Taylor Swift to Direct Her First Feature-Length Film from Her Own Original Script

Taylor Swift to Direct Her First Feature-Length Film from Her Own Original Script

Taylor Swift is getting behind the camera again!


On Friday, Searchlight Pictures announced that Swift, 32, will make her feature-length film directorial debut with an original script she has written, according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE.


While details about the film's plot and casting have not yet been shared, the movie will be produced by Searchlight, which in recent years has made Academy Award-winning movies like Guillermo del Toro's 2017 film The Shape of Water and Chloe Zhao's 2020 drama Nomadland.


Searchlight presidents David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield called the "Anti-Hero" singer a "once in a generation artist and storyteller" in a statement Friday.


"It is a genuine joy and privilege to collaborate with her as she embarks on this exciting and new creative journey," Greenbaum and Greenfield added of Swift.


Swift has recently received acclaim and awards for her directorial work on her own music videos and for All Too Well: The Short Film, a 13-minute short film set to and inspired by the 10-minute version of her beloved song "All Too Well," which appears on the re-released album Red (Taylor's Version).

The short film, which stars actor Dylan O'Brien and The Whale's Sadie Sink, recently won Swift a best direction award at the 2022 MTV VMAs, making her the only solo artist to receive the award twice — she previously won for her work on the music video for her single "The Man."


In 2022, All Too Well: The Short Film screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, and the movie is eligible to be nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the upcoming 95th Oscars ceremony in March 2023.


In August, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Swift was already working with a "top consulting firm to guide [the project's] awards campaign."


The short film, which was released online and at the AMC Lincoln Square in New York City on Nov. 12, 2021, qualified for the upcoming Oscars due to an eligibility window for the short film category that ran from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022.


On Thursday, Swift shared a nearly seven-minute video of behind-the-scenes footage from the set of the film, showing her as she worked with O'Brien, 31, and Sink, 20, in various scenes for the project.

The 11-time Grammy Award winner opened up about making All Too Well: The Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, and said she needed the benefit of time and hindsight in order to complete the project.


"It was a baby steps process," Swift said of directing the project. "It wasn't like I woke up one day and I was like, 'You know what I want to do? Direct.' That was never something that I was programmed to say to myself because I didn't go to film school. I've been on the set of 60-plus music videos. And I've learned a lot from that process."