''Authors Anonymous'' is a 2014 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed and produced by

Ellie Kanner Ellie Kanner, sometimes credited as Ellie Kanner-Zuckerman, is an American film and television director and former casting director. Career Kanner grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut. From a young age, she wanted to move to Los Angeles and purs ...

. It stars

Kaley Cuoco Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ''8 Simple Rules'' (200 ...

, Chris Klein,

Tricia Helfer Tricia Janine Helfer (born April 11, 1974) is a Canadian-American actress and former model. She played the enigmatic Cylon model Number Six in the re-imagined ''Battlestar Galactica'' series (2004–2009). She also voiced Sarah Kerrigan in ''S ...

Jonathan Banks Jonathan Ray Banks (born January 31, 1947) is an American actor. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Chillum Heights, Maryland, while attending Indiana University Bloomington Banks did theatre. In 1974, he moved to Los Angeles where he be ...

, Jonathan Bennett,

Teri Polo Theresa Elizabeth Polo (born June 1, 1969) is an American actress. She starred as Pam Byrnes-Focker in the ''Meet the Parents'' trilogy and played the role of police officer Stef Adams Foster in the Freeform series '' The Fosters'' (2013–201 ...

Dylan Walsh Dylan Walsh (born Charles Hunter Walsh; November 17, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dr. Sean McNamara in the FX television series ''Nip/Tuck'', Al Burns in ''Unforgettable'' and Sam Lane in ''Superman & Lois''. E ...

, and

Dennis Farina Donaldo Gugliermo "Dennis" Farina (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an American actor. Often typecast as a mobster or police officer, he is known for roles such as FBI Agent Jack Crawford in '' Manhunter'', mobster Jimmy Serrano in th ...

. The film was released on March 18, 2014, through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

prior to its limited release on April 18, 2014, by

Screen Media Films Screen Media Ventures, LLC. is an American-Canadian distribution company founded in 2001. In 2008, Screen Media selected The Creative Coalition as its exclusive nonprofit partner in launching the Spotlight Initiative. The partnership permits the p ...

and Starz Digital.

Plot summary

When several dysfunctional and unpublished writers accept young Hannah into their clique, they don't expect her overnight success. Hannah, who has rarely even read a book, let alone written one, not only manages to land a literary agent to represent her, she cashes in on a deal to turn her first manuscript into a Hollywood film. The support of her weekly writers group, Authors Anonymous, turns to resentment. Colette Mooney receives rejection letters galore from agents and publishers. Her husband, optician Alan, speaks ideas into a hand-held recorder all day long, but never acts on them. Henry Obert has writer's block, as well as a huge crush on Hannah, while a Tom Clancy wanna-be, John K. Butzin, resorts to self-publishing in a delusional quest to become a best-selling author, helped by a young hardware store employee named Sigrid who believes in him. In time, Hannah realizes that maintaining a relationship with these people is next to impossible, but does what she can to at least encourage Henry to begin writing again.

Cast

as Hannah Rinaldi * Chris Klein as Henry Obert *

as Sigrid Hagenguth *

as David Kelleher * Jonathan Bennett as William Bruce *

as Colette Mooney *

as John K. Butzin *

as Alan Mooney * Charlene Amoia as Eudora *

Meagen Fay Meagen Fay is an American actress known for her work in television. Best known as Roxy in '' Ohara'' (1987-1988), Principal Halloron in ''Life With Louie'' (1995-1998), and Gretchen Mannkusser in ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2002-2004) and Loot on ...

as Maureen *Robb Skyler as Dr. Xiroman *Diane Robin as Lois Pepper

Production

Pre-production

The film is produced by director

's Forever Sunny Productions (EKZ Productions) and Hal Schwartz's Bull Market Entertainment in association with Cynthia and Laine Guidry's Lainie Productions. Jonathan Bennett and

also served as executive producers to the film.

Filming

The film was shot in and around

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

during August 2012. It includes one of

's last performances before his death in July 2013.

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes, authors_anonymous 2014 films Films directed by Ellie Kanner Films shot in Los Angeles 2014 comedy films Films about writers American comedy films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language comedy films