John Early on Directing and Starring in 'Maddie's Secret'

John Early wrote, directed, and stars in 'Maddie's Secret', a comedy-drama about a young woman in Los Angeles pursuing a food media career while battling bulimia. The film draws inspiration from 1990s TV movies like 'Death of a Cheerleader' and 'Kate's Secret'. Early plays Maddie, a character who works at Gourmaybe, a Bon Appétit-inspired media company. The cast includes Kate Berlant, Vanessa Bayer, Claudia O'Doherty, Conner O'Malley, and Pat Regan. Early shot Maddie's house in Silver Lake at his own home for budgetary reasons. The film's aesthetic is an exaggeration of his own Eastside L.A. millennial style. Early cites influences such as 'Clockwatchers', 'Girl, Interrupted', 'Showgirls', and Alfred Hitchcock's 'Marnie'. He describes the film as 'Freudian' with a love of Freud from someone who's never read Freud. The theatrical release is scheduled for June 19. Early previously co-created the 2022 special 'Would It Kill You to Laugh?' with Berlant and starred in 'Search Party' and Wallace Shawn's 'What We Did Before Our Moth Days'.