Nobody is better than Jill Soloway at making seriously dark sh*t funny. Transparent, which Soloway created, directs, and writes, is a regular object lesson in making light of tragic or troubling situations. Soloway’s also wonderful at telling bracingly honest stories about women, about their relationships to their significant others, their families, their friends, their bodies. Oh, and at creating hilariously accurate portraits of modern Jewish families. In other words, Soloway is the perfect person to throw her weight behind a dark comedy about a Jewish woman struggling with bulimia.
Through Soloway’s Wifey.TV channel — which she created in 2013 with Rebecca Odes in order to “make it easier for women to watch smart, topical, video content online” — Soloway is partnering with comedian Jessie Kahnweiler to produce The Skinny, which, according to its Kickstarter page, is “a dark comedy series about a feminist comedian in Los Angeles trying to live, love, and get over her bulimia.” Flavorwire adds that the show will follow Kahnweiler as a “feminist wannabe YouTube Star” dealing with her “love handles,” as well as various misadventures with her family and friends. Kahnweiler’s co-stars include Ileana Douglas as her mom, Spencer Hill, Ryan Pinkston, Megan Ferguson, Sadie Calvano, and Paul Dooley, and Anna “I don’t know her last name but she was in Contagion.”
The series is written, directed by, and based on the life of Kahnweiler, a “feisty, free-spirited Jewish girl” grappling simultaneously with dick pics and body-image issues. The first teaser feels a little Broad City-esque, except transplanted from New York to Los Angeles and sprinkled with a bit more sadness. As Kahnweiler explains “As someone that’s had bulimia, nobody ever talks about it. We talk about sex, and drugs, but when it comes to burritos, like, no, that’s just too scary. That’s exactly why The Skinny needs to exist.”
The Skinny’s first 10-minute episode will debut on Refinery29 on January 27 (in partnership with Wifey.TV) and later screen at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
