To celebrate the screening of If I'd Known I Was a Genius, Tara Reid, Keith David and Markus Redmond kicked back for a well-deserved celebration at the Heineken Green Room in Park City. In a breakthrough performance, Markus Redmond portrays Michael, an African American youth struggling to find his place in life, constantly antagonized by his family and simple-minded mother. Matters are only made worse when his school discovers his genius IQ. Rick Fox was also on hand to toast the stars of this "ingenious" film.

More about If I'd Known I Was a Genius

Michael, a precocious African American boy, struggles to fit in both at home and at school, especially after the school determines that he possesses a genius IQ. His dysfunctional family is no help, refusing to encourage their gifted son. In fact, they work tirelessly to undercut his sense of self-worth; even his mother straight-out nicknames him Ugly. But when Michael enrolls in a high school drama class and finds encouragement from a wacky teacher, life finally starts looking up. Can Michael's genius abilities liberate him from the crash course to failure that society and his family have set him on?

Dominique Wirtschafter's quirky, energetic comedy offers a fresh and intelligent perspective on social malfunction and black masculinity. Whoopi Goldberg turns in a brilliant, understated performance as Michael's myopic-minded mother, while Markus Redmond delivers a marvelously ironic performance as Michael in all stages of his life. If I Had Known I Was a Genius is a unique and accomplished first-time feature from Wirtschafter and establishes her as a director to watch.

Screenwriter : Markus Redmond
Producers : Dominique Wirtschafter, Daniel Sadek, Andrea Sperling
Cinematographer : Scott Kevan
Editor : Jeff Canavan
Production Designer : Mark Hutman
Costume Designer : Frank Helmer
Composer : John Coda
Cast : Markus Redmond, Whoopi Goldberg, Keith David, Debra Wilson, Sharon Stone, Tara Reid

Dominique Wirtschafter
After graduating from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television, Dominique Wirtschafter worked at Walt Disney Studios as a story editor. After selling a screenplay to Warner Bros. and writing three unproduced pilots for ABC, her pilot script for the series Free Time was produced by UPN. The series starred Markus Redmond and, through further collaboration, Wirtschafter developed his life story into If I Had Known I Was a Genius, her directorial debut.