SYNOPSIS
At age 79, veteran character actor Mary Louise Wilson has won a Tony but can't get a job on stage. So she returns to her hometown, New Orleans, to teach her first acting class to skeptical members of the YouTube generation. While demanding emotional honesty from her students, she examines the sacrifices she's made for her career and wonders whether her life has been successful. Eventually her love of acting is rekindled.
Features interviews with Frances McDormand, Melissa Leo, Tyne Daly, Estelle Parsons, Valerie Harper, Charlotte Rae, and playwright Doug Wright.
PANELIST BIO
Ron Nyswaner, director
Ron's writing and producing career has taken him from independent films to breakthrough Hollywood dramas, award winning television movies, and, most recently, two hit cable television series. His credits include one of the most memorable and influential Hollywood dramas of recent times, Philadelphia; a critically acclaimed and controversial cable television film, Soldier’s Girl; the romantic drama, The Painted Veil, with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton; and the upcoming, gay-marriage themed Freeheld, starring Julianne Moore and Ellen Page. His first documentary feature, She's The Best Thing In It, will play throughout 2015 in film festivals around the country. After two seasons as Writer/Co-Executive Producer on Showtime’s hit series, Ray Donovan, he is now a Writer/Co-Executive Producer on the eagerly awaited Season Five of the compelling CIA drama, Homeland.
Jeffrey Schwarz, moderator
Jeffrey is an Emmy Award-winning producer and director based in Los Angeles. His latest documentary is Tab Hunter Confidential, about the 1950s screen heartthrob, which premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival. Previous work includes the Emmy Award-winning HBO Documentary Films’ Vito, I Am Divine, Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon, and the 2007 AFI Fest Documentary Audience Award winner Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story. He is also a producer of studio EPKs (electronic press kit), Blu-ray and DVD content, and original television programming through his company, Automat Pictures. Hailed as an "EPK samurai" by Variety, he has produced content on major studio releases for directors such as Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Jonathan Demme, Wes Craven, Rob Reiner, Barry Sonnenfeld, Adam Shankman, Paul Verhoeven, Chris Columbus, and the Coen Brothers.
