PIZZA MOVIE
Section: Narrative Spotlight
Directors: Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher
Logline: A group of college students go downstairs to their dorm lobby to get a delivery pizza. There’s only one issue: They’re insanely high on a home-made drug, turning their simple journey down two sets of stairs into a mind-bendingly transformative quest.
Panelists: Brian McElhaney, Sean Giambrone, Gaten Matarazzo, Lulu Wilson, Nick Kocher
Distributor: Hulu
Premiered: March 13, 2026
Key Quote: “The RAs are a full Nazi metaphor. When we initially had the idea for the movie, it was going to be guys in their 20s in an apartment building trying to get a pizza from the lobby of the building. Then we couldn’t crack the movie,” director Nick Kocher said. “The big breakthrough was when we realized, ‘Oh, what if we set this in college? And it’s all in a college dorm, and one of the big things that happened there was ‘Oh, there’s a natural antagonist, which is the RAs.’ We always love writing villains. I love villains that just chew up the scenery and have way too long monologues and really enjoy being villains.”
Deadline Studio at SXSW presented by Redbreast Irish Whiskey.