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Talkhouse

Neil Burger is the director, writer and producer of the new thriller <a href="https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/inheritance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inheritance</a>, starring Phoebe Dynevor, which is now in theaters through IFC Films. His recent feature directing credits include Lionsgate’s The Marsh King’s Daughter starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn; and The Upside, starring Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart and Nicole Kidman, which grossed over $100 million in North America and was Burger’s third number one opening in a row. He also directed Divergent, starring Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet; Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro; and the critically acclaimed The Illusionist starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. His directorial feature debut, Interview With the Assassin was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. Burger directed and executive produced the pilot and the final episode of Billions, the Showtime series starring Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti that ran for seven seasons. He also directed the first season finale of Showtime’s The Agency starring Michael Fassbender, Richard Gere, and Jeffrey Wright. (Photo by Chris Chapman.)

Neil Burger

Film

Best of 2024: Neil Burger (Inheritance) on Nosferatu

Jharrel Jerome is currently playing the lead role in the biopic of wrestler Anthony Robles, Unstoppable, also starring Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheadle and Bobby Cannavale. He had his breakout role in Barry Jenkins’ Academy Award-winning film Moonlight and won many awards, including an Emmy Award for Lead Actor in a Miniseries, for his performance in Ava DuVernay’s minseries When They See Us. His additional film credits include Selah and the Spades; Monster, opposite Jennifer Hudson, Jeffrey Wright, Tim Blake Nelson and Nas; Concrete Cowboy, alongside Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin; and First Match, with Colman Domingo. Last year, Jerome starred in the lead role of the Prime Video absurdist realism comedy series I’m a Virgo, from writer-director Boots Riley, and was also seen in the limited drama series Full Circle, from director Steven Soderbergh, for which he was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Jerome is also a hip-hop artist, who in 2023 released with his debut project, Someone I’m Not. (Photo courtesy Amazon Studios.)

Jharrel Jerome

Best of 2024: Jharrel Jerome (Unstoppable) on The Penguin

Amber Sealey is an award-winning filmmaker whose most recent film, <a href="https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/out-of-my-mind/5U9QeQMDIDaj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Out of My Mind</a>, premiered at Sundance 2024 to multiple standing ovations and is now streaming on Disney+. Based on the bestselling YA novel of the same name, it stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Kirby and Judith Light, with Jennifer Aniston voicing the inner life of the lead. Her feature No Man of God, starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby, was theatrically released in 2021 to rave reviews. Her feature No Light and No Land Anywhere was theatrically released by Factory 25 and won a Special Jury Award at the LA Film Festival. Her second feature, How To Cheat, won Best Performance at LAFF and both Best Narrative and Best Acting at BendFilm. Her first film, A Plus D, was released by IndiePix. Sealey has a BA in theater arts and modern dance from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MA from The Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She studied Shakespeare at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She was born in England and lives in Los Angeles with her family. (Photo by Jack Caswell.)

Amber Sealey

Revisited: Neurodiversity is the Fucking Coolest Thing in the World

Joel Potrykus resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he works with a filmmaking band, Sob Noisse, including long-time collaborator Joshua Burge. His latest feature, <a href="https://tribecafilm.com/films/vulcanizadora-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vulcanizadora</a>, makes its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024. His films Ape, Buzzard, The Alchemist Cookbook and Relaxer have premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, and have screened at the Lincoln Center and the MoMa. He teaches filmmaking at Grand Valley State University.

Joel Potrykus

Revisited: Filmmaking and Fatherhood: Five Years Later

Sally Aitken is an Emmy® nominated director and writer, and a showrunner of multiple international series; her latest film, <a href="https://kinolorber.com/film/every-little-thing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Every Little Thing</a>, is out now in theaters through Kino Lorber. The film premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where her 2021 film Playing with Sharks (Disney+) also played. Sally’s previous work includes Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles (Amazon Prime); her debut feature doc, A Cinematic Life, her legendary film critic David Stratton which played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017; The Pacific with Sam Neill (2019); and Getting Frank Gehry (2015). (Photo by Jacquie Manning.)

Sally Aitken

What’s Worth Saving

Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung are the director-writer-producer-stars of the meta Asian queer stoner coming-of-age bromantic comedy <a href="https://strandreleasing.com/films/extremely-unique-dynamic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Extremely Unique Dynamic</a>. Harrison has appeared on shows such as Shameless, Grey&#8217;s Anatomy, 9-1-1, and American Horror Stories. He is also an accomplished voice actor and has also worked as a marketing executive for studios like MGM, Open Road Films, Hulu, Blumhouse, and A24 and has helped numerous projects open to #1 at the box office and win both Emmys and Academy Awards. Ivan is best known for his work in both television and feature film, appearing in All American, Atypical, Superstore, Good Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, Superfly, Sex Lives of College Girls, the SAG-Award nominated film The Tender Bar (in which he co-starred with George Clooney and Ben Affleck) and is lead of Skillhouse, produced by Ryan Kavanaugh and 50 Cent. Ivan is also known for his comedic rapping and the viral hit “Taco Loving Asian Guy” and is signed to Liquid Culture Records. (Photo by <span class="x1lliihq x1plvlek xryxfnj x1n2onr6 x1ji0vk5 x18bv5gf x193iq5w xeuugli x1fj9vlw x13faqbe x1vvkbs x1s928wv xhkezso x1gmr53x x1cpjm7i x1fgarty x1943h6x x1i0vuye xvs91rp x1s688f x5n08af x10wh9bi x1wdrske x8viiok x18hxmgj" dir="auto">Rielle Oase.)

Harrison Xu and Ivan Leung

From “Interesting Enough” Actors to Extremely Unique Filmmakers

Diane Warren, the subject of the new documentary <a href="https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/diane-warren-relentless/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Diane Warren: Relentless</a> (which is in theaters from tomorrow and streaming on MasterClass starting January 23), is one of the most prolific and celebrated songwriters of all time, with a four-decade track record of writing mega-hits for industry giants. Boasting 15 Academy Award nominations, an Honorary Oscar along with Grammy, Emmy, and Golden Globe Awards, Diane has etched her name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame and is responsible for some of the most iconic songs of our time. She has penned nine #1 and thirty-three top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and is tied for having written the most #1 songs as a sole writer in Billboard history. Her distinguished catalog features beloved songs including “Only Love Can Hurt Like This,” “Un-Break My Heart,” “If I Could Turn Back Time” and “Rhythm of the Night.” She is the sole owner of her publishing company Realsongs, the most successful female-owned and operated business in the music industry.

Diane Warren

Best of 2024: Diane Warren on Movies About Animals and Serial Killers

Filmmakers

The 2024 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors Share Their Top 10 Movies of the Year

The 2024 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year

Producer William Rosenfeld&rsquo;s latest film, the smash hit horror movie It&rsquo;s What&rsquo;s Inside, is now streaming on Netflix. A founding partner at Such, he produced The Kill Room, starring Samuel L Jackson and Uma Thurman, and the Emmy-nominated documentary, TikTok, Boom, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Other recent projects include Crisis, starring Gary Oldman and Evangeline Lily, and Abuse of Power, the Webby Award-winning podcast about wrongful convictions and incarcerations. Additional work includes collaborations with HBO, Showtime, and Lionsgate, and others. He previously was a founding producing partner at Armory Films (Peanut Butter Falcon). As screenwriter, he co-wrote the cult classics Big Nothing, starring Simon Pegg and David Schwimmer, and Dead End, starring Lin Shaye and Ray Wise. William&#8217;s career began at London&rsquo;s Donmar Warehouse where he worked as an assistant director under artistic director Sam Mendes. He holds an MFA from Columbia and a BA from Tufts. He currently resides in Santa Monica, CA.

William Rosenfeld

Revisited: How to Produce a Successful Indie Film in Three Easy Steps (by Doing Everything Wrong)

Zia Anger is a filmmaker and music video director. Her debut feature, <a href="https://mubi.com/en/us/films/my-first-film" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My First Film</a>, is streaming globally on MUBI from September 6. In 2018 she began touring a new solo performance that traces the last ten years of her lost and abandoned work, titled My First Film. The performance was named by The New Yorker as one of the “Sixty-two Films That Shaped the Art of Documentary Filmmaking.” Her most recent short, My Last Film, premiered at the 53rd New York Film Festival. She has made music videos for various independent artists, including Angel Olsen, Mitski, Julianna Barwick, Maggie Rogers, and Jenny Hval; the latter of whom she also tours with as a performer. In 2016, Zia participated in the Sundance Institute&#8217;s Screenwriter&#8217;s Intensive, and in 2015 she was included in Filmmaker magazine&#8217;s &#8220;25 New Faces of Independent Film.&#8221; Find out more at her <a href="http://www.ziaanger.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">official site</a>. (Picture by Theo Anthony.)

Zia Anger

Revisited: The Process

Jack Dunphy is a filmmaker, animator, actor and writer from Chicago whose short films Serenity and Chekhov have played at Sundance, AFI and festivals around the world. His latest short, Bob&#8217;s Funeral, won Best Nonfiction Short Film at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. His new podcast, Revelations with Jack Dunphy, premieres on October 15. His short film Revelations premiered at Slamdance and went on to play the Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris, France. His short film Brontosaurus played the True/False, Nashville, Florida, Philadelphia and Cucalorus film festivals. He starred in Assholes (directed by Peter Vack) which won the audience award at SXSW. He co-wrote Stinking Heaven, which premiered at the International Festival of Rotterdam, with Nathan Silver, and wrote, edited and produced Silver’s The Great Pretender, which played Tribeca, AFI and festivals around the world. (Photo by Shutterstock.)