NYWIFT Industry Screening + Q&A: ‘The Novice’

NYWIFT invites you to a screening of The Novice followed by a conversation with writer & director Lauren Hadaway and star Isabelle Fuhrman on December 13th, 2021, moderated by NYWIFT Board Member Gretchen McGowan.

Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) plays Alex Dall, a queer college freshman who joins her university’s rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost. Intent on outperforming her teammates, Alex pushes herself to her limits—and beyond, alienating everyone around her in the name of success.

Furhman’s fierce lead performance collides with Lauren Hadaway’s bold direction and dynamic editing, creating a visceral window into a cutthroat world. Stylish cinematography and a seductive soundtrack complete the experience, evoking the romance and danger of falling in love; the attraction, the drama and the fallout. This unapologetic debut from Hadaway, based on her personal experience as a competitive collegiate rower, heralds a bold new voice in queer storytelling. If you liked Whiplash, this one’s for you.

Screening Dates: Film available from Friday, December 10th through Monday, December 13th.

Q&A: Monday, December 13th, at 4:00pm EST

How to See the Film: Links will be sent out on December 1st

Cost: Members: $2 and Nonmembers: $3 (Q&A included)

Register

Panelists

Lauren Hadaway is an LGBTQ+ writer/director with a background in sound editing and mixing. Born and raised in a town formerly known as Possum Trot, Texas, where not even the local video store carried much aside from major blockbusters, she developed a love of artsy films by reading about them in the newspaper and tacking clippings to her bedroom walls. She graduated summa cum laude with a double major in business and film from Southern Methodist University, before building a career as dialogue/ADR supervisor on films including Justice League (both cuts), Operation Finale, The Hateful Eight, and Whiplash. She is a 2018 Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellow. Lauren’s debut feature, The Novice, is inspired by her own experience rowing competitively in college. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June, where it won multiple awards including Best US Narrative, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography. Lauren recently relocated to Paris after picking up French as a pandemic distraction. She is plagued by existential dread. Lauren is repped by CAA and Bellevue Productions.

Isabelle Fuhrman recently wrapped on Esther, reprising her infamous role from the 2009 horror film, Orphan. Pre-shutdown, Isabelle starred in the The Novice. She also starred in The Last Thing Mary Saw at the end of 2019. Isabelle is especially proud of her work in the indie drama Tape, which confronts sexual harassment in the entertainment industry and is now available to stream on Amazon Prime. She can also be seen starring in the Lionsgate thriller, Down a Dark Hall, alongside Uma Thurman and Anna Sophia Robb. Previously, she starred alongside Abigail Breslin and Alex Wolff in the off-Broadway production ofAll the Fine Boys. Isabelle broke onto the scene in 2009 as the haunting young girl in Orphan. Following her debut role, she joined the cast of the breakout hit The Hunger Games, squaring off against Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in the original film. On the TV side, she was seen as Lizzy Caplan’s daughter on the critically-acclaimed Masters of Sex for Showtime. She has also appeared opposite Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack in Cell, a thriller based on Stephen King’s acclaimed novel of the same name; the romantic comedy 1 Night;and the road-trip comedy Dear Eleanor with Jessica Alba and Luke Wilson. Isabelle has trained at the highly-selective Shakespeare Program at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for multiple summers, and is repped by UTA, Luber Roklin, and Gary Mantoosh.

NYWIFT Board Member Gretchen McGowan (Moderator) is an award-winning producer and the Head of Production for Goldcrest Features in New York City where she oversees titles such as Carol, Mojave, Slumber, Restrepo, Carrie Pilby and Danger, Close. Gretchen has collaborated with Sebastian Junger on five films and she is now working with Junger and Fisher Stevens on a new film about the Mexican cartels and the caravan. Gretchen independently produced Jim Jarmusch’s The Limits of Control, a Focus Features release and Magnolia Pictures’ American Swing. While Head of Production with Mark Cuban’s HDNet Films, Blow Up Pictures and Open City Films she supervised over 25 features including Redacted, Enron, Broken English, Bubble, Lovely and Amazing and Coffee and Cigarettes. She line produced The Dancemaker, Buffalo ’66, Two Girls and a Guy, American Psycho and Heavy.