Lucy Sandler is a filmmaker with a particular interest in the nuance of the female perspective and coming of age stories. Mechi Lakatos is a writer and filmmaker whose work explores dislocation, intergenerational rupture, and the emotional interior lives of women, queer people, and immigrants. The pair co-wrote the short film The Weight of a Dog, which played at Aspen and Atlanta in 2025.
Their first feature film development together, Danny is My Boyfriend, follows Lucy and Mechi after they discover they’re dating the same man. The pair fumble their way through a series of misguided schemes, enlisting a parade of eccentric and unqualified accomplices in a half-baked mission to get revenge. Lucy and Mechi join us to discuss their improvisational approach to the film before their World Premiere at Slamdance.
To your question about the script evolving, we had an outline, so we knew where the story was going and where we wanted to place various people. But it was a collaborative process in creating the story. It was very much based on who was interested and also available to do this, and what kind of character they could be, and where they might fit in… By the time we got to filming, we knew where they fit in, and they brought the texture to it, but the journey of the story was mapped out.
The film recently had its World Premiere at the Slamdance 2026 Film Festival.
Feature Image credit to Lucy Sandler, Mechi Lakatos, and Slamdance Film Festival
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Mechi Lakatos Website, IMDb, Instagram
Lucy Sandler Website, IMDb, Instagram
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Danny Jarabek