Leighton Meester, Adam Brody’s Date Nights Led to Her Movie ‘Basic’
Leighton Meester has long held much more than a basic understanding of the comedy movie Basic, thanks to outings with husband Adam Brody. Meester and Ashley Park star in writer-director Chelsea Devantez’s feature directorial debut that premiered Monday at SXSW. Taylor John Smith, Nelson Franklin, Kandy Muse, Ashley Nicole Black, Amber Ruffin and Jon Gabrus round out the cast for Basic, which is seeking distribution. During an onstage conversation about the movie that followed its screening, Devantez explained that the project originated as a three-minute short film of the same name that was accepted into SXSW in 2020. Because the event was canceled that year amid the COVID pandemic, the short never actually screened in a theater, but the festival posted it online, leading to hundreds of messages from impressed viewers. Six days after the short debuted, producer Katie McNicol from Marc Platt‘s banner set up a Zoom conversation to board a feature version of Basic. The film centers on Gloria (Park), who splits from boyfriend Nick (Smith) after she starts obsessing over the social …