EXCLUSIVE: Ted Lasso‘s Juno Temple is set to lead Intimacy Party, a high-concept ensemble rom-com marking the feature directorial debut of Courtney Hoffman.
Written by Hoffman and Paul Kruse, Intimacy Party follows Cleo Kauffman, a woman determined to save her relationship by recreating the intimacy party where she first met her fiancé, only to discover she fell for the wrong guest.
Others in the cast include Richa Moorjani (Fargo), Meredith Hagner (Search Party), Michiel Huisman (Game of Thrones), Chris Pang (Crazy Rich Asians), Brandon Kyle Goodman (Big Mouth), Miles Gutierrez-Riley (Agatha All Along) and Patrick Renna (The Sandlot).
Hoffman, whose directorial work includes American Horror Stories and the upcoming Kaitlyn Dever-led feature The Sisters of Scott County, wrote Intimacy Party from personal experience.
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“Before I fell in love with my best friend, I was trying everything to save a relationship that no longer worked,” she said. “That crossroads ultimately became Intimacy Party. It’s deeply personal, but I hope it’s also universal — a celebration of what can happen when we let go of control and allow ourselves to be truly seen.”
Currently in production in Los Angeles with a California tax incentive, the film is produced by Delirio Films’ Christopher Leggett and Rafael Marmor, alongside Jesse Schiller and Hoffman. Amanda Massetti and Bri Hennessey of Pasta & Tacos Productions are exec producers.
Delirio’s Leggett commented, “From the first read, it was clear Hoffman was a filmmaker with a singular point of view. We’re thrilled to help launch her feature directing career with this extraordinary cast and creative team. I have no doubt she’ll become one of the most distinctive new voices in filmmaking.”
Calling Intimacy Party “wildly entertaining and emotionally honest, with characters who are messy, complicated and deeply human,” Pasta & Tacos co-founder Massetti said, “[Hoffman] has a singular ability to find humor in vulnerability while exploring bigger questions about love, identity and the stories we tell ourselves.”
Co-founder Hennessey added, “It’s exactly the kind of bold, character-driven storytelling we created P&T to champion, and we’re thrilled to help bring Courtney’s vision to audiences.”
A four-time Emmy nominee who scored three noms for her role as Keeley Jones in Apple’s Ted Lasso, Temple can currently be seen reprising in Season 4. Recent projects include Derek Cianfrance’s Roofman, Gore Verbinski’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die and the animated feature Swapped, which this year became Netflix’s eighth most popular film of all time. Most recently, Temple wrapped on Apple’s upcoming limited series The Husbands, adapted from the New York Times bestselling novel by Holly Gramazio. She is repped by UTA, Maison 2, B-Side Management and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols.
Hoffman made her directorial debut with the Western short The Good Time Girls, starring Laura Dern, and continues her focus on female-led genre and action storytelling with The Sisters of Scott County, a ’70s-set trucker film starring Kaitlyn Dever. She directed American Horror Stories‘ Season 3 finale for FX and, as a writer, has developed and sold original projects to HBO Max, Paramount, Sony, Peacock, FX and Freeform. Prior to her career as a filmmaker, Hoffman was a lauded costume designer with credits including Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver and Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. She is repped by Daniel Cohen at Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Hannah Mulderink at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman.
Moorjani is repped by UTA, Anonymous and Hayes Robbins at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman; Hagner by UTA, Sushkin/Karshan Management and Felker McGinnis & Ryan; Huisman by UTA, Authentic Talent and Literary Management, Conway van Gelder Grant and Peikoff Mahan Law Office; Pang by Buchwald, Matt Sheldon at Stride Management and Ryan LeVine at Jackoway Austen Tyerman; Goodman by WME, Julia Bodner and Kate Tressel at Envisionary Management and Ashley Briskman at Yorn Levine Barnes; Gutierrez-Riley by CESD Talent, Samantha Stoller at Brillstein and Ryan LeVine at Jackoway Austin; and Renna by John Griffin of Griffin Talent.
