Sundance Loves Lynn Shelton’s “Laggies”

Keira Knightley and Chloë Grace Moretz star in Lynn Shelton’s new Seattle based film LAGGIES.

Seattle’s own superstar indy filmmaker Lynn Shelton is back at the Sundance Film Festival with her latest effort, the locally made LAGGIES, and once again, Sundance is lovin’ on Ms Shelton who has appeared at Sundance previously with HUMPDAY, YOUR SISTER’S SISTER, and last year’s TOUCHY FEELY. The film premiered Friday, January 17th and received strong reviews and positive word of mouth and has now been picked up for theatrical distribution by A24 according to Deadline Hollywood. No release date has been set; it’s expected that LAGGIES will open this summer.

The film is the first feature for Shelton that she didn’t write herself. She talks about the process of finding the script and working on the film in this interview for the LIVE@SUNDANCE channel over on YouTube. (It should be noted that Seattle’s own indie film producer Basil Shadid is a producer of the LIVE@SUNDANCE daily web show; it’s a joint project of ad agency Weber Shandwick and the Sundance Institute which will appear daily throughout this year’s festival in Park City, Utah.) Check out Lynn’s interview which occurs after a very long intro; you need to fast forward to about the 9 minute mark for the start of the Shelton interview:

LAGGIES was shot in Seattle last summer and features several local actors and a largely Seattle based crew. The film stars Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell, Ellie Kemper, Mark Webber, Jeff Garlin, Gretchen Mol, and Kaitlyn Dever. The film was written by first time screenwriter Andrea Seigel. Local film buffs might remember that Anne Hathaway was originally rumored to be starring in the role eventually played by Keira Knightley; Hathaway dropped out of the film due to scheduling conflicts.

While Shelton didn’t write LAGGIES, it’s easy to see why the script appealed to her…the script has plenty of themes and a tone that’s right up the Sheltonian alley. It’s about a pushing 30 young woman (Knightley) reluctance to grow up and marry her boyfriend. She escapes her adult responsibilities by hanging out with teenagers and slacking off in general. Moretz plays one of those teens and Rockwell is the Moretz’s character’s dad. Comedic drama ensues…or, dramatic comedy…whichever you prefer!

We’re just guessing that it’s very likely this film will pop up at the Seattle International Film Festival this year…most of Shelton’s films have been showcased there prior to national distribution.

During the post-Laggies q & a at Sundance, 1/17/14  (l. to .r): Keira Knightley, Sam Rockwell, Chloe Moretz, Lynn Shelton.