Addicted to Fresno
| Addicted to Fresno | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jamie Babbit |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Karey Dornetto |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Nathan Matthew David |
| Cinematography | Jeffrey Waldron |
| Edited by | Suzanne Spangler |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Gravitas Ventures |
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Release date
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Addicted to Fresno (original title Fresno) is a 2015 dark comedy that was directed by Jamie Babbit and written by Karey Dornetto. The film had its world premiere March 14, 2015 at South by Southwest and stars Natasha Lyonne and Judy Greer as two sisters that find themselves in trouble after Greer accidentally kills someone. The film was released in the United States on September 1, 2015 through video on demand, and was released in a limited release on October 2, 2015, by Gravitas Ventures.
Martha (Natasha Lyonne) is an overly optimistic housekeeper working at a local hotel in Fresno, California. Her sister Shannon (Judy Greer) is a sex addict who was recently forced to go into rehab after her addiction caused her to lose her job. As she now needs gainful employment, Shannon allows Martha to talk her into working at the hotel as well. However soon after she begins work Shannon accidentally kills one of the hotel's guests and convinces Martha to help her dispose of the body. This is easier said than done, as their attempts result in pet cemetery owners Ruby (Allison Tolman) and Gerald (Fred Armisen) blackmailing them for hush money. Without any other options, Martha and Shannon must now commit a series of robberies to come up with the money.
While writing the script Karey Dornetto partially drew upon her own past relationship with her sister, wondering, "What if I still lived in my same hometown and we were in this sort of a meshed relationship, like a co-dependent relationship?". From there she began to add the film's fictional elements such as Shannon's sex addiction. Filming was initially intended to take place in Cleveland, but due to budget issues Dornetto and Jamie Babbit had to shift the film's setting to Fresno, a location they chose because it seemed like it was a city people wanted to get away from. The film was workshopped as part of the "Made in Cleveland" project, an anthology of 11 short films. Shot in Cleveland in 2012 and released in theaters in 2013, the short film was called Fucking Cleveland, starred Busy Philipps and Gillian Jacobs in the lead roles, and was shot on a budget of $50,000. In August 2014, it was announced that Judy Greer and Natasha Lyonne would portray the two central characters of Fresno, marking the second time Lyonne had worked with Babbit. The two actresses stated that part of the reason that they chose to act in the film was because their characters were atypical to how they were traditionally cast, as Lyonne is usually cast as a "trainwreck" while Greer was usually the "levelheaded" character. The actors were encouraged to engage in improvisation, though they stayed close to the script. Influences included Welcome to the Dollhouse, Bottle Rocket, and Bridesmaids. Shooting took place in Los Angeles.
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