Experiencing Interruptions?

Maura & Maggie Get Callbacks (to play themselves)

For 67 years Maura tried to shed her small town, move to New York, and be an actress. But a violent childhood, nightmare marriages, a kidnapped child, and cancer... stopped her.

Until now.

In the Big Apple she meets Maggie, who’s pursued acting for 40 years. And though not famous herself, she’s surrounded by a famous family. Her uncle directed Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, and Bette Midler in The Rose.

Together, they defy naysayers and age, and the long odds of show business. Maura & Maggie is a crazy, humorous ride, where dreams are not what they seem, and truth is truly stranger than fiction.

  • Tennyson Bardwell
    Director
    The Skeptic, Dorian Blues (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1548043/credits)
  • Mary-Beth Taylor
    Producer
    Dorian Blues, The Skeptic (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1548042/credits)
  • Brian Byrne
    Composer
    A Minecraft Movie, Hotel Transylvania 4, The Croods, The Secret Scripture, Jenny’s Wedding, Boychoir, Albert Nobbs, Sex and the City 2, In America (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1725223/credits)
  • Pavel Gazdyuk
    Director of Photography
    The Last Deal, The Beethoven Method, Little Jar, Ponds, Willow & Lydia (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm10832052/credits)
  • Maura Campbell
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
    Baby Skin
  • Maggie Wagner
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
    Working Girl, For the Boys, The Wisdom to know the difference, Cutman, The Walk, The Panic (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0906000/credits)
  • Sally Kirkland
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
    Anna, The Sting, JFK, 80 for Brady, Tom in America (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0000476/credits)
  • Dey Young
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
    Star Trek: The Next Generation, Rock 'n' Roll High School, This is Us, Pretty Woman, Spaceballs (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0949477/credits)
  • Mark Rydell
    Key Cast
    "Himself"
    On Golden Pond, The Rose, For the Boys, The Long Goodbye, Hollywood Ending, James Dean, Evan Money (https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0041932/credits)
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 32 minutes 56 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 1, 2026
  • 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
  • WINNER of CINEQUEST FILM FESTIVAL
    San Jose, CA
    United States
    March 21, 2026
    World Premiere
    Kaiser Permanente Award for Most Inspirational Film
Director Biography - Tennyson Bardwell

Maura & Maggie Gets Callbacks is award winning writer/director Tennyson Bardwell's third feature and first documentary.

Tennysonʼs first feature, Dorian Blues, won 14 awards on the festival circuit; The HBO prize for Best First Feature at the LA Outfest Festival, New York NewFest's Best Screenplay award, Audience award at Lake Placid Film Festival; both The Audience & New Director's awards at Cinequest, the Special Jury prize at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, Best Screenplay at the Bahamas International Film Festival; & eight other US & International awards.

Although made on a shoestring budget Dorian Blues received a Domestic and Foreign limited theatrical release and has received much critical acclaim along the way:

"Throughout the film the writing remains cleverly acrid. ...Bardwell gently lights a footpath between two ways of living." the NY Times

"A brilliantly well written script – insightful, hilarious, and ultimately profoundly moving." The London Times

"A film with a lot of heart." NY Post "Well written and well acted.'' LA Times

Tennysonʼs second film, The Skeptic, starring Tim Daly (Diner, ABC's Private Practice, Wings), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek, Avatar), and Tom Arnold (True Lies), Ed Herrmann (The Aviator, The Lost Boys, Reds), Robert Prosky (Dead Man Walking, Mrs. Doubtfire, Last Action Hero), Andrea Roth (War, The Time Tunnel, Last Exit) and Bruce Altman (Matchstick Men, L.I.E., Glengarry Glen Ross) about a tormented man’s reluctant search for greater meaning in his life was released theatrically by IFC Films & worldwide SFP.

Tennyson received a BFA with high honors at Carnegie-Mellon University, and recipient of two of the school's most prestigious awards: The Pittsburgh Playhouse Award & the Henry Boetchner Scholarship Award.

Tennyson is currently preparing his fourth feature film, Bullies Anonymous, a dramatic thriller about the timely subject of bullying in a small town high school. 

During the pandemic lockdown Tennyson wrote his first play, Glass Houses, about the darker consequences of "cancel culture." He is currently working on a second play, The Senior Room, about a 25 year high school reunion.

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Director Statement

A small town girl with the big city dream of moving to New York to be an actress. But everything tried to stop her: her unwittingly marrying a gangster at 19, her baby being kidnapped, her life being threatened, and a devastating illness.

But she made it. To New York. And an acting career. At age 67!

And in New York she met a kindred spirit in Maggie Wagner, niece of a legendary Hollywood director, who has pursued acting herself for 40 years!

Together they defy age, health problems, senior dating, and naysayers, to chase their dream.