width

lede/featured-topic

core/column

style

lede/post-card

core/columns

lede/featured-posts

postId

bylineOption

aspectRatioOption

align

backgroundColor

textColor

fontFamily

lede/featured-post

Erika Burke Rossa is a writer, director, producer and actor whose feature directorial debut, <a href="https://tribecafilm.com/films/rain-reign-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rain Reign</a>, starring Paul Rudd, Jeremy Sisto, Felice Kakaletris and Gretchen Mol and based on Ann M. Martin’s bestselling novel of the same name, is now playing at the Tribeca Film Festival. Born to a Moroccan Jewish mother and Irish Catholic American father, and raised in Hong Kong and Taiwan, her multicultural and multi-faith upbringing shaped her commitment to stories that reflect the world in all its complexity. She has also directed for the stage, most recently helming Sarah DeLappe&#8217;s Pulitzer Prize-finalist play The Wolves at the Piven Theater with young actors from the Actors Training Center, where she coached and mentored young performers. Erika has also volunteered with Have Dreams, supporting children on the Autism spectrum.

Erika Burke Rossa

Film

The Anti-Anti-Hero

type

providerNameSlug

responsive

className

core/embed

title

displayCta

postCount

textOnly

hideDek

lede/post-river

overlayColor

isUserOverlayColor

minHeight

minHeightUnit

layout

core/paragraph

core/group

core/cover

height

core/spacer

subtitle

lede/newsletter

taxonomy

termId

termTitle

termLink

ctaText

Your favorite musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds one-on-one. No moderator, no script, no typical questions. The Talkhouse Podcast offers unique insights into creative work from all genres and generations. <a href="https://pod.link/Talkhouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Subscribe now</a>, and explore more illuminating shows on the <a href="https://talkhouse.com/category/podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Talkhouse Podcast Network.</a>

Talkhouse Podcast

John Cameron Mitchell’s 2006 film <a href="https://shortbus.oscilloscope.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shortbus</a>, which he wrote and directed, is being re-released in theaters by Oscilloscope from January 26. He co-created and starred in the stage/film musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, for which he won Best Director at the 2001 Sundance Festival, four Tony Awards, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. He also directed the films Rabbit Hole (2010), featuring an Oscar-nominated performance by Nicole Kidman, and How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017). He appears on TV in Hulu’s Shrill and in 2022 will be seen in Netflix’s Sandman and in the title role of Peacock Channel’s Joe Exotic adapted series. His musical podcast series Anthem: Homunculus starring Glenn Close, Patti Lupone, and Cynthia Erivo, was just rereleased as a free podcast. In 2020, he put out the collaborative album New American Dream and his ongoing The Origin of Love World Tour resumed in December 2021. (Photo by Matthew Placek.)

John Cameron Mitchell

Podcast

Sook-Yin Lee Talks with John Cameron Mitchell on the Talkhouse Podcast

Jack Whitescarver is a singer-songwriter who fronts the New York-based band Amiture Music. Amiture Music’s self-titled record is out now on Dots Per Inch.
(Photo Credit: Kayhl Cooper)

Jack Whitescarver

Anna Thérèse Witenberg is a dancer and choreographer based in New York.
(Photo Credit: Frank Lebon)

Anna Thérèse Witenberg

Music

Anna Thérèse Witenberg and Jack Whitescarver Talk the Physicality of Music

Channy Leaneagh is the singer and co-songwriter in Minneapolis-based band <a href="http://www.thisispolica.com/" target="_blank">Poliça</a>. You can follow them on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/thisispolica" target="_blank">here</a> and Facebook <a href="facebook.com/thisispolica" target="_blank">here</a>.

Channy Leaneagh

Haley Fohr (b. Dec 16 1988) is a vocalist, composer, and singer-songwriter. Her musical endeavors focus around our human condition, and her career as Circuit des Yeux has grown into one of America’s most successful efforts to connect the personal to the universal. She is most distinctly identified by her 4-octave voice and unique style of 12-string guitar.

Circuit des Yeux

Poliça and Circuit des Yeux Tap into the Rawness

Adam Schatz has recently released the improvised album Civil Engineering Vol. 1 and the Landlady album Make Up / Lost Time. See him on tour this summer, tickets and info at <a href="http://linktr.ee/landladyland" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://linktr.ee/landladyland&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1780425624327000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3vXy-qQUGj-lKK5bDfgzP-">linktr.ee/landladyland</a>.
(Photo Credit: Sasha Arutyunova.)

Adam Schatz

CORRECTION: Morgan Wallen Did Not Flip A Piano

Ruth Leitman is an award-winning filmmaker recognized for highlighting social justice issues in feature documentaries over the past 20 years. Her 1994 film <a href="https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/wildwood-nj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wildwood, NJ</a> (1994) has enjoyed a second life as a viral film since 2009 and screened at Hot Doc’s fifteen-year anniversary festival in 2013, and is currently playing at the <a href="https://lowcinema.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Low Cinema</a> in Queens. In 2015, she directed for Kartemquin Films’ Al Jazeera America documentary series Hard Earned, which was nominated for an International Documentary Association Award and won an Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Journalism Award (2016). Premiering at Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs, Lipstick &amp; Dynamite (2005) won the Documentary Storytelling Prize at Nantucket Film Festival and was broadcast on Showtime and her immigration film Tony &amp; Janina’s American Wedding (2010) premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival and won a jury prize as well as several social justice awards. Alma (1998) won the Documentary Feature Jury Prize at the Hamptons Film Festival and screened at IDFA, SXSW, Director’s Guild of America, and Whitney Biennial. Learn more at her website, <a href="http://ruthlessfilms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ruthless Films</a>.

Ruth Leitman

That Girl in My Films

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

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That: Zia Anger

Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Lucía Aleñar Iglesias is a writer-director based in Los Angeles. Her feature debut <a href="https://grasshopperfilm.com/film/forastera/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forastera</a> premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is in theaters now through Grasshopper Film as a New York Times Critic&#8217;s Pick . She holds a BFA in Film from NYU and an MFA in Screenwriting from Columbia University. Lucía‘s short film Forastera (2020) screened at numerous major international festivals, including Cannes Critics’ Week, Curtas Vila do Conde, Les Arcs, Oberhausen, and was nominated for a Gaudí Award. Lucía developed the feature version of Forastera with the Critics’ Week Next Step programme. She took part in La Résidence through Cannes Cinéfondation and received the ArteKino award during MIA Market. Lucía has worked in the casting department for the Safdie brothers’ Good Time and line-produced for Academy Award-winning Peggy Stern. (Photo by Agnès Piqué Corbera.)

Lucía Aleñar Iglesias

Forastera: Shape-Shifting Through Language

Eric Appel’s latest film, <a href="https://breadwinnermovie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Breadwinner</a> starring Nate Bargatze, is out now in theaters. Appel previously co-wrote, directed, and produced Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which premiered at TIFF, won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award, and secured an Emmy for Outstanding TV Movie, among other major nominations and awards. Appel also directed both seasons of Die Hart for The Roku Channel, starring Kevin Hart with John Travolta and John Cena, and recently directed multiple Season 2 episodes of the Sony/Apple+ series The Afterparty. He served as series director and executive producer for the Lord Miller live action/animation hybrid Fox series Son of Zorn after directing the pilot, and has directed episodes of hit shows including Silicon Valley, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Office, and Happy Endings. Appel was an early director for Funny or Die, creating iconic viral hits, and his writing credits include comedic programs like Human Giant, The Andy Milonakis Show, and Crank Yankers, following his time performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York.

Eric Appel

Being The Breadwinner

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.)

Hannah Frances

All One Song :: Matt Valentine on “Berlin”

789: Mythical Kitchen’s Josh Scherer Is Food Media’s Unlikely Intellectual

Nobody’s Ever Asked Me That: Charles Lane

955. – Jeremy Sisto

Fear Factor’s Animal Problem

Deer Tick Like the Hustle

The Anti-Anti-Hero

Latest Posts

788: Everybody Has an Opinion About Dean’s with Jess Shadbolt

954. – Chris & Jason

How Long Gone Today: June 8, 2026

The Way Back with Alex Ross Perry

Three Great Things: Kyra Sedgwick

Mood Board: Criteria’s SEIZE!

Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” w/ Hanif Abdurraqib

787: The Food Writer to Romance Novel Pipeline with Eliza Dumais & Julia Turshen

Linda Perry

Talkhouse Weekly