Private Project

Kinsley Vs.

Kinsley Vs. is a dark comedy about a 30-something woman whose anxious thoughts anthropomorphize into living, breathing characters.

Stuck in a dead-end personal assistant job, Kinsley can't write anything other than titles. When an influencer she hate-follows gets a book deal, Kinsley calls her Voices out of hibernation to boost her ego & help her finally write her masterpiece.

Episode 1: It's Authentic
Episode 2: Noodles
Episode 3: Spiral
Episode 4: Berkeley
Episode 5: Pee On a Stick
Episode 6: Plans
Episode 7: Writer's Room

  • Courtney Romano
    Director
    Screen Test
  • Courtney Romano
    Writer
    Screen Test
  • Benjamin Shaw
    Producer
  • Sara States
    Producer
  • Allison Koehler
    Producer
  • Courtney Romano
    Producer
  • Lauren Karaman
    Key Cast
    "Kinsley"
  • Sara States
    Key Cast
    "Edie"
  • Kennedy Kanagawa
    Key Cast
    "Shane"
  • Forest VanDyke
    Key Cast
    "Maxwell"
  • Matt Dallal
    Key Cast
    "Marv"
  • Becca Schneider
    Key Cast
    "Beatrice"
  • LaWanda Hopkins
    Key Cast
    "Dusty"
  • Tyler Martin
    Key Cast
    "Gordon"
  • David Gow
    Key Cast
    "Thomas"
  • Will Gallacher
    Key Cast
    "Berkeley"
  • Whitney McIntosh-Joseph
    Key Cast
    "Sasha"
  • Sandy Singh
    Key Cast
    "Marguerite"
  • Emily Fink
    Key Cast
    "Lana"
  • Catherin Calloway
    Key Cast
    "Cameron"
  • Mucho Garcia
    Key Cast
    "Barista"
  • Project Type:
    Web / New Media
  • Runtime:
    47 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 6, 2022
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Courtney Romano

Courtney Romano is a writer/director based in New York City. She started her career as an actor, performing in everything from commercials to Off Broadway, before transitioning into writing.

While working as a freelance writer, Courtney self-published the book "The First Ten Years: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Creative Longevity" in 2015, which unpacked her experience as an NYC actor hustling to make it. Her pilot, "The First Ten Years" based off the book was a Semi-Finalist in the Big Apple Film Festival and Quarter Finalist for the Page International Film Festival; she served as Creative Strategist/Writer for "MOVE Experience with Julianne and Derek Hough" in 2018; Courtney was the Script Supervisor for the national tour of CHEFS, and stepped into her first writing/directing role with her short film "Screen Test" in 2020.

Courtney's work explores culture with both a critical lens and an optimistic one. Her work offers a cutting critique of the systems that frame our lives, by balancing a dark sense of humor against an earnest hope for something better.

Courtney established Queens Bird Films, an independent production company, in 2020. She's currently recording season three of the podcast, The Break Breakdown. And she completed post-production on the limited digital series, Kinsley Vs., in July 2022. Courtney lives with her husband and three year old daughter in Queens.

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Director Statement

In 2016, I started writing Kinsley Vs. because I loved the idea of a woman fighting against her own thoughts. Over the course of the next five years, I drafted the script on and off — taking a long break as I was becoming a mother. And during those five years, it became stunningly clear that my own thoughts had grown more intense, more sharply defined, and louder. And due to the conflation of becoming a mother while living through a global pandemic, the volume was something I had to take seriously.

All of this lives in Kinsley Vs.

Kinsley longs to be the hero of her own story. But she doesn't even know what story she's telling. She doesn't have a career. She doesn't have a relationship. She doesn't even have her own lease. There is a deep loneliness, veering on grief, that is buried inside her. But right next to it is also an inkling of joy and the spark of creativity. As she attempts to create the artist-life she wants, the thoughts in her head make things exquisitely difficult. And it's not until she decides to commit to something, that she can see her next step.

This series is about the lonely moments of process — whether it's the process of becoming a writer or the process of becoming ourselves. It's about the work that no one sees. It's about falling in love with our own story, and learning to dance with our thoughts instead of letting them take us down.

My biggest hope for this series is that you see yourself in it and feel seen by it.
Thanks so much for watching.