Premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival- January ’09

http://www.slamdance.com/

Won Best Narrative Feature at Vail Film Festival- April ’09

http://www.vailfilmfestival.org/

Won an Honorary Mention for the Audience Award at The Nashville Film Festival- April ’09

http://www.nashvillefilmfestival.org/

Waterfront Film Festival- June ’09
www.waterfrontfilm.org

http://launchflix.blogspot.com/2009/06/blane-weavers-true-identity.html

http://spunkybean.com/commentary/1018-the-11th-annual-waterfront-film-festival-day-one

Weather Girl

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say I was briefly angry because Weather Girl stars Tricia O’Kelley who appeared on Gilmore Girls a few years back as the woman who Luke married on a whim. So I’m still a little bitter. But this comedy turned out to be delightful, even though I’m not sure that I should be using words like ‘delightful’. O’Kelley plays Sylvia Miller, a “sassy weathergirl” on a Seattle morning show who has an on-air meltdown when she learns the show’s anchor has been cheating on her.

After her career suicide, she ends up living in her brother’s apartment and coming to grips with some harsh realities – she has no job, no savings, no boyfriends, and her friends all kind of suck. Yes, it sounds like a romantic comedy set-up. And yeah, that’s sort of what it is. But fortunately, it’s propelled by a really clever sense of humor and a very funny cast.

O’Kelley kind of reminds me of Judy Greer – she’s really expressive and can land a punchline with the best of them. She also can play exasperated without whining, which is really nice. In a perfect world, she should be the person they call for Jennifer Aniston roles. It’s her likeability that really grounds the movie – even if you don’t like romantic comedies and/or can see the plot coming from a mile away, she’s so much fun to watch that you won’t even care.

There’s a pretty great cast backing her up, too. Mark Harmon plays the lecherous anchor, and grosses it up in a way I didn’t expect. Jane Lynch knocks it out of the park as always, Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) gets some great bits, local boy Ryan Devlin has a well-done supporting role as Sylvia’s brother, and Patrick Adams is a genuinely funny love interest. There’s also a performance by Jon Cryer that is absolutely hilarious. Even if I didn’t like the movie, Jon Cryer’s scene still would have made it work seeing.

Weather Girl is solidly funny and aggressively likeable. It’s a straight-out fun movie, and if there’s any justice, we’ll see a lot more from Tricia O’Kelley (and writer-director Blayne Weaver) in the near future.

1460

FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Interview with Director Blayne Weaver of WEATHER GIRL
Jun 1, 2009
The comedy Weather Girl begins with a woman (Tricia O’Kelley) breaking up with her cad boyfriend (Mark Harmon) live on a morning news show. The moment fulfills many a heart broken fantasy but leaves the titular weather girl without a job, home or relationship, setting the stage for a refreshing romantic comedy which feels as if it’s about real people living in the real world. FIND spoke with director Blayne Weaver.

By Carolyn Cohagan

1. Is the premise of the film (a woman going off on her boyfriend on live TV) based on an actual experience or was it a fantasy of yours?

The weather girl freaking out on-air was just something that made me laugh. As I was writing, I spent a lot of time watching morning news shows and the hosts are just so insincere and practiced while pretending to be casual and off the cuff. I liked the idea of one of them having a dramatic human moment and how the others would react.

Actually, the part of the story based on my actual experience was the relationship between the thirty-five-year old Sylvia and the twenty-nine-year old Byron. I had been in a similar relationship and it amazed me the pressures that are placed on a woman in her mid-thirties. There is this idea that she needs to look a certain way, be at a certain place in her career and be well on her way to having a family with a stable, grown-up guy who has serious “marriage potential.” That was what really inspired me to write the script.

2. How long did you shoot and what was the budget of the film?

We shot for 22 days with a budget of under $500,000. All of the cast and crew took tremendous cuts in their salaries because they liked the script. We literally had our main talent working for under $300 a day. To me, that is what independent film is all about: Talented people sacrificing their own salaries and working together to make the best product possible.

3. How did you get Mark Harmon involved?

Our casting director and co-producer Lauren Bass made a wish list of actors for the role of Dale. Tricia O’Kelley (producer/star) and I looked at this array of headshots and we started talking about Harmon. I was a huge fan of this arc he did on The West Wing a few years ago and we loved the idea that he had never done a character like this. Harmon is known for playing the stoic, tough guy (which he is in real life, by the way) and we both just really liked the idea of him playing this character which is so far away from that. We sent him the script, met for coffee and he wanted to do it.

4. Have all of your films been comedies?

My first produced script was a dark drama about teens in a mental institution called Manic (written with Michael Bacall). The first thing I directed was a short film called Losing Lois Lane about Superman getting dumped and his ensuing depression… I played Superman… It was definitely a comedy. My first feature Outside Sales was a broad comedy and I was going to do something darker for my next film, but O’Kelley loved Weather Girl and wanted to produce it. So, that’s what we did.

5. Do you picture yourself directing a drama?

Absolutely. I often work as a writer for hire and in doing so I’ve written or worked on dramas, thrillers, westerns, family films, you name it. I love movies and I look forward to making as many different types as I can.

6. Tell me about your writing process. Can you sit at home and make it happen? Do you write in long sessions or short bursts?

Writing is a job. I sit down every day and pound the keys. Sometimes it’s inspired, sometimes it’s not… but you have to keep writing. When I’m writing for myself I work a minimum of an hour a day. Often, I get caught up and go longer but I only HAVE to work for that hour. When I’m writing for hire, I lock down in my apartment. I order food, drink a pot of coffee or pop a bottle of wine and work until I just can’t anymore.

7. What is your favorite moment in the film?

That’s a funny question because I just did our DVD commentary and I couldn’t decide. My favorite moments are the serious ones where you really see how great the actors are. I love the scene where Sylvia (Tricia O’Kelley) and her brother Walt (Ryan Devlin) have a fight and hurt each others’ feelings in a way that only siblings can. Then there is another moment where Byron (Patrick J. Adams) puts it all on the line… Don’t want to ruin it… but it’s a really good scene.

8. What piece of advice do you have for our members who are about to direct a first feature?

Surround yourself with talented people that you trust: actors, producers, cinematographers, editors, gaffers… People who are great at what they do… and then listen to them. You don’t have to take their advice but make sure to hear what they’re saying before dismissing it. Remember that they, too, want to make a great film and the talent you surround yourself with can be your greatest asset.

Weather Girl can be seen as part of the 2009 LA Film Festival at the Majestic Crest Theater, Friday, Jun 19th, 7:30pm or the Landmark 4, Wednesday, Jun 24th, 9:30pm

For ticketing information please phone 1-866-345-6337 or email boxoffice@filmindependent.org

Harmon interviewed on EXTRA:

http://extratv.warnerbros.com/videos/

Kaitlin Olson, Executive Producer Brandon Barrera, Director Blayne Weaver and Producer Steak House post Slamdance screening:
Slamdance TV

Thanks, Heidi Van Lier

If you missed the on air spot, check out the raw interview with Mark Harmon and Ryan Devlin:

“Weather Girl” cast members Tricia O’Kelley , Alex Kapp Horner, Ryan Devlin, Melinda McGraw and Danny Strong at the dvd release party for director Blayne Weaver’s film “Outside Sales”.   Check out IF Magazine at http://www.ifmagazine.com/new.asp?article=6750

LOCATION: West Hollywood, CA

THE SKINNY: The DVD release party for the film OUTSIDE SALES was recently held at the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, CA.

OUTSIDE SALES is about an office full of colorful salespeople. The focus of the movie is on Paul Wells (Lucas Fleischer) who is not happy and he is not a good salesman. He used to be and he used to be great. But life changes when he comes home early one night and finds his wife in bed with his co-worker. OUTSIDE SALES has romance, comedy and tragedy.

Attending the party were the stars of movie: Lucas Fleischer, Tricia O’Kelley (Dagny Green), Tara Karsian  (Dominique), Christopher Shaw (Hank), Danny Strong (Toby) and David Berman (Herb Mulligan).

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider

DAVID BERMAN

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
CHRISTOPHER SHAW and TARA KARISAN 

 

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
TRICIA O’KELLEY

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
TRICIA O’KELLEY and ALEX KAPP HORNER


(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
LUCAS FLEISCHER 

 
(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
MELINDA MCGRAW and STEVE PIERSON

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
REBECCA MARSHALL

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
MELLANY GANDARA

   

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
JASON DAVIS and MICHELLE HAUGO

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
ERIK BRIGHT and ROBERT BARNHAM

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider

SPRAGUE GRAYDEN

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
KAM HESKIN

   

(C) 2008 Sue Schneider
RYAN DEVLIN

Kaitlin Olson’s

Sunny Disposition

words by Randy Gambill, photo by Patrick Mcelhenney

Funny women have it tough. They are either ghettoized as funny but unsexy, reviled as abrasive man-haters, or relegated to bimbo status. But there is a new strain of funny women: Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, and Leslie Mann among them, who seem to have the whole package: Smart, sexy, and undeniably funny enough to keep the most virulent, beer-swilling women-haters at bay. Add Kaitlin Olson to the list.

When I present Miss Olson with the idea that she is the latest addition to this list of hilarious and beautiful women she responds with charming modesty, “Thank you. I really appreciate that. That’s funny. Out of those people that you named – I think all those women are beautiful, but I don’t think if you ask any of them, they would describe themselves as beautiful. They wouldn’t identify themselves as beautiful. I think that you just need that tough junior high school experience to kind of toughen you up and give you something else to fall back on. And I know it’s true for several of them, I don’t know about all of them. But, thank you for the compliment.”

Olson is entering her fourth season on the hit FX show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia . As “Sweet Dee”, the lone women amongst a group of raucous cut-ups, Olson’s prodigious comedy chops get a workout as she matches wits (or witlessness) with the fellas in the depraved comedy world that Sunny inhabits. Keeping up with the boys is no stretch for Olson, in fact, when describing her style of comedy, the old Secret deodorant tagline “Strong enough for a man but made for a women” comes to mind. “I just think it’s funny, but people often describe my sense of humor as very male.” I offer, Well I think so, you seem to get along with the boys pretty well . “Yeah, and that’s what I find funny. I loved Saturday Night Live . So, I had a lot of male inspiration, like Will Ferrell I think is hilarious. I love that he is hilarious and clean at the same time, which is really great.”

When I mention that many of the most recent standouts on SNL have been women, Olson is quick to join in, “I love Kristin Wiig – she is really wonderful and I always loved Gilda Radner.” Olson shares some other sources of inspiration, “I think Annette Bening is brilliant. I love Jane Lynch and Joan Cusack is wonderful; they are all very real. I don’t like overblown, showy. I like it when it’s big, but real. That’s why I really love shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development , all that stuff is very big, but it’s based in reality.”

One of Olson’s realities when she first signed on for Sunny duty was what her place on the show would be. Sunny was created by Rob McElhenney, and it was also developed by him and co-star Glenn Howerton, as well as co-star Charlie Day who was also involved from the very beginning. So of the original quartet, Olson is the only one to have come from outside the circle. I ask her if that was a scary situation to come into. “It could have been tough if they were dicks, but they’re not. They are so great, but when they wanted to cast me in the show, the Dee character was not defined really.”

Apparently there was nothing written for the Sweet Dee character at the time of auditions. Show creator McElhenney had Olson read a scene written for Dennis (Glenn Howerton) which Olson was unaware of at the time. “Yeah! I wanted to take the role because even though they hadn’t developed this character yet, they did write this awesome scene for her. It turns out it was Dennis’ scene. But Rob called me and said, ‘We want you to be in our show, and we want you to be our fourth person, equally. We want you to be funny; we want to write well for you.’ And he said, ‘I know that the character isn’t defined, but what I would love to do is have you help us define it. And we haven’t really written for women so, it’ll be a process for us. But we want your input, we want see stuff that you would love to do, stuff that you do well, stuff that you think is funny.’ And I didn’t know him at all, but I just had to believe him because I thought that the show was really funny! So, I just went for it, and he absolutely didn’t let me down. I feel like my character is getting stronger every year, and they really write for my strengths, and they ask for my input, and they let me play around with my dialogue.”

Olson’s performance as Sweet Dee is a comic tour de force, whether pretending to be disabled, getting addicted to crack, or almost having sex with her father, (Danny DeVito, who turns out not to be her father-don’t ask) she hurls herself headlong into one depraved situation after another. Speaking of depravity, Olson sheds some light on the commonplace gripe that the show sometimes skirts too far over the edge, “But it’s not like we’re trying to be edgy. Everyone throws that word around, it’s not like we’re trying to be terrible. It’s that, what’s funny to us is stuff that hasn’t necessarily been done before. Just seeing the same stuff over and over isn’t funny to us.”

Of the four original Sunny cast members, Olson has arguably chalked up the most extensive showbiz resume. In addition to Sunny she has recurring roles on two other series, as Becky, Larry David’s sister-in-law on Curb Your Enthusiasm and as Hartley Underwood, the one-armed neighbor on The Riches . Olson has racked up a series of other comedy gigs that are strangely impressive, appearing on Punk’d, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment and the short-lived Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show .

On the horizon for Olson is a co-starring role in the upcoming feature film Weather Girl , “Mark Harmon is in it and Tricia O’Kelley is the star. She’s currently on The New Adventures of Old Christine . She’s adorable. And Mark Harmon and I play off of each other. We’re co-anchors. There are lots of good characters and Jane Lynch is amazing in it.”

Olson was born in Tigard, Oregon, and after graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in Theatre Arts, she made her way to the City of Angels where she promptly began training at the legendary Groundlings Improv school: “The Groundlings is an amazing training ground. It’s a war zone. But, it’s an amazing training ground if you can get through that. I was in the Sunday Company, every single Sunday for a year. It was great and offered me a lot of great exposure. That’s where the producers of The Drew Carey Show found me.

Olson’s career is nothing if not eclectic, her break on The Drew Carey Show was playing the office nemesis of Mimi (Kathy Kinney) for two seasons and her film debut was in the cinematic classic, Coyote Ugly , “Yeah, you can see me in that amazing flick. Coyote Ugly was actually one of my first jobs. (laughs) “I was bidding on the male lead (Adam Garcia) in the bar, and I was drunk and screaming and loud. And I’m fighting for him and I don’t win. I never win.”

On the contrary, Miss Olson, in the deliriously beautiful comedic actress game, you’ve hit the jackpot.
Check out h Magazine now!