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Talkhouse

Rodney Ascher is a filmmaker known for working in the spaces between documentaries, collage, and genre films. His feature debut, Room 237, managed a theatrical release despite the fact that it was made on a home computer in his living room. Other projects include The Nightmare, Primal Screen, Haunted, Horrifying Sounds From Beyond the Grave, and as editor, Andy Kaufman’s posthumous (?) comedy album, Andy and His Grandmother. A Glitch in the Matrix, his latest, explores Simulation Theory and, knock on wood, will premiere later this year. He lives in a fast-gentrifying corner of Los Angeles with his talented family and their beautiful cat. (Photo by Joseph Cultice.)

Rodney Ascher

With a strange mix of underground horror shock and existential atmosphere, Calvin Lee Reeder made a name for himself with short films like Piledriver and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDFaLFA5VBY" target="_blank">Little Farm</a>. His features films <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWJiYebSQYM" target="_blank">The Rambler</a> (Anchor Bay Films) and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE7lxnhqYJ8" target="_blank">The Oregonian</a> (Factory 25) divided and excited Sundance audiences just as his shorts had before them. Reeder specializes in turning lo-fi splatter pics into art films by meshing high-concept thought and design with genre storylines. Follow him <a href="https://twitter.com/CalvinLeeReeder" target="_blank">here</a>.

Calvin Lee Reeder

Brian Trenchard-Smith has been burning to make genre films ever since seeing Hitchcock’s Vertigo at age 13. So far he has directed 42 Crimes Against Cinema, and counting. (He’s an enthusiastic recidivist.) His cult favorites include The Man from Hong Kong, Turkey Shoot, BMX Bandits, Stunt Rock, The Siege of Firebase Gloria. His memoir, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ADVENTURES-MOVIE-TRADE-MEDWIN-TRENCHARD-SMITH/dp/B08JVLC35P/ref=asc_df_B08JVLC35P/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=475866653660&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=15351232785781447577&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9004367&amp;hvtargid=pla-972105956148&amp;psc=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adventures in the B Movie Trade</a>, is now available as an e-book.

Brian Trenchard-Smith

Emily Hagins wrote and directed her first feature film when she was 12-years-old, and her experiences chronicled in the documentary Zombie Girl: The Movie. Now 22, Emily has written and directed four features (most recently Grow Up, Tony Phillips) and is living in Los Angeles.

Emily Hagins

Larry Fessenden&#8216;s latest indie horror film, Depraved, opens in select theaters through IFC Midnight on September 13. Fessenden is top dog of the indie production company Glass Eye Pix. He has directed such movies as The Last Winter, Habit and Beneath and he&#8217;s produced dozens of films including Stake Land, House of the Devil and Wendy and Lucy. He has acted in movies such as You&#8217;re Next, Broken Flowers and The Mountain and appeared on TV in Louie and The Strain. He thinks you should be worried about climate change.

Larry Fessenden

Jeffrey Reddick shot to horror fame with the creation of the horror classic Final Destination, which spawned four sequels and has earned over $650 million dollars at the worldwide box office. Reddick has sold, or optioned, more than 25 projects for film and television and has produced more than 12. Jeffrey’s most recent film, Dead Awake, was released in May 2017. Other produced credits include Lionsgate’s thriller Tamara and the remake of George Romero’s classic Day of the Dead. Jeffrey is making the move into directing and is currently developing The Horror Show and a feature version of his 2014 short film Good Samaritan.

Jeffrey Reddick

Clay Liford is an independent filmmaker living in Austin, TX. He has written and directed several shorts (such as My Mom Smokes Weed and Earthling) and the features Earthling and Wuss, and shot/edited over 20 other features, including St. Nick and Gayby. His latest feature, Slash, world premiered at SXSW 2016 and is currently on the festival circuit. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/clayLiford" target="_blank">here</a>.

Clay Liford

Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma Entertainment, directed many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger, The Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD, Tromeo &amp; Juliet and Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. Kaufman has written six books and presented his “Make Your Own Damn Movie” masterclasses globally. His latest film, Return to Nuke ‘Em High Vol. 1, produced in association with Starz, premiered in 2014 and screened in The Contenders series at MoMA. He is currently working on Return to Nuke &#8216;Em High Vol. 2 and The Toxic Avenger Part V.

Lloyd Kaufman

Writer-director Nicholas McCarthy made his feature debut in 2012 with The Pact, adapted from his short film of the same name. The horror film, which premiered at Sundance, was released by IFC Midnight in the U.S. and spawned a sequel. In the wake of the success of The Pact, McCarthy wrote and directed the At the Devil’s Door, starring Naya Rivera and Catalina Sandino Moreno, which was released in 2014, also by IFC Midnight. In 2016, McCarthy wrote and directed the “Easter” segment of the anthology horror film Holidays. He lives in Los Angeles.

Nicholas McCarthy

Director Darren Lynn Bousman is best known for directing Saw II, III and IV. His latest film, St. Agatha, is now in theaters and On Demand / Digital HD through Uncork&#8217;d Entertainment. The Kansas native also directed the horror rock operas Repo! The Genetic Opera, The Devil&#8217;s Carnival and Alleluia! The Devil&#8217;s Carnival, as well as the horror movies 11-11-11, The Barrens and Mother&#8217;s Day, a remake of the classic 1980 movie.

Darren Lynn Bousman

Film

Talkhouse Film Contributors Remember George A. Romero

James Marsh is an English director best known for his 2008 film, Man on Wire, which won many awards including the Oscar for Best Documentary. His other notable non-fiction credits include Wisconsin Death Trip (1999) and Project Nim (2011). Marsh also directs fiction films, including The King (2005), starring Gael Garcia Bernal; Red Riding: 1980 (2009), the second part of the Red Riding trilogy; and Shadow Dancer (2012), with Clive Owen and Gillian Anderson.

James Marsh

Victoria Negri is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and actor. Her directorial debut, <a href="http://goldstar-film.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gold Star</a>, which she also wrote and stars in, world premiered at the Buffalo International Film Festival in October 2016, where it won the Audience Award, was released theatrically in fall 2017, and is currently available through Amazon Prime. Negri is currently in development on her second feature as writer-director, Ultra.

Victoria Negri

Jeanie Finlay is a British artist and filmmaker who creates intimate, funny and personal documentary films and artworks. Her focus is on creating compelling portraits and is obsessed with telling other people’s stories. Her work is known for its innovative approach to engaging with audiences in meaningful ways. Her documentaries includes Game of Thrones: The Last Watch, Seahorse, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, The Great Hip Hop Hoax, Sound It Out, Goth Cruise and Teenland. Her latest film, <a href="https://firehouse.dctvny.org/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=406302~2998286f-8e4b-4c31-9017-dcced8ffebb3&amp;_gl=1*1bdd0ra*_gcl_au*NTI5MTY4NDI1LjE3MDE5ODQ5MDQ." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Your Fat Friend</a>, is now playing at DCTV&#8217;s Firehouse Cinema in New York City. (Photo by Jo Irvine.)

Jeanie Finlay

Jim Hemphill is the writer and director of the award-winning film <a href="https://www.facebook.com/troublewiththetruth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/troublewiththetruth/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1567688259834000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEfdWVn5INQ2VaFYkDfqCAJ1hDMVw">The Trouble With the Truth</a>, which is currently streaming on <a href="https://amzn.to/2Q20O6F" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://amzn.to/2Q20O6F&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1567688259834000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE0fujkM407hiTH5e2ZBjQK8VSaCA">Amazon Prime</a> and other platforms. He has written about movies and television for Filmmaker magazine, American Cinematographer and Film Comment, and is the author of The Art and Craft of TV Directing: Conversations with Episodic Television Directors. He also serves as a film historian at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and has contributed audio commentaries to DVDs and Blu-rays for Indicator, Shout Factory, the BFI, and other home video labels. His website is <a href="http://www.jimhemphillfilms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.jimhemphillfilms.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1567688259834000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHaS2u3V0GTADaZ-lbaGzXANhioeQ">www.jimhemphillfilms.com</a>.

Jim Hemphill

Joe Dante is a lifelong film buff who turned his obsession into a career. He got his start cutting trailers for Roger Corman and later directed the hit movie Gremlins, as well as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, for producer Steven Spielberg. His feature films include The Howling, Innerspace, Matinee, Small Soldiers, The ‘burbs, The Hole and the zom-com Burying the Ex. His TV directing work includes the HBO film The Second Civil War, the Masters of Horrors titles, episodes of Eerie, Indiana (which he helped create), CSI: NY, Hawaii 5-0 and Salem.

Joe Dante

Rod Lurie is a writer-director. His films include Oscar-nominated The Contender and Straw Dogs. His TV series include Commander in Chief.  He is a sexual God.

Rod Lurie

Ted Geoghegan is the writer and director of the acclaimed 2015 retro-horror feature We Are Still Here, which is currently available on Amazon Prime and Shudder, and the violent 1814-set action-drama Mohawk, now on Netflix. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and internet-famous cat.

Ted Geoghegan

Alex Winter is a writer-director whose new documentary, <a href="https://www.yteffect.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The YouTube Effect</a>, is out now in theaters and whose other non-fiction films include Zappa, The Panama Papers, Trust Machine, Deep Web and Downloaded. A former child actor on Broadway, he found fame playing Bill S. Preston, Esquire in Bill &amp; Ted&#8217;s Excellent Adventure, Bill &amp; Ted&#8217;s Bogus Journey and Bill &amp; Ted Face the Music. The co-creator of the MTV show The Idiot Box, he made his directorial debut in 1993 with Freaked. Learn more at his <a href="http://alexwinter.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official website</a>. (Photograph by Rick Wenner.)

Nicholas McCarthy

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