Amy Poehler can write and she can act, and now it is time for her to prove that she can direct, too. On Tuesday, March 20, Netflix announced that the actress is set to make her feature directorial debut with Wine Country, an upcoming comedy for the streaming service with a star-studded ensemble cast. The film’s stars include Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Ana Gasteyer, Paula Pell, and Emily Spivey, while Tina Fey will have a role as well.
The comedy centers on a group of friends gathering in wine country for a 50th birthday weekend, and we can only assume it won’t be your average wine-tasting celebration. Netflix hasn’t revealed much so far, but the streamer did share a video of the film’s stars on Twitter. They’re gathered together in a low-key environment doing some karaoke. They look like they could be any group of friends … if those groups were composed solely of Saturday Night Live stars and writers.
https://twitter.com/netflix/status/976179141006393344
The news was met with enthusiasm on Twitter, which is understandable considering the track record the group of women. Aside from SNL, the comedians have teamed up, in different combinations, numerous times over the years. The 2015 comedy Sisters, for example, was written by Pell and it starred Poehler, Fey, and Rudolph. Meanwhile, Rudolph had Poehler, Gasteyer, and Fey as guests on her 2016 variety show, Maya & Marty.
Spivey and Liz Cackowski, yet another SNL vet, penned the Wine Country script, Variety reports. Like the others, they have worked together beyond the world of SNL. Cackowski wrote an episode of the NBC series Up All Night, which Spivey created and Rudolph starred in. Additionally, they each worked on episodes of Fox’s The Last Man on Earth.
Wine Country will be produced by Paper Kite Productions, while Carla Hacken of Paper Pictures produces alongside Morgan Sackett of Dunshire Productions. Principal photography is reportedly set to begin in late March in Los Angeles and Napa, California. Netflix’s announcement promises that the comedy will be “your new favorite movie,” so it sounds like we should all get excited.
The film does not yet have a release date.
