“How can we make this as enjoyable to watch but also go deep emotionally and have as much fun as possible,” declares Emmy-winning Rachel Lee Goldenberg (“Between Two Ferns”) about one of her top priorities in bringing her new HBO Max movie “Unpregnant” to life. “It was my priority every day to make sure the characters felt real and some of the script work I did was to give it as much of the visual adventure as possible,” she says.
We talked with Goldenberg as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Btl Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Emmy contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See over 200 video interviews with 2021 Emmy contenders
Goldenberg co-wrote and directed “Unpregnant,” adapted from the novel of the same name by Ted Caplan and Jenni Hendriks. It follows a pregnant teen (Haley Lu Richardson) whose decision to get an abortion...
We talked with Goldenberg as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Btl Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Emmy contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See over 200 video interviews with 2021 Emmy contenders
Goldenberg co-wrote and directed “Unpregnant,” adapted from the novel of the same name by Ted Caplan and Jenni Hendriks. It follows a pregnant teen (Haley Lu Richardson) whose decision to get an abortion...
- 6/1/2021
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
It’s impossible to watch Haley Lu Richardson and not see that she’s a star in the making. She just has that “it factor” about her. In a fairly short period of time, she’s established herself as someone to really watch. Richardson is rarely given starring roles, so far at least, so the new release Unpregnant is a welcome tonic to that. Coming as one of the first original releases for streamer HBO Max, it’s a lovely mix of comedy and drama, utilizing some silly elements as a delivery system for an angry message about the state of female health in America. Unsurprisingly, it’s all very well done, anchored by Richardson in a role that should only increase her profile in Hollywood. The film is a road trip comedy, with a bit of a twist, based on the novel by Ted Caplan and Jenni Hendriks. A...
- 9/13/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
For the first time in her high school career, 17-year-old valedictorian Veronica (Haley Lu Richardson) has flunked a test. That blue positive sign means she’s pregnant, and now she wants a redo — to become “Unpregnant,” in the words of director Rachel Lee Goldenberg (“Valley Girl”), who has a flair for the flip understatement. Goldenberg’s road-trip comedy, based on the novel by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, has no time for hemming and hawing. To obtain an abortion without her conservative parents’ permission, the popular blonde must make a 2,000-mile drive from Missouri to New Mexico in 48 hours, which, with Type-a aplomb, she calculates is doable if she stops only for bathroom breaks and, like, the actual procedure.
But Veronica’s plan for a speedy, super-secret abortion has one flaw: The only person able to chauffeur is her former best friend Bailey (Barbie Ferreira), a punkish screw-up who hasn...
But Veronica’s plan for a speedy, super-secret abortion has one flaw: The only person able to chauffeur is her former best friend Bailey (Barbie Ferreira), a punkish screw-up who hasn...
- 9/11/2020
- by Amy Nicholson
- Variety Film + TV
Rachel Lee Goldenberg and Haley Lu Richardson first collaborated together on the 2013 Lifetime movie “Escape From Polygamy,” in which the rising star played a 17-year-old looking to leave a polygamous compound. Their new film, “Unpregnant,” premiering Sept. 10 on HBO Max, is a big departure — it’s a comedy, but not an easy one to categorize. Based on the book by Ted Caplan and Jenni Hendriks, the film centers on the friendship between two teen girls named Veronica (Richardson) and Bailey (Barbie Ferreira) who take a road trip to another state so that Veronica can have a legal abortion. Part teen comedy, part road trip movie, the film also has some very dramatic moments — and even an action scene that would feel at home in “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
“What I love about the movie is that it is hard to describe,” says Goldenberg, who co-write and directed the film. “We...
“What I love about the movie is that it is hard to describe,” says Goldenberg, who co-write and directed the film. “We...
- 9/9/2020
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety Film + TV
The world really has changed. Just eight months after Eliza Hittman’s searing “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” made its debut at Sundance, becoming one of the year’s best films in the process, fledgling streamer HBO Max has already unveiled its own much more comedic take on the apparently booming “abortion road trip” subgenre. But while Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s comedy might sound like a lighter spin on Hittman’s earthy drama,
Veronica (the always delightful Haley Lu Richardson) is a high school superstar, bound for Brown in the fall but still very busy living out the waning days of her super-fun senior year. Mega-popular and mega-smart, Veronica has a tight-knit pack of girlfriends (that the other members of the foursome seem to operate with one brain is more than just a joke) and a devoted boyfriend (Alex MacNicoll). Her Instagram account is popping, but is also filled with meaningless...
Veronica (the always delightful Haley Lu Richardson) is a high school superstar, bound for Brown in the fall but still very busy living out the waning days of her super-fun senior year. Mega-popular and mega-smart, Veronica has a tight-knit pack of girlfriends (that the other members of the foursome seem to operate with one brain is more than just a joke) and a devoted boyfriend (Alex MacNicoll). Her Instagram account is popping, but is also filled with meaningless...
- 9/8/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Rachel Lee Goldenberg has been tapped to direct HBO Max’s comedy pilot Minx, from writer Ellen Rapoport, Paul Feig’s Feigco Entertainment and Lionsgate TV.
Written by Rapoport, the half-hour Minx is set in 1970s Los Angeles and centers around an earnest young feminist who joins forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.
Rapoport executive produces with Paul Feig and Dan Magnante for Feigco. Lionsgate is the studio.
Goldenberg most recently directed MGM’s Valley Girl, a musical remake of the 1983 cult classic. Her latest project, HBO Max Original film Unpregnant premieres September 10 on the platform. The film, which she directed and co-wrote, is based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Ted Caplan and Jenni Hendriks, and produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Erik Feig.
Goldenberg...
Written by Rapoport, the half-hour Minx is set in 1970s Los Angeles and centers around an earnest young feminist who joins forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.
Rapoport executive produces with Paul Feig and Dan Magnante for Feigco. Lionsgate is the studio.
Goldenberg most recently directed MGM’s Valley Girl, a musical remake of the 1983 cult classic. Her latest project, HBO Max Original film Unpregnant premieres September 10 on the platform. The film, which she directed and co-wrote, is based on the 2019 novel of the same name by Ted Caplan and Jenni Hendriks, and produced by Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Erik Feig.
Goldenberg...
- 9/3/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Haley Lu Richardson in ‘Unpregnant’ Trailer Gives a Buddy Comedy Spin on Teen Abortion Drama (Video)
Though there’s already a very serious looking drama about teen abortion called “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” that opened this year, the first trailer for the new film “Unpregnant” starring Haley Lu Richardson gives a road trip, buddy comedy spin on the same story.
Richardson stars alongside Barbie Ferreira in a comedy coming to HBO Max in which Richardson plays a straight-a student and popular kids who enlists her more rebellious, former best friend (Ferreira) to get an abortion over 1,000 miles in New Mexico. Of course in this story, they end up on the run from the cops, in a stolen Trans-Am and even trying to jump aboard a moving train on their trip to get the procedure done.
“There’s an Albuquerque in Missouri? The law won’t let me get one without my parents knowing,” Richardson says in the trailer. “It’s my life, it’s my choice.
Richardson stars alongside Barbie Ferreira in a comedy coming to HBO Max in which Richardson plays a straight-a student and popular kids who enlists her more rebellious, former best friend (Ferreira) to get an abortion over 1,000 miles in New Mexico. Of course in this story, they end up on the run from the cops, in a stolen Trans-Am and even trying to jump aboard a moving train on their trip to get the procedure done.
“There’s an Albuquerque in Missouri? The law won’t let me get one without my parents knowing,” Richardson says in the trailer. “It’s my life, it’s my choice.
- 8/12/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
HBO Max is continuing to round out its original film programming, adding a fresh new comedy from “Valley Girl” remake filmmaker Rachel Lee Goldenberg and rising stars Haley Lu Richardson and Barbie Ferreira to its upcoming slate. “Unpregnant” puts a humorous spin on a tough, timely topic, but promises to do it with a generous dash of humor. The film’s first trailer offers a funny first look at a fresh take on the young adult novel of the same name, written by authors Jenni Hendriks (“How I Met Your Mother”) and Ted Caplan (music editor for “The Hate U Give” and “The Greatest Showman”).
The film follows Richardson’s Veronica, a Missouri teen who is shocked to discover she is pregnant, and who sets off on a road trip with her former best pal Bailey (Ferreira) in hopes of securing an abortion so that she can continue to pursue her Ivy League college dreams.
The film follows Richardson’s Veronica, a Missouri teen who is shocked to discover she is pregnant, and who sets off on a road trip with her former best pal Bailey (Ferreira) in hopes of securing an abortion so that she can continue to pursue her Ivy League college dreams.
- 8/12/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
“One Thousand and One Nights,” a vast collection of treasured Middle Eastern folklore, is being adapted for film, TV and gaming content by producer Reza Aslan and film executive Erik Feig’s new venture, Picturestart.
The internationally renowned stories — which count characters like Aladdin and his genie, Sinbad and Alibaba — will be framed as they have throughout history, as told by the Persian queen Scheherazade. Self-contained stories and tales-within-tales will be told across various media, all springing from the powerful female figure in different time periods and new dimensions, ala “Doctor Who.”
Picturestart will produce and finance, with Aslan and Mahyad Tousi of BoomGen Studios as writer-creators. Aslan is an Emmy nominee and James Joyce Award winner, whose credits include HBO’s drama “The Leftovers” and the upcoming “Dune: The Sisterhood.” He hosts the Topic streaming series “Rough Draft” as well as the podcast Metaphysical Milkshake. Ryan Lindenberg and Julia Hammer...
The internationally renowned stories — which count characters like Aladdin and his genie, Sinbad and Alibaba — will be framed as they have throughout history, as told by the Persian queen Scheherazade. Self-contained stories and tales-within-tales will be told across various media, all springing from the powerful female figure in different time periods and new dimensions, ala “Doctor Who.”
Picturestart will produce and finance, with Aslan and Mahyad Tousi of BoomGen Studios as writer-creators. Aslan is an Emmy nominee and James Joyce Award winner, whose credits include HBO’s drama “The Leftovers” and the upcoming “Dune: The Sisterhood.” He hosts the Topic streaming series “Rough Draft” as well as the podcast Metaphysical Milkshake. Ryan Lindenberg and Julia Hammer...
- 10/25/2019
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Sugar Lyn Beard is joining the cast of HBO Max’s “UNpregnant” opposite Haley Lu Richardson and Barbie Ferreira, TheWrap has learned exclusively.
“UNpregnant” will be one of the first features made by WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service and will be a coming-of-age project under Greg Berlanti’s deal with the streamer. Beard is playing Kate, a woman in her 30s “with a very sweet, wholesome and earnest vibe,” according to the streamer.
Berlanti is producing alongside partner Sarah Schechter. Erik Feig, who just launched PictureStart, is also producing with Lucy Kitada and Jessica Switch.
Also Read: 'Search Party' Moves From TBS to HBO Max for Season 3 - Streamer Orders 4th Season
“UNpregnant” is based on a Ya novel of the same name and follows a Missouri teen who with her friend hits the road to obtain a legal abortion. Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, who wrote the book, wrote the script.
“UNpregnant” will be one of the first features made by WarnerMedia’s upcoming streaming service and will be a coming-of-age project under Greg Berlanti’s deal with the streamer. Beard is playing Kate, a woman in her 30s “with a very sweet, wholesome and earnest vibe,” according to the streamer.
Berlanti is producing alongside partner Sarah Schechter. Erik Feig, who just launched PictureStart, is also producing with Lucy Kitada and Jessica Switch.
Also Read: 'Search Party' Moves From TBS to HBO Max for Season 3 - Streamer Orders 4th Season
“UNpregnant” is based on a Ya novel of the same name and follows a Missouri teen who with her friend hits the road to obtain a legal abortion. Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, who wrote the book, wrote the script.
- 10/15/2019
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Model and Euphoria star Barbie Ferriera is making her movie debut in HBO Max's 2020 film UNpregnant, alongside Five Feet Apart's Haley Lu Richardson, and I might just have to upgrade my subscription. The film, based on the Ya novel of the same title, will follow the story of a Missouri teen who hits the road with a friend to get a legal abortion, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
UNpregnant will be one of the streaming platform's first feature productions following its 2020 release, and will be produced by Riverdale's Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter. Rachel Goldenberg will direct, while the novel's authors, Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, will be in charge of writing the film's script.
Prior to signing on for UNpregnant, 24-year-old Richardson has starred in films like The Chaperone, Split, and The Edge of Seventeen. Ferreira played Ella in two episodes of the HBO series Divorce, but...
UNpregnant will be one of the streaming platform's first feature productions following its 2020 release, and will be produced by Riverdale's Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter. Rachel Goldenberg will direct, while the novel's authors, Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan, will be in charge of writing the film's script.
Prior to signing on for UNpregnant, 24-year-old Richardson has starred in films like The Chaperone, Split, and The Edge of Seventeen. Ferreira played Ella in two episodes of the HBO series Divorce, but...
- 9/20/2019
- by Chanel Vargas
- Popsugar.com
Deadline first told you about Warner Bros’ streaming service plans to produce an adaptation of Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan’s novel UNPregnant back in June. On Thursday, HBO Max made it official, saying the film from Erik Feig’s Picturestart and Greg Berlanti Productions will star Five Feet Apart‘s Haley Lu Richardson and Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira. Rachel Lee Goldenberg remains set to direct.
UNpregnant tells the story of 17-year-old Veronica (Richardson), who never thought she’d want to fail a test—that is, until she finds herself staring at a piece of plastic with two solid pink lines. With a promising college-bound future now disappearing before her eyes, Veronica considers a decision she never imagined she’d have to make. This tough and never-taken-lightly decision leads her on a 900+ mile road trip to New Mexico over three days with her ex-best friend Bailey (Ferreira), where they discover...
UNpregnant tells the story of 17-year-old Veronica (Richardson), who never thought she’d want to fail a test—that is, until she finds herself staring at a piece of plastic with two solid pink lines. With a promising college-bound future now disappearing before her eyes, Veronica considers a decision she never imagined she’d have to make. This tough and never-taken-lightly decision leads her on a 900+ mile road trip to New Mexico over three days with her ex-best friend Bailey (Ferreira), where they discover...
- 9/19/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: WarnerMedia has chosen a particularly timely subject for one of the first original productions percolating for its streaming service: a Ya comedy about a Missouri teen who heads off on a road trip with a friend to seek out a legal abortion. Given today’s bombshell development that Missouri voted to become the first state without an abortion clinic since Roe V Wade, the picture couldn’t be more timely or bold.
Erik Feig’s upstart production company Picturestart will finance an adaptation of the Jenni Hendriks & Ted Caplan novel Unpregnant, producing it with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions. Rachel Lee Goldenberg (Valley Girl & The Mindy Project) will direct the film. WarnerMedia for days has been unwilling to confirm any of this — understandable given the heated battles in conservative states like Missouri over women’s reproductive rights — but sources tell Deadline the deals are about done.
Erik Feig’s upstart production company Picturestart will finance an adaptation of the Jenni Hendriks & Ted Caplan novel Unpregnant, producing it with Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions. Rachel Lee Goldenberg (Valley Girl & The Mindy Project) will direct the film. WarnerMedia for days has been unwilling to confirm any of this — understandable given the heated battles in conservative states like Missouri over women’s reproductive rights — but sources tell Deadline the deals are about done.
- 6/21/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
On its best days, How I Met Your Mother comments on the very idea of memory, letting its characters' distortions and misremembrances float far outside the bonds of reality. It's perhaps the series' central comedic trope (and certainly its most effective): give the audience all sides of a story in rapid succession, and every so often, the most absurd option holds the truth.
Maybe the biggest problem with "The Magicians Code," Monday's Himym season finale (and, really, with the seventh season as a whole), is that this sense of absurdity has bled into the show's master narrative. It seems creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have lost the thread of their own memory, allowing their best comedic instincts to fall under the weight of heavily orchestrated plot concerns. Though not the only example, this is most evident in the overwrought plotline about Ted's future wife (which gives the series...
Maybe the biggest problem with "The Magicians Code," Monday's Himym season finale (and, really, with the seventh season as a whole), is that this sense of absurdity has bled into the show's master narrative. It seems creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have lost the thread of their own memory, allowing their best comedic instincts to fall under the weight of heavily orchestrated plot concerns. Though not the only example, this is most evident in the overwrought plotline about Ted's future wife (which gives the series...
- 5/15/2012
- by Mark Lashley
- Aol TV.
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