On June 1, 2020, NYWIFT hosted a conversation with Unintended writer/director Anja Murmann, producer Sabine Schenck, and star Elizabeth Lail, following the NYWIFT Member Screening of the film. This conversation was moderated by NYWIFT Community Engagement Director Katie Chambers.
Unintended
Anja Murmann (Director/Writer)
Sabine Schenk (Producer, NYWIFT Member)
2018, 92 min, Digital
Drama
Lea, a 13-year-old girl, represses the memory of having accidentally shot a teenager named Bill. Twelve years later, Lea is an emotional wreck. After nearly drowning, she ends up in a hospital where her repressed memories return to haunt her. She is plagued by the question – did Bill actually die? And if he survived, what will he do when she finds him? Is she ready to face the consequences of her actions? (Watch the trailer.)
Panelists
Unintended is Anja Murmann‘s second feature film as a writer/ director. It premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival 2018 and is distributed by Filmrise. She also wrote, directed and produced the feature film 15 Months in May which won Best New Director -Special Mention at the San Sebastian Film Festival 1997. In 2014 she started the film production company Shorelight Pictures together with Sabine Schenk. Their company recently produced the feature film Mickey and the Bear directed by Annabelle Attanasio which premiered at SXSW 2019 and had its international premiere at Cannes International Film Festival in the Acid Program 2019. They are in different stages of project developments for film and television and currently co-producing the feature film documentary Razing Liberty Square by Katja Esson. Murmann is currently co-writing a feature film with James Carmen about the ecological ramifications of illegal fishing in the Sea of Cortez.
Sabine Schenk (Producer, NYWIFT Member) is a German-born producer based in New York. She completed her M.A. in cinema studies from NYU in 1992. In 1998 she founded her company, Schenk Productions, Inc., offering production services for local and international film and media projects in the United States. Among her projects, she co-produced the documentary Ferry Tales which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2004 and in 2008 she line produced the New York unit for The Reader by Stephen Daldry. In 2015 Sabine Schenk and Anja Murmann launched Shorelight Pictures to develop & produce narrative features. Recently she produced the feature films Unintended, written & directed by Anja Murmann and Mickey and the Bear directed by Annabelle Attanasio.
Elizabeth Lail (Lea) was seen starring opposite Penn Badgley in Lifetime’s straight-to series psychological thriller drama titled You from Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble. Previously, Elizabeth completed David Fincher’s Videosyncrasy for HBO and was also seen as “Princess Anna” in a season of ABC’s Once Upon a Time. Lail made her theatre debut in Ken Urban’s off-Broadway play Nibbler, directed by Ben Kamine. She is a BFA graduate from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Elizabeth was mentioned in The Hollywood Reporter as one of the “10 Rising TV Stars Poised for a Breakout in 2018.”
Q&A Moderator
Katie Chambers (moderator) is the Community Engagement Director at NYWIFT, where she manages both Communications and Membership. She will receive regional recognition for her work at NYWIFT from the New York Society of Association Executives when she receives their “Rising Star” award at the Synergy Awards in August 2020, and national recognition when she is named one of Association Trends’ top “Young and Aspiring Executives” at their Salute to Excellence in Washington, DC, in 2021. Prior to joining the NYWIFT team, Katie was a talent agent in the Youth & Young Adult Theatrical division at Abrams Artists Agency in New York City, representing young actors in theatre, film, and television. She has served on the Next Generation Committee of the NY Television Festival, produced a critically-acclaimed play at the NY Fringe Festival, and has worked for Buchwald, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Hollywood producer Scott Rudin. Her writing has appeared in Huff Post, Honeysuckle Magazine and several printed essay collection. Katie graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Drew University with a double major in English and Theatre Arts.
Produced by Katie Chambers
Special thanks to Carlina Rivera and the New York City 2nd Council District
for discretionary funding for the NYWIFT Member Screening Series.
And thanks to Tito’s Handmade Vodka, the Signature Vodka of NYWIFT