A24 Acquires ‘Obvious Child’ and ‘Laggies’ at Sundance

Right after its Sundance Film Festival deal of picking up domestic rights to Lynn Shelton’s Laggies, A24 has also acquired North American distribution rights to the film Obvious Child.

Obvious Child had its premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. The film was written and directed by Gillian Robespierre and stars Jenny Slate as a Brooklyn comedian who goes through a breakup, gets fired and becomes pregnant just in time for Valentine’s Day. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “As her date with Planned Parenthood for a scheduled abortion draws near, she must confront her doubts and fears like never before.”

A recent press release by A24 stated that “A24 has just picked up North American rights to Gillian Robespierre’s groundbreaking debut comedy OBVIOUS CHILD featuring a star-making performance by Jenny Slate. Robespierre also wrote this wickedly funny and incredibly heartfelt comedy. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Friday and has been building incredible buzz ever since. A24 plans a theatrical release in 2014.”

In a press release about the Laggies news, the company wrote, “A24 has just picked up domestic rights to Lynn Shelton’s Laggies starring Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Sam Rockwell. The film, written by first time screenwriter Andrea Seigel, had its Sundance premiere on Friday. Film also co-stars Ellie Kemper, Mark Webber, Jeff Garlin, Gretchen Mol, and Kaitlyn Dever. A24 is planning a summer theatrical release for the film.”

Laggies is “a coming of age story about a 28 year-old woman stuck in permanent adolescence. Unable to find her career calling, still hanging out with the same friends, and living with her high school boyfriend, Megan must finally navigate her own future when an unexpected marriage proposal sends her into a panic,” according to the press release.

At the recent Sundance Film Festival, we spoke with filmmaker Sydney Freeland, who finally had a chance to develop her feature film with an invitation to the Sundance Labs. Here are the highlights from the interview, which was shot on the balcony of the Sundance Film Festival’s media center, overlooking Main St. in Park City.