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44-533: Leslye Headland (born 1980) is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and playwright. She wrote the play Bachelorette and wrote and directed its 2012 film adaptation and the 2015 film Sleeping with Other People . She co-created the Netflix series Russian Doll , along with Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler . She also created the Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte . Leslye Headland

88-469: A troll could appreciate." Stephen Holden of The New York Times , gave the film a rave review, stating, " Bachelorette is more tartly written, better acted and less forgiving than male-centric equivalents, like The Hangover movies... it comes at you with the crackling intensity of machine-gun fire". Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "It is billed as a comedy, but it's really

132-494: A deal with Fox 21 Television Studios. In June 2023, she was announced as the director of the upcoming adaptation of Taylor Jenkins Reid 's 2017 novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . On April 22, 2020, it was unofficially announced through Variety that Headland would be the showrunner and writer for an upcoming Star Wars series on the Disney+ streaming service . The series would be female-centric and would take place in

176-537: A different part of the Star Wars timeline than other projects in the franchise. On May 4, 2020 ( Star Wars Day ), it was officially announced that Headland will write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner for her own Star Wars series for Disney+ , entitled The Acolyte , which takes place during the final days of the High Republic . It was revealed, in an May 2024 New York Times interview with Headland, that

220-541: A distribution label partnership pact with Fine Line Features and the hiring of Dennis O’Connor, United Artists marketing vice-president, as division head. The pact negotiation was started due to a single distribution film deal between Fine Line and HBO Films for American Splendor . HBO Films Domestic Theatrical Releasing's first release was Elephant on October 24, 2003. In 2005, HBO Films Domestic Theatrical Releasing and Fine Line were effectively merged with Warner Bros. (WB) decided HBO and New Line Cinema should form

264-491: A lipstick-smeared drunken tragedy. The humor is so caustic you won't know whether to laugh or cry." Justin Chang of Variety praised the film for "a promisingly funny first half" but concludes that it "all but drowns in its own catty cynicism, turning as stingy with emotion and insight as it is with real laughs." The film eventually grossed $ 12 million in theaters worldwide and more than $ 8 million more on VOD. Bachelorette

308-516: A new smaller and niche films distribution arm, Picturehouse . Len Amato, producer and as the president of Spring Creek Productions, was appointed HBO Films senior vice president in March 2007. In 2008, Picturehouse was discontinued with distribution being handled by WB's main distribution arm. HBO Films exited the theatrical film market with Picturehouse's closure. With Callender leaving to form his own production company in late 2008, no division president

352-464: A playwright. Leslye Headland was brought up in a strict religious home and grew up watching the Marx Brothers and MGM musicals. Headland notes that Alfred Hitchcock 's film Rear Window was the first time she saw the camera as a tool and realized what a director did. Later in life as she was completing her BFA at New York University , Headland notes the difficulty and dark time she faced due to

396-425: A sewing machine. Trevor text messages Regan, inviting them to stop by the strip club where the men are, which they agree to. Gena takes the dress into the strip club's bathroom where she attempts to clean it; there, she has a conversation with a stripper who uses the dress as a towel and toilet paper. Regan, furious over the situation, gets into an argument with Gena who insists they confess everything to Becky, and it

440-404: A speech at the party, and Gena says in her toast that she once caught Becky forcing herself to throw up in the high school bathrooms. After the dinner, the women go to their suite, where Katie's co-worker arrives and does a striptease for them, but Becky stops it after he jokingly calls her "Pigface", a cruel high school nickname. She leaves the bachelorette party, and Regan, Gena and Katie stay in

484-592: A thriller about marriage based on the young adult novel of the same name. She was also set to executive produce and direct a film based on the novel American Huckster: How Chuck Blazer Got Rich From—and Sold Out—the Most Powerful Cabal in World Sports for HBO Films starring Will Ferrell . She was additionally anticipated to executive produce and direct the first episode of the Fox series Sisters . In 2019, she signed

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528-405: A woman finding balance between her personal life and her love life... those are all worthy endeavors and excellent shows are made about all of those things, but we were just thinking 'What hasn't been done?'" Headland alluded to being involved in a second season of Russian Doll , though Lyonne ultimately took over as showrunner. Headland was hired by Netflix to direct the film Tell Me Everything ,

572-533: Is a 2012 American comedy film written and directed by Leslye Headland , adapted from her play of the same name. It stars Kirsten Dunst , Lizzy Caplan , and Isla Fisher as three troubled women who reunite for the wedding of a friend (played by Rebel Wilson ) who was ridiculed in high school. The play upon which the film is based was originally written as one of Headland's cycle of "Seven Deadly Sins" plays. The film wrapped production in New York, and premiered at

616-399: Is appointed with department heads becoming president of their departments, Kary Antholis at HBO Miniseries, and Amato at HBO Films. Both answered to president of programming group/West Coast operations, Michael Lombardo. The films produced by the company have garnered hundreds of Primetime Emmy Awards , 694 nominations with 162 wins, and Golden Globe Awards . HBO Films productions have won

660-442: Is revealed in the argument that Gena had an abortion. Gena leaves the club with Clyde and the dress. Meanwhile, Joe attempts to woo Katie, who is heavily intoxicated and high on cocaine, and Regan ends up having sex with Trevor in the strip club bathroom. Clyde and Gena spend the evening together reminiscing and have sex. Meanwhile, Joe and Katie spend the night in the hotel swimming pool, where Katie reveals that she attempted suicide

704-418: Is the first television series that Headland co-created, and she was the last of the three women to come on board for the project. The series premiered on February 1, 2019. On the female driven narrative of Russian Doll , Headland stated, "It was really important to explore a show about a female protagonist that asked spiritual and existential questions, as opposed to a show that was about a woman finding romance,

748-446: Is what inspired her 2012 play Assistance , though she claims she was not physically assaulted by Weinstein and did not witness any incidents. Headland got her first job in the television industry in 2010 as a staff writer on the FX series Terriers . She wrote and directed the 2012 film version of her play Bachelorette, which was her debut as a feature film director. The film premiered at

792-563: The 9/11 attacks and names David Fincher 's Fight Club as the reason she has a lifelong artistic need to make a joke about what is truly painful. Addiction is a theme that plays heavily into her projects. Regarding her work Headland has stated, "I'm attracted to stories about people who have created prisons for themselves and are trying to get out of them." Headland is married to actress Rebecca Henderson in September 2016. Film Television Bachelorette (film) Bachelorette

836-666: The ABC series Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 was set to both star and executive produce. Dramatists Play Service published Assistance in late 2013. Headland is the screenwriter of the 2014 remake of the film About Last Night , itself an adaptation of the 1974 David Mamet play Sexual Perversity in Chicago . In 2015, Headland directed Sleeping with Other People based on her own script, which starred Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie . At

880-603: The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie every year from 1993 to 2015 and 2020, except for four years. Elephant is the first film produced by HBO Films to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival . HBO Showcase was started as a second film banner for HBO in 1986 to expand the boundary of drama. Age Old Friends (1989) was the unit's first production to earn an Emmy Award. In 1996, HBO Showcase

924-532: The Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2012. It received a limited release in the United States on September 7, 2012. Regan Crawford is having lunch with her longtime friend, Becky Archer, who reveals that she will marry her boyfriend, Dale. Although secretly jealous of the fact that her friend is now engaged, Regan notifies their two other friends Gena Myers and Katie Lawrence. Six months later,

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968-487: The Sundance Film Festival . Bachelorette co-starred Kirsten Dunst , Lizzy Caplan , and Isla Fisher as three troubled women who reunite for the wedding of a friend played by Rebel Wilson , who was ridiculed in high school. Headland's play Assistance premiered in 2008 and was staged in 2012 at the New York theatre space Playwrights Horizons . Television rights were acquired by NBC in 2013, to be executive-produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay ; Krysten Ritter of

1012-634: The Rings: The Rings of Power , and other series,, while others stated that the series actually cost $ 230 million to make, saying that Headland was possibly referring to the price in British pounds rather than U.S. Dollars . On Rotten Tomatoes , the series has an average approval rating of 78% based 246 critics' reviews, while it was "panned" by audiences through review bombing the series on public review sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic , and IMDB , with some critics saying that those who review-bombed

1056-514: The Rivers Run then Far Pavilions were cablecast. HBO Pictures started winning Emmy Awards in 1993 with two for Barbarians at the Gate and Stalin . Around the time, the company tried its hand into feature films again by partnering with Cinema Plus L.P., with MGM/UA Communications planning on to distribute its films, but the films that eventually came out were released by Warner Bros. due to

1100-650: The Time-Warner merger. Around November 1996, John Matoian was appointed as president of HBO Pictures reporting to HBO chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes . Bewkes decided by April 1999 that he want a single original programming division. Programming president Chris Albrecht oversaw original series development, specials and miniseries and was selected over Matoian. Matoian resigned because he lost his direct reporting status and would have reported to Albrecht. Executive vice president of HBO NYC Colin Callender , who reported to Matoian,

1144-438: The company from Deknatel as senior vice president. He canceled a dozen projects in development and was reassessing star vehicle productions as being done as vanity projects. A production for each month from July to November was the new plan with a push for additional rights beyond pay TV rights, like foreign theatrical, home video and network television. In January 1984, a telefilm and HBO Premiere Films' first two mini-series, All

1188-424: The dress. Gena asks a maid at the hotel to help her to touch-up the dress before bringing it to Becky; meanwhile, Katie locks herself in the bathroom and overdoses on Xanax . While Regan forces Katie to vomit the pills, she ends up puking all over Regan's dress. To buy time, Regan convinces Becky to ride to the wedding in her pajamas and put on the dress when she arrives. Irate, Becky screams at her mother and Regan in

1232-657: The erosion of "goodwill of the Star Wars brand" for series.. Others cited the show's cost as another reason for the show's cancellation. Deadline Hollywood also reported that prior to this announcement, Headland had indicated, in interviews, that she had "pitched her ideas for a second season." As a playwright, Headland wrote the Seven Deadly Sins cycle: Cinephillia (lust), Bachelorette (gluttony), Assistance (greed), Surfer Girl (sloth), Reverb (wrath), The Accidental Blonde (envy), and Cult of Love (pride). Part of

1276-451: The film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Reelviews' James Berardinelli gave the film his lowest rating of zero stars, stating, "Sometimes a movie is so bad it makes me want to go into seclusion and never see another film. Bachelorette is one of those". He would later choose Bachelorette as the worst film of 2012, describing it as "the kind of despicable movie only

1320-422: The four women make up and dance together at the reception. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 102 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "It has its moments, but Bachelorette ultimately plays it too safe with its trio of unlikeable leads, betraying them with a predictably sentimental final act that undermines the bracingly honest humor preceding it." On Metacritic ,

1364-594: The inspiration for the Seven Deadly Plays came from her Christian upbringing. Her final play in the series, Cult of Love , opened in 2018. She has also written a neo-noir style play The Layover which received mixed reviews in 2016. Her play Cult of Love is set to open on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre in the Fall of 2024 as part of Second Stage Theatre's 2024-2025 season, marking Headland's Broadway debut as

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1408-676: The premier of the film, Headland said in an interview with The Wrap that her "elevator" pitch for the movie was, "Like When Harry Met Sally for assholes." The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival . Headland has directed episodes of the television series Heathers (for which she also served as an executive producer) and two consecutive episodes of the 2016 Starz TV series Blunt Talk , starring Patrick Stewart. She has also directed episodes for SMILF and Black Monday . Headland directed four episodes and co-wrote three episodes of Russian Doll , which she co-created for Netflix with Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler . Russian Doll

1452-414: The room where they keep drinking and doing cocaine. Drunk and high, the three accidentally rip Becky's bridal gown, and Katie stains it with a nosebleed. Regan contacts a friend who owns a bridal store, who reluctantly agrees to open it for them in the middle of the night. After unsuccessfully searching the store for a dress for Becky, Katie reveals that she can sew, which leads them on a hunt for thread and

1496-417: The series were "annoying" and racist . Others claimed that no review bombing was going on, but that people were only "expressing displeasure" for the series through audience scores. The series was canceled after one season, reportedly because viewership was not "strong enough" for a second season, and, in the view of The Hollywood Reporter , because of people's changing habits when watching streaming series and

1540-472: The show cost $ 180 million (for eight episodes) and took four years to make, with the interviewer, and New York Times reporter Brooks Barnes , arguing pleases fans of the original Star Wars and telling an "entirely new story...that showcases women and people of color." Some reviewers called the budget "staggering", "shocking", and "hefty" and compared it to the reported budgets of Game of Thrones , The Mandalorian , Secret Invasion , Citadel , Lord of

1584-416: The taxi. Gena arrives to the wedding with the dress. It's been completely cleaned except for a tiny bloodstain. Becky walks down the aisle while Regan and Gena sit on a bench and watch the ceremony, where they are joined by Katie, who arrives late. At the reception, Joe and Katie talk and kiss, Regan tries to sleep, and Clyde gives an obscene speech about having sex with Gena the night before. The film ends as

1628-523: The unit would do 24 projects in 1984 and 50 a few years later. HBO Premiere Films was funding the productions at 60% for just the pay TV rights. Their first film, The Terry Fox Story , shown in May 1983 was also the first feature film produced expressly for pay television. Two more films were produced and shown in 1983. By the end of the first year the schedule was cut back and the unit moved into producing theatrical films. In January 1984, Donald March took over

1672-416: The women are preparing for Becky's bachelorette party that evening; Gena flies from Los Angeles to New York City, and the four meet at the hotel, where Katie announces that Gena has brought cocaine for them all. At the dinner party that night, Gena runs into her ex Clyde, whom she sees flirting with Dale's younger sister, and Katie runs into Joe, a former classmate and pot dealer. Trevor, the best man, gives

1716-399: The year before. Becky calls and asks Regan to come to her room so they can talk; in their conversation, it is revealed that Regan is bulimic, and that Becky covered it for her in high school. Just as Regan begins to tell Becky about her dress, Becky's mother arrives, and they begin to prepare for the wedding. Gena and Clyde head to the wedding in the morning while the party planners can't find

1760-662: Was expected to become a major film studio , in 1983. HBO sold half of its ownership in TriStar in December 1985. HBO Premiere Films began in 1983 as a telefilm and miniseries production company with an "ambitious production schedule" for the HBO channel. With the high expense of theatrical film exclusive, those films appeared on multiple pay TV channels. Thus, the unit was started to give the channel some exclusives. The company's first head, Jane Deknatel (an English-born television veteran), projected

1804-441: Was promoted to take over as president of HBO Pictures. In October 1999, HBO NYC Productions was merged into HBO Pictures and renamed HBO Films under division president Callender. HBO Films Development Unit was also formed by November 1999. Prior to July 2003, HBO Films made individual distribution deal for their films. The company formed its theatrical distribution division, HBO Films Domestic Theatrical Releasing, that month with

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1848-545: Was raised in suburban Maryland. She graduated in 1999 from Staples High School . In 2002, she received her BFA degree in drama from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University , where she attended Playwrights Horizons Theater School . Upon graduating college, Headland spent six years working as an assistant at Miramax , one year of which was spent as Harvey Weinstein 's personal assistant. Her experience during that time

1892-454: Was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 19, 2013, by Radius , The Weinstein Company , and Anchor Bay Entertainment . HBO Films HBO Films slates three or four films per year and develops most them internally with theatrical films being distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures . After or around 1978, HBO was involved into preproduction financing films for exclusive pay-TV rights, which

1936-471: Was risky as the films could be unpopular while alienating movie studios. The original Silver Screen Partners , L.P. was organized by Roland W. Betts, New York film investment broker to fund movies for HBO in 1982. The limited partnership sold through EF Hutton were oversubscribed and raised $ 83 million. HBO made a 50% guarantee on their investment for exclusive cable rights. HBO then joined with Columbia Pictures and CBS to form TriStar Pictures , which

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