Drew Barrymore is doubling up with her latest feature The Stand-In, a romantic comedy directed by But I’m A Cheerleader director Jamie Babbit. The film is being produced by Barrymore’s Flower Films in association with The Exchange, which will be launching it in Berlin.
The Stand-In is written by Sam Bain, the British comedy writer behind Chris Morris feature Four Lions and Channel 4’s long-running series Peep Show.
It tells the story of a disaffected comedy actress and her ambitious stand-in trading places, both played by the Never Been Kissed star, who recently starred in Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet. Candy is a washed-up movie star, busted for a tax evasion, who hires her unemployed, adoring stand-in Paula to do community service in her place. However, a weird co-dependent relationship ensues as Candy begins to use Paula as a stand- in in all parts of her life to escape from the stressful demands of fame. Eventually, Paula starts to take over Candy’s identity, career and boyfriend, finally kicking Candy out of her own house, where she is forced to survive in the real world for the first time while Paula lives the celebrity life of her dreams, until her boyfriend discovers the truth about the woman he’s sleeping with.
Babbit, who has previously directed series including Silicon Valley, Gilmore Girls, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Girls. It is produced by Barrymore, Ember Truesdell, Chris Miller and Nancy Juvonen-Fallon for Flower Films and Date Night producer Tom McNulty for The Exchange, which is behind features such as A Streetcat Named Bob and 2 Guns.
The Exchange will handle international, while UTA and CAA are handling domestic sales.
“Jamie Babbit and Drew Barrymore are the perfect team for this irresistible comedy, we are confident that this project has global appeal and is one of the hottest titles at EFM, as there is a thirst for high quality romantic comedies like The Stand-In”, said The Exchange Chief Executive Brian O’Shea.
