Olympic athlete Alexi Pappas has taken her athletic career and used it to launch a completely different career in Hollywood. Pappas has co-directed, co-written, and starred in Tracktown and Olympic Dreams, both sports-oriented films alongside filmmaker Jeremy Teicher. But the duo is taking on a completely different theme for their next project, Not an Artist, which takes a satirical look at the creative process.
This one looks super cool because it has RZA as a possible cult leader at the center of an artist-in-residency program. He’s got an ultimatum for all of the distressed artists under his charge: either reach your full creative potential or quit being an artist forever.
Pappas and RZA are part of a great ensemble that includes Haley Joel Osment, Betsy Sodaro, Rosalind Chao, Ciara Bravo, Matt Walsh, Robert Schwartzman, Paul Lieberstein, Dan Bakkedahl, Gata, Morgan Walsh, Clark Moore, and Lauren Knutti.
The film is directed and written by Pappas and Teicher, with Walsh also part of the screenplay team.
Here’s the synopsis: In an exclusive artist-in-residency program overseen by an enigmatic patron (RZA), artists in turmoil face a make-or-break ultimatum: unlock their full creative potential or abandon art forever. Yet, the unexpected intrusion of an outsider (Matt Walsh, Veep) jeopardizes the program’s delicate balance. Also starring Cleopatra Coleman (Last Man on Earth), Paul Lieberstein (The Office), and Rosalind Chao (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), among others.
Utopia releases Not an Artist digitally on January 31st 2025.
