An interview, a Nordic Better Things, a summer shoe dilemma
Hello friends!! 1. I'll get movie updates out of the way first. Where in the Hell is playing the Full Bloom Film Festival, in Statesville, NC, September...
fledgling season, upcoming events
Hello premium subscribers!! That's ALL OF YOU. Many of you probably got the "You received a gift subscription" email yesterday. The newsletter is still free...
our first award
best comedy feature
LA premiere, Long Beach tacos 🎬🌮
Hello dear friends. The world is falling apart, it seems. The US of A is coming off the rails. And here's me in my little house, head down, fixating on my...
a gift from the Santa Anas (?), a spy novel, a feminist movie about moviemaking
Welcome to February, friends. I've been at a loss for what to say, but here's what I've got. 1. Our front gate got blown down by the Santa Anas (along with a...
roos, reviews, and an interview
What a month, huh. I’m drafting this on my porch in Los Angeles, mostly settled back in after the whirlwind of premiering in St. Louis and Melbourne. We sold...
Film fests, here we come
DISCLAIMER: It feels bizarre to be sending this as the election looms. It feels bizarre to be heading off to film festivals! But here we go. The world...
teasing some news
Somehow it's been three months. The bullet points: Denman Island was perfect, though the blackberries were not yet ripe. Our car got stolen, stripped,...
smack in the middle (of summer)
How is it that June 20 feels like the cusp of summer, and by July 3 we're smack in the middle?? I already feel panicked that I’ve wasted it. I'm not good at...
falafel tacos, snow and ice, suburban mom cosplay
I spent a big chunk of January in Boston. The flight was cheap, I had no in-person obligations in LA, and I wanted to celebrate S's birthday with her. It's...
The best (and one worst) of 2023
Best birthday cake I made for R, a large portion of which oozed out of the springform pan and burned on the bottom of the oven, but was spectacular...
movie updates, silver pants, Michelin-approved tacos
I think I've diagnosed the problem. The minute I suggested that people sign up for this newsletter to get "jaunty, periodic updates" on Where in the Hell, I...
the reviews are in, sort of 😆💀
We've been test screening Where in the Hell over the past week or so, the idea being that it's wise to share with an eclectic group of people, not all...
Bridget Everett, birria, and a gray LA
May blurred by with short trips to Orlando and Maine, and a mild case of Covid I caught somewhere along the way. The Cov doused cold water all over my...
It's a real movie
Spring has descended in LA, a strange, gray spring, and I'm recklessly overdue sending a newsletter. In my own defense (not that anyone has accused me of...
How is it August already?
I've been in limbo these past months. Staying in. Rehabbing my wrists. Making small, meaningful strides with the edit, though we've got a long way to go....
Tendinitis, Los Dorados, an excellent pair of pants
A brief one. I finally got a diagnosis for my wrists. Tendinitis. I’m experimenting with dictation again, which is maddening, but maybe once I master the...
elation, ambivalence
I am officially a feature film director.The first leg of the shoot went smashingly. In case you're not on Instagram, here's a portrait of me on location. A...
surging with adrenaline
In four days, we roll camera on the first sequence of WHERE IN THE HELL, the art-house buddy comedy/dystopian road movie I've been writing and prepping to...
where in the ⁉️
Last night I went to get a Thai massage—a thing I sorely missed this past year (no pun intended)—but I couldn't quite relax into it. I caught myself...
relishing the in-between, a cheezy gordita, a wireless bra that maybe doesn't suck
Over the weekend, I finished the second draft of my new feature script. On Monday, I sent it off to my producers, my casting director, an exec producer I'm...
optimistic, and yet flexible 💀
I just peeked back at my newsletter from November 1, 2020. Four months and one entire lifetime ago, it seems. I mentioned the feature script I was writing,...
Emma Thompson, overalls
Back in October, I had the surreal honor of being on a Zoom with Emma Thompson. Just me and two other screenwriters (and one lawyer sister who tagged along),...
Hello out there 👋
Are you okay?I'm okay.I've adopted a strict writing schedule, 8am-12pm, that I'm mostly sticking to. It helps me feel like a person. My mom has endorsed...
It's still tomato season
I keep waiting for a quiet moment to send a newsletter. As if there will be a quiet moment when U.S./world events don’t eclipse my small personal struggles....
It's the Laramie Report! Remember, that newsletter you signed up for in the Before?
It's been a few months. I keep waiting for an epiphany, some little spark of a something to write to you about, but instead there's just me, sitting on my...
taco tuesday wednesday thursday, skunk vs. gopher, "Bull"
Hello my favorite people. Where did that month go?? It’s May, but it’s like... it could be August? It’s already hot in LA. I’m still going to the farmer’s...
no taco, but much gratitude
I don't have a taco rec for you today.I almost ordered an emergency taco kit from Guerilla Tacos, mostly just so I could write to you about it, but ten...
Fuck hope.
I got a big fat rejection on Friday, for a grant I’d been—not counting on, I wasn't that confident. But hopeful about I guess. What a bonkers human instinct....
Flour tortillas worth the headache
I'm on a pretty strict gluten-free diet. I discovered, more than a decade ago, that wheat flour was a migraine trigger for me. Cutting it out hugely improved...
2 1/2 new year's resolutions, 1 shrimp taco
I have two wildly conflicting resolutions this year:1) Learn how to do nothing.2) Get better at prioritizing the important stuff. Which means...2a) Get less...
It doesn't have to be that hard
This has been my mantra for past few weeks. I'm closing in on yet another draft of LIFE ON sMARS, and every little thing seems hard. Every little fix. Mostly...
sailing (sort of), straight-leg jeans, plus empanadas, gorditas, and chavindecas
Since returning from our road trip, I've been obsessively reading a book I found in one of those little free library hutches in Courtenay, BC.Actually, L...
WERKKKKK
This month's "taco" is a Trader Joe's tortilla wrapped around a slice of turkey. We're leaving town tomorrow, and we're in Eat-Everything-in-the-Fridge mode....
The Taco Diaries: Venice, CA v. Boston
I've been a little out of sorts since I got back from Boston. I expected to have three weeks of down time before my next gig, which has since stretched to...
the puffy taco you've been waiting for
We're still getting cool mornings in Los Angeles. May Gray, we tell each other, reminding ourselves that this is how it always is. And now, June Gloom. I've...
Long time no taco
Hello friends! You may or may not remember signing up for this newsletter? In which I sometimes brag about small achievements, often grouse about writing,...
gifts for feminist film snobs, hard-to-please pet people, and everyone else! plus a wild boar taco
I thought I'd change it up this month and do a gift guide. Please note: This may read as Laramie's holiday wish list, but it is not intended as such. It's...
Look Ma, I'm in the Hollywood Reporter
Hello friends! Today's newsletter is brought to you by a strong cup of coffee with coconut cashew milk and very large dose of adrenaline. I will do my best...
The dog days are (almost) over
Or... Are they. I googled the phrase the other day, and got zero clarity. According to Wikipedia, the dog days are "the hot, sultry days of summer. They were...
Let her eat cake 🎂
I'm drafting this at La Taquiza, my old fave taco joint from my USC days. Sitting at my old fave corner table with my yellow legal pad. I'm headed to a...
lip tint, monkey hot tubbing, 2 of 300 arguments
I'm breaking format this month to offer you a list of things I've found pleasing and/or meaningful:1. Laura Olin's newsletter, which is a list of lovely...
RICCCCCKKKKAAAAAWWWWWWWKKKKKKKKKK!
Hello my favorite people.I'm sending this from a desk at an office, at a job that may last for 10 weeks (fingers crossed) or may end tomorrow. We just don't...
Accessing that smushy part of my brain
Good morning! Happy February.I managed to get up at seven (woooooo), and I'm out on the porch as I draft this, quietly drinking my coffee. Ricky's out of...
Good omens for 2018
1. A beautiful bunch of New Year’s carrots, gifted to me by the dreadlocked organic produce guy as I paid for my tomatoes. “To lighten my load,” he said. I...
a halfhearted rant about tacos and LA "winter" fashions
Happy December, friends!I’m drafting this at Salazar, an irksomely hip barbecue/taco joint, built on an old gas station site, I think? There’s a kind of...
Trees and trees and trees
Hello my favorite people!Happy November. Happy November 1, to be precise. I’m determined to get back to sending the Report on the first of the month. If I...
Without hope and without despair
I'm starting a new project (or, rather, re-starting a project I’ve started before, but I won't go into that...) so naturally I spent a solid hour yesterday...
I’m purging again
My clothes hang on an exposed rod on my bedroom wall, so I’m forced to look at everything I own, every day. It makes me crazy to see clothes I don’t wear,...
Nobody walks (at night)
In New York, you get all the walking you need just living your life, but if you want to walk in LA you have to make an effort. I have a rule, which...