Adam Jared Brody is an American actor. His breakout role was as Seth Cohen on the Fox television series The O.C. (2003–2007). In the first decade of the 21st century, Brody appeared in films including Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Thank You for Smoking (2005), In the Land of Women (2007), and Jennifer's Body (2009).
Blair Cornelia Waldorf is one of the main characters of Gossip Girl, introduced in the original series of novels and also appearing as the lead in the television adaptation; she also appears in the comic adaptation. Described as "a girl of extremes" by creator Cecily von Ziegesar, she is a New York City socialite and a comical overachiever who possesses both snobbish and sensitive sides. Due to her position as queen bee of Manhattan's social scene, Blair's actions and relations are under constant scrutiny from the mysterious Gossip Girl, a popular blogger.
Leighton Marissa Meester is an American actress and singer. She is known for her starring role as Blair Waldorf on Gossip Girl, which ran from 2007 to 2012. She has also appeared in films such as Killer Movie (2008), Country Strong (2010), The Roommate (2011), Monte Carlo (2011), The Oranges (2011), The Judge (2014), The Weekend Away (2022), and EXmas (2023). She portrayed Angie D'Amato on the ABC sitcom Single Parents (2018–2020). Meester made her Broadway debut in Of Mice and Men (2014).
Ramona Lofton, better known by her pen name Sapphire, is an American author and performance poet.
Jane's World was a comic strip by cartoonist Paige Braddock that ran from March 1998 to October 2018. Featuring lesbian and bisexual women characters, the strip stars Jane Wyatt, a young lesbian living in a trailer in Northern California with her straight male roommate, Ethan, and follows her life with her circle of friends, romances, and exes. Shortly after celebrating its 20th anniversary, publication ended with Jane marrying Dorothy.
The River Wild is a 1994 American thriller film starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, and David Strathairn. It was directed by Curtis Hanson and written by Denis O'Neill. It follows a young family whose white-water rafting holiday is endangered when they are taken hostage by a pair of armed fugitives.
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), Atom Eve in the animated superhero series Invincible (2021–present), and Tiffany Jerimovich in the FX on Hulu comedy-drama series The Bear (2023–present).
Cheryl Dunye is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye's work often concerns themes of race, sexuality, and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians. She is known as the first out black lesbian to ever direct a feature film with her 1996 film The Watermelon Woman. She runs the production company Jingletown Films based in Oakland, California.
Aurora Borealis is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by James C.E. Burke and starring Joshua Jackson, Donald Sutherland, Juliette Lewis, and Louise Fletcher.
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, or simply Precious, is a 2009 American drama film, directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels. Its script was written by Geoffrey S. Fletcher, adapted from the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire. The film stars Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique, alongside Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, and Lenny Kravitz. This marked the acting debut of Sidibe, who portrays a young woman struggling against poverty and abuse. Filming took place in New York City from October to November 2007.
Gabourey Sidibe is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the 2009 film Precious, a role that earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, in addition to nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actress. Her other film roles include Tower Heist (2011), White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), Grimsby (2016), and Antebellum (2020).
Alice Tan Ridley is an American gospel and R&B singer and the mother of actress Gabourey Sidibe. Ridley advanced to the semi-finals of the NBC television series America's Got Talent, after previously winning $25,000 in the pilot episode of 30 Seconds to Fame. Ridley released her debut album Never Lost My Way at the age of 63 in September 2016.
The Oranges is a 2011 American romantic comedy-drama directed by Julian Farino and starring Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt, Allison Janney, Alia Shawkat, and Adam Brody. The film chronicles how two families deal with a scandal involving a married man and his friend's daughter. Set in The Oranges area of Essex County, New Jersey, The Oranges was primarily filmed in New Rochelle, New York. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2011, and was released in the United States on October 5, 2012, by ATO Pictures. The film received mostly negative reviews upon its release and criticism and attacks for its ageist themes and tropes.
Blackbird is a 2007 American drama film directed and written by Adam Rapp and starring Gillian Jacobs, Paul Sparks, and Danny Hoch. It was adapted from a play written by Rapp.
A Case of You is a 2013 American romantic comedy film. The film was directed by Kat Coiro and produced by and starring Justin Long, who wrote the script with his brother Christian and Keir O'Donnell, who also stars in the film. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2013 and was released in the United States by IFC Films in November of the same year. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Like Sunday, Like Rain is a 2014 American drama film written and directed by Frank Whaley, and distributed by Monterey Media. The film stars Leighton Meester, Debra Messing, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Julian Shatkin in his film debut. The film follows a cello prodigy, Reggie, and his latest caretaker, Eleanor, as they develop a friendship over the course of a summer in New York City.
Susanna Fogel is an American director, screenwriter and author, best known for co-writing the 2019 film Booksmart and for co-writing and directing the 2018 action/comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me. Her many accolades include a DGA Award and nominations at the BAFTA Film Awards, the Primetime Emmy Awards and the WGA Awards.
Kerry Howley is an American feature writer at New York magazine, a professor at the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program, and a screenwriter. She is the author of the critically acclaimed work of literary nonfiction Thrown (2014).
The Spy Who Dumped Me is a 2018 American action comedy film directed by Susanna Fogel and co-written by Fogel and David Iserson. The film stars Mila Kunis, Kate McKinnon, Justin Theroux, Sam Heughan, Hasan Minhaj, and Gillian Anderson and follows two best friends who are chased by assassins through Europe after one of their ex-boyfriends turns out to be a CIA agent. The title is a play on the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. It was filmed in Amsterdam and Budapest from July to September 2017. The film was released in the United States on August 3, 2018, by Lionsgate and grossed more than $75 million, while receiving mixed reviews from critics, who questioned the film's intended genre and tone but praised the performances.
River Wild is a 2023 American thriller film that is a reimagining of the 1994 film The River Wild and a modern-day standalone sequel. It was directed by Ben Ketai, from a script he co-authored with Mike Nguyen Le. The film stars Adam Brody, Leighton Meester, and Taran Killam.
