#katja blichfeld

[yourdailyqueer]

Katja Blichfeld

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Lesbian

DOB: Born 1979  

Ethnicity: White - American

Occupation: Writer, screenwriter, director, producer, casting director

[jocia92]

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[itcanbefilmed]

High Maintenance (Sinclair & Blichfeld, 2012-)

[thedeadringers]

High Maintenance - Trick

[vintagewarhol]

[julyshewillfly]

High Maintenance just ended another phenomenal season and the finale felt like it could have easily functioned as a series finale but I’m so glad it wasn’t.

[knuckle-draugr]

High Maintenance (2.02: Fagin)

Directed by: Katja Blichfeld & Ben Sinclair Cinematography by: Charlie Gruet

[jmsa1287]

'High Maintenance' Returns for a Cozy & Emotional Season 3

Here’s my review of “High Maintenance” Season 3.

"High Maintenance" returns for its third season on HBO Sunday and it's a reminder that not all TV shows have to be dark and cynical in this overpopulated television landscape.

The half-hour comedy series remains to be one of the most empathetic and humanistic shows today. Even in its most upsetting moments — when it is reacting to the confusing world around us — "High Maintenance" always manages to find hope. Created by Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair as a webseries, their project has lived on HBO now for three seasons now. It's managed to deliver slices of New York City life, shinning the spotlight on a plethora of different people that make the Big Apple one of most exciting places to live in the world.

"High Maintenance" is sometimes seen through the eyes of pot dealer The Guy (Sinclair), who bounces in-and-out of the lives of his clients. Most of the time, the show follows a day in the life of his customers but lately, the show has taken time to explore The Guy's personal life. When episodes center around the folks he meets, it allows "High Maintenance" to tell an array of complex and vibrant stories that feel like you're getting to experience a world you'd never be able to see. That's no different in Season 3 as the show maintains its warm and often hilarious storytelling and its vignette framing device.

Season 3 picks up where Season 2 left off with The Guy taking a break from city life to travel around upstate New York in his R.V. In the first episode, "M.A.S.H." (written and directed by Blichfeld), The Guy's vacation is interrupted when he learns that a friend from his past has died. Nevertheless, The Guy's loss is coupled with meeting a new love interest. The Guy has been shown as a zen dude who doesn't let much bother him. But as of late — since the 2016 presidential election — The Guy seems to be searching for something that he can't seem to find.

"This [season], it's about The Guy's romantic life more so. I have dated three people quite seriously since breaking up, so I had been doing a lot of that kind of soul-searching myself," Sinclair told BuzzFeed of his personal life. Blichfeld and Sinclair created the show together while they were married but went through a divorce during "High Maintenance" Season 2.

"This third season is like, 'Oh, he's got wants and desires outside of selling weed,'" he added. "When I want to separate myself from that character, I also think to myself, 'Dude, you may never have a platform ever again. You could die tomorrow.' I am happy to marry myself to that character, 'cause he's pretty cool. He's like the better side of me."

Meanwhile, the brilliant episode also focuses on Cori (Erin Markey), a friend of the recently deceased. We see things from her perspective as she copes with the passing of her close friend and the important role weed played in their relationship. Weed is celebrated in a beautiful way during the funeral where friends, including The Guy, honor marijuana and how it's brought them closer together.

The second episode "Craig," directed by Sinclair, brings the show back into focus and returning to its familiar format. It follows a frequent customer Marty (Gary Richardson) who, after getting his bike stolen, ends up on a path that is a true fever dream. Dealing with a sleeping problem, and later becoming a bit obsessed with getting free stuff from Craigslist, it's one of the show's most fantastical episodes, reaching Lynchian levels of absurdness and horror.

The two episodes are not "High Maintenance" at its best but solid entries into the series. Though they're darker than most episodes of the show, there's always an upbeat silver lining.

"There's a lot of death in this season. And it's like we're saying, 'Life goes on, and we're all gonna die,'" Sinclair told BuzzFeed, later adding that he's most at peace with the world when he's riding his bike around New York City — something The Guy often does on the show.

"All you have to do is just look around and be like, 'Whoa, I live in New York City, what the fuck,'" he explained. "That's incredible. Even that alone."

It's the perfect mantra for a show like "High Maintenance" — one that finds hope and peace in the scariest of times.

[thecomedybureau]

High Maintenance’s Season 3 Trailer Is Here

Good vibes are hard to come by these day, but thankfully a new season of weed delivery misadventures and journeys on High Maintenance is coming very soon (Sun. Jan. 20th to be specific). 

Get a whiff of what’s to come in this new season’s trailer (and wonder if that’s really a Barack Obama cameo you saw or if you maybe a little too high yourself). 

[weareadvocates]

Profile: Katja Blichfeld of High Maintenance

A profile of the writer and co-creator of High Maintenance, who came out as gay after creating the show with her now ex-husband. Awesome lesbian representation. 

[rickchung]

High Maintenance (prod. Katja Blichfeld & Ben Sinclair).

How [it] thoughtfully explores everyday anxieties using the procuring of self-prescribed medication as an entry point ultimately reveals such a deep well of characters living their lives and just trying to get by. It maintains its stories of people and places so richly.

[itcanbefilmed]

High Maintenance (Ben Sinclair & Katja Blichfeld, 2018)

[thedeadringers]

High Maintenance

[haslemere]

I was having a conversation on IG with another Dan Stevens fan (Hi Riverkermit) about his short film work. He loves this format ever since doing a few at Cambridge--so here's the 'essential' Dan short films--get a taste of his range for all new, old, semi new, remember when I used to watch him on DA and now need to catch up... all sorts of fans :)

Shallow : Anyone who knows he trended on Twitter for skewering politicians here you have Shallow. "At what cost does success come? When you would find yourself in a position to gain higher influence, power, income, friends–how much do you truly want it? Will it come as the result of hard work and moral choices? Or, will it end up revealing who you really are inside? For freshly elected MP Richard Dove (Dan Stevens), it would appear the latter shall be his path as he navigates a mist-shrouded forest road on his way to a final destination, practicing an acceptance speech and fielding a phone call as he goes." I won't say anymore. Just watch. It won Dan his only solo best acting award (though he was just nominated for the German Oscar, the Lola for Ich bin dein Mensch)

Babysitting : Now for something completely different. (2012) Artist: Romola Garai, Dan Stevens & Imogen Stubbs Director: Sam Hoare Official festival selection: BIFF 2012. Two people reunite who used to date...one of them's a cad. Stuff happens... I need Dan and Romola together again please!

Rachel : Iconic. High Maintenance episode by Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld. Winner Writers Guild Award. "A stay-at-home dad with writer's block procrastinates by calling The Guy." Essential viewing for any Dan fan...you won't understand Dan until you absorb Rachel. Colin is a treasure finding his bliss in toking, cross dressing, and loving his family.

So there you have it--Dan's range in three films that will take up no more than one hour of your time. I hope the links work.

[julyshewillfly]

High Maintenance S2E6, “Googie” directed by Katja Blichfeld & Ben Sinclair

[jmsa1287]

More New York Stories Told in the Warm 'High Maintenance' Season 2

a thing i wrote about the very good second season of “High Maintenance,” which starts tonight!

Times have changed since "High Maintenance" jumped from webseries to HBO. The Season 1 finale aired at the end of October, about a month before the world was rocked when Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. Though the comedy is often a character study, featuring a plethora of diverse people who pop in-and-out of the life of weed dealer The Guy (played by Ben Sinclair, who co-created the show along with Katja Blichfeld), politics has always lingered behind the puffs of pot smoke.

Tensions are high in the sophomore season of "High Maintenance," which airs Jan. 19 on HBO, and political strife is presented front-and-center. The tough political climate is inescapable and that's made clear in the first episode of Season 2, "Globo." It chronicles The Guy delivering pot while the New Yorkers around him react to some world-altering news. Though it's never said what this breaking news actually is, it's made clear what's going on thanks to characters' distraught reactions to text messages and breaking news blasts they read on their phones.

"Oh shit. Something bad happened," The Guy's girlfriend (played by "Orange is the New Black" actress Yael Stone), says as she stares at her phone in the first moments of the episode.

"Fuck, no!" The Guy adds after checking his phone.

After a few more moments of silence the pair take a hit of a bong and The Guy is off to work. As it turns out, the bad news happens to be... good news for him. With the stresses of the world barring down on his clients, The Guy finds himself extra busy delivering weed to wound-up New Yorkers.

As in most episodes, the narrative eventually splinters and focuses on The Guy's clients or people in his clients' life. In "Globo," this includes a client's roommate - a man struggling to maintain his weight loss. The episode also follows two men and a woman who spends the day locked away in a hotel room having sex - completely unaware of the world-changing news - and a busboy who spends a lovely night on the subway with his son.

Like its first season on HBO, pot, and the selling of, is a backdrop to explore the lives of various New Yorkers from all walks of life. In the interesting second episode, "Fagin," the show follows an older out-of-state married couple visiting their cool and hip daughter in the Big Apple. The episode strikes that special tone that has resonated with "High Maintenance" fans - a celebration of humanity and relationships, especially relationships formed between unexpected people.

Played by the excellent Marcia DeBonis and Ray Anthony Thomas, the couple are fish out of water but remain in good spirits during their stay. Their Airbnb, which may be illegal, contains a python and their bed is only accessible by ladder. Things turn around, however, when they meet their daughter and her friends... and get high together. It's a wonderful bonding experience that allows the couple to let loose in the city.

"Namaste" is a wild ride that follows a realtor (played by the excellent "Orange is the New Black" star Danielle Brooks) as she hustles in her neighborhood and eventually calls up The Guy for a relaxer. The episode then spills over to a couple, who win an affordable-house lottery and move into a new apartment complex out of their price range. Things seem great at first but the culture shock highlights classism in this small pocket of New York.

"High Maintenance" explores culture clash again in "Derech," where an ex-Hasidic man (Luzer Twersky) strikes up a relationship with a writer, who may have ulterior motives. He eventually ventures outside his world and ends up at a nightclub where the story shifts narratives and follows a drag queen, one of The Guy's clients. The plot ends in a surprising way with one of the most exciting moments of the series.

In one of the most daring, and personal, episodes of the series, "Scromple" digs into The Guy and his personal life - a rare move for a show that takes the time to spotlight people not often seen on the small screen. Still, it's a rewarding episode: After The Guy gets into a car accident and is stuck at the hospital, "High Maintenance" introduces his sister (Kate Lyn Sheil), an out brand strategist who is struggling with her perceived addiction to pot. The Guy and his sister have an emotional chat while he's in the hospital, a truly moving moment that reveals more about The Guy's character.

These touching moments are bound together under the omnipresent strain of the current presidential administration. There are mummers, one-liners and suggestions that refer to Trump, but the show's characters never mention his name; it's a powerful device uniting a group of people under a common threat. And as "High Maintenance" heads into its solid and warm second season, the Trump administration is taking aim at the marijuana industry. In it's possible third season, "High Maintenance" could be a completely different show. If that's the case, Sinclair and Blichfeld have proven themselves that they'll be able to adapt.

"...[W]hat I wish for people to take away [from Season 2] is a reminder that change is inevitable," Blichfeld told Entertainment Weekly. "We can count on so few things, but we can all count on the fact that change is going to happen in big and small ways all the time, and it's going to be okay. Even when it feels painful, ultimately it's okay, and it's one of those realities of life and, you know... [laughs] It's okay! I just want people to feel like things are going to be okay."