Virginia Film Festival

Film: The Bitter Pill

Clay is a director, producer, and editor with a passion for telling poignant and complicated character-based stories. His works include Finders Keepers, The Innocent Man, Heaven’s Gate: Cult of Cults, Out of Omaha and Gleason – the last of which was shortlisted for an Academy Award and named one of the 5 best documentaries of 2016 by the National Board of Review. His projects have been distributed by Showtime, Netflix, HBO MAX, STARZ and Amazon Studios.

Clay’s latest film, The Bitter Pill, follows a lawyer taking on Big Pharma in the opioid crisis. Currently, he is directing two other feature films – one about the legendary performer Andy Kaufman, and another about Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin and his incredible comeback story to play in the NFL. Clay was born and raised in Charlottesville.

Film: The Bitter Pill

Shannon Riggs is a film and television documentary producer.  In 2017, she co-founded Parkside Films with director Clay Tweel.  Parkside’s work is known for their extraordinary access, and character driven, commercial appeal. Outside her work in film, Shannon is a mentor for women breaking into the business through The Sundance Institute, Women in Film, and #StartWith8.

Film: The Bitter Pill

Tim Grant is a director and producer from southern Appalachia. His filmmaking explores economic, religious and cultural tensions of the American South, often through portraiture. As director, Tim’s short documentary The Aria of Babyface Cauliflower Brown premiered at Hot Docs Film Festival and streams on The New York Times’ Op-Docs series. His award-winning feature documentary Mississippi River Styx was Executive Produced by Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Jody Hill. The Bitter Pill is Tim’s latest film as producer and his third collaboration with director Clay Tweel (Finders Keepers & Out of Omaha being the others).