Director: Max Barbikow
Produced by Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island crew, Palm Springs marked the second film Matt edited in as many years to premier at Sundance. It set a new high sale record for Sundance, beating the previous record of $17.5M by 69 cents. (True Lonely Island style!)
Palm Springs’ critical and audience response has been completely overwhelming. The film holds a 94% fresh rating based on 173 critic reviews. It was likewise a hit with audiences, smashing Hulu’s record for hours viewed on an opening weekend.
“A question burns in in the minds of anyone who’s seen more than a couple of these live-die-restart films: Is the ‘let’s do every dumb, life-threatening thing we can imagine' montage any good? Answer: It’s among the best.”
The storytelling in Palm Springs is part linear and part non-linear. On the non-linear side, there were obviously repetitions of the same day, but those days weren’t repetitions per se for our heroes… their timelines generally kept moving forward, together. But sometimes we used the narrative device of the flashback to make their storyline non-linear as well, and sometimes we even saw the exact same events once from Nyles’ perspective and a second time from Sarah’s perspective. We took great care in the editorial process to keep all those repetitions soul crushing for the characters, but not for the audience. I talk about how we achieved that balance in this piece for Variety magazine, and also in this episode of Avid’s Rough Cut podcast, as well as this article and video interview for Deadline Hollywood.
Nominated - Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Nominated - Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Andy Samberg
Nominated - Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic
WINNER - Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie
WINNER - Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie, Andy Samberg
WINNER - Best Actress in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie, Cristin Milioti
Nominated - Best Villain in a Movie, J.K. Simmons
WINNER - Best Movie 2020
WINNER - Best Comedy Movie 2020
WINNER - Top Ten Films
Nominated - Best Editing
Nominated - Best Ensemble
Nominated - Best Comedic Performance - Andy Samberg
WINNER - Overlooked Film of the Year
Nominated - Best Overlooked Film
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best First Screenplay, Andy Siara
Nominated - Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form
2nd Place - Breakthrough Performance, Cristin Milioti
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Nominated - Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical: Andy Samberg
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
2nd Place - Best Comedy Film
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best Screen Couple
Nominated - Breakthrough Director, Max Barbikow
Nominated - Excellence in Production Design, Comtemporary Film
WINNER - Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy
WINNER - Best Comedy
WINNER - Best Comedy Film
Nominated - Saturn Award - Best Independent Film
WINNER - Best Comedy/Musical Film
WINNER - Breakthrough Performance, Cristin Milioti
Nominated - Best Independent Film
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best Film
Nominated - Best First Film
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
WINNER - Best Comedy Film
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best Comedy Film
Nominated - Audience Award
Nominated - Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons
Nominated - Best Music Supervision for Film: Budgeted Under 10 Million Dollars
Nominated - Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Fantasy or Science Fiction Feature Film
Nominated - Best Actress, Awkwafina
2nd Place - Vice/Martin Award, Cristin Milioti
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best Actress, Cristin Milioti
Nominated - Best Original Screenplay
Nominated - Best Supporting Actor, J.K. Simmons
Nominated - Breakout Director of the Year, Max Barbikow
Nominated - Breakout Writer of the Year, Andy Siara