The VEEP Speaks
Monday, March 16
11:00AM - 12:00PM
Austin Convention Center
Ballroom D
Austin Convention Center
An uncensored, all-in conversation with Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the comedy of politics and the politics of comedy. The star of HBO’s Veep (with cameos from co-stars Matt Walsh and Sam Richardson) dishes on her “sponge-worthy” Seinfeld days to Veep’s searing parody of the Obama-era Beltway. Has lampooning our politicians contributed to our culture of cynicism or is it the reason we tune in?
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Presenters
Anne Fulenwider
Editor in Chief
Marie Claire
Anne Fulenwider was named Editor-in-Chief of the U.S. edition of Marie Claire in September 2012. She oversees all content for the brand’s print magazine, website, tablet editions and brand extensi...
Show the restAnne Fulenwider was named Editor-in-Chief of the U.S. edition of Marie Claire in September 2012. She oversees all content for the brand’s print magazine, website, tablet editions and brand extensions, including Marie Claire @Work and the brand’s partnership with Lifetime Television’s “Project Runway” series.
Before taking the editor-in-chief role at Marie Claire, Fulenwider had been editor-in-chief of Brides since October 2011. Prior to that, she served as executive editor of Marie Claire for two years, starting in September 2009.
Previously, Fulenwider served as senior articles editor at Vanity Fair, where she edited features and launched the Fanfair section of the magazine in March 2000. Prior to Vanity Fair, Fulenwider was a senior editor at The Paris Review and served as George Plimpton’s research assistant on his book “Truman Capote.” Last year she was named MIN’s 2013 Editor of the Year.
Fulenwider graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard University in 1995.
Hide the restJulia Louis-Dreyfus
Actress
VEEP
Julia Louis-Dreyfus earned worldwide acclaim and recognition for her portrayal of Elaine Benes in the hit NBC series "Seinfeld," as Christine Campbell in the CBS hit comedy "The New Adventures of O...
Show the restJulia Louis-Dreyfus earned worldwide acclaim and recognition for her portrayal of Elaine Benes in the hit NBC series "Seinfeld," as Christine Campbell in the CBS hit comedy "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and most recently as Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO series "Veep." Between all shows combined, she has received five Emmy awards with eighteen nominations, a Golden Globe award with seven nominations, six Screen Actors Guild awards with fifteen nominations, two Television Critics Association awards with three nominations, five American Comedy Awards with ten nominations, and has received the Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy.
Louis-Dreyfus is currently in production on the fourth season of the HBO series, "Veep". Directed by Armando Iannucci, the half-hour comedy centers on Selina Meyer, the new Vice President of the United States. Louis-Dreyfus won three consecutive Emmy awards, a Television Critics Award and SAG award for this role, as well as three Golden Globe nominations.
Louis-Dreyfus has previously received critical acclaim for her starring role in Fox Searchlight's "Enough Said", opposite the late James Gandolfini, Catherine Keener and Toni Collette. Written and directed by Nicole Holofcener, the comedy follows Eva, played by Louis-Dreyfus, as she humorously tries to secretly juggle both relationships and wonders whether her new favorite friend's disastrous ex can be her cue for happiness. This role has snagged Julia a Golden Globe nomination - making her one of the elite few who have had the honor to be concurrently nominated for both a film and television role.
Last December, Louis-Dreyfus premiered "Picture Paris" on HBO, a short film written and directed by Brad Hall, and co-starring Cesar Award winner Eric Elmosnino. The short follows an ordinary suburban mom (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) whose son is leaving for college and compensates for her empty nest syndrome by carefully planning a life-changing trip to Paris. When her plans go hilariously awry, she finds herself wondering if the things we most desire -- passion, revenge, love and Paris itself are possible in our day to day lives. This year, the film played at BFI London Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Santa Barbara International Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival among other festivals around the world.
Her other television credits include multiple appearances on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" which was co-created by Larry David of "Seinfeld," a recurring role on Matt Groening's “The Simpsons” on FOX, a recurring role in 2003 on Fox's critically acclaimed "Arrested Development," NBC's 2002 real-time sitcom "Watching Ellie," and the TNT animated film "Animal Farm" to which she lent her voice alongside Ian Holm, Kelsey Grammer and Patrick Stewart. Louis-Dreyfus first made her mark on television during a three-year stint (1982-1985) on "Saturday Night Live" opposite the likes of Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest and Eddie Murphy. She subsequently hosted the show twice, becoming the first female former cast member to return as host.
Feature film credits include Disney's “Planes;; Pixar's animated hit "A Bug's Life"; Woody Allen's Academy-award winning "Hannah and Her Sisters"; Allen's "Deconstructing Harry"; Rob Reiner's "North;" Ivan Reitman's "Fathers' Day"; and "Jack the Bear".
Louis-Dreyfus is a committed and steadfast defender of the environment. She serves as a member on the leadership council for the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) as well as on the Board of Directors of Heal the Bay and on the Honorary Board of Heal the Ocean.
She studied theater at Northwestern University where she was also a recipient of a Doctor of Arts in 2007. During college, she was a member of The Practical Theater Company, and Chicago's famed Second-City comedy troupe.
Matt Walsh
Actor
VEEP
Chicago-born Matt Walsh is a founding member of the national improv-sketch comedy theatre Upright Citizens Brigade, which has schools and venues in both New York and Los Angeles. UCB is the largest...
Show the restChicago-born Matt Walsh is a founding member of the national improv-sketch comedy theatre Upright Citizens Brigade, which has schools and venues in both New York and Los Angeles. UCB is the largest unaccredited university in the nation teaching improv performance and sketch writing technique. A graduate of Chicago’s ImprovOlympic, Walsh was instructed by the legendary comedy sage Del Close, whose distinguished pupils included John Belushi, Bill Murray, Tina Fey and Mike Myers. Walsh co-founded the Upright Citizens Brigade improv troupe with Amy Poehler, Matt Besser and Ian Roberts in Chicago in 1991. During the group’s performances in New York, Comedy Central had their pulse on the foursome and aired their sketch-improv show The Upright Citizens Brigade for three seasons from 1998-2000. This year, Walsh and his peers co-authored The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual which received a rave review from The New York Times.
Walsh currently stars in HBO’s award-winning comedy series Veep as Mike McLintock, the sharp-witted, deadpan Director of Communications to the first female U.S. Vice President, Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). This year, Walsh shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination with his fellowVeep cast members in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
In the wake of his success with The Upright Citizens Brigade, Walsh has become a highly coveted actor in blockbuster films, working with the most renowned directors in the comedy genre. This August, Walsh is starring in the new Steve Quale (Final Destination 5) tornado action film Into the Storm from Warner Bros./ New Line. Also, he can be seen in the Will Ferrell-Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard as well as the Blumhouse thriller 6 Miranda Drive opposite Kevin Bacon. Walsh is also finishing his second comedy directorial feature A Better You about an egocentric LA-based hypnotherapist who can cure everyone but himself. A Better You stars Horatio Sanz, Joe Lo Truglio, Rob Huebel, Erinn Hayes, Brian Huskey, Reid Scott among many others.
At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Walsh received critical praise for his role as a paranoid New York State municipal worker in David Cross’ directorial debut Hits. Walsh also appeared in Seth MacFarlane’s half-billion grossing comedy Ted, as Thomas the car rental sales boss of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg). In addition Walsh has appeared in six of Todd Phillips’ hit films including The Hangover, Old School and Due Date. He has also made memorable turns in such widely-appealing comedies as Step Brothers, Elf, Cyrus and Role Models. Walsh has also written and starred in a number of independent feature comedies including Martin & Orloff and Wild Girls Gone; titles which have headlined a number of his fellow UCB alums.
In 2011, Walsh made his feature directorial debut with the ensemble improvised comedy, High Road. The film was acquired and released by Millennium Entertainment and earned Walsh the Outstanding Achievement in Directing award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. High Road follows a pot dealer’s soul-searching road trip after a deal goes south and features an all-star cast including Ed Helms, Abby Elliott, Rob Riggle, Horatio Sanz and Joe Lo Truglio.
Walsh created and starred in SpikeTV’s sports comedy Players about a happy go-lucky guy who owns a bar with his conservative brother (played by fellow UCB co-founder Ian Roberts). Other TV shows created and/or written by Walsh include Comedy Central’s Dog Bites Man, David Arquette and Courteney Cox’s TBS reality show Daisy Does America as well as the hit MTV sketch show Human Giant. Walsh has been a correspondent for The Daily Show, hosting such hysterical segments as “Boom Town” and “The Other Killer White Meat.” Other notable TV appearances include HBO’sHung as Matt Saline, boyfriend of Jessica (Anne Heche); Jerry Stern on NBC’s Outsourced as well as a number of guest-starring roles: Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, NBC’s Parks and Recreation, Animal Practice, Adult Swim’s Childrens Hospital and NTSF: SD:SUV; and Comedy Central’s Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time and Drunk History.
In his spare time during football season, Walsh gets together with his fellow Chicago-buddies, screenwriter Scot Armstrong (The Hangover), actors Joe Nunez (Bridesmaids) and Horatio Sanz (SNL) to break down the scores and plays of their beloved hometown team, The Chicago Bears, with theirBear Down Podcast http://www.beardownpodcast.com/.
Though Walsh has a busy career on and off screen, he continues to be active with the Upright Citizens Brigade, both as an instructor and performer at their Sunday improv show Assssscat. Matt Walsh currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife actress Morgan Walsh (Burning Love, Happy Endings), their two sons Jude and Emmet and daughter Celia.
Sam Richardson
Actor
VEEP
Sam Richardson has been honing his comedy skills since the ripe old age of 15 when he started taking classes at Second City’s Detroit outpost. Raised between Ghana and Detroit, he grew up loving ...
Show the restSam Richardson has been honing his comedy skills since the ripe old age of 15 when he started taking classes at Second City’s Detroit outpost. Raised between Ghana and Detroit, he grew up loving Saturday Night Live and Ghostbusters.
After studying for a few years at Wayne State University and performing at Detroit’s Second City as well as the Planet Ant Theatre in Hamtramck, Richardson moved to Chicago to join the Second City Touring Company and eventually the resident Mainstage cast. There he wrote and starred in two reviews: Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies and South Side of Heaven. Both earned him nominations for a Jefferson Award for Best Actor. Richardson also wrote and filmed a rehashing of Second City Television (SCTV) in Toronto. In 2012, Sam was featured in Montreal’s “New Faces of Sketch” showcase at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival.
A few years ago Richardson made the move to Los Angeles and quickly booked roles in films and TV. He recurred on “The Office” (season nine) and co-starred on “Arrested Development” (season four). He also had supporting roles in the feature films “We’re the Millers” and “Horrible Bosses 2.” Last season he had a recurring role on HBO’s award-winning series, “Veep,” which has turned into a series regular role for the upcoming season (debuting on April 12).
Richardson has continued to write comedy and received a pilot order for a show created with his partner, Tim Robinson, called “Detroiters.” Produced by Jason Sudeikis and Broadway Video, the buddy comedy has received its pilot order from Comedy Central (date TBD).
A confessed ‘comic book nerd’ and sneakers collector, Richardson lives in Los Angeles.