The Austin Film Festival had a little event recently, one showcasing an as-yet unproduced screenplay called The Hand Job. The reason this script deserved special attention is that it is a leftover from the “Black List” of 2009, and is said to be an extremely clever, warm, funny script by Maggie Carey. If you’re unaware, the “Black List” is a collection of each year’s best unproduced scripts assembled by Hollywood’s top readers. Apparently the programmers at AFF saw a right that needed to be wrong and staged a talent-packed reading of the script, and Cinematical was lucky enough to be there.
Jessica Alba, Bill Hader, Colin Hanks, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, and Aubrey Plaza were all in the house, reading parts from the script, with Aubrey Plaza featured as the young woman on which the script focuses. If the film gets picked up, Aubrey is apparently attached (or as attached as she could be in this situation) to play the main part of a recent high school graduate hoping to explore the world of sexual activity before heading to college. The female-centric take on the typical teen sex comedy set-up is impressively raunchy from all indications, and would be a worthwhile project for a studio to take on.
I’m interested to see if this kind of reading (which festivals do all the time) gives the project any heat. You would think a studio would take notice when so many authorities on film are doing all they can to get this script noticed. Aubrey Plaza, who you probably remember best for her recent role in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World or Parks & Recreation, seems to be in a position to slide into that high-profile younger actress with comedy chops field in a similar fashion to Emma Stone, with the right project. Who in Hollywood does she have to stroke to make this happen?