Let us say that Miranda Bailey (Diary of a teenage girl, God’s country) likes to play it safe it would just be crazy.
Through her production company Cold Iron Pictures, the producer, actress, writer and director has supported the likes of Swiss army manDaniels’ surreal comedy about a stranded man, played by Paul Dano, on the verge of suicide who befriends a bloated corpse, portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe. And at Sundance 2025, the company premiered Amanda Kramer’s film By designstarring Melanie Griffith as the narrator and Juliette Lewis as a woman who exchanges bodies for a chair.
Billie is currently in the UK capital for SXSW London, where she is a producer on another genre-bending film, alongside Ioana Polomiti, Elizabeth Woodward, Lauren Mann, Yannis Economides, Vladimir Anastasov, Angela Nestorovska, Zvonimir Munivrana, Maja Popović Milojevic, and Irina Malcea-Candia.
The movie is The boy with light blue eyesthe debut feature from Greek writer-director Thanasis Neofotestos, which had its world premiere as part of the SXSW London Screen Festival 2026 on Thursday evening. The cinematic allegory of exclusion and the desire for love and freedom, which can also be considered a bizarre coming-of-age story, stars Giorgos Karidis as Petros, a boy whose strict grandmother and village mayor force him to hide behind a mask because he has blue eyes. Why? Well, this eye color is a source of fear and superstition for the locals in the remote mountain village where they live.
Neofotistos co-wrote the film with his wife Grigoris Sakrakis, with cinematography by Djurdji Arambasic and editing by Panagiotis Angelopoulos. Gersh handles U.S. sales.
How did Billie end up joining the team that directed an independent Greek film, her first international feature film as a producer? “I was a short film judge at the Aspen Film Festival, and Thanassis had this short film that was my favorite of the festival,” she says. THR. “That was years ago, but I remember fighting to get a special mention for this short film by this Greek guy, because I loved it. And it got a special mention.”
Then her friend, producer Mann, produced Swiss army man She mentioned with Billy that she was on board for “That Greek Movie.” It was The boy with light blue eyesBilly recognized the builder’s name immediately. “Lauren knows I love really weird stuff, so I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this director,'” she recalls. “I didn’t even read the script but I knew it was going to be great.”
During the weeks of filming, the two American producers split their time on set in Greece. “Everything was Greek to me,” literally, Billy jokes. “No one spoke English except Thanassis and the young star of the film, Gregoris.”
But it was worth it for the clear and authentic narration voice I observed in Neofotestos. “It’s about uniqueness and point of view,” the producer says. THR. “I love producing with creatives who have a very specific voice and point of view. You know what a Noah Baumbach movie is or you can say, ‘Oh, this is a James Gunn movie, this is a Daniels movie.’
Billie doesn’t have a big master plan for her future in international production work or a potential second film with Neofotestos. “I’m one of those producers who doesn’t stick to directors,” she says. “I like when things happen naturally. But obviously, if Thanassis comes to me and wants me to be part of his next film, I would love it.”
Bailey will be monitoring the international with Amanda Kramer By designstarring Juliette Lewis as a woman who swaps bodies for a chair and Melanie Griffiths as the narrator, has just been sold to Bulldog Film Distribution in the UK and Ireland where it will be released later in the year. The film premiered at Sundance 2025,
