Mindy Kaling to Co-Write Film Backed by John Malkovich

Mindy Kaling, the Ivy-educated and very funny writer and cast member of The Office, is planning to pen a script for a film with Office co-writer Brent Forrester.

Forrester and Kaling have teamed up to write a script for a romantic comedy for Mandate Pictures called The Low Self Esteem of Lizzy Gillespie. Mandate is the production company behind Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, Whip It, and last year’s Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Along with Mandate, John Malkovich production shingle, Mr. Mudd, will back the project as well. Mr. Mudd previously teamed up with Mandate for 2007 success story Juno.

Kaling and Forrester’s Lizzie Gillespie is the story of a woman whose low self-esteem influences her to choose to only date losers. That is, until one day, just as she is about to hit her romantic rock-bottom, her life takes an expected turn when the most attractive man in the world suddenly begins to pursue her.

Kaling has always been involved both behind and in front of the camera on The Office, but this will mark her first foray into writing for the big screen. She is a regular writer on the series, and while attending Dartmouth College, she wrote a comic strip for her school newspaper called “Badly Drawn Girl.” In addition to his work on The Office, Forrester has written for The Ben Stiller Show and contributed to episodes of King of the Hill and The Simpsons.

These days, Kaling’s role at The Office is growing. Watch this behind-the-scenes look at her directorial debut of NBC web-only music video, “Subtle Sexuality”:

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