Explore Pete Ohs’ Bizarre World of ‘Love and Work’
First Teaser Released for Pete Ohs’ Slamdance-Bound Comedy LOVE AND WORK
The Endearingly Absurdist Dystopian/Utopian Indie Comedy Starring Will Madden (15 CAMERAS, JETHICA), Stephanie Hunt (YOUNGSTOWN), and Frank Mosley (QUANTUM COWBOYS) World Premieres January 20th
Ahead of its upcoming world premiere at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, the first teaser has been released for LOVE AND WORK, the latest ingenious indie from maverick filmmaker Pete Ohs. LOVE AND WORK will debut Saturday, January 20 at The Summer and David Theater.
The film stars Frank Mosley (QUANTUM COWBOYS, FREELAND) and returning Ohs collaborators Will Madden (15 CAMERAS, BEAST BEAST) and musician and actress Stephanie Hunt (Friday Night Lights). Who both featured in the 2021 screwball comedy YOUNGSTOWN, Ohs’ solo feature directorial debut, with Madden teaming up with the filmmaker once again for his 2023 breakout hit, the deadpan supernatural thriller JETHICA. Which premiered at SXSW and was released by Cineverse last year.
Ohs —who has quickly become known for his radically collaborative and boundary-pushing approach to indie filmmaking— directed, edited, produced, and shot LOVE AND WORK. In addition to sharing writing credits with Madden and Hunt, who were both deeply involved in the conception and creation of the film’s boldly unique story.
Set in the near past of an alternative future, the film follows Diane and Fox, two people who love to work but live in a polarized world where having a job is illegal. In the face of overwhelming production in society, it’s been decided that manufacturing is prohibited and hobbies have replaced jobs in everyday life. Together, Diane and Fox secretly seek underground employment, avoiding law enforcement at every turn and falling in love in the process. But balancing love and work is easier said than done.
Hailed by IndieWire as “a rising filmmaker well worth the attention,” Ohs is a four-time regional Emmy-Award winner and was named one of Filmmaker magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2013. His first feature EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IS FAR AWAY, which he wrote and co-directed, starred Julia Garner and was released in 2017.
Inspired by our own world’s reality and the breakneck speed of which we embrace automation and all things in the name of advancement, Pete Ohs said the following on his latest: “I can’t wait to premiere Love and Work at Slamdance, which is known for programming and championing some of the best weird and cool indie films, and I’m proud to be included in that for their 2024 edition. Our film is both a dystopian and utopian comedy, using this current confused period of modern history —where everything is streamlined, run through an algorithm, and absorbed by corporate machines— and turning it into my version of an episode of The Twilight Zone. Together with co-writers Stephanie Hunt and Will Madden, we made a film about an imaginary past as a way to figure out where we went wrong in the present —and we like to think we found the answer.”
Stylishly shot in black and white, the endearingly absurd and unexpectedly timely comedy features original music from London-based musician Charles Watson, most prominently known as one half of the indie pop outfit Slow Club. The cast is rounded out by Alexi Pappas and John S. Davies with Danny Madden returning as Ohs’ sound designer for their third feature film collaboration.