Creative

Footer Legal

Main

NavBar

Sections

Topics

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Talkhouse

Jenny Waldo’s debut feature as writer-director, <a href="http://acidtestfilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Acid Test</a>, is out now on digital. The coming-of-age feature adapts her festival-favorite short film of the same name and is based on her own tumble through self-discovery as a 1990’s Riot Grrrl! A graduate of USC’s School of Cinematic Arts where she won a directing scholarship, Jenny worked on documentaries while also pursuing her passion for scripted filmmaking. Her producing credits include the indie feature The Preacher’s Daughter, which sold to Lifetime, and the feature documentary The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. An advocate for upcoming filmmakers, Jenny was Program Coordinator at the non-profit Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP) and now teaches filmmaking at Houston Community College. Learn more at <a href="http://jennywaldo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jennywaldo.com</a>.

Jenny Waldo

Film

From Teen to Parent and Back Again

Karina Manashil is the president of Mad Solar, having begun her career in the mailroom at William Morris Endeavor, where she became a talent agent. Manashil represented notable clients including Scott Mescudi, known by his stage name, Kid Cudi, and built her career taking talent into new arenas. In 2020, she partnered with Mescudi and Dennis Cummings to launch Mad Solar, which is backed by BRON Studios. The first production released under the banner was the Amazon documentary, A Man Named Scott, from director Robert Alexander. Manashil then went on to executive produce SXSW fan-favorite X, along with its prequel, Pearl, and the recently announced sequel, MaXXXine. All three films are directed by Ti West and distributed by A24. Manashil is an executive producer on the critically acclaimed Netflix animated series directed by Fletcher Moules, Entergalactic, which was released alongside its album of the same name from Kid Cudi on September 30th. Manashil is a native of Los Angeles and graduated from Chapman University with a BFA in Film Production.

Karina Manashil

Opa + Me

Michael Tennant was born and raised in San Diego, California, and attended the University of Arizona (the Harvard of Arizona) where he graduated with a BFA in both Acting and Directing. After graduation, spent the next four years hustling as an actor in New York City, where he did his requisite episodes of Law and Order, wore a peacoat, and then decided he missed having a kitchen and returned to the West Coast. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, he booked leads in multiple pilots as well as guest starring roles for ABC, NBC, Nickelodeon, and The CW before also working as an actor/producer/writer on productions for STX, IFC Films, Amazon, Neon, and Netflix. <a href="https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/pretty-problems" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pretty Problems</a>, which he wrote, starred in and produced, has won a number of awards, including the Audience Award at SXSW, and is out now in select theaters and on VOD through IFC Films. He currently resides with his dog Leroy in Los Angeles. They have a very nice kitchen.

Michael Tennant

I Made a Movie to Save My Marriage and Then I Got Divorced

Ian Clark is a director, cinematographer, editor, and producer based in the Pacific Northwest. His films and collaborations have screened at festivals worldwide including BAFICI, CPH:DOX, CUFF, Locarno, and Torino. One of Filmmaker Magazine&#8217;s &#8220;25 New Faces of Independent Film,&#8221; he makes work that blurs the line between fiction and nonfiction and conventional narrative structure often gives way to atmospheric visuals and conceptual experimentation. Recurring themes in his films include the limitations of human perception, ecology, and the way in which technology, landscape, and beauty coalesce. In addition to his filmmaking, Clark has been curating cinema since 2009 and is a founding member and Program Director of Filmfort, named one of the &#8220;25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World&#8221; by MovieMaker Magazine.

Ian Clark

All It Took Was a Brain Injury

Dubbed the “Godfathers of LGBTQ+ TV,” real-life married couple Deondray and Quincy LeNear Gossfield are the creators, writers and directors of the iconic GLAAD award-winning anthology series The DL Chronicles. Building on their brand and following their passion of telling Black LGBTQ+ stories, they created and directed the Amazon Prime spinoff series The Chadwick Journals. The Gossfields were also tapped to be part of the producing teams for hit shows like Kocktails with Khloé and Sunday Best. Their short film Flames, executive produced by Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani, premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, after the success of their previous shorts, Congo Cabaret and Smoke, Lilies and Jade, which was narrated by Emmy® and Tony Winner Billy Porter (Pose). The pair made their TV directorial debut in 2022 on Lena Waithe’s and Showtime Network’s drama, The Chi.

Deondray Gossfield and Quincy LeNear Gossfield

#MyAriel

Marc Maron is currently co-starring in the drama <a href="http://www.momentumpictures.net/to-leslie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To Leslie</a>, opposite Andrea Riseborough and Allison Janney, out in theaters and on VOD on October 7. For more than 30 years, he has been writing and performing comedy for print, stage, radio, online and television. With his landmark podcast WTF with Marc Maron, which achieves more than 55 million listens per year, he’s interviewed icons such as Robin Williams, Keith Richards, Nicole Kidman, and former U.S. president Barack Obama. Marc starred in the Netflix series Glow and his scripted series, Maron, aired for four seasons on IFC. He’s had recent roles in the films Joker, Spencer Confidential, Sword of Trust, Stardust, the 2021 Aretha Franklin biopic, Respect, alongside Jennifer Hudson, and the animated feature The Bad Guys, co-starring Sam Rockwell. Marc’s stand-up special More Later (2015) aired on Epix and his specials Thinky Pain (2013), Too Real (2017) and 2020’s End Times Fun, which was nominated for a 2021 Critics’ Choice Award, are currently streaming on Netflix. Marc is the author of The Jerusalem Syndrome: My Life as a Reluctant Messiah and Attempting Normal.

Marc Maron

Three Great Things: Marc Maron

Rosario Dawson is an artist, designer and activist. She made her feature film debut at the age of 15 in the controversial Kids, followed by Spike Lee’s He Got Game and The 25th Hour. She’s since starred in a range of films including Alexander, Rent, Clerks Ii, Top Five, Trance, Unstoppable and Men in Black II, as well as the Sin City franchise. On the small screen, Dawson starred as Allegra Dill in USA’s Briarpatch and as Claire Temple in Netflix’s Marvel comic book series Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and The Defenders. She can currently be seen in the Hulu limited series Dopesick. Rosario has produced several passion projects such as Talia Lugacy’s features Descent and This Is Not a War Story, and The Need To Grow, which highlights innovators healing our broken food systems and the need for soil regeneration to capture carbon and reverse climate change. Recently, Rosario directed her first short film, Boundless, for the Power/On Series. In 2013, Rosario founded Studio 189 with Abrima Erwiah, a fashion and media lifestyle brand made in Africa that produces African and African-inspired content and clothing. She is extremely passionate about helping empower LatinX millennials to vote and lead so in 2004, she co-founded Voto Latino. The organization has registered over one million people and was one of the co-founders of National Voter Registration Day. In 2011, Rosario was honored by Barack Obama with the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her valuable contributions to the community.

Rosario Dawson

Three Great Things: Rosario Dawson

Andrew Muscato is the producer of <a href="https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-greatest-beer-run-ever/umc.cmc.54tpvwt1vapino8t6kulcf2d1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Greatest Beer Run Ever</a>, directed by Peter Farrelly and starring Zac Efron and Russell Crowe. He began his career producing numerous critically acclaimed feature documentaries such as Ballplayer: Pelotero, and Schooled: The Price of College Sports. He has produced and directed short documentaries for VICE, and The Athletic, and was co-Executive Producer of MSNBC’s political documentary series American Swamp. Andrew recently directed the Bill Murray concert documentary, New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization, an Official Selection of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. He is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts. (Image courtesy Apple.)

Andrew Muscato

My Eight-Year Odyssey Trying to Get The Greatest Beer Run Ever Made

During the course of his notable career, Walter Hill has been a writer, director and producer on projects ranging from classic Westerns to action-packed thrillers and noir dramas, all marked with his unique visceral style. He most recently wrote and directed the Western Dead For a Dollar, starring Christoph Waltz, Willem Dafoe, Rachel Brosnahan and Benjamin Bratt, which is in theaters and on digital on September 30. Hill directed the smash hits 48 Hrs. and Another 48 Hrs. and is best-known for such acclaimed films as The Driver, The Warriors, Southern Comfort and The Long Riders. He also directed the pilot of HBO’s hit show Deadwood and the Emmy-winning miniseries Broken Trail. In addition to his work in the cinema and television, Hill has also written three graphic novels which have been published in France (Balles Perdues, Corps et Âme and Le Specimen), the second of which served as the basis for his 2016 film, The Assignment. (Photo by François Bouchon.)

Walter Hill

Three Great Things: Walter Hill

Multi-award-winning actress Essie Davis currently stars in <a href="https://filmrise.com/film/the-justice-of-bunny-king" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Justice of Bunny King</a>, opposite Thomasin McKenzie, which is out now in theaters through FilmRise. She is best known for her acclaimed performance in The Babadook, her key role of Lady Crane in Game of Thrones and playing the title character in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. She recently appeared in True History of the Kelly Gang alongside Russell Crowe and Nicholas Hoult, directed by her husband, Justin Kurzel, and her further film roles include Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, the Wachowskis’ The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, and Girl with a Pearl Earring. An established stage actress, in 2003, Davis won the Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire at the National Theatre London and in 2004 she starred in a National Theatre, West End and Broadway production of Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination. (Photo by Rachell Smith.)

Essie Davis

Three Great Things: Essie Davis

Rose Bianco has many film and television credits, and is probably best known for her recurring guest star role as Miguel’s grandmother Rosa in the highly successful Netflix series Cobra Kai. She is currently filming Nochebuena, directed by Adam Lopez, in Orlando. Her previous work include the role of drug cartel Matriarch in the Netflix movie Project Power, a guest-starring role as Jane’s grandmother in Doom Patrol, and a role in the Gerard Butler movie Greenland. She was most recently seen in McNamara-Brookwell’s original story, Moonrise, starring country-western singing star Granger Smith, on Pureflix.

Rose Bianco

For the (Puerto Rican) Culture

Scott Friend is a New York-based filmmaker whose first feature, <a href="https://1091.tv/to-the-moon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To the Moon</a>, is currently available VOD from 1091 Pictures, after playing at such festivals as Nightstream Film Festival, American Film Festival, Panic Film Fest and Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. He was awarded the Director’s Award from the Polish Film Institute at AFF’s 2020 U.S. in Progress program. As an actor, he recently appeared in the Gotham Award-winning film Fourteen, directed by Dan Sallitt, and The Dark End of the Street, directed by Kevin Tran.