Backspot
Section: Discovery
Director: D.W. Waterson
Story by D.W. Waterson /Script by Joanne Sarazen
Logline: Riley, a mid-level cheerleader, is given an opportunity to cheer with the All-Star team Thunderhawks. With a competition looming, Riley must navigate her crippling anxiety, her relationship with her girlfriend, and her desperate need for approval from her new coach.
Sales: United Talent Agency (UTA)
Premiere Date: Sept. 8, 2023
Panelists: Devery Jacobs, D.W. Waterson, Elliot Page
Key Quotes: Actress Devery Jacobs talks about why the sport of Cheerleading is important:
“I think that we wanted to explore cheerleading as a sport, mostly because I have a background in competitive gymnastics. I used to be a former provincial champion. Aside from that, it’s an underestimated sport. People really don’t take it seriously, and I think it’s partly because of misogyny because it’s considered a women’s sport. There’s so many ties between queerness and cheerleading like the music, the campiness, and the glitter. There’s an attractive quality to cheer for queer folks.”
Elliot Page on why their production company Page Boy boarded the project:
“I just feel really grateful to be sitting here with incredibly talented people who’ve made such a stunning, unique, intimate, raw, funny, beautiful, beautiful film. I loved the script, love D.W. and Devery’s work and it felt like an absolute no-brainer.”
