Interview: Emma Seligman on Making the Queer Teen Comedy She Could Have Seen in High School with ‘Bottoms’ [VIDEO]

Writer-director Emma Seligman is a veteran of SXSW, premiering her short film Shiva Baby there in 2018 before debuting the feature-length version online in 2020. This past March, she returned to Austin with Bottoms, reteaming with her Shiva Baby star Rachel Sennott, who serves both as a cowriter and lead opposite Ayo Edebiri (The Bear). The film was met with uproarious laughter from audiences, earning an ‘A’ grade from our own Ryan McQuade.

We spoke with Seligman about whether the film’s premise, about two teenage lesbians who start a fight club so they can hook up with cheerleaders, is based on true events (it’s not) and what motivated her to make this kind of film. She also delved into the process of writing and then recalibrating stunts, and the warm reception the film has received thus far ahead of its theatrical release.

Bottoms will be released in select theaters by Orion Pictures on Friday, August 25.

Photo: Patti Perett/Orion Pictures

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Abe Friedtanzer

Abe Friedtanzer is a film and TV enthusiast who spent most of the past fifteen years in New York City. He has been the editor of MoviesWithAbe.com and TVwithAbe.com since 2007, and has been predicting the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, and SAG Awards since he was allowed to stay up late enough to watch them. He has attended numerous film festivals including Sundance and SXSW, and was on a series of road trips across the United States with his wife, Arielle, which he hopes to resume when travel is safe again. You can also find him at YouTube at @movieswithabe and Instagram at @movieswithabe.

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