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Nick Dawson talks with filmmakers, musicians and comedians whose work he loves, avoiding the mundane, predictable questions they&#8217;ve heard numerous times and instead asking substantive, thoughtful questions that get to the heart of who they are.

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That

Podcast

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That: Goran Stolevski

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Matt Kivel is a songwriter and musician based in LA. His latest record, Escape from L.A., is out now.

Matt Kivel

Don Cento is an Austin-based guitarist and composer who leads the instrumental jazz/Americana trio Cento Threeo. The debut Cento Threeo record Halfway to Mellowtown is out June 19, 2026.

Don Cento

Music

Don Cento and Matt Kivel Love Charles Grodin

sweet93 embodies the hazy, drifting summers of the early ‘90s — a time when the lullabies of Slowdive and the sweetness of Mazzy Star ruled the alternative rock scene. Based in NYC, sweet93&#8217;s songs are the soundtrack to a waking dream.

sweet93

Louise Trehy and Mike Mason met in early ‘90s Camberwell, London. Both were deeply involved with the independent music scene of the time; Louise co-founded Setanta Records (home of The Divine Comedy, Edwyn Collins, and Into Paradise), and Mike traversed between bike courier, video director, and lighting designer for Spacemen 3, Slowdive, Spiritualized, Curve, and Chapterhouse. Prompted by Louise, they started writing songs together as Swallow.
(Photo Credit: Matt Anker)

Swallow

Swallow and sweet93 Don’t Make Their Beds

Allison Goldfarb and Jackson MacIntosh are the LA synth pop duo Paycheque. Their debut self-titled record is out now on Mansions and Millions.

Paycheque

Mood Board: Paycheque’s Paycheque

Rafay Rashid is an artist and musician who plays with Ravi Shavi, Happiness, and Lookers. He was born in Islamabad, Pakistan and lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
(Photo Credit: Christopher Mongeau)

Ravi Shavi

Hear First: Ravi Shavi’s Wild Rock Dove

Nazanin Boniadi is an acclaimed British-Iranian actress and deeply committed human and women’s rights activist. Her new film, the adoption drama A Mosquito in the Ear, also starring Jake Lacy and Ruhi Pal, is in theaters now. Boniadi recently appeared in the Amazon series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. On the big screen, she appeared in Lionsgate’s Fox News drama Bombshell, opposite Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, and John Lithgow, and starred in the drama Hotel Mumbai, opposite Dev Patel. In addition to her passion for the arts, Boniadi is a dedicated human and women’s rights advocate with a focus on Iran. In 2020, she was appointed as an Amnesty International UK Ambassador. That same year, Boniadi released a short documentary film that she produced for ATTN: called Stateless, which chronicles her trip to refugee camps in Calais and Dunkirk to expose the plight of Iranian refugees and other asylums seekers who have been forced to leave their homes in an effort to find freedom, safety and to create a better life for their children.

Nazanin Boniadi

Film

Three Great Things: Nazanin Boniadi

A former accountant and attorney, Van Billet transitioned from the business world at age 52 to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a screenwriter. Since then, several of his screenplays have earned critical acclaim, including Saving Paradise, which was produced in 2020. His screenplay <a href="https://www.jaysilvermanproductions.com/yale" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yale</a> was produced in 2025 and on June 18, 2026 will have its world premiere as the opening-night film at Dances With Films. His next screenplay, Circumstantial Evidence, is about to be sold. Van’s screenplays are character-driven, exploring human frailty, ambition, and moral conflict. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Van now splits his time between Philadelphia and Naples, Florida.

Van Billet

The Charm, the Audacity and the Emptiness Underneath

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That: Kirsten Johnson

Zyortza is a Spanish writer-director based between Los Angeles and Spain whose work explores identity, cultural duality, and the resilience of immigrant women. With a background in acting and degrees in Film Production and African-American Diaspora Studies and an MFA in Film Directing, she has a storytelling style that blends emotional rawness with sociopolitical depth. Her latest short film, <a href="https://www.idesmovie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I Don’t Even Skate</a>, follows Nahiki, an undocumented girl chasing a dream on wheels while battling exploitation and survival in the shadows. The film, now on the festival circuit, captures the stakes of choosing between safety and self-determination. Zyortza creates in both Spanish and English and is currently developing her debut feature, to be shot across Spain and Los Angeles. More at <a href="http://www.zyortza.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">zyortza.com</a>.

Zyortza

You Can Teach Someone Camera Angles. You Can’t Teach Obsession.

Song of Rimbaud

Warped depravity in pop bubblegum packaging, Emma Higgins is a writer and director interested in telling stories she hasn’t seen before through a genre lens. Emma’s debut feature as writer-director, <a href="https://fela.tv/work/special-projects/sweetness-first-look/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sweetness</a>, premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival to rave reviews and is out now in theaters. A coming-of-age story for the digital age exploring the line between innocent fandom and twisted obsession, it stars Kate Hallett and Herman Tømmeraas. A self-taught filmmaker, Emma established herself directing commercials and music videos, helming Jessie Reyez&#8217;s music video “No One’s in the Room,” which earned the esteemed Video of the Year win at the 2021 Juno Awards. Emma currently lives in Los Angeles, where she enjoys living amongst the coyotes and nurturing the filmmaking community.

Emma Higgins

Sinking into Sweet Uncertainty – Otherwise Known as Making a Movie

Writer-director Carmen Emmi’s award-winning debut feature,<a href="https://www.magpictures.com/plainclothes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Plainclothes</a>, starring Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey, Maria Dizzia and Amy Forsyth, premiered at Sundance in 2025, was released theatrically by Magnolia and is out now on digital. Set in 1997, the film follows a promising undercover officer assigned to entrap gay men, who defies professional orders when he falls in love with one of his targets. Emmi is a filmmaker with deep roots in Syracuse, New York, where he grew up in a family of farmers. After graduating from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, Carmen began his career as an independent Director of Photography, contributing to a range of projects, including short films, commercials, and feature-length productions. (Photo by Lindsy Avritch.)

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Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That: Goran Stolevski

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