An animation franchise spawns an origin story about its cute yellow critters. But how will it go down with a feline film professional?

Actor and Industry Professional Cat Agent (Uncle Kent 2) Talks Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda’s Minions

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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

Film

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

Katie Camosy’s documentary <a href="https://gaslitdoc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gaslit</a>, featuring Jane Fonda and focused on the fight against oil/gas extraction boom, is now playing in New York City and opens in L.A. on June 19. She started her career documenting the early 2000s London indie music scene, which led to producing a web series about musicians for Apple. She has crossed the United States multiple times making documentary shorts about people from all walks of life. Recently, Katie has been working with Greenpeace, through which she produced Fire Drill Fridays, a Greenpeace web series about climate change with Jane Fonda, where she was able to experiment with live formats, expert panels, and climate documentary deep dives.

Katie Camosy

“Katie Documentary” and the 20-Year Itch

Maria Bakalova is now starring in the new sci-fi drama O Horizon, opposite David Strathairn, Adam Pally, Maggie Grace and Paulina Porizkova. She is a Bulgarian actress who, straight out of drama school, was cast by Sacha Baron Cohen to play Borat’s daughter of in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020), for which she won a Critics&#8217; Choice Movie Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, an Actor Award, and a Golden Globe Award. Born and raised in Burgas, Bakalova began her career in Bulgarian cinema while attending the National Academy for Theater and Film Arts, mostly portrayed dramatic roles in films such as Transgression, The Father, Last Call and Women Do Cry.

Maria Bakalova

Three Great Things: Maria Bakalova

Writer, director and producer Kerry Mondragon’s latest film, the pscyhedelic jungle thriller <a href="https://dekanalog.com/film/wetiko-detail" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wetiko</a>, is out now on digital. Best known for his films, Tyger Tyger (2020) and Meet Me at a Funeral (2015), Mondragon was born and raised in the ancient haunts of the Sonoran barrios and borderlands of the Mexican desert, a landscape populated by wild poets, peyote roadmen, and saintly Mexican grandmothers. He wrote poetry at an early age and corresponded with Allen Ginsberg at age 10, until Ginsberg&#8217;s death. After his biological father left, he was raised by his mother and step-father (turned-father,) they relocated to Marin County, California where he was blasted by the culture shock of a very different world. He discovered the dark shadow side of the wealthy county – a youth scene of bullying, trauma, drugs, alcohol – and was disgusted by the spiritual pretense of their culture. Bullied out of middle school and unable to adjust to high school, he lived the life of the youth underworld of one of the nation’s wealthiest towns. Throughout, he honed his artistic skills, he dropped out of college, worked at an ad agency and used that money to jump onto a crowd-funded Spike Lee feature film where he assisted the legendary director in prep and principal photography. This served as his film school. Upon returning to California and after significant life experiences, he resolved to make something pure, honest, and true – something stripped of all Hollywood illusions that was recognizable to those still lost in the pain of addiction – something to give hope to the hopeless. (Photo by Federico La Tona © Uninflected Pictures.)
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Kerry Mondragon

Murder, Fever Dreams and Spiritual Reckoning: Behind the Scenes of Wetiko

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: Charles Lane

Lily Lady is an artist from New York City. Lily&#8217;s journalism can be found in Office and Dirty Magazine and their feature film, <a href="https://www.factorytwentyfive.com/sams-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam&#8217;s World</a>, is available digitally on Tubi, Amazon Prime and more platforms via Factory 25. Lily’s full length poetry collections are quickie (2022), NDA (2024) and Blood Brother (2026). (Photo by Max Lakner.)

Lily Lady

Fear Factor’s Animal Problem

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Talkhouse

792: Vibe Coding Your Restaurant Recs Map Is the Worst with Eater’s Nadia Chaudhury

957. – Chris & Jason

Disclosure Day

791: Solid Wiggles Doesn’t Call It a Jell-O Shot

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

Music

Mood Board: Paycheque’s Paycheque

Cat Agent is a cat who&#8217;s an agent who represents cats. He has a <a href="https://twitter.com/catagentRB" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and a <a href="http://realcatagent.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Tumblr</a> and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/SWXBDh__5Adhg/playlists" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>. He made his feature film debut in the award-winning Uncle Kent 2, written by and starring Kent Osborne and directed by Todd Rohal, which had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival last March.

Cat Agent

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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.