‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ Director Cooper Raiff Launches Production Company

Cooper Raiff, director of the Sundance award-winning romance film “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” announced on Tuesday that he is creating the new production company Small Ideas with producing partner Clementine Quittner.

The pair plan to develop independent film and TV series from other up-and-coming directors and writers as well as Raiff’s own. Small Ideas’ first project is an unnamed TV series that Raiff will write and direct as well as produce alongside Quittner.

“Clem and I are very protective of passion. We want the artists we work with to know we believe in their stories and ideas as much as they do. I know how brutal fighting for people to trust your vision can be, and I know what a difference it makes to not have to fight for it alone. Small Ideas knows just how much love and support a filmmaker needs,” Raiff said in a statement. “I’m super excited for Clem to run the show—she’s going to be the company’s engine. She elevates everything she works on and it’s a dream to be her creative and professional partner.”

Also Read:
Dolph Lundgren Stands in Sly Stallone’s Corner Over ‘Rocky’ Spinoff Fight

Along with writing and directing “Cha Cha Real Smooth,” Raiff starred in the film as a Bat Mitzvah party starter who falls in love with a young woman named Domino (Dakota Johnson) and befriends her autistic daughter. The film won the Sundance Audience Award and was released in June on Apple TV+.

Raiff is in pre-production on his next film, “The Trashers,” which stars David Harbour, “Licorice Pizza” star Cooper Hoffman and “Elvis” Olivia DeJonge. Filming is scheduled to begin this fall.

Quittner will join Small Ideas from the indie production outlet Black Bear Pictures, where her previous producing work included “Nyad,” the narrative debut of “Free Solo” directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi starring Annette Bening, and Neil Burger’s “The Marsh King’s Daughter” starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn.

“Cooper is a brilliant filmmaker and my favorite collaborator,” Quittner said in a statement. “I can’t wait to work together to build a home for artists we love and artists we don’t yet know—people who desire to make things differently.”