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The 21st-Century Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors Share Their Top 10 Movies of the Millennium So Far

The 21st-Century Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Movies of the Millennium So Far

Rachel Elizabeth Seed is an LA-based nonfiction storyteller working in film, photography, and writing. Her debut feature film, <a href="https://www.rachelseed.com/#/apm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Photographic Memory</a>, premiered at True/False 2024 and was cited as “one of the best docs of the year” by Rogerebert.com and “an ingenious, meta doc” by Variety. Rachel’s work has been supported by the Sundance Institute, Chicken + Egg Pictures, NYFA, Field of Vision, the Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, the Maine Media Workshops, the Roy W. Dean grant, the Jewish Film Institute, Jewish Story Partners, and IFP/Gotham Labs, among many others. Formerly a photo editor at New York Magazine, her photography has been exhibited at the International Center of Photography and she was a cameraperson on several award-winning feature documentaries including Sacred by Academy-Award winning filmmaker Thomas Lennon. Rachel’s writing has been published by No Film School, the Sundance Institute and Talkhouse

Rachel Elizabeth Seed

The Day After the Party

Jacob Combs and Laura Hunter Drago are Los Angeles–based filmmakers and Film Independent Project Involve Fellows. <a href="http://www.jacobdcombs.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jacob</a> is a director-writer-producer and a recipient of the Cayton-Goldrich Family Foundation Fellowship. His shorts include The Orange at the Seder (Seattle International Film Festival, BFI Flare, and HollyShorts) and Without. His writing credits include Netflix’s Blockbuster as well as projects with Pixar. <a href="http://www.laurahunterdrago.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Laura</a> is a writer/producer and recipient of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Fellowship. Named one of Austin Film Festival’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch, her screenwriting has won awards from Austin Film Festival and WeScreenplay Labs. She wrote, produced, and directed the Webby Award Honoree podcast The Crime at Camp Ashwood. Jacob and Laura’s Project Involve short film, <a href="http://www.tradwifefilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tradwife</a>, is screening at Slamdance at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles on February 22 at 7:30pm. (Photo by Fred Hayes / Stringer via Getty Images.)

Jacob Combs and Laura Hunter Drago

How to Make a Movie with a Stranger (and Become Friends Along the Way)

Will Thwaites is a documentary filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York whose latest feature as director and producer, <a href="https://www.crimeandparody.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crime &amp; Parody</a>, has its world premiere at the <a href="https://www.bigskyfilmfest.org/festival/films-2026-view/crime_parody/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Sky Documentary Film Festival</a> on Saturday February 21. He&#8217;s worked on projects for Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and PBS. Will was a producer on two acclaimed Netflix series: Full Swing and My Next Guest with David Letterman. He started his career at Kartemquin Films (Oscar-nominated producers of Minding the Gap and Hoop Dreams), where he worked on the Emmy Award-winning film, The Homestretch. (Photo by BVO Media.)

Will Thwaites

How Failing at Comedy Helped Me Succeed as a Filmmaker

Samantha Smart is an actress, writer, and producer whose debut feature, <a href="https://www.freestyledigitalmedia.tv/film/charliebird/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charliebird</a>, received the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature at the 2025 Tribeca Festival and will be released by Freestyle Releasing beginning February 27th. Smart can also be seen in the Academy Award–nominated live-action short Jane Austen’s Period Drama, executive produced by Emma Thompson and directed by Julia Aks and Steve Pinder, currently playing in theaters. Following sold-out screenings at Tribeca and widespread critical acclaim, Charliebird went on to receive top jury honors at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and the Coronado Island Film Festival, as well as the Marcello Petrozziello Award at the Lucca Film Festival. Smart’s acting credits include a recurring role in The CW’s Riverdale spin-off series Katy Keene, as well as a recurring role on CBS’s Bull. She has also appeared in guest-starring roles on Dear White People and God Friended Me. A graduate of Louisiana State University, Smart holds degrees in classical music and dance.

Samantha Smart

First Nights

Timour Gregory is a British-Egyptian film director and the founder of Highway Child, a mission-driven creative studio focused on humanitarian storytelling. Sasha Schneider is a producer and director whose work explores the intersection of representation and the arts. They are the directors of <a href="https://www.sulufilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beam Me Up, Sulu</a>, available February 17 on digital platforms to rent or buy. (Photo by Radhika Chalasani.)

Timour Gregory and Sasha Schneider

Towards a Pop Culture of Ideas or: In Defense of Trekkies

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

Matt Johnson was born and raised in Toronto and is the writer-director of The Dirties (2013), Operation Avalanche (2016) and BlackBerry (2023). He is co-creator of the cult comedy series Nirvanna the Band the Show (2017-19), the predecessor to the new film Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, which is being released by Neon on February 13, 2026. His next film is Tony, a biopic about young Anthony Bourdain starring Dominic Sessa and Antonio Banderas.

Matt Johnson

Three Great Things: Matt Johnson

Jon Stahl is a writer and producer operating at the intersection of traditional media and the creator economy. He worked in the writers’ room on the final two seasons of HBO’s Veep and wrote on FOX’s animated sitcom HouseBroken. He is the author of <a href="https://substack.com/home/post/p-153332382" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How Not to Be a TV Writer</a>, a Substack newsletter discussing creative work and industry change, and the creator of the comedy micro-series <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@CasenPointe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Casen Pointe: True Crime Detective</a>, which premiered on Jan. 20th, 2026. He is the Chief Creative Officer of Pointfake Media, where he focuses on comedy-forward storytelling, and the CEO of Prolog, a creative development software platform which was acquired in 2025.

Jon Stahl

From Newsletter to Pilot: How I Accidentally Rebuilt My Writing Career

Jessica Harrop is executive director of <a href="https://www.sandboxfilms.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sandbox Films</a> and an Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning documentary producer who has dedicated her career to inspiring passion about science through film. In her role at Sandbox Films, she oversees all project decisions and company strategy and acts as an executive producer across Sandbox Films’ documentary slate  — including Oscar-nominated Fire of Love; Sundance Special Jury-Prize winning All Light, Everywhere; Emmy-winning Fathom; and Fireball, a documentary directed by Werner Herzog. Jessica has produced content for a variety of outlets including Netflix, Showtime, Discovery, National Geographic, and PBS. As an establishing partner of Sandbox Films, Jessica’s passion for science storytelling shines through in each project she produces. She holds a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a Certificate in Theater from Princeton University, where she also co-taught an undergraduate film course on communicating climate change. Jessica is a member of both PGA and WGA and she serves on the board of Reel Works Teen Filmmaking. (Photo by Ruvan Wijesooriya.)

Jessica Harrop

Finding the Magic and Humanity in Science on the Big Screen

Janek Ambros is an Independent Spirit Award–nominated producer and director whose films have won honors at Venice, Sundance and GLAAD, and have screened at major festivals around the world. As a producer, his credits include Human Capital (starring Maya Hawke and Marisa Tomei), Ten Thousand Saints (starring Ethan Hawke and Hailee Steinfeld), Monica (winner of the Arca CinemaGiovani Award at the Venice Film Festival) and In the Summers, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2024. As a writer and director, Ambros has helmed projects such as the psychedelic farce Mondo Hollywoodland, a sequel to the 1967 cult classic, executive produced by Oscar nominee James Cromwell, which is now available on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mondo-Hollywoodland-Janek-Ambros/dp/B0DFZM53LP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prime Video</a>; the political documentary Imminent Threat, examining the War on Terror’s impact on civil liberties; and Ukrainians in Exile, executive produced by Liev Schreiber and two-time Oscar winner Janusz Kamiński. He is the founder of <a href="https://www.assemblylineentertainment.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Assembly Line Entertainment</a>, established in 2012. You can find him on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/janekambros" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://x.com/janekambros88" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/assemblylineent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Assembly Line</a> on Instagram.