Karen Moncrieff's Blue Car, which she wrote and directed (her first attempt at both), is a complex drama that centers on a high school student who is both mentored and desired by her teacher; the film was nominated for handful of awards and was very well-reviewed upon its limited release in 2004, two years after it debuted at Sundance. And, based only on the list of actors lining up to participate in Moncrieff's new film, it appears that the highly-praised screenplay on which she based that directorial debut was no fluke. Among the names already associated with the film - an independent project entitled Dead Girl - are Toni Collette, Marcia Gay Harden, Giovanni Ribisi, and Mary Steenburgen, and Piper Laurie is in final negotiations to join them.

Moncrieff's film, the breadth of which stands in stark contrast to Blue Car's intimacy, "centers on the dark mystery surrounding a young woman's death, which is gradually revealed when the lives of seemingly uninvolved people intersect." Production begins next month in LA.