Sarah-Violet Bliss | |
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Born | Sarah-Violet Bliss |
Alma mater | Oberlin College, New York University Tisch School of the Arts |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2010–present |
Sarah-Violet Bliss is an American screenwriter and director best known for writing and directing the independent comedy film Fort Tilden and the TBS dark comedy television series Search Party .
Bliss attended New York University's MFA Film Program. [1] While there she collaborated with James Franco and eleven other student filmmakers to co-direct The Color of Time , a film on the life of poet C.K. Williams that starred Franco, Mila Kunis and Jessica Chastain. The film premiered at the 2012 Rome Film Festival. [2] The film was released on December 12, 2014, in a limited release and through video on demand by Starz Digital Media. [3]
In 2014, her film Fort Tilden , written and directed in collaboration with Charles Rogers, premiered at SXSW on March 8, 2014, where it won the SXSW Grand Jury award. [4] [5] The film was acquired by revived Orion Pictures and was released on August 14, 2015, in a limited release, and through video on demand. [6] [7] The film received generally positive reviews from major critics. Andy Webster of The New York Times said that "rarely has a movie so humorously illustrated the meaning of 'frenemy'", David Edelstein of New York Magazine called Fort Tilden "a brisk comedy packed with sharply drawn characters", and Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times said that the film "has an easy, funky groove and captures the sweaty perfection of a New York City summer, where things always look better on Instagram". [8] [9] [10]
Bliss and Rogers teamed up again for the 2016 comedy/mystery TBS television series Search Party , along with Michael Showalter, which stars Alia Shawkat as Dory, John Early as Elliott, John Reynolds as Drew, Meredith Hagner as Portia, and Brandon Micheal Hall as Julian. [11]
Search Party received critical acclaim; the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was "tightly made and effective on multiple levels", [12] GQ wrote that it is "a flawless oddity, a once-in-a-lifetime piece of art. It's not the weekend's best show, it's the year's best." [13] and the series holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. [14] On Metacritic, the season holds a rating of 81 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [15] The second season of Search Party premiered on TBS on November 19, 2017 and received positive reviews from television critics. It holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes [16] and was called a "biting satire made for the Trump era" by Vanity Fair. [17] When the show was renewed for season 5, both Bliss and Rogers signed a deal with HBO Max. [18]
In addition to her work on Search Party, Bliss has worked as a writer on the first and second seasons of the Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer as well as for the second season of the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.
Bliss has appeared on multiple episodes of The George Lucas Talk Show, including the May the AR Be LI$$ You Arli$$ marathon streams, as well as The George Lucas Holiday Special. [19]
In 2017, The Hollywood Reporter named Bliss and Rogers "Hollywood Power Showrunners: Ones To Watch" in their annual list of the top 50 television showrunners [20] and in 2016, the creative duo were named Variety 's 10 Writers to Watch. [21] She was also named one of BuzzFeed's 36 Female Creators Who Made Great TV in 2016. [22]
Alia Martine Shawkat is an American actress, singer and painter. She is known for her roles in The Old Man, State of Grace, Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom Arrested Development, Dory Sief in the TBS and HBO Max comedy series Search Party (2016–2022) and Gertie Michaels in the 2015 horror-comedy film The Final Girls. She has also guest starred as Frances Cleveland, Virginia Hall, and Alexander Hamilton on Comedy Central's Drunk History.
Love is an American romantic comedy-drama streaming television series created by Judd Apatow, Lesley Arfin, and Paul Rust. The series stars Rust, Gillian Jacobs, Mike Mitchell, and Claudia O'Doherty. Netflix originally ordered two seasons of the show. The first 10-episode season was made available on February 19, 2016, and a 12-episode second season premiered on March 10, 2017. Netflix renewed the series for a third season one month prior to the second-season premiere. On December 15, 2017, Netflix announced that the third season would be its last. Season 3 premiered on March 9, 2018.
Veep is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci as an adaptation of his sitcom The Thick of It. The protagonist of Veep is Selina Meyer, a fictional Vice President of the United States. The series follows Meyer and her team as they attempt to make their mark and leave a legacy but often instead become mired in day-to-day political games.
Bad Milo! is a 2013 American horror comedy film written by Jacob Vaughan and Benjamin Hayes and directed by Jacob Vaughan. The film stars Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs, Peter Stormare, Stephen Root, Mary Kay Place, and Patrick Warburton. The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 10, 2013, and was released on video on demand on August 29, 2013, prior to being released in a limited release on October 4, 2013, by Magnet Releasing.
Transparent is an American comedy-drama television series created by Joey Soloway for Amazon Studios that debuted on February 6, 2014. The story revolves around a Los Angeles family, the Pfeffermans, and their lives after learning that their parent is a trans woman named Maura. Transparent tells the story of Maura's coming out, as well as her family's personal journeys in discovering their own identities and coming to terms with Maura's identity. Transparent moves away from a solely transition-centred narrative and represents Maura's story in her role as a trans parent, grandparent, professor, partner, ex-spouse, sibling, and as an older person transitioning. Transparent also includes other queer representation in the Pfefferman family. Sarah explores her sexuality and works through relationship dilemmas throughout season one while Ali explores their gender and sexuality. Transparent's first season premiered in full on September 26, 2014, and its second season on December 11, 2015, third season on September 23, 2016, and fourth season on September 21, 2017.
Wild Canaries is an American black comedy mystery film directed, produced and written by Lawrence Michael Levine and starring Levine, Sophia Takal, Alia Shawkat, Annie Parisse, Jason Ritter and Kevin Corrigan. The film had its world premiere premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 8, 2014. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on February 25, 2015 courtesy of Sundance Selects.
Angie Tribeca is an American sitcom created by Steve and Nancy Carell, which aired on TBS. A parody of the police procedural genre, it stars Rashida Jones as the title character, with Hayes MacArthur, Jere Burns, Deon Cole and Andrée Vermeulen in supporting roles.
Todd Strauss-Schulson is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, and cinematographer, best known for directing the comedy film A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011), the horror comedy film The Final Girls (2015), and the romantic comedy film Isn't It Romantic (2019). He has also directed episodes of the television series The Inbetweeners (2012) and Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous (2013).
Fort Tilden is a 2014 American independent comedy film, written and directed by Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, starring Bridey Elliott, Clare McNulty, Neil Casey, Alysia Reiner, and Peter Vack.
Charles Rogers is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor best known for his movie Fort Tilden and the TV series Search Party.
Casual is an American television comedy-drama series that premiered on October 7, 2015, on Hulu. Created by Zander Lehmann and directed by Jason Reitman, it centers on Valerie, a newly divorced single mother living with her brother Alex and her daughter Laura. The cast also includes Frances Conroy and Nyasha Hatendi.
People of Earth is an American science fiction sitcom television series created by David Jenkins about a support group for alien abductees, as well as the aliens who had abducted them. TBS ordered the pilot under the name The Group in May 2015, and announced a 10-episode order in January 2016. The series premiered on October 31, 2016, on TBS. On September 13, 2017, TBS renewed the series for a third season, yet on June 9, 2018, reversed the decision and canceled the series with season 3 already written.
Search Party is an American dark comedy television series created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, and Michael Showalter. Primarily set in New York City, the series follows a group of friends who become involved in the search for a missing young woman and the events that result from their involvement.
Operator is a 2016 American comedy-drama film directed by Logan Kibens from a screenplay by Sharon Greene and Logan Kibens. It stars Martin Starr as Joe, a programmer and obsessive self-quantifier, and Mae Whitman as Emily, a budding comedy performer, who are a happily married couple until they decide to use one another in their work. Nat Faxon, Cameron Esposito, Retta, and Christine Lahti co-star. The film had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival on March 12, 2016 and was released by The Orchard on November 8, 2016.
Dear White People is an American comedy-drama television series on Netflix that follows several black college students at an Ivy League institution, touching on issues surrounding modern American race relations through a progressive lens. It is based on and a continuation of the 2014 film of the same name. The film's writer and director, Justin Simien, returned to write and direct episodes of the series. This series stars Logan Browning, Brandon P. Bell, DeRon Horton, and Antoinette Robertson. With a few exceptions, generally season finales, each episode focuses on one particular character. The series premiered on April 28, 2017. On October 2, 2019, the series was renewed for its fourth and final season, which was released on September 22, 2021.
Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town is a 2017 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Christian Papierniak. The film stars Mackenzie Davis as a woman at rock bottom who must find her way across Los Angeles in order to crash her ex-boyfriend's engagement party. The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17, 2017. It was theatrically released in the United States by Shout! Studios on June 22, 2018.
Brandon Micheal Hall is an American actor. On television, he starred as the lead of the ABC sitcom The Mayor (2017) and the CBS comedy-drama God Friended Me (2018–2020). Hall also appeared as a series regular on the TBS / HBO Max dark comedy Search Party (2016–2022).
The fourth season of Search Party began airing on January 14, 2021 on HBO Max. It was the first season to be produced exclusively by the streaming service after its move from TBS. The showrunners are co-creators Charles Rogers and Sarah-Violet Bliss. The first three episodes were released on January 14, 2021, episodes 4-6 were released on January 21, and the final four episodes were released on January 28.
The fifth and final season of American dark comedy series Search Party was released on HBO Max on January 7, 2022. The season consists of ten episodes, each with an approximate running time of 25 minutes.
Clare Caitlin McNulty is an American actress. She is best known for playing Allie in the independent comedy film Fort Tilden and Chantal Witherbottom on the HBO Max dark comedy television series Search Party.