EXCLUSIVE: Roxy Sophie Sorkin will make her feature directorial debut with Hot Year, an indie coming-of-age revenge thriller that she also wrote. Kathryn Newton, Storm Reid, Dove Cameron, J. Smith Cameron, and Owen Painter have been set to star, with production to begin in Oklahoma in May.
“Hot Year is an exploration into brutal honesty and boiling, seething, grotesque womanhood,” Sorkin said. “It’s a movie I wish I had held dear when I was 18. It’s a forehead kiss and a spit in the face. Be prepared to wear fairy wings and bring Fireball.”
Set against the eerie backdrop of a small Pacific Northwest town during a relentless heatwave, Hot Year
follows two childhood best friends whose bond is pushed to the brink after a revenge plan against an ex-boyfriend spirals into a violent incident they can’t take back. Over the course of one feverish night, the pair must navigate the consequences of their actions as buried trauma, loyalty and identity collide.
Wagner Entertainment’s Jordan Wagner and Killer Films’ Christine Vachon will produce alongside Evan
Silverberg and Dylan Conklin for Entertainment 360 and Ilya Stewart for Hype Studios. Ryan Hamilton will executive produce for Wagner Entertainment, with Amanda Larney serving as co-producer and George Bicknell associate producer. Newton will exec produce.
“Roxy has a really distinct and exciting voice as a filmmaker,” said Wagner. “It’s a bold script, emotional, but also fun and unpredictable in a way that feels fresh. Hot Year taps into something very real about friendship and identity at that age, and I think audiences are going to really connect with it. We couldn’t have asked for a better cast to bring this to life, and I’m really looking forward to seeing Roxy
bring this world to the screen alongside an incredible group of artists.”
Aleksandr Fomin will executive produce on behalf of Hype Studios, with Pavel Burian executive producing for Mosaic Films. Talia Bella and Randy Wayne of Rebellium Films will serve as co-producers and are handling production services in Oklahoma.
“Roxy is exactly the kind of filmmaker we’re always drawn to,” said Vachon. “She has a real point of view and isn’t afraid to take risks with tone or character. Hot Year lives in a space that feels both specific and unsettling, which is very exciting to us. We had such a great experience working with Jordan and Wagner Entertainment on Pretty Babies, and I look forward to continuing that collaboration on Hot Year.”
The film marks Sorkin’s feature directing debut after directing several shorts that have screened at Sundance, Tribeca and Beyond Fest. Sorkin is repped by Entertainment 360, UTA and Ziffren.
Newton can currently be seen starring opposite Samara Weaving in Searchlight’s thriller Ready
or Not 2. She previously starred in Universal’s horror feature Abigail, opposite Paul Rudd in Marvel’s Ant-Man, and opposite Reese Witherspoon in HBO’s Big Little Lies. Next, she stars in the Basquiat biopic Samo Lives and Lionsgate’s Devil’s Mouth. Newton is repped by Entertainment 360, WME, and Hansen Jacobson Teller.
Reid earned her first Emmy for her work as Riley in the HBO Max series The Last of Us. Next up, Reid will star in the Netflix comedy Roommates penned by SNL alums Jimmy Fowlie and Ceara O’Sullivan and produced by Adam Sandler for Happy Madison. The film is releasing on the streamer April 17. Reid is also set to star in Teyana Taylor’s directorial debut Get Lite at Paramount, slated for a 2027 release. Reid is repped by CAA and Granderson Des Rochers.
Most recently, Cameron starred in the series 56 Days, an erotic, psychological thriller based on
the hit novel. Executive produced by James Wan and Atomic Monster for Prime Video, the series hit No. 1 globally upon its release and remained one of the streamer’s top titles following the release.
Smith-Cameron is is best known for her performance as Gerri Kellman on HBO’s Succession, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award, in addition to winning two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She was most recently seen as a special guest star on CBS’ Elsbeth and recently joined the cast of FX’s upcoming drama series Seven Sisters as the matriarch of the Bosco family opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Cristin Milioti. Smith-Cameron is represented by Principal Entertainment LA, Gersh and Schreck Rose Dapello.
Painter can be seen next in the FX and Ryan Murphy series The Shards. He is repped by Gersh, Industry
Entertainment and Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman.
