially if that mean kid is now a mean adult.

For best friends Kate (Burning Love’s June Diane Raphael) and Chloe (Happy Endings’ Casey Wilson), that person is Laurel. Played with a vicious coolness by Alicia Silverstone, Laurel is a former beauty queen who eviscerated a younger Kate and Chloe at pageants. “I love the way the two of you aren’t embarrassed about where you are in life,” she says to Kate and Chloe.

But, these two don’t seem easily dismayed and accept...

Alicia Silverstone makes an appearance as a successful beauty queen in the first trailer for "Ass Backwards," an upcoming road trip comedy about two clueless best friends who travel to their hometown to reclaim a crown they never won. The film's screenwriters, June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson, star as best buds who live a delusional life in New York City, where they have found questionable success as a nightclub "girl in a box" dancer and a professional egg donor. Also read: Will 'The Heat' Fuel the Fire for More Female Buddy Movies? After...

Step aside, toddlers. It's the grown-ups' turn to wear the tiara, now.

In the trailer for "Ass Backwards," Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael play aged-up former pageant girls Kate and Chloe, women who fancy themselves Carrie Bradshaw-style New York go-getters but are, in reality, egg donors who are being judged hard by Alicia Silverstone (hi, Alicia! Loved you in "Clueless"!).

When an invitation to return to the pageant they competed in as little girls comes, the two have a chance to reclaim their former glory. Er, glory may not be the greatest word for it, as Silverstone's character points out; they came in dead last even as kids. Always something to be said for second chances!

EW.com premiered the poster, featuring Wilson and Raphael in their full glitzed-out glory, yesterday, along with comments from the stars.

"We took to the streets — and by the streets we mean a...

Kate (June Diane Raphael) and Chloe (Casey Wilson) are best friends who support each other unconditionally. And why shouldn’t they? They’re gorgeous, talented, and crazily successful (well, Kate’s an egg donor and Chloe’s a go-go dancer) living it up in New York City. And in Chris Nelson‘s Ass Backwards, to really drive home the fact that they’re not the girls they were when they left their small town, they’re going to enter – and win – the beauty pageant they lost as little girls. Haha, suckers. Check out the first trailer for yourself here: It’s easy to draw comparisons to another misguided roadtrip movie after seeing this: Dumb and Dumber. Or even a little bit of Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion – although these ladies aren’t feeling any need to pretend that they’re successful, because they totally are. Those two films really aren’t bad company to keep...

Yesterday, the bright and chipper poster for the R-rated, Sundance selected comedy Ass Backwards arrived, complete with writers and stars Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael decked out in some pretty festive attire. Now the first trailer for the silly comedy is finally here, giving us a taste of the wacky duo of Kate and Chloe ("Chloe and Kate. I'm Chloe. She's Kate"). Be warned, this movie is high energy, and very goofy, so if that's not your cup of tea, I don't know what to tell you. There are also plenty of great cameos from the likes of Vincent D'Onofrio and "Breaking Bad" star Bob Odenkirk. It's a blast! Watch! Here's the first trailer for Chris Nelson's Ass Backwards originally from Apple: Ass Backwards is directed by Chris Nelson and written by Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael, who also star in the film as two co-dependent best...

Feel like a little funny this Friday afternoon? "Ass Backwards" is the tale of two best friends who are unabashed hot messes -- the kind of hot messes who are totally oblivious to their hot-messiness, and deluded to boot.

Chloe (Casey Wilson) and Kate (June Diane Raphael) are child pageant girls all grown up, and they've got a second shot at winning trophies to go with their tainted tiaras. Of course, they totally came in last in those pageants back in the day, and are now living lives of quiet desperation without even realizing it. Kate is selling her eggs like hotcakes while they're still fresh, and Chloe's job entails standing in a Lucite box dangling above a crowd of clubgoers.

"Sex in the City" this ain't, but you wouldn't know it from talking to Chloe and Kate. What follows is a road trip comedy of errors that includes table-flipping,...

It is incredibly difficult to play a dumbass. It requires a certain skill set and comedic timing that doesn't always click with audiences. Dumb And Dumber worked, as did Bill & Ted, because there was still a heart and soul behind the talented acting of the stars. The next potential film to add to that shortlist may very well be Ass Backwards. Stars and writers Casey Wilson and June Raphael are well regarded on the stand-up comedy circuit and may be recognizable from their various...

I know, I know, the first poster for Chris Nelson‘s upcoming Ass Backwards looks completely weird, but that’s exactly the point with this buddy comedy – it revolves around two best friends with a not so firm grip on reality. In other words, June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson invite you to choose your own reality, head inside to check them out! Written by Raphael and Wilson, the movie revolves around Kate and Chloe, two best friends who embark on a cross country trip back to their hometown to attempt to win a pageant that eluded them as children. Or, if you prefer – Raphael...

Click to read original and full article: Ass Backwards: First Poster And Image With Casey Wilson & June Diane Raphael on http://www.filmofilia.com...

Way back in January, plenty of laughs and joy arrived in the form of Ass Backwards, a wacky comedy from writers Casey Wilson ("Happy Endings") and June Diane Raphael ("Burning Love"), who also star in the film as a ditzy, clueless duo reminiscent of Dumb & Dumber and Romy & Michele's High School Reunion. Thankfully, Gravitas Ventures picked up the film for distribution this fall, and now the first poster has arrived featuring Wilson and Raphael all decked out in their best pageant dresses. Raphael says, "We took to the streets — and by the streets we mean a downtown La quinceanera shop — to procure the best dresses I have ever seen." And the film itself is just as fun and ridiculous as those wild dresses. Look below! Here's the first poster for Chris Nelson's Ass Backwards from Entertainment Weekly: Ass Backwards is directed by Chris Nelson and written by Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael,...

When Casey Wilson (Happy Endings) and June Diane Raphael (Burning Love) set out to dress in their beauty pageant finest for the poster for their movie, Ass Backwards, they didn’t have to look far to find the right outfits.

“We took to the streets — and by the streets we mean a downtown La quinceanera shop — to procure the best dresses I have ever seen,” Raphael tells EW. “The look we were kind of going for is like crazy Toddlers and Tiaras-type little girl dresses, and you know, luckily for us those are also quinceanera dresses, they are one in the same.

Yesterday we posted our red carpet chats from last night’s Outfest Lgbt Film Festival Opening Night event in Los Angeles with Jonathan Groff and Director Kimberly Peirce but we have more from the star-studded event.

Besides Groff and Peirce, we chatted with newly married/Prop 8 Plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo, Happy Endings star Casey Wilson (Ass Backwards), Groff’s co-star in C.O.G., Corey Stoll, as well as cast and crew from Outfest films Southern Baptist Sissies, Gbf and the documentary on the life of a film legend, I Am Divine.

Newlyweds Jeff Zarillo & Paul Katami

Ass Backwards stars Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael & Director Chris Nelson

I Am Divine director Jeffrey Schwartz

Gbf’s stars Molly Tarlov & Michael J Willett with

writer George Northy & producer Steven Israel

Southern Baptist Sissies’ Leslie Jordan

Southern Baptist Sissies’ Emerson Collins

Southern Baptist Sissies creator Del Shores

C.O.G. co-star Corey Stoll

I Do...

I love Paris! Serving on the jury of U.S. in Progress to judge five American independent films in post production, bonding with filmmakers, organizers and the beautiful city itself, being part of a larger festival which featured films I particularly enjoyed like Nina Simone, Love Sorceress… Forever, It Felt Like Love by Eliza Hittman, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, what’s not to love?

The friendly openness of everyone at the festival made the event special. Sophie Dulac, the festival’s founder (and distributor, producer and exhibitor) whom I interviewed last year and again, almost as old friends again this year (see upcoming blog!), the publicist and programmer, Maxine Leonard, the staff, the Us in Progress organizers – Adeline Monzier (now also Us representative for Unifrance), Ula Śniegowska, Artistic Director of Wroclaw, Poland’s American Film Festival and Mobile New Horizons, my fellow jury members for USinP, and of course, the filmmakers themselves created a fun and inspiring event. What a great international film business we are in!

As I write this, the mailman just delivered a book, entitled Titra Film, A Cinematographic and Family Chronicle, sent to me by my fellow jury-member, Isabelle Frilley, who now, along with her children, owns and operates Titra, now called TitraTVS, the sub-titling company founded by her grandparents in 1933 shortly after talkies made subtitling de riguer . Very involved in the world of cinema, and inspired by her literary tastes, Isabelle has also helped develop multi-lingual subtitling for cinema, subtitling for the hearing impaired, and audio-description for the visually impaired. For many years, Isabelle Frilley has been a member of the juries of “Ciné en Construction” (for Latin-American cinema, in Toulouse), of “Cinéma en Mouvement” (for Mediterranean cinema, in San Sebastian), and of the Caméra d’Or in Cannes. She is only one of the illustrious jury among whom I was honored to count myself. Others included Julie Bergeron who runs Cannes Marche’s Producer Network among other things, Europa Distribution Eve Gabereau of Soda Pictures, a London-based indie distributor, Ciné Cinéma’s Bruno Deloye, Firefly’s Philippe Reinaudo, Commune Image’s Michael Werner, Eaux Vives Production’s Xénia Maingot, and Matthias Lavaux, the cofounder of touscoprod, the French crowdfunding website dedicated to movies, launched in January 2009.

1982 by Tommy Oliver

USinP’s winner, Tommy Oliver, whose previous film Kinyarwanda was a favorite of mine at Sundance a couple of years ago which Roger Ebert ranked 6 on his top ten films of 2011, is now in post on 1982 and won Us$60,000 worth of post production services.

Tommy’s directorial debut, 1982, starring Hill Harper, Sharon Leal, La La Anthony, Bokeem Woodbine, Wayne Brady and Ruby Dee, tells the story of a black father whose wife succumbs to a crack cocaine addiction and his efforts to shield their 10-year old daughter from the ill effects of having a drug addicted mother while trying to wean her off of her addiction. It's set in 1982 in Philadelphia at the very onset of the crack cocaine epidemic and ultimately, it's a story about a father doing whatever he can to protect his family. It's semi- autobiographical story and inspired by true events.

He also wrote and produced 1982 which also received a prestigious San Francisco Film Society Krf grant .

Tommy himself is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, a Microsoft alum and founder of Seattle-based interactive media firm Viliv Studios as well as La- based production company Confluential Films, which he started with actor/ author/ speaker Hill Harper.

I can confidently predict that this film will be seen on the festival circuit as it brings a humanity to the issue we’ve seen dozens of time – crack in communities – but never like this. We don’t see the ugly community violated by violence. We see a loving family coping with a personal and private disaster. Hill Harper plays a loving, compassionate good man. Comparisons will be made with Fruitvale Station, another African American “issue” film (police brutally killing an innocent family man) which will be released July 12 by The Weinstein Company. We need more such films to create a consistent pipeline for audiences who will pay to see these films. AFor his film 1982, he has devised a super-sophisticated, break-the-record domestic marketing plan. I am eager to watch the trajectory of this one.

The runner-up film, Bfe was supported with great gusto by its director and producer, Shawn Telford and producer, Mark Carr who brought a special energy to the entire event and were full of fun throughout. Shawn charmed his French hosts with his French. Watch for the film and with it, watch for Shawn!

I Believe In Unicorns is the feature debut of director Leah Meyerhoff. It was nominated for a Calvin Klein grant at the 2012 Gotham Independent Film Awards and stars Natalia Dyer, Peter Vack, Toni Meyerhoff, Julia Garner, Joshua Leonard and Amy Seimetz.

As noteworthy as the film is and as talented as Leah is, the producers themselves are also notable and prolific! Allison Anders, Katie Mustard and Heather Rae who also produced the Academy Award nominated film Frozen River, starring Melissa Leo, which won the 2008 Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, opened the New York Film Society’s New Directors/New Film series and was acquired by Sony PicturesClassics. She won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for her production work on Frozen River. Heather also produced Mosquita Y Mari (Sundance 2012), Backroads (Sundance 2000), Trudell (2005 Sundance Film Festival), Ibid (2008 SXSW), The Dry Land (Sundance 2010), Magic Valley (Tribeca 2011), and is currently in post-production on Five Thirteen (with Tom Sizemore), Ass Backwards (with Alicia Silverstone and Vincent D’Onofrio) and Plastic Jesus (with Paul Schneider and Mackenzie Foy). For six years she was a programmer for the Sundance Film Festival and ran the Native Program at the Sundance Institute and recently joined the Sundance Board of Trustees.

Ping Pong Summer

Michael Tully made his directorial debut, Cocaine Angel, world premiered at the 2006 International Film Festival Rotterdam, Michael Tully (Director) was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. His follow-up, Silver Jew, world premiered at the 2007 South By Southwest Film Festival. In 2011, he wrote, directed, and acted in Septien, which world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by Sundance Selects. He’s currently in post-production on his newest feature, Ping Pong Summer, which he wrote and directed. Since 2008, he has been the head writer/editor of HammerToNail.com, a website devoted to championing ambitious cinema.

Producers: George Rush, Brooke Bernard, Ryan Zacarias, Michael Gottwald, Billy Peterson, Jeff Allard

Main Cast : Susan Sarandon, John Hannah, Leah Thompson, Judah Friedlander, Amy Sedaris

Children

Director : Jaffe Zinn Producer : Jaffe Zinn and Sterling Hoch

Aside from the jury, the films were seen by members of Europa Distribution:

Alpha Violet - Keiko Funato & Virgine Devesa - France - Sales agent Bac Films - Crasset Véronique - France - Sales agent & Distributor Bankside - Alice Ramsey - UK Sales Agent Chrysalis - Camille Lopato - France – Distributor Content - Toby Melling - UK - Sales Agent Coproduction Office - Marina Perales & Philippe Bober - France - Sales Agent Distrib Films - François Scippa-Kohn - France - Distributor Equation - Didier Costet - France - Distributor Eurozoom - Manon Galibert - France - Distributor Film Republic Rashid Xavier UK sales agent Films Boutique - Jean-Christophe Simon - Germany - Sales Agent Hanway - Fabien Westerhoff - UK - Sales Agent Happiness - Isabelle Dubar - France - Distributor Heliotrope - Laurent Aléonard & Goldfain Philippe - France - Distributor Imagine - Bral Tinne - Benelux - Distributor Jour 2 Fête - Sarah Chazelle - France - Distributor K5 Intl - Oda Schäfer - Germany - Sales Agent Kmbo - Grégoire Marchal - France - Distributor Le Pacte - Nathalie Jeung - France - Sales Agent & Distributor Level K - Freja Johanne - Denmark - Sales agent Locarno Film Festival - Aurélie Godet - France - Festival Memento Film - Tanja Meissner & Ram Murali - France - Sales Agent & Distributor MK2 - Emmanuelle de Couesbouc / Juliette Shramek - France - Sales Agent Premium Films - Karwan Kasia - France - Sales Agent & Distributor Reel Suspects - Frederic Gentet - France - Sales Agent Rezo - Sebastien Chesneau - France - Sales Agent & Distributor Sacrebleu - Louise Bellicaud - France - Producer Soda Pictures - Eve Gabereau - UK - Distributor Sophie Dulac Distribution - Eric Vicente - France - Distributor The Works - Steve Bestwick - UK - Sales Agent Tribeca Film Festival - Frédéric Boyer - USA - Festival Trust Nordisk - Silje Glimsdal - Denmark - Sales Agent Urban - Claire Charles-Gervais - France - Sales Agent & Distributor Versatile - Violaine Pichon & Pape Boye - France - Sales Agent Wide Management - Loïc Magneron - France – Sales Agent Wild Bunch - Emmanuelle Fellous - France - Sales Agent & Distributor Zed - Martine Scoupe - France - Distributor...