Iliza Schlesinger and Josephine Decker know they may not be the most obvious writer-director-star pair, admitting that they are “really different artists.” But they met in the middle for Sundance charmer “Chasing Summer,” which sees the irreverent standup comic in a more dramatic, darkly comic role.
Shlesinger wrote the screenplay while Decker (“Madeline’s Madeline,” “Shirley”) directed.
“The comedy was going to be there because it was me. I’ve done serious roles before, but I wanted to make something beautiful,” Shlesinger told TheWrap. “Josephine’s name was floated to me, and I watched ‘Shirley,’ and I was like, ‘That is such a cool-looking movie. It’s available to me to maybe get a director that does that?’ versus, like, a straight-to-video, really colorful comedy.”
Decker first got the script for “Chasing Summer” in May with a planned shoot in July (a date she managed to push by three weeks to avoid a ridiculously tight turnaround). The filmmaker quickly found herself drawn to the truth present in Shlesinger’s often-comic script about a woman who returns to her hometown decades after leaving for one final summer after having her life upended.
“High school sucked, if I can put it bluntly,” Decker said. “You invent a story about that, and you kind of craft the good guys and the bad guys in your head, and you’re like, ‘This is how it went.’ Later, I had a real revelation at my 10-year high school reunion that actually all of the dynamics were totally different than I realized.”
Though she thoroughly enjoyed the screenplay, Decker also noted the distinct styles between Shlesinger and herself.
“We are really different artists,” she said. “At times, that definitely conflicted, and it was really exciting. Finding the solution to that was amazing. We had some amazing editors working on this with us, and to be in the room with them, solving the issue of me maybe wanting more vulnerability and Iliza wanting more comedy and then figuring out how to have both … It was really cool to get to do that together.”
That environment could be seen in full force during TheWrap’s Sundance Interview Studio at the festival’s last year in Park City, as Decker and Shlesinger conversed with four of the film’s stars: Tom Welling, Garrett Wareing, Cassidy Freeman and Aimee Garcia. The group ping ponged back and forth, talking about the strange alchemy they found on set led by their director and writer-star.
“Even if our ideas weren’t always the best — mine in particular,” Wareing started.
“You feel heard,” Welling added.
“You always both took the time to acknowledge where I was coming from and see it and weigh the option, and I very much appreciate the fact,” Wareing concluded.
“Here’s the truth: At 5 a.m., when you have been having sex for a very long time on set …,” Shlesinger began.
“On set, on set,” Wareing emphasized.
“… and you are tired, you might need someone else to be like, ‘What if you said this line this way?’” Shlesinger finished. “Sometimes you can’t do it yourself and you do need that.”
Read all of TheWrap’s 2026 Sundance Film Festival coverage here.
The post How Iliza Shlesinger and Josephine Decker Met in the Middle for ‘Chasing Summer’: ‘We Are Really Different Artists’ appeared first on TheWrap.
