The Other Zoey is a young adult romantic comedy that follows Zoey Miller, played by Josephine Langford. She has her life turned upside down when the school’s soccer star, Zack, played by Drew Starkey, gets amnesia and mistakes her for his girlfriend. Ironically, they have the same name.
The Other Zoey Director Sara Zandieh Talks Rom-Com Inspirations
Romantic comedies were once a genre that thrived at the box office. Before there were streaming services, people would rush to the local Blockbuster or Hollywood Video to rent a rom-com and curl up at home. Today, the dominating genre is superhero flicks and the romantic comedy genre doesn’t see as much star power as it once did. Movies like How To Lose Guy in 10 Days, Maid in Manhattan, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and When Harry Met Sally are among people’s favorites, but we haven’t had much new material to add to our lists.
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We recently sat down with the film’s director, Sara Zandieh, to chat about what inspired her vision for this rom com.
“I think for this movie I looked at a lot of John Hughes movies…. It reminded me of the Molly Ringwald movies…it is a heightened premise…it was a lot like While You Were Sleeping… there was an amnesia kind of heightened premise… I really loved that movie when I was growing up. So yeah just a lot of nostalgia, it just made me feel like I was a young adult again.”
-Sara Zandieh, Directors of ‘The Other Zoey-
Working on a TV Series Versus a Film
If you aren’t familiar with Zandieh’s work, she has also directed several episodes for the hit series Good Girls that sees three mothers that find themselves desperate and end up choosing to risk everything and stop playing it safe.
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We asked her to discuss the comparisons between directing a tv series versus a film and which might be more enjoyable.
“Tv’s changed a lot now. I think the line between film and tv is a lot thinner now. So much of television is so cinematic… they’re pretty interchangeable now. It’s more about the story for me and the character, if I connect to them.”
-Sara Zandieh, Directors of ‘The Other Zoey-
Zandieh brings forth a good point. Series like Peaky Blinders (Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, and Adrien Brody) and Only Murders in the Building (Selena Gomez, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Meryl Streep, and Paul Rudd) see lots of star power, cinematic filming quality, and higher budgets. So it is quite possible to get the same experience in either setting.
The Other Zoey releases in theaters on October 20, 2023, and On Demand on November 10, 2023.
About The Other Zoey
Release Date: October 20th, 2023
Directed By: Sara Zandieh
Produced By: William Bindley, Nate Bryson, Michael C. Cuddy, Mike Karz, Matt Luber, Lena Rolin, and Matthew Tabak
Writers: Matthew Tabak
Cast: Josephine Langford, Drew Starkey, Archie Renaux, Mallori Johnson, Andie MacDowell, Patrick Fabian, Heather Graham, Olive Abercrombie, and Maggie Thurmon
Synopsis
Zoey Miller (Josephine Langford), a smart computer major who thinks she has love all figured out, has her life turned upside down when Zach (Drew Starkey), a popular college soccer player, gets amnesia and mistakes Zoey as his girlfriend. Before she can reveal the truth, she meets Zach’s cousin, Miles (Archie Renaux), with whom she has a lot in common. Pretending to be Zach’s girlfriend, she realizes she has feelings for both of them and is forced to confront her fears to make an impossible decision.
What would you do if you developed amnesia and got your significant other mixed up? Know of anyone who has gone through something similar? Will you be tuning in to see how this mix-up unfolds on October 20, 2023? Let us know in the comments below and on social media!
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