Sarah-Violet Bliss
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Sarah-Violet Bliss is an American screenwriter and director best known for writing and directing the
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
film ''
Fort Tilden Fort Tilden, also known as Fort Tilden Historic District, is a former United States Army installation on the coast in the New York City borough of Queens. Fort Tilden now forms part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and is administered ...
'' and the TBS
dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
television series '' Search Party''.


Career

Bliss attended
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...
's MFA Film Program. While there she collaborated with
James Franco James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Ma ...
and eleven other student filmmakers to co-direct ''
The Color of Time ''The Color of Time'' (aka ''Tar'') is a 2012 American independent biographical drama film written and directed by twelve New York University film students whose teacher was James Franco. The film stars James Franco (who also produced), Mila Kunis ...
'', a film on the life of poet
C.K. Williams Charles Kenneth "C. K." Williams (November 4, 1936 – September 20, 2015) was an American poet, critic and translator. Williams won many poetry awards. ''Flesh and Blood'' won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1987. ''Repair'' (1999) won ...
that starred Franco,
Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...
and
Jessica Chastain Jessica Michelle Chastain (born March 24, 1977) is an American actress and producer. Known for primarily starring in films with feminist themes, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. ''Time'' ...
. The film premiered at the 2012
Rome Film Festival International Rome Film Fest is a film festival that takes place in Rome during the month of October. The name in Italian is Festa del Cinema di Roma. Sections The Rome Film Festival official program is divided into several sections: Cinema d'Og ...
. The film was released on December 12, 2014, in a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
and through
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by Starz Digital Media.


''Fort Tilden''

In 2014, her film ''
Fort Tilden Fort Tilden, also known as Fort Tilden Historic District, is a former United States Army installation on the coast in the New York City borough of Queens. Fort Tilden now forms part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and is administered ...
'', written and directed in collaboration with Charles Rogers, premiered at
SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
on March 8, 2014, where it won the SXSW Grand Jury award. The film was acquired by revived
Orion Pictures Orion Pictures (legal name Orion Releasing, LLC) is an American film production and distribution company owned by Amazon through its Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) subsidiary. In its original operating period, the company produced and released films ...
and was released on August 14, 2015, in a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
, and 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 o ...
. The film received generally positive reviews from major critics. Andy Webster of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said that "rarely has a movie so humorously illustrated the meaning of 'frenemy'", David Edelstein of ''
New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...
'' called ''Fort Tilden'' "a brisk comedy packed with sharply drawn characters", and Katie Walsh of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' said that the film "has an easy, funky groove and captures the sweaty perfection of a New York City summer, where things always look better on Instagram".


''Search Party''

Bliss and Rogers teamed up again for the 2016 comedy/mystery TBS television series '' Search Party'', along with
Michael Showalter Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...
, which stars
Alia Shawkat Alia Martine Shawkat ( ; ar, عليا مارتين شوكت; born April 18, 1989) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Old Man'', '' State of Grace'', Maeby Fünke in the Fox/Netflix television sitcom ''Arrested Develop ...
as Dory, John Early as Elliott, John Reynolds as Drew,
Meredith Hagner Meredith Kathleen Hagner (born May 31, 1987) is an American actress. She began her career portraying Liberty Ciccone on the CBS soap opera ''As the World Turns'' (2008–2010), which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Yo ...
as Portia, and
Brandon Micheal Hall Brandon Micheal Hall (born February 3, 1993) is an American actor. On television, he starred as the lead of the ABC sitcom '' The Mayor'' (2017) and the CBS comedy-drama ''God Friended Me'' (2018–2020). Hall also appeared as a series regular on ...
as Julian. ''Search Party'' received critical acclaim; the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that it was "tightly made and effective on multiple levels", '' GQ'' wrote that it is "a flawless oddity, a once-in-a-lifetime piece of art. It's not the weekend's best show, it's the year's best." and the series holds a 100% approval rating on review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the season holds a rating of 81 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The second season of ''Search Party'' premiered on TBS on November 19, 2017 and received positive reviews from television critics. It holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was called a "biting satire made for the Trump era" by Vanity Fair. When the show was renewed for season 5, both Bliss and Rogers signed a deal with HBO Max.


Television

In addition to her work on ''Search Party'', Bliss has worked as a writer on the first and second seasons of the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''
Wet Hot American Summer ''Wet Hot American Summer'' is a 2001 American teen comedy film directed by David Wain from a screenplay written by Wain and Michael Showalter. The film features an ensemble cast, including Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Pau ...
'' as well as for the second season of the
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
series ''
Mozart in the Jungle ''Mozart in the Jungle'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series developed by Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Alex Timbers, and Paul Weitz for the video-on-demand service Amazon Prime Video. It received a production order in M ...
'' which won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy The Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy is one of the annual Golden Globe Awards, given to the best comedy television series. From 1962 to 1968, the category was Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series, and grou ...
. Bliss has appeared on multiple episodes of ''
The George Lucas Talk Show ''The George Lucas Talk Show'' is an improvised talk show in New York City hosted by comedian Connor Ratliff, who appears as George Lucas, the creator of '' Star Wars'', and he interviews real guests as themselves in a panel format. He is join ...
,'' including the ''May the AR Be LI$$ You Arli$$'' marathon streams, as well as ''The George Lucas Holiday Special.''


Recognition

In 2017, ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' named Bliss and Rogers "Hollywood Power Showrunners: Ones To Watch" in their annual list of the top 50 television showrunners and in 2016, the creative duo were named ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''s 10 Writers to Watch. She was also named one of
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
's ''36 Female Creators Who Made Great TV in 2016''.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Sarah-Violet Living people American women film directors American women screenwriters Tisch School of the Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)