EXCLUSIVE: Hanna Gray Organschi‘s feature directorial debut Rubber Hut, which participated in all three Sundance Labs — Screenwriters, Directors, and Producers — has attached Grace Van Patten (The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox) to star.
Set in 1992 Rhode Island, Rubber Hut follows an entrepreneurial ex-Pan Am stewardess who opens a drive-thru condom kiosk in her Italian Catholic town. Overnight, Emanuella becomes a lightning rod in the community, a radical hero to local teens, and an unlikely threat to her tight-knit community.
Also selected for Film Independent Fast Track, NYU’s Purple List, and the Gotham Week Project Market, Rubber Hut will be produced by Elizabeth Woodward for Willa (Academy Award-nominated The Voice of Hind Rajab, Claire Denis’ The Fence) and Tara Sheffer for Stone Fruit Productions (Academy Award-nominated A Lien). Anne Carey (Sundance winner The Persian Version) and Jason Michael Berman (Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest and Ben Affleck’s Air) are exec producing.
The project expands on F*ck That Guy, an Oscar-qualified proof-of-concept short from Organschi, exec produced by Spike Lee, David Frankel, and Riva Marker. Production is set to kick off this summer.
Organschi told us this morning, “I couldn’t be more excited to bring Rubber Hut to life. The Sundance Labs helped me shape this world in ways I’m incredibly grateful for and I can’t wait to invite audiences in. Grace balances a razor sharp wit with striking sincerity and absolute cool. I know that in her hands, our high-octane heroine will soar.”
Commented producers Sheffer and Woodward, “After collaborating on two shorts, we’re thrilled to be producing Hanna’s debut feature. She is an incredible talent, with a deep attention to craft and a great sense of humor. With Rubber Hut, we’re excited to make a film set in the 90’s that will resonate with today’s audiences. Grace coming on board to star is a dream, and we can’t wait to bring this story to life this summer.”
Van Patten is coming off a starring role in the hit Hulu series Tell Me Lies, based on the novel by Carola Levering and created by Meaghan Oppenheimer, whose third and final season recently drew more than 3.5M viewers in just its first day on Disney+ and Hulu. Prior to this, she played the title role in Hulu’s limited series The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, executive produced by Monica Lewinsky and Knox herself. Other past credits include David E. Kelley’s Nine Perfect Strangers, Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories, Karem Sanga’s The Violent Heart, David Robert Mitchell’s Under the Silver Lake, and Jane Anderson’s Mother of the Maid in which she starred opposite Glenn Close at The Public Theater in New York. She is represented by WME, Brookside Artist Management, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
A New England filmmaker based in New York City, Organschi’s work explores stubborn female protagonists who seek autonomy with self-knowledge and is inspired by women who stand out because they don’t like what it means to fit in. Her short F*ck That Guy was supported by the Spike Lee Production Fund and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, winning the Grand Jury Award at Proof Film Festival and Best Live Action Short at the deadCenter Film Festival. She is repped by Untitled.
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