Joy Ride
TFI Suppport
Tribeca All Access® 2018
Logline
After cutting her ties to responsibility and romance, a reckless train hopper on a nightmarish ride must confront the cost of freedom.
Natalia Leite
Director, Co-Screenwriter
Natalia Leite is a writer/director born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her directorial debut BARE premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015, starring Dianna Agron, and was released by IFC and Paramount Pictures. Her second feature M.F.A., a psychological thriller centered around rape crimes in a university, premiered at SXSW in 2017 and starred Francesca Eastwood. The film was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize at SXSW and was released in theaters in October 2017. She often deals with identity and sexuality in her work, which has been described as having “a bracing assertive style” (Variety), “emotional intelligence and sensitivity” (LA Times), and as “cementing the reign over highly stylized and sexually progressive dramas” (Slant). Her work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Guardian, Vogue, among other publications. Natalia was listed as one of Indiewire’s Filmmakers to Watch and has been a featured speaker for NY Women in Film & Television, IFP Filmmaker Conference, numerous film festivals and Universities.
Liz Armstrong
Co-Screenwriter
Liz Armstrong is a writer and story producer living in Los Angeles. She recently worked on staff in the writers’ room on SHUT EYE a Hulu original drama. She’s produced several documentary series, including NEW DEEP SOUTH which premiered at Tribeca, won a Documentary Webby 2017, plus Audience Favorite 2016 Awards at the Los Angeles Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival. Liz initially moved to Los Angeles from New York City to spearhead VICE’s West Coast editorial office. Now with more than 15 years of formal experience in cultural journalism, Liz is radically fluent in aesthetic observation and conceptual narrative. She’s published hundreds of creative non-fiction articles and a handful of short fiction pieces, and has spoken at universities and startup communities about storytelling. Her essays have been published in Reading Pop Culture, Second Edition (a university textbook for Bedford/St. Martin’s); Rookie Yearbook One (Tavi Gevinson’s first best-of compendium, from Razorbill); and The Empty Bottle Chicago: 21+ Years of Music / Friendly / Dancing (Curbside Splendor). Other work has appeared in VICE, Flaunt, Bullett, Rookie, Nylon, Inventory, ANP Quarterly, New York magazine, The Pitchfork Review, The Fader, xoJane, Chicago Reader, ArtSlant, and more.