Carly Usdin | |
---|---|
Born | 1982 (age 41–42) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Central Florida [1] |
Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, writer |
Years active | 2016–present |
Notable work |
|
Website | carlyusdin.com |
Carly Usdin (born 1982) [2] is an American director, writer, and producer. Usdin is best known for directing the 2016 film Suicide Kale and co-creating the comic book series Heavy Vinyl with Nina Vakueva. In 2019, they received the Jury Prize for Best Director for the short film Misdirection at the Los Angeles Diversity Film Festival. [3]
Usdin was raised in Monmouth County, New Jersey. [4] They are Jewish. [3] Usdin began to identify as a lesbian at age 16 and came out at age 20. [3] [5] They attended the University of Central Florida and received their bachelor's degree in film. [6]
Usdin's feature film directorial debut, Suicide Kale , was released in 2016. Written by and starring Brittani Nichols, it also starred Jasika Nicole, Brianna Baker, and Lindsay Hicks. Usdin received the Audience Award for Best First Dramatic Feature at 2016 Outfest. [7]
In 2017, they were the showrunner and director for a digital web series called Threads, which was distributed through Verizon's Go90 platform. The show was an anthology series that dramatized stories "inspired by real events." It was hosted by Milana Vayntrub and ran for 20 episodes. [8]
They were accepted into AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women's class of 2019 cohort, through which they wrote, produced, and directed the short film Misdirection starring Vico Ortiz. [9] [10] The film tells the story of Cam, a college freshman struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and a crush on their straight college roommate, who becomes interested in close-up magic. Usdin drew on their personal experience with OCD to portray the protagonist's symptoms of counting. [3] It was accepted as a 2019 Official Short Film Selection at the Bentonville Film Festival. [11]
In 2021 Usdin partnered with Reese Witherspoon's media company Hello Sunshine to produce a film sponsored by Bailey's and the social media site Bumble. The short film, First Date, starred Shalita Grant and Shannon Woodward. [12]
Usdin co-created and wrote the comic book series Hi-Fi Fight Club in August 2017, published by Boom! Studios and illustrated by Nina Vakueva. [13] The series centers on a queer teenage girl who begins working at a record store where the employees have a clandestine, all-female vigilante fight club. In November 2017, it was announced that the series' name had been changed to Heavy Vinyl. [13] Thrillist named it one of the 25 best comic books of 2018; [14] SyfyWire selected Usdin as one of the 30 best writers for comics in September 2017 for her work on Heavy Vinyl. [15] The series was nominated for a 2018 Prism Award. [16] A follow-up called Heavy Vinyl:Y-2KO was released in March 2020. [17]
The first issue of Usdin's second comic book series, The Avant-Guards, was released in January 2019. [18] The series had 12 issues in total. Written by Usdin and illustrated by Noah Hayes, it tells the story of a transfer student at an all-girls performing arts college who joins the school's fledgling basketball team. [19]
In 2012, Usdin married photographer and producer Robin Roemer. [20] Usdin is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. [21]
Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Writer | Producer | |||
2016 | Suicide Kale [7] | Yes | No | Executive | Received Best First Dramatic Feature at LA Outfest 2016 |
2017 | Threads [8] | Yes | No | Executive | Web series, directed 10 episodes |
2019 | Misdirection [3] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Short film |
2019 | Wizard School Dropout [22] | Yes | No | No | Web series |
2021 | First Date | Yes | Yes | No | Short film sponsored by Bailey's and Bumble |
Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall is an American actress, director and screenwriter. Her film appearances include The Faculty (1998); But I'm a Cheerleader; Girl, Interrupted ; Ghosts of Mars (2001); Identity;21 Grams ; The Grudge (2004); Zodiac (2007); and Argo (2012). On television, DuVall starred as Emma Borden in Lizzie Borden Took an Ax (2014) and its miniseries spinoff, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015). Her other credits include Carnivàle (2003–2005), Heroes (2006–2007), American Horror Story (2012–2013), Better Call Saul (2015–2017), Veep (2016–2019), and The Handmaid's Tale (2018–2022). She also voiced Elsa on Fox's HouseBroken, which she co-created, from 2021 to 2023.
Radha Rani Amber Indigo Ananda Mitchell is an Australian actress. She began her career on television, playing Catherine O'Brien on the Australian soap opera Neighbours (1996–1997), before transitioning to working in Hollywood. Known for her work in the action and thriller genres, she is the recipient of an FCCA Award, as well as nominations for Fangoria Chainsaw, AFI, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Jared Tristan Padalecki is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Sam Winchester in the TV series Supernatural. He rose to fame in the early 2000s after appearing on the television series Gilmore Girls (2000–2005) as well as the films Cheaper by the Dozen (2003), Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Cry Wolf (2005) and Friday the 13th (2009).
Karolina Dean is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Adrian Alphona, Karolina Dean first appeared in Runaways #1. Dean belongs to the extraterrestrial species known as Majesdanians, and possesses solar-based energy powers. She is a member of the Runaways, a group that seeks to stop the Pride, a team of supervillains. She has also been known under the codenames Lucy in the Sky and Princess Justice at various points in her history.
Dean Devlin is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and actor of film and television. He is best known for his collaborations with director Roland Emmerich, and for his work on the Librarian and Leverage television franchises. He is a co-founder of the production companies Centropolis Entertainment and Electric Entertainment.
Autostraddle is a queer and trans-owned online magazine and social network for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, as well as non-binary people and trans people of all genders. The website is a "politically progressive queer feminist media source" that features content covering LGBTQ and feminist news, politics, opinion, culture, arts and entertainment as well as lifestyle content such as DIY crafting, sex, relationships, fashion, food and technology.
Anne Christine Winters is an American actress and singer. She has played roles in the FX's series Tyrant as Emma Al-Fayeed, ABC's series Wicked City as Vicki Roth, and Netflix's series 13 Reasons Why as Chlöe Rice. She also starred in the films Sand Castles (2014), Pass the Light (2015), The Bride He Bought Online (2015), Mom and Dad (2017), and Night School (2018).
Lucifer is an American urban fantasy television series developed by Tom Kapinos that began airing on January 25, 2016, and concluded on September 10, 2021. It revolves around Lucifer Morningstar, an alternate version of the DC Comics character of the same name created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg from The Sandman. In the series, Lucifer is the devil but abandons Hell to run a nightclub in Los Angeles, subsequently experiencing massive life changes when he becomes a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department. The supporting cast includes Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro, D. B. Woodside, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Rachael Harris, and Aimee Garcia.
Jonathan Watts is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU): Homecoming (2017), Far From Home (2019), and No Way Home (2021). He also directed and co-wrote the films Clown (2014), Cop Car (2015), and Wolfs (2024); as well as directing many episodes of the parody television news series Onion News Network. Watts has also directed music videos for electronic music artists such as Fatboy Slim and Swedish House Mafia.
go90 was an American Internet television service and mobile app owned and operated by Verizon Communications. The service was positioned as a mobile-oriented "social entertainment platform" targeted primarily towards millennials, featuring a mixture of new and acquired content from various providers. The service was available exclusively within the United States.
Riverdale is an American television series based on the characters of Archie Comics. The series was adapted for the CW by Archie Comics' chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and is produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios, in association with Berlanti Productions and Archie Comics. Conceived as a feature film adaptation for Warner Bros. Pictures, the idea was re-imagined as a television series for Fox. In 2015, development on the project moved to The CW, where the series was ordered for a pilot. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The Carmilla Movie is a 2017 Canadian comedy horror film directed by Spencer Maybee, based on the web series of the same name (2014–2016). Both the film and the web series were adapted from the 1872 gothic novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. The film received a limited release in Canada on October 26, 2017.
Batwoman is an American superhero television series developed by Caroline Dries for The CW. Based on the DC Comics character of the same name, it is part of the Arrowverse television franchise. The series premiered on October 6, 2019, and ran for three seasons until March 2, 2022, before its cancellation on April 29. The first season follows Kate Kane, the cousin of vigilante Bruce Wayne, who becomes Batwoman after his disappearance. The second and third seasons focus on former convict Ryan Wilder as she protects Gotham City in the role of Batwoman.
Suicide Kale is a 2016 American dark comedy film, directed by Carly Usdin and written by Brittani Nichols. The film centers on Jasmine and Penn, a lesbian couple who unexpectedly find a hidden suicide note in the home of their friends Billie and Jordan. The film premiered at the Queer Hippo International LGBT Film Festival in Houston, Texas on April 3, 2016. Usdin won the Audience Award for Best First U.S. Dramatic Feature at 2016 Outfest.
Brittani Nichols is an American producer, actress, comedian, and writer. In 2016, Nichols wrote, produced, and starred in the film Suicide Kale, which won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Dramatic Feature at 2016 Outfest. She has written for the television programs A Black Lady Sketch Show, Take My Wife, Strangers, and Drop the Mic. Nichols is a writer and producer for Abbott Elementary and won the Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series award at the 54th NAACP Image Awards for the episode "Student Transfer". As part of the producing team of Abbott Elementary, Nichols was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2023.
Studio 8 is an American entertainment company founded in 2014, by Jeff Robinov, John Graham, and Mark Miner based in Culver City. It specializes in film and television production.
Rebecca Henderson is a Canadian actress. She is known for her portrayal of Lizzy on the Netflix series Russian Doll and for her roles in independent films Appropriate Behavior, They Remain, and Mickey and the Bear.