Barthes ' short film '' Happiness '' , which tells the story of a woman who purchases a box of happiness and can not decide if she should open it , was shown at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival . The film was well-received and earned her a place in the Sundance Institute 's Screenwriters Lab , where she began to write the screenplay for her first feature film , '' Cold Souls '' . Barthes had first begun to develop the idea for '' Cold Souls '' in 2005 , after she had a dream about Woody Allen having his soul extracted . The film , directed by Barthes , premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival , where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize . It was released in August 2009 , and starred Paul Giamatti as a fictionalized version of himself who decides to have his soul removed
2008 Sundance Film Festival
2008 Sundance Film Festival
Sophie Barthes