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Logline

After the death of their friend Evan, a group of 30-somethings try to suppress their grief during the celebration of life he wanted, a.k.a. The Best Funeral Party Ever. Life of the Party is a comedy about living with loss, it explores how we must move through our fear of mortality to ultimately go all-in on life.

Synopsis

We find Johnna getting her make-up done. She’s flawless, stunning – for her late husband Evan’s funeral. To honor him, Johnna’s throwing the funeral he wanted: beer, fast food, a killer DJ, and principally – no crying!

Kelly, Johnna’s best friend and closest support through Evan’s brain cancer, arrives with his Kermit-the-Frog urn, already failing the no-tears rule. Throughout the evening, Johnna dodges Kelly’s attempts to connect, instead making her enforce the mandatory fun.

As guests arrive, the DJ announces, “Let’s start this wedding with an oldie but a goodie!” and Another One Bites the Dust blares. Johnna criticizes everything: the waiters, crying guests, the party planner Meghan, and Kelly – who just wants to give her a present. Kelly finds Father Ken hiding in the bathroom, who reminds her she’s allowed to feel her own grief.

The evening spirals when Sophie, Evan’s ex of 8 years, arrives. While Johnna confronts her, Evan’s mother Dorothy probes about frozen sperm, and Johnna’s mother suggests she move home. Overwhelmed, Johnna flees but ends up having sex with Stephen, an old friend.

Back at the party, Johnna forces Sophie into a karaoke battle of The Boy is Mine. When Stephen’s ex Lauren exposes Johnna’s tryst, she evacuates to the beach where Kelly finds her sobbing. The best friends finally grieve together; Johnna feels Evan’s loss, and Kelly realizes the Johnna she knew is gone forever.

The party culminates in sharing memories of Evan, with Johnna’s emotional speech about losing the love of her life making everyone sob until the DJ reminds them: it’s a party! They resume celebrating, getting thoroughly trashed.

The next morning, Johnna and Kelly sit at the pier, scattering some ashes from “Urnit the Frog.” A tear falls from Johnna’s face as spring-breakers knock the urn into the ocean.
 

Meet the Filmmakers

April Shih — Director/Producer
April is an Emmy-nominated, WGA Award-winning writer/producer and filmmaker with several series in development at FX, WBTV, and Paramount TV Studios. She has written for FX’s critically acclaimed comedy You’re the Worst, Mrs. America (starring Cate Blanchett), and Amazon’s Undone, and served as Supervising Producer for Season 2 of Dave. April was most recently the co-executive producer on the Emmy- nominated Season 5 of Fargo. April has been a fellow of the Sundance Episodic Story Lab, CAPE New Writers Fellowship, CBS Writers Mentoring Program, and the inaugural Film Independent Episodic Lab.

Brandy Finmark — Writer/Producer
Brandy is a comedy writer born and raised in Los Angeles. Brandy’s writing career started when she and her feature writing partner got management from Gotham in 2015. In 2016, the duo wrote the sketch, The Glass Ceiling Board Game for Girls for Comedy Central Digital, which went viral in 2016. Since then, Brandy and her writing partner have sold numerous feature film pitches and scripts. Brandy has staffed on Chelsea (Netflix), Crank Yankers (Comedy Central), and Crossing Swords (Hulu).

Nora Mcinery — Writer/Producer
Nora is the creator of the podcast “Terrible, Thanks for Asking” (called “a gift” by The New York Times) and the author of several funny books about sad things, including the forthcoming “BAD VIBES ONLY” (October 2022). She adapted her first memoir — the story of losing her husband Aaron to brain cancer — for Fox 2000, and developed her book “The Hot Young Widows Club” for Freeform with her co-writers Brandy Finmark and Jessica Blackwell. She is very tall.

Jen Goyne Blake — Producer
Jen is a Partner at DIVERSITY HIRE LTD., a production company under a television overall deal at FX, alongside April Shih. Jen was the Founding Director of the Episodic Lab at Sundance, where for nearly 7 years, she headed the program that nurtured television writers from underrepresented communities. Blake shepherded over 200 writers and produced over 20 Labs during her tenure. In 2017, out of thousands of submissions, Blake selected Shih’s project, Tilting, for the program. Before Sundance, Blake worked at Relativity Media and WMA. She is currently the program director of the Oxbelly Episodic Lab in Greece.

Diversity Hire LTD — Producer
Diversity Hire Ltd is the production banner founded in 2021 by writer-producer April Shih and Jen Goyne Blake, the founding director of the Sundance Episodic Lab.

While soul-searching during the pandemic, Shih (whose credits include DAVE, Fargo, You’re the Worst, Undone, and Mrs. America) discovered that she wanted to cultivate a community of artists and devote herself to elevating other diverse voices. Blake, who produced over 20 labs during her time at Sundance (including with alums such as Barry Jenkins, Katori Hall, and Desiree Akhavan), wanted to find even more meaningful ways to help artists in the industry. Serendipitously they came together to establish their production company Diversity Hire Ltd, founded on the core tenet of artist support.

The company’s first feature film, Joyland, was an official selection for the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. Joyland had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, received the Indie Spirit Award for Best International Film in 2023, and was shortlisted for the 2023 Oscars. Their next international feature, It’s a Sad and Beautiful World, is currently in post-production and slated to be released in 2025.

Make Good Content — Producer
Paul Young is the Emmy-winning producer of Key & Peele. He’s produced dozens of films and television shows, including Reno 911, Central Intelligence, and Keanu. Paul founded Make Good Content in 2018. He began his career as the founder of Principato-Young Entertainment and concurrently served as Chairman of the Groundlings Theater. Paul will next produce The Actor for Neon and a spin-off of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off for Paramount Pictures.

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Contact

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