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    Director Adrian Elliot’s Boundary-Bending Comedy “This Isn’t Me” To Screen at SXSW

    By Artisans PRUpdated:No Comments4739 Views

    Multi-award-winning comedy dares to touch delicate issues with candor and makes its Austin debut as part of the fest’s episodic pilot competition. 

    SAN FRANCISCO -- (SPW) --

    This Isn’t Me, an audacious new comedy series directed by ONE TWENTY NINE FILMS director Adrian Rojas Elliot and written by Ben Kawaller about an earnest but inept gay man’s search for meaning and intimacy, is headed to SXSW 2020 as part of the fest’s Episodic Pilot Competition. The show, which won Best Comedy Pilot and Best Actor at Catalyst Content Festival and Best Episodic honors at New York’s Transparent Film Festival, screens March 16 and 18 in Austin.

    Billed as “a new comedy unsuited for network television,” This Isn’t Me offers a skewed take on the absurdities and pathos of millennial life. Fred Knobler (Kawaller) is a struggling, gay thirtysomething who takes a job as a tutor for underachieving children while pursuing diminishing prospects for professional success. Whether it’s the havoc he unwittingly brings to the lives of his young charges, or the humiliations of his chaotic love life (such as disappointing an impatient fetishist), Fred is in a constant struggle to fix appalling messes of his own making. In the pilot, Fred bravely helps a defiant transgender 10-year-old confront her identity.  As the season progresses, Fred fights an obsession with an app called Letzfuqq, deals with a case of HPV, counsels a child facing the possibility of cervical cancer, and neurotically confesses to a potential boyfriend that he may have given him chlamydia.

    SXSW continues the show’s successful run on the festival circuit. In addition to its wins at Catalyst Content Festival and the Transparent Film Festival, This Isn’t Me has earned honors at the Bare Bones Film Festival, San Pedro International Film Festival, and the IndieFest Film Awards. It has been an official selection at more than a dozen other festivals, including Dances With Films, Monmouth Film Festival, CMG Short Film Festival, Interrebang Film Festival and NewFest: New York’s LGBTQ Film Festival.

    With a background spanning writing, photography, and design, Elliot directs advertising and branded content through One Twenty Nine Films, San Francisco. His past narrative work includes the sketch comedy series Nice Tan and the short film Ditch, a winner for Best Narrative Short at the 2017 NYLA International Film Festival and an official selection at the HollyShorts Film Festival, Montréal World Film Festival, Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Awards & Festival and Topanga Film Festival.

    “Our selection by SXSW is a validation of Ben’s concept for the show, which is risky and well outside mainstream comedy,” says Elliot. “We believe this show will resonate with people because it tackles real-world issues in a manner that is truthful, unflinching and drop-dead funny.”

    This Isn’t Me SXSW Screenings:

    • March 16th, 2020 |  11:15am | Alamo Lamar | 1120 South Lamar Blvd.
    • March 18th, 2020 |  2:00pm  |  Rollins Theatre at the Long Center |  701 W. Riverside Dr.

    About One Twenty Nine Films
    One Twenty Nine Films is a production company with a curated roster of exceptional writing and directing talent based on both coasts, developing and directing original series and films, commercials, documentaries, experiential, music videos, animation, and branded online content.

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    company

    Nicholas Seuser
    Founder & Executive Producer, San Francisco
    ONE TWENTY NINE FILMS
    (415) 272-3828
    Contact via email

    Robert Mulligan
    Executive Producer, New York City
    ONE TWENTY NINE FILMS
    (908) 627-1259
    Contact via email

    media

    Linda Rosner
    ArtisansPR
    (310) 837-6008
    Contact via email
    SPW Category:Film Festivals, Screenings, Parties
    Tags:Adrian Rojas ElliotBen KawallerThis Isn't MeOne Twenty Nine FilmsSXSW



    “The Slightest Touch” Wins Best Documentary at Dublin International Film Festival Following HBO Acquisition

    Monday, March 2, 2026
    Scene from "The Slightest Touch."

    The Slightest Touch, directed by Rachel Fleit and edited by Sloane Klevin, ACE, has won Best Documentary at the Dublin International Film Festival, days after HBO Documentary Films acquired the television and streaming rights ahead of its world premiere.

    The feature documentary, which chronicles the friendship between Colin Farrell and Epidermolysis Bullosa survivor Emma Fogarty, was honored by the Dublin jury with the following statement (in part):

    “This next award is for an incredible film… One through which we as an audience came to know both protagonists in ways which would not have been possible, were it not for the unobtrusive talent of the director, who seamlessly documents a story as old as time itself… Rachel Fleit has captured the magic moments of this extraordinary friendship… What follows is an honest and at times searing portrayal of pain in all its forms and the power of humanity and humor to make lives better for all… The jury agreed that The Slightest Touch and director Rachel Fleit is the worthy winner of the documentary category of this year's Film Festival.”

    Edited by Union Editorial Partner Sloane Klevin, ACE, the film continues Fleit’s long creative partnership with the company. Union President and Managing Partner Michael Raimondi and Head of Production, TV and Film Katherine LeBlond served as Executive Producers.

    “What I cherish most about making The Slightest Touch is that it... Read More

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