Jenna Laurenzo–director, producer, screenwriter and star of the upcoming feature film Lez Bomb–has joined the commercial directing roster of Untitled, the L.A.-headquartered shop headed by founders/EPs Kristin and Jim Evans.
Lez Bomb, which marks Laurenzo’s feature directorial debut, is scheduled for release in theaters on Nov. 9. The film tells the story of a still-closeted young woman who brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving, only to have the planned coming-out thwarted by the unexpected arrival of her male roommate. An ensemble cast includes Oscar winner Cloris Leachman, Oscar nominee Bruce Dern, Kevin Kane, Steve Guttenberg, Kevin Pollak, Elaine Hendrix, Brandon Micheal Hall and Rob Moran. The film is executive produced by comedy director Bobby Farrelly (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary).
Lez Bomb won the Jury Award for Best Feature at Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival, and was an official selection at the Frameline and Woodstock film festivals as well as NewFest.
An excerpt from Lez Bomb helped earn Laurenzo a slot in this year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase presented back in May at the DGA Theatre in NYC.
Laurenzo made an earlier career splash with her acclaimed short film, Girl Night Stand, which became a viral sensation earning millions of views on YouTube. It was subsequently translated into several other languages by fans around the world.
Selected for the prestigious Lincoln Center 2018 Artist Academy, Laurenzo is an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University. There, she received a degree in drama and English with a focus in directing and writing, which she followed with a year studying acting at the Michael Howard Studios conservatory. She has created assorted web series and digital shorts, which naturally led her to directing commercials.
“I’m a big fan of laughter. And emotion. I want to make memorable Super Bowl commercials that make people both laugh and cry between touchdowns,” said Laurenzo. ”Spots that are both heartwarming and inspiring.”
She added, “In my dream ad world scenario, I’m directing spots that explore the interconnection between different cultures and religions. And I’m a great believer in the power of comedy as a mechanism to help make complex messages more digestible.“
Laurenzo joins Untitled’s roster of directors who are known both nationally and internationally, working with leading brands. The Untitled directorial lineup includes such notables as Jillian Martin and Grant Heslov. The latter recently earned a Cannes Gold Lion and a Clio for Cigna’s “TV Doctors of America.” His Nespresso “Coming Home” spot starring George Clooney received critical acclaim last year, and he recently directed the new global Nespresso Quest spot featuring Clooney.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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