When you think of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the first movie that likely comes to mind is Superbad, one of the best films of the 2000s. However, these days the two writers and their production company Point Grey are expanding their reach past comedy. They’re doing this by helping filmmakers like Jade Halley Bartlett create projects like Miller’s Girl, a romantic thriller starring Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman that recently premiered on the 2024 movie schedule.
So, when I got the chance to chat with Jade Halley Bartlett about her movie, we talked about Rogen and Goldberg, and how they took “a big swing” on her project when it came off the Black List. During an interview with CinemaBlend the writer/director of Miller’s Girl said:
They surprised me as well when Point Gray came to me after the script was on the blacklist, I was really surprised, because I was mostly used to their comedy.
Like Halley Bartlett, I think of Seth Rogen’s best movies, like Superbad and This is the End, first. However, he’s also become quite the producer, and he and Goldberg’s company is behind incredibly successful, and dark, series like Preacher and some of Amazon Prime’s most beloved shows like The Boys and Gen V.
So, in a lot of ways, it also makes sense that Point Grey wanted to get Miller’s Girl after it found itself on 2016’s Black List – which is a list of the most liked screenplays that haven’t been produced. The writer/director went on to tell me more about why Rogen, Goldberg and their company were a good fit for her movie, saying:
Comedy, if you take away the quips, comedy is really sad, you know, comedy is really intense drama. So I think they all really understand that. They're all very like, Seth, Evan, Josh, James, they're all very generous, intelligent, emotionally intelligent people who I think are expanding their production company. And you know, I mean Preacher, Preacher is pretty dark.
Preacher is very dark, and so is Miller’s Girl. This romantic thriller starring Jenna Ortega handles the intense subject of a student and teacher getting into a complex relationship. It shows the Wednesday star’s character as she descends into villainy when she’s hurt by her relationship with Mr. Miller.
While developing the movie, Jade Halley Bartlett said she was grateful for Point Grey’s guidance, and for them taking a swing with a first-time filmmaker, noting:
So, you know, I think that they're moving into that space. But they also took a big swing on a first-time filmmaker, which I'm incredibly grateful for, and their notes were all very in line. I was pretty clear about what I didn't know, because I've never directed anything in my life. And they were so kind with everything. Every note they had was not really about changing anything about the story. It was just things that would help me sort of push the film as far as I could take it. But they were exceptionally kind, very kind, generous people.
While Miller’s Girl’s reviews aren’t amazing, it's visually stunning and the performances are very good. It’s easy to see why Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Point Grey saw potential in this film and wanted to work with Jade Halley Bartlett.
If you want to see the film they created together, you can catch Miller’s Girl right now in theaters.
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