EXCLUSIVE: Radio Silence is producing a feature version of writer-director Colleen McGuinness‘ Oscar-qualifying short Loser. The 30 Rock and Ramy vet McGuinness will write and direct.
Radio Silence is comprised of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett & Chad Villella. Tyson Bidner (The Bear, The Whale), who produced the short, will line produce and serve as an EP.
Colleen McGuinness
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Glamour
Loser follows Alice, a brilliant but troubled physicist, as she attempts to heal her trauma by using time travel. However, she gets caught in a twisty, cat-and-mouse game of murder and violence in New York City.
“With Loser the short, I wanted to examine that specific turbulence of your early 20s, when your hopes and fears seem magnified, and it’s easy to feel like a loser — until you realize how much bigger the world is, and how good we really have it. In the feature, these feelings spill over into a female-led time travel thriller, which further explores the anxieties, violence, and overwhelming technological advancements of today’s world, and how we cope and heal from them,” McGuinness tells Deadline.
“Radio Silence are truly my dream producers — supportive, visionary, and enthusiastic. This collaboration is especially meaningful because Matt and I have been friends since we both worked at New Line Cinema, during our own precarious early 20s. I couldn’t ever have foreseen that my incredibly talented friend Matt, along with the amazing Chad Villella and Tyler Gillett, would produce my first feature, and yet it feels exactly right. I am beyond grateful to partner with these wonderful filmmakers on this adventure,” McGuiness adds.
Loser made its World Premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Norwegian Film Festival and a sold-out North American Premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Palm Springs International ShortFest. It’s booked to play at the Oscar-qualifying Hamptons International Film Festival. The film went on to screen at the HollyShorts and Salute Your Shorts Film Festivals in Los Angeles and is an official selection at DOC LA and the Catalina, New Hampshire, Charlotte, Raleigh, Brighton Rocks, Brighton Bay, Kerry, Dublin, Evolution Mallorca, Arizona Underground and Crested Butte Film Festivals as well as the Oscar-qualifying BendFilm and Bengaluru International Short Film Festival.
“Loser is a fresh, original movie that blends genres and has fantastic characters at its core,” shared the Radio Silence team. “We are thrilled to be a part of the team that brings Colleen’s vision to reality and we think audiences around the world are going to love it!”
McGuinness’ writing credits include the Emmy-winning 30 Rock, of which she’s 2013 Emmy Outstanding Comedy Series nominee, Hulu’s Ramy, Amazon’s Forever, and Netflix’s Friends From College. She was most recently an EP on Hulu’s Life and Beth. McGuinness has sold projects to HBO, FX, Paramount+, New Line, Max and Apple+, and has developed projects with A24, Tina Fey, Reese Witherspoon, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, Patty Jenkins, Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph, Denise Di Novi, and Carolyn Strauss.
She is represented by CAA, 3 Arts and Ziffren Brittenham. Radio Silence is repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole.
