Mark Duplass and Mel Eslyn’s drama series Penelope has unveiled its first-look and behind-the-scenes images (via IndieWire), showing its runaway teen protagonist on a quest to discover herself in the wilderness. The series premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 22 as part of the organization’s Episodic Pilot Showcase.
The independent coming-of-age drama series follows the 16-year-old title character, Penelope (Megan Stott), who feels disconnected from her family and out of place in today’s world. She then decides to leave her family behind and embark on a journey of self-discovery in the wilderness, establishing an alternative life for herself.
The official synopsis for Penelope reads: “Feeling out of place in the modern world, 16-year-old Penelope (Stott) finds herself almost cosmically drawn to nature. With no plan in place, she leaves her family behind for the beguiling wilderness, where she begins to establish a different kind of life for herself. As Penelope forges an alternative life for herself, survivalism and coming-of-age go hand-in-hand as she learns by trial and error.”
You can check out the first-look images down below:
Who else is involved in Penelope?
In addition to Stott, Euphoria star Austin Abrams also joined the cast, with Duplass and Eslyn co-writing and co-creating the series. Executive producers are Jay Duplass and Shuli Harel.
Similar to other Duplass brothers’ HBO shows — Animals and Room 104 — Penelope was also self-financed. The independent series is currently seeking a distributor at the festival. CAA is handling sales.
In an interview with Deadline, the younger Duplass brother — who began writing Penelope during the height of the pandemic — admits that producing the show was “very scary,” but one that felt necessary in order to preserve the story.
“I kind of feel a little Norma Rae-ish where we’re just like, ‘We have to not let these stories die,’” Mark told the outlet. “There is a system in place for independent film, but there is not in television, and so I kind of want to beat the drum of, ‘We’re going to have to do this in TV, or else this stuff’s going to die.’”
