If you’ve ever played exquisite corpse — a game of creating a story or illustration on a paper segmented with folds — you’d know how wacky and surreal the final product can end up. An anthology film whose story was born out of the popular middle school game has been acquired by Gravitas Ventures. A press release announced the news. In addition to starring, Gillian Jacobs (“Community”) directs with Gia Coppola (“Palo Alto”), Xan Cassavetes (“Kiss of the Damned”), Boma Iluma (“Comfort”), Ryan Heffington (“Baby Driver”), Julian J. Acosta (“What Bitch?”), Ken Jeong (“The Hangover”), and Alex Takacs (“Under the God, Part 2”).
After dropping off her daughter at sleepaway camp, Jane (Jacobs) “drives away from her mundane life into an exciting odyssey on the road,” the film’s synopsis teases. While on her solitary road trip, the mother encounters events and obstacles that were invented by the filmmakers through a game of exquisite corpse. “The Seven Faces of Jane” includes eight short films that feature each director’s unique interpretation of the story’s initial premise.
“Genre, tone, pace, additional characters, and any other narrative details were entirely at their own discretion,” per the release. “They were encouraged to express their unique vision, creative spirit, and style as a director, and they worked without knowledge of what the others were doing.”
Bill Guentzler, Gravitas Ventures’ senior director of acquisitions, emphasized that the film showcases Jacob’s talent “in a unique way that is rarely seen.”
“The Seven Faces of Jane” is slated for theatrical and digital release January 2023.
Best known for playing Britta on beloved NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom “Community,” Jacobs was last seen on “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” an HBO drama about the LA basketball dynasty in the ‘80s. The “Love” alumna directed “More Than Robots,” a doc about four global teams of teenagers preparing for the 2020 First Robotics Competition that premiered at SXSW this year.
Coppola last helmed social media satire “Mainstream.” It premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.
Cassavetes previously wrote and directed 2012 vampire pic “Kiss of the Damned.”
