“Soft Boil” brings a little chaotic episodic comedy to the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
The 23-minute potential series pilot, directed by Alec Goldberg, follows the topsy-turvy life laid out by decisions made by Lulu, an unemployed actor who becomes an employed nanny, portrayed by Camille Wormser.
“A lot of me is in there,” Wormser said. “We are both unbelievably awkward, (and) that’s a mutual, beautiful thing. Also, I think I can definitely connect with her anxiety.”
The main difference between Lulu and Wormser is the degree of those attributes.
“(Lulu) is truly at her core, lost on every front, and I think I’m lost at 50%,” Wormser said with a laugh. “I also think she’s also more impressionable and has less confidence. It was fun to just dive into someone who is melting in front of us. I’ve been there, and it’s fun to play it.”
Although Goldberg and Wormser co-wrote the screenplay, Goldberg knew he wanted to do a project specifically with Wormser after meeting her at the NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Film Festival where he screened his documentary short, “What Happened to You,” and alongside Wormer’s comedy short, “Just Right.”
“I saw her and thought she was the funniest person I had ever seen and wanted to work with her immediately,” Goldberg said. “So, I started roughly developing an idea around this.”
Goldberg’s was also inspired by a British Academy of Film and Television Arts lecture by filmmaker Charlie Kaufman.
“(He) talks a lot about pursuing your passion and this idea of uncertainty in life,” he said. “That was kind of the foundation of a lot of where (this project) went from there. I put together a rough concept and (direct messaged) Camille, and the rest was kind of history.”
Wormser enjoyed how Goldberg approached the project.
“Alec is really good at letting me improvise a lot,” she said. “This guy is a generous fellow, and he’s so humble. Not only did he like my thoughts; he thought they were pretty impactful for the overall pilot. I could say, ‘I think I should die five times in this scene,’ and he’d be like, ‘I want it!’” He’s also good at compliments, which is hard for me to take.”
Goldberg and his crew only had two-and-a-half days to complete full principal photography during the second week of March, so he worked with his director of photography, Robin Webster, to find the most efficient ways to shoot scenes.
“We tried to do dual camera set ups when we could to catch performances and allow enough room for improv as much as possible without having to reshoot certain coverage,” Goldberg said.
Wormser also helped by arriving on set with a plethora of ideas.
“I was very lucky and grateful to be working with Camille (because) it’s a director’s dream to have someone who comes with all of these ideas,” Goldberg said. “With every shoot, I didn’t expect to shoot so long, but I kind of kept hearing these ideas and kept going. So, I was kind of surprised we got everything done in time.”
The supporting cast includes John Gemberling, Madison Shamoun, Patrick Tabari and Vivian Kerr, who plays a mother looking for a nanny for her two children, portrayed by Kayla Anjali and Sander Thomas.
“Alec had rehearsals, and I remember the one we had with Vivian was so helpful,” Wormser said. “We were trying to get used to the space (because) it is very physical in how I interview in that scene.”
Wormser had worked with Kerr before, and that proved helpful.
“We had a rapport already in her understanding my humor and me understanding hers,” Wormser said. “She also would make me laugh in the weird ways she would insult me through her character.”
Wormser also enjoyed working with the youths.
“It was fun playing rock, paper, scissors with Kayla in between takes because I wanted her to feel like she could have fun and improvise as well,” she said. “I wanted her to be as sassy and mean to me as possible — as her character.”
Editing the footage proved to be a challenge, Goldberg said.
“I come from a documentary background, so usually I’ll work with way more footage that will go into the actual piece,” he said. “There was less footage on this, (and) I would say it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to actually choose takes for. Camille just had a lot of great takes, and so did everyone else. And I think throughout the process, we were honing in and trimming to make sure this was pasted well but also making sure we were staying on track with the story and didn’t (diverge) too much into bloopers and comedy.”
The editing process was a challenge for Wormser.
“There were some things that we didn’t put in the final version, where part of me was like, ‘It would be so fun to keep in’ and Alec would be like, ‘It doesn’t make any sense,’” she said, laughing. “There was some improv I wanted to keep about boob jobs, but so early on in the pilot was a little much, I think.”
Goldberg was grateful that half of his friends made up half of the team with the other half coming from Wormser’s camp when it came to the editing.
“I was lucky to have both of those groups of people giving notes,” he said. “In comedy, when you watch a joke 200 times in the edit, you can start to lose track of (whether) is this still the funniest option. So it was helpful to have the right people in the room with me giving notes.”
The project’s score was composed by Lukas Frank of the band Storefront Church.
“I saw a Geese concert, and he was the opener, and I just thought his music and performance were so cinematic and unique and emotion-driven,” Goldberg said. “Lukas had scored an audiobook I did, and I love working with him.”
Frank tapped into the chaos of Lulu’s story while composing the score to “Soft Boil.”
“He was so experimental and really latched onto this unsettling vibe,” Goldberg said. “There were a couple of songs where he recorded his cat and then reversed it. It was really wonderful to work with him.”
Goldberg originally envisioned “Soft Boil” as a short film.
“As we kept working through the script we had this ending that seemed like a pretty good ending for a pilot,” he said. “So, the more we talked, the more we realized it was worth leaning into the pilot approach and seeing what we could do. And I’m glad we did.”
Wormser and Goldberg have actually mapped out a full season.
“I think it will be a rollercoaster and definitely have some moments when we are even more disappointed in Lulu’s decisions,” she said with a laugh. “And we’ll have moments when we’ll be like, ‘Wow, she’s so confident.’”
Goldberg is honored “Soft Boil” is in Sundance.
“I think we worked really hard on this one, so I think we’re really happy we’re going to screen it for a larger audience,” he said. “And I think we’re excited to get that comedic feedback from a larger theater space.”
Wormser remembers when she got the call.
“I embarrassed myself to the programmer,” she said. “I was like, ‘Sundance has the best taste! You guys are like the best!’ And I think I started quoting ‘Napoleon Dynamite.’”
‘Soft Boil’ Screenings
- 11:30 a.m., Jan. 27, The Ray Theatre
- 6 p.m., Jan. 28, The Yarrow Theatre
- 6 p.m., Jan. 29, Broadway Centre Cinemas
- 10:20 a.m., Jan. 30, Megaplex Redstone
- 11 a.m., Feb. 1, Megaplex Redstone
- Web: festival.sundance.org