EXCLUSIVE: Margaret Cho, Chris Parnell and John Pirruccello have joined the cast of Derek Mari’s feature directorial debut Chrohnie, an ensemble comedy inspired by his experience with Crohn’s disease.
Written, directed and produced by Mari, based on his 2019 short of the same name, Chrohnie follows a young comedian as the biggest performance of his career approaches, and he finds his life unraveling under the weight of the daily indignities of chronic illness, a broken healthcare system and his parents’ untimely divorce.
Expected to make its festival premiere next year, the film “explores the often-overlooked realities of invisible illness and the pursuit of creative ambition with humor, honesty, and heart.”
In addition to Cho (Fire Island, Will Trent), Parnell (Saturday Night Live, Rick and Morty) and Pirruccello (Barry, Twin Peaks: The Return), the ensemble cast also includes Pam Murphy (Krapopolis), Chet Bashari Anekwe (Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living) and Max Jenkins (Dead To Me, High Maintenance), Keith Ahlstrom and Alison Kamishiro Parsons (The Sex Lives of College Girls).
With a creative team that includes cinematographer Matt Burke and production designer Erika Fisher, producers are Jamie Sanger and Andrew Nibbi of 178 Blank Productions and Mari’s Blink & Miss Productions.
In addition to his 2019 short film Crohnie, which was an Audience Award winner at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Mari has written and directed several shorts, including Beauty (2017), I Think My Sleep Paralysis Demon Is A Casting Director (2019), The Drunken One (2021) and Skunk (2024). He also directed 2022’s Fancy Hat, Missing Son, which was a Vimeo Staff Pick and Webby Award honoree.
