Actor-turned-director Will Ropp makes his feature debut with 'Brian,' a coming-of-age comedy about a high schooler grappling with anxiety and a crush on his teacher. The film premieres at SXSW 2026 in Austin on March 14. Ropp drew from personal experiences to highlight the blurred lines between comedy and tragedy in adolescence.
Will Ropp, known for acting roles in films like 'The Way Back' and 'The Greatest Beer Run Ever' as well as series such as 'Love, Victor' and 'The Sex Lives of College Girls,' steps behind the camera for his first feature film, 'Brian.' Backed by production collective Act 4 Artists, Ropp sought a script on The Black List but, denied an account due to his lack of directing credits, borrowed a friend's login to read about 100 scripts. He selected 'Brian,' written by Michael Scollins of 'Late Night With Seth Meyers,' for its John Hughes-like story of a high schooler with anxiety issues who develops a crush on his teacher.
To secure the script, Ropp cold-called Scollins, convincing the writer to entrust his project to an unproven director. Seth Meyers later joined as a producer. Meyers praised Ropp in an email: “Directing a film about teenagers is hard because they never let you do it when you’re a teenager (cowards!). Will clearly remembers what makes those years so hard and funny and formative and did a great job of capturing it from his cast. Also he had to work with Scollins which is, I can tell you from experience, NO PICNIC.”
The cast includes Ben Wang in the title role, Natalie Morales as the teacher, Randall Park and Edi Patterson as Brian's parents, William H. Macy as his therapist, Joshua Colley as his best friend, and Sam Song Li as his brother. Additional cast members are Sophia Macy, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Thomas Barbusca, and Jacob Moskovitz.
Ropp's prior directing experience includes the 2024 short 'Kodar: The Primordial God of Light and Ether.' He connected personally with the material, stating, “I’ve always been an anxious person. I’m very high wired. I’ve had many panic attacks exactly [like] Brian. I wanted to tell something that I feel so many people out there are going through. It shows that adolescence journey where everyone is just trying to figure out who they are.” He added, “That line between comedy and tragedy is so fine. The comedy and tragedy is all mixed up in a smorgasbord.”
'Brian' enters the Narrative Feature Competition at SXSW, screening on Saturday, March 14, at 3:30 p.m. at the State Theatre in Austin. Sales are handled by Gersh and CAA Media Finance.
