SXSW Short ‘Sequin Raze’ Becomes Lifetime Pilot ‘Unreal,’ With Marti Noxon to Executive Produce
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro‘s short film “Sequin Raze” premiered at SXSW earlier this year before screening at New Directors/New Films — and now it’s headed to television, in a reworked form.
Shapiro and former “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” showrunner Marti Noxon wrote “Unreal,” a pilot based on the short that’s set behind the scenes of a “Bachelor”-style dating competition show, focusing on a staffer whose job is to manipulate the contestants to get the best on-air drama. According to Deadline, Lifetime‘s now ordered a pilot for “Unreal,” with Sharpiro to produce and Noxon to executive produce alongside Sally DeSipio and Bill Davenport at Wieden+Kennedy Entertainment.
The short “Sequin Raze” stars Anna Camp (“True Blood”) as a dismissed dating show contestant who ends up in psychological combat with “Goldberg” (Ashley Williams, “How I Met Your Mother”), a once-feminist producer who’s come to specialize in sparking on-camera meltdowns. Shapiro drew upon her own conflicted experiences working in reality TV to make the short, a trailer for which is below.
