Gillian Robespierre

Last updated
Gillian Robespierre
Gillian Robespierre (14484925448).jpg
Robespierre in 2014
Born (1978-06-29) June 29, 1978 (age 46)
Education School of Visual Arts (BA)
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, writer, director, producer, actress
Known for Obvious Child
Children1 [1]

Gillian Robespierre (born June 29, 1978) [2] is an American director and writer, known for writing and directing the films Obvious Child and Landline .

Contents

Early life

Gillian Robespierre, 2014 Gillian Robespierre (12025833555) (cropped).jpg
Gillian Robespierre, 2014

Robespierre was born to a Jewish family and raised in New York City. [3] In 2005 she graduated from the School of Visual Arts, where she majored in Film and Video. [4] [5]

Career

Robespierre began her career working as a production assistant on big budget features like American Gangster . [6] She also worked for the Directors Guild of America until 2014. [4]

In 2009, Robespierre co-wrote (with Anna Bean and Karen Maine) and directed the short film Obvious Child, about a young woman who is impregnated after a one-night stand and decides to have an abortion. Robespierre approached Jenny Slate to star in the lead role after seeing her perform at a comedy club. [7] Robespierre later expanded the short into her 2014 feature film debut Obvious Child with Slate once again playing the lead role. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by A24 Films.

In early 2015, Robespierre announced she was developing a comedy pilot for FX with Elisabeth Holm, who co-wrote Obvious Child , starring Jenny Slate and Ari Graynor. [8] Robespierre's second film, Landline , premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2017, followed by a theatrical release on July 21, 2017. The film stars Jenny Slate, Abby Quinn, Edie Falco, John Turturro, and Jay Duplass.

It was announced in January 2021 that Robespierre would direct an adaptation of Melissa Broder's novel The Pisces, about a woman and her "erotic infatuation with a merman". The film will star Claire Foy. [9]

Filmography

Film
YearTitleCreditNotes
2009Obvious ChildWriter, director, producer(Short)
2014 Obvious Child Writer, director, producer
2017 Landline Writer, director
TBAThe PiscesWriter, director

As director

Television

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Danes</span> American actress (born 1979)

Claire Catherine Danes is an American actress. Prolific in film and television since her teens, she is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2012, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clea DuVall</span> American actress, writer, producer, and director

Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall is an American actress and filmmaker. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Adlon</span> American actress (born 1966)

Pamela Adlon is an American actress, writer and director. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series King of the Hill (1997–2010), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in Jungle Cubs (1996–1998), the title role in the Pajama Sam video game series (1996–2001), Lucky in 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997–1998), Margaret "Moose" Pearson in Pepper Ann (1997–2000), Ashley Spinelli in Recess (1997–2001), Otto Osworth in Time Squad (2001–2003), and Brigette Murphy in Milo Murphy's Law (2016–2019), among numerous others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Bell</span> American actress (born 1979)

Lake Siegel Bell is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She has appeared in various television series, including Boston Legal (2004–2006), Surface (2005–2006), How to Make It in America (2010–2011), Childrens Hospital (2008–2016), and Bless This Mess (2019–2020) and in films including Over Her Dead Body (2008), What Happens in Vegas (2008), It's Complicated (2009), No Strings Attached (2011), Million Dollar Arm (2014), No Escape (2015), Man Up (2015), The Secret Life of Pets (2016), Shot Caller (2017), Home Again (2017), The Secret Life of Pets 2 (2019), and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Greer</span> American actress (born 1975)

Judith Therese Evans, known professionally as Judy Greer, is an American actress. She is primarily known as a character actress who has appeared in a wide variety of films. She rose to prominence for her supporting roles in the films Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), 13 Going on 30 (2004), Elizabethtown (2005), 27 Dresses (2008), and Love & Other Drugs (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Jacobs</span> American actress

Gillian MacLaren Jacobs is an American actress. She is known for playing Britta Perry in the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015), Mickey Dobbs in the Netflix romantic comedy series Love (2016–2018), and Mary Jayne Gold in Transatlantic (2023), also on Netflix. Her other notable television roles include Mimi-Rose Howard in the fourth season of the HBO comedy-drama series Girls (2015) and Atom Eve in the animated superhero series Invincible (2021–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Horgan</span> Irish actress, writer, director, producer, and comedian (born 1970)

Sharon Lorencia Horgan is an Irish actress, writer, director, producer, and comedian. She is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series Pulling (2006–2009), Catastrophe (2015–2019), and Bad Sisters (2022–present). She also created the comedy series Divorce (2016–2019), Motherland (2016–2022), and Shining Vale (2022–2023).

Varla Jean Merman is a character originated and portrayed by Jeffery Roberson, an American actor, singer and drag performer. Varla's fictitious pedigree boasts that Ernest Borgnine is her father and Ethel Merman is her mother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Foy</span> British actress (born 1984)

Claire Elizabeth Foy is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix drama series The Crown (2016–2023), for which she received various accolades such as a Golden Globe and two Primetime Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Shelton</span> American filmmaker (1965–2020)

Lynn Shelton was an American filmmaker, known for writing, directing, and producing such films as Humpday and Your Sister's Sister. She was associated with the mumblecore genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Slate</span> American actress, comedian, and writer (born 1982)

Jenny Slate is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer. Following early acting and stand-up roles on television, Slate gained recognition for her live variety shows in New York City and for co-creating, writing, and producing the children's short film and book series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2010–present). She became more widely known as a cast member on the 35th season of the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live between 2009 and 2010, followed by roles in the comedic series Bob's Burgers (2012–present), Parks and Recreation (2013–2015), House of Lies (2013–2015), and Kroll Show (2013–2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taissa Farmiga</span> American actress (born 1994)

Taissa Farmiga is an American actress. Her numerous appearances in horror films have established her as a scream queen, alongside her older sister Vera Farmiga.

<i>Obvious Child</i> 2014 film by Gillian Robespierre

Obvious Child is a 2014 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Gillian Robespierre and stars Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann and David Cross. The story follows Donna, a stand-up comedian, who has a drunken one-night stand with a man named Max after breaking up with her boyfriend. She subsequently finds out she is pregnant and decides to have an abortion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elisabeth Holm</span> American film producer and screenwriter

Elisabeth Holm is an American film producer and screenwriter. She produced the 2014 film Obvious Child and was formerly the film program director at Kickstarter.

<i>Landline</i> (film) 2017 American film

Landline is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Gillian Robespierre with a screenplay Robespierre by Elisabeth Holm from a story by Robespierre, Holm and Tom Bean. The film stars Jenny Slate, Edie Falco, Abby Quinn, John Turturro, Jay Duplass and Finn Wittrock, and follows sisters in 1990s New York City who think their father is having an affair.

Janicza Michelle Bravo Ford is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Her films include Gregory Go Boom, a winner of the short-film jury award at the Sundance Film Festival; Lemon, co-written with Brett Gelman; and Zola, co-written with playwright Jeremy O. Harris.

<i>The Sunlit Night</i> 2019 film directed by David Wnendt

The Sunlit Night is a 2019 romantic comedy-drama film directed by David Wnendt, from a screenplay by Rebecca Dinerstein Knight, based on her 2015 novel of the same name. It stars Jenny Slate as a New York painter finding herself on assignment in a remote village in Norway, with Alex Sharp, Fridtjov Såheim, David Paymer, Gillian Anderson, and Zach Galifianakis in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Molly Gordon</span> American actress (born 1994 or 1995)

Molly Gordon is an American actress, screenwriter and director. She has appeared in the drama TV series Animal Kingdom (2016–2018), and comedy films Life of the Party (2018), Booksmart (2019), and Good Boys (2019). In 2023, she co-directed, co-wrote and starred in the musical comedy film Theater Camp, and took on a recurring role as Claire on the FX series The Bear (2023–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayo Edebiri</span> American actress (born 1995)

Ayo Edebiri is an American actress, comedian, and television writer. Since 2022 she has played chef Sydney Adamu in the comedy-drama series The Bear and won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award for the role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabe Liedman</span> American comedian and comedy writer

Gabe Liedman is an American stand-up comedian, television writer, producer, and actor known for his work on PEN15, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Inside Amy Schumer. He is the showrunner of Netflix animation series Q-Force and the first season of PEN15.

References

  1. "Jenny Slate and Gillian Robespierre: From 'Obvious Child' to not-so-obvious family dynamics". Chicago Tribune . 27 July 2017.
  2. "Gillian M Robespierre". FamilySearch.
  3. Stosuy, Brandon. "Gillian Robespierre on getting a movie made".
  4. 1 2 "Meet the 2014 Sundance Filmmakers #38: Gillian Robespierre Delivers Raw Honesty and Humor in 'Obvious Child'". IndieWire. January 16, 2014.
  5. Grimaldi, James (Fall 2014). "What's in Store". Visual Arts Journal . p. 13
  6. ARELLANO, JENNIFER (5 November 2014). "INSIDE DIRECTOR GILLIAN ROBESPIERRE'S ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT WARDROBE" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  7. Johnson, Kjerstin. "New short film is cute, quirky, and candid. And it's about abortion" . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  8. Stanhope, Kate (27 April 2015). "It's Official: Jenny Slate to Star in FX Comedy Pilot From 'Obvious Child' Team". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  9. Davis, Edward. "Claire Foy Teams With Director Gillian Robespierre For Erotic Merman Infatuation Tale, 'The Pisces'" . Retrieved 29 January 2021.