Issue 42.41 - July 27, 2021

Televisionation: Screen Culture: Jordana Mollick, President of Development and Production at Semi-Formal Productions

ITVT is pleased to present the latest episode of Televisionation: Screen Culture, our new video series exploring the symbiotic relationship between culture and filmed content—television, streaming, and cinema. Hosted by fandom expert Lisa Crawford, Screen Culture was created for thoughtful discussions about the impact of premium filmed content on today’s society. 

 

In this episode, Lisa is joined by Jordana Mollick. Jordana is President of Development and Production at Semi-Formal Productions and an Independent Spirit Award-winning producer behind films such as Hello, My Name is Doris. In partnership with director Michael Showalter, she oversees a slate that includes the upcoming film The Eyes of Tammy Faye and series The Shrink Next Door and I Love This For You.

Jordana and Lisa cover Jordana’s early career in theater, which began her journey of connecting with talented writers (initially, a group of women playwrights). This laid the groundwork for a career collaborating with exceptional talent on both sides of the camera. 

Jordana’s take on screen culture addresses both the on-screen product and “the culture behind the camera.” Finding “the right collaborators” and creating a strong on-set environment are crucial to Jordana’s comprehensive approach to industry culture. 

She shares Semi-Formal’s commitment to amplifying underrepresented talent—“For us it was really important to have actors that were not traditionally going to be the lead roles, be the lead roles”—and the company’s goal of producing pieces of content that “have as much humor as they do heart, and that [are] also entertaining.”

Finally, Lisa and Jordana take a spin through Semi-Formal’s impressive list of forthcoming productions, many of them based on true stories, including:

• Jessica Chastain’s transformation into the late televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, to premiere at TIFF and be released September 17th (Searchlight Pictures)
• The Shrink Next Door, based on a Wondery podcast, starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd (Apple)
• The Dropout, about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, with Amanda Seyfried (Hulu)
• I Love This For You, co-created by Saturday Night Live star Vanessa Bayer and inspired by events in her own life (Showtime)