Hannah Fidell is following up “6 Years,” her portrait of dysfunctional young love, with a buddy comedy. Principal photography for “The Long Dumb Road” has begun in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a press release has announced.
Tony Revolori (“Grand Budapest Hotel”) and Jason Mantzoukas (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) star as two men who have little in common but are both at personal crossroads. They “meet serendipitously and take an unpredictable journey through the American Southwest,” the film’s official synopsis reveals. “At once comedic and honest, the film explores how differences in class, race, age, and life experience divide us, and how they can ultimately bring us together.”
Taissa Farmiga (“American Horror Story”), who starred in Fidell’s 2015 relationship drama “6 Years,” has a supporting role in the project. The ensemble cast also includes Grace Gummer (“Good Girls Revolt”), Casey Wilson (“Happy Endings”), and Ron Livingston (“Drinking Buddies”).
“It’s been my experience that the indie/festival world is very female-director friendly. It’s those higher-budgeted projects where it seems to be harder to break through,” Fidell told us when “6 Years” premiered at SXSW. At the time, she was working on the screenplay for “The Long Dumb Road.” “I’m in the middle of writing a comedy — two dudes on a road trip — that I co-wrote with my friend Carson Mell,” she said. “He wrote on ‘Eastbound and Down’ and currently writes on ‘Silicon Valley,’ so you know this film will be very different from anything I’ve done before, just as the improv-heavy ‘6 Years’ was vastly different from the meticulously planned out and scripted ‘A Teacher.’ I like a good challenge. And I like to feel that I’m always learning something new,” she emphasized.
“The Long Dumb Road” was financed by Gamechanger Films, which invests in narrative features helmed by women. Fidell and Jacqueline “JJ” Ingram (“Operator”) are producing alongside Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams of Ten Acre Films (“Hellion”). Mynette Louie (“Lovesong”) and Alicia Van Couvering (“Christine”) are serving as executive producers along with Gamechanger’s Julie Parker Benello, Dan Cogan, Geralyn Dreyfous, and Wendy Ettinger.
