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Talkhouse

Allison Anders is an award-winning film and television writer and director. She is best-known for films such as Gas, Food Lodging (1992), Mi Vida Loca (1993), Four Rooms (1995) and Grace of My Heart (1996), and is currently a prolific TV director, helming episodes of shows such as Sex and the City, The L Word, The Mentalist and Orange is the New Black. A winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant, she is also a Distinguished Professor in the Film And Media Studies Department at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Allison Anders

Lucy Walker is an Emmy-winning British film director who has twice been nominated for an Academy Award and is renowned for creating riveting character-driven nonfiction that delivers emotionally and narratively. Lucy’s films include feature documentaries The Crash Reel (2013), Waste Land (2010), Countdown to Zero (2010), Blindsight (2006), Devil’s Playground (2002) and short films notably The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011) and The Lion’s Mouth Opens (2014).

Lucy Walker

Patrick Brice was born in Grass Valley, Ca. He holds a BFA in Film/Video from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). His first film, Creep, premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival and released in 2015 by Netflix. His second film as writer/director, The Overnight, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed by The Orchard. He lives and works in Los Angeles.

Patrick Brice

Film

Talkhouse Film Contributors Remember Agnès Varda

Alison Klayman is the director of The Brink, a verité documentary about Steve Bannon, which is in select theaters through Magnolia Pictures from March 29. Klayman&#8217;s directorial debut Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, about the Chinese artist and activist, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where it was awarded a US Documentary Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Defiance. The film was released theatrically around the globe and shortlisted for the Academy Award. Her other films include The 100 Years Show (theatrical run at Film Forum) about Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera, the Netflix Original Take Your Pills (SXSW 2018) and the upcoming short Flower Punk, about Japanese artist Azuma Makoto. She also executive produced the award-winning documentaries Hooligan Sparrow and On Her Shoulders.

Alison Klayman

Humans That Are Just Humans (Or Why I Made a Documentary About Steve Bannon)

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<div>Azazel Jacobs is an NYC-raised writer-director, most recently of The Lovers, produced and distributed by A24, and whose screenplay was nominated for a Spirit Award (2018). Before this, he was a writer and the director of the acclaimed Sky/HBO series Doll &amp; Em. Other credits include Terri (2011, ATO Pictures) and Momma’s Man (2008, Kino). He studied directing at SUNY Purchase and the American Film Institute. You can follow him on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/azazeljacobs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@azazeljacobs</a>. (Photo by Patrick Reynolds.)
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Azazel Jacobs

“You Have So Much Ahead”: A Few Words About Aki Kaurismäki

Producer/director&nbsp;Ondi Timoner has the rare distinction of winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival twice. Her 2004 doc, <a href="http://www.interloperfilms.com/portfolio/dig/">Dig!</a>, explores the star-crossed rivalry of the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, while her 2009 top prize-winner, <a href="http://www.interloperfilms.com/portfolio/we-live-in-public/">We Live in Public</a>, examines privacy in the virtual age through Internet visionary Josh Harris&#8217; social experiments. Her company <a href="http://atotaldisruption.com">A Total Disruption</a>&nbsp;releases weekly short docs about thought leaders and doers who are transforming our lives through technology.

Ondi Timoner

WeTalk — From Vast to Intimate: The Balance of a Good Documentary

Pat McGee is an award-winning showrunner and director in both film and television. His latest film, <a href="https://www.vicetv.com/en_us/video/bernie-blackout-trailer/5eb03836214bfc544c1ddf95" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bernie Blackout: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised</a>, premieres in VICE&#8217;s &#8220;VICE Versa&#8221; series on May 13. McGee’s feature documentary American Relapse, which he directed with Adam Linkenhelt, won awards at film festivals across the country and was released by Gravitas Ventures. In 2018, Viceland Network picked up McGee&#8217;s original series, Dopesick Nation, a docudrama about the opioid epidemic in Florida. Simultaneous to producing Dopesick Nation, Pat executive produced and directed the YouTube Original feature documentary The Deported, set to premiere in the spring of 2019. In 2017, he sold a feature documentary film to National Geographic Channel, World of Sound, about retinitis pigmentosa, while wrapping up the second season of Pat McGee Pictures’ 24 to Life, which aired on Lifetime, LMN and A&amp;E. Pat’s focus has been on producing “stories worth telling.” He’s grateful for all those who let him into their world to assist in telling their story. He keeps pushing to give a voice to the voiceless, while respecting the art of storytelling.

Pat McGee

Staring Death in the Face: On the Challenges of Making American Relapse

Melissa B. Miller Costanzo&#8216;s new feature, the romantic comedy <a href="https://www.uphe.com/movies/the-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The List</a>, starring Halston Sage and Christian Navarro, is out now on VOD through Universal Pictures. Her first feature as a writer-director, All These Small Moments, starring Molly Ringwald, Brian d’Arcy James and Jemima Kirke, came out theatrically in 2019. Working in the art department on such award winning films as Indignation, The Fighter, and Precious, she developed an eye for detail and a perspective defined by experience. Her first feature as a producer was The Tested, starring Aunjanue Ellis, which was accepted to the prestigious IFP Independent Filmmaker Lab and Emerging Narratives at IFP Film Week and took home the top prize at the American Black Film Festival.

Melissa B. Miller Costanzo

Movies With My Mom: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

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

Filmmaking and Fatherhood: Year One

WeTalk — Shooting the Mafia: Truth Through the Lens

The New York Times called Jennifer Prediger a &#8220;busy indie actress&#8221;. She is also a busy writer, director and producer living in Los Angeles. She made her directorial debut in 2014 with collaborator Jess Weixler with their movie Apartment Troubles, starring Weixler, Prediger, Megan Mullally, Will Forte and Jeffrey Tambor. She has appeared in such movies as Joe Swanberg&#8217;s Uncle Kent, Hannah Fidell&#8217;s A Teacher, Bob Byington&#8217;s Infinity Baby, Madeleine Olnek&#8217;s The Foxy Merkins, Onur Tukel&#8217;s Applesauce and Richard&#8217;s Wedding, Alex Karpovsky&#8217;s Red Flag, and the Gotham Award-winning web series The Strange Eyes of Dr. Myes. Find out more at <a href="https://www.luckyprediger.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">luckyprediger.com</a>.

Jennifer Prediger

A Cause Worth Fighting For: Benedikt Erlingsson’s Woman at War

Megan Griffiths is a writer and director working in film and television whose latest film, the coming-of-age drama <a href="https://www.monumentreleasing.com/year-of-the-fox" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Year of the Fox</a>, starring Sarah Jeffery, is now available on digital. She has directed episodes of the Duplass Brothers’ Room 104 for HBO, Animal Kingdom for TNT, Prodigal Son for Fox, as well as shows for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and EPIX. Her recent features include I&#8217;ll Show You Mine, starring Poorna Jagannathan and Casey Thomas Brown, and Sadie, starring Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher Jr, Danielle Brooks and Tony Hale, which premiered at SXSW 2018 and is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Her feature work also includes The Night Stalker (starring Lou Diamond Phillips as serial killer Richard Ramirez), Lucky Them (starring Toni Collette, Thomas Haden Church, Oliver Platt and Johnny Depp), Eden (starring Jamie Chung, Matt O’Leary and Beau Bridges) and The Off Hours (starring Amy Seimetz, Ross Partridge and Scoot McNairy). More on Megan can be found at <a href="http://www.thecinechick.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">thecinechick.com</a>. (Photo by Susan Doupe.)

Megan Griffiths

Fuck Shame

Mark Cousins is a Northern Irish filmmaker and writer who lives in Edinburgh. His latest film, The Eyes of Orson Welles, is in theaters through Janus Films from March 15. His work as a director includes The Story of Film: An Odyssey, an epic 15-hour documentary which won a Peabody Award and the Stanley Kubrick Award; A Story of Children and Film, a feature doc which world premiered in Cannes; I Am Belfast, a lyrical essay film about his home town; and his fiction debut Stockholm My Love, a grief musical starring and with music by Neneh Cherry. His latest book, The Story of Looking, was published in the UK last year by Canongate.

Mark Cousins

How the World Became Wellesian

Timothy Simons is an American comedian and actor best known for his role as Jonah Ryan on HBO&#8217;s hit comedy series Veep, which returns for its seventh and final season on March 31. A prolific performer, he has also appeared in such films as Inherent Vice, The Interview, Christine, Draft Day, The Boss and Beneath the Harvest Sky, which was shot in his native Maine. He lives in Los Angeles.

Timothy Simons

Brian Huskey is an American actor and comedian. An alumnus of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City, he has appeared on numerous comedy TV shows, including Late Night with Conan O&#8217;Brien, Best Week Ever, Free Radio, The Onion News Network, Childrens Hospital, Bob&#8217;s Burgers and New Girl. Most recently, he&#8217;s had prominent roles on Another Period, People of Earth and Veep, which returns to HBO for its seventh and final season on March 31. He lives in Los Angeles.