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Talkhouse

Dan Chen&#8216;s new Vimeo Staff Pick short documentary, <a href="https://vimeo.com/1032884093" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You&#8217;re Too Sensitive</a>, is now streaming. He developed his love of film as a Chinese-American teenager growing up in small-town Kansas. He picked up the camera to connect with others, partnering with friends to make elaborate coming-of-age movies, and documenting the moments they&#8217;d later be nostalgic for. He studied fine art film photography in college, and graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts focusing on cinematography and directing. His work at Jubilee Media has garnered over 100+ million views, and his films have been featured on Vimeo Staff Picks, Short of the Week, Slamdance Film Festival and most recently the 2021 Tribeca Festival, where he premiered his documentary feature debut, <a href="https://danchen.co/portfolio/accepted">Accepted</a>, to critical acclaim. Accepted follows four high school seniors at the controversial T.M. Landry school as they grapple with college admissions, national scandal, and the pains of growing up. Dan is currently based in Los Angeles, developing new projects as he prepares to direct his first narrative feature film. (Photo by Arielle Zakowski.)

Dan Chen

Film

I’m Too Sensitive: Confessions of a Filmmaker

Kelsey Egan&#8216;s sophomore feature, The Fix, is a sci-fi thriller set in Cape Town, is out now on all your favorite digital platforms. Her critically acclaimed first feature, the dystopian fairytale Glasshouse, premiered at the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest in 2021. Having built her career working on both sides of the camera, including eight years as a stunt performer, four years as a VFX producer and significant credits as a writer and actress, Kelsey is a versatile filmmaker who is as comfortable on an indie set as she is on a large-scale studio production. Her experience includes credits on Warrior, Raised by Wolves, Bloodshot, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, The Dark Tower, Eye in the Sky, The Giver, Zulu, Mad Max: Fury Road, and District 9. She has also written on numerous TV series, including the six-part TV adaptation of Deon Meyer’s bestselling thriller, Trackers. Her directorial debut, the 26-minute drama Gargoyle, was nominated for a 2010 SAFTA Award for Best Short.

Kelsey Egan

How Stunt Work Prepared Me for Directing

James Ward Byrkit is writer and director from Flagstaff, Arizona, known for his work on Rango, Coherence, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. His new series, <a href="https://www.shatterbelt.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shatter Belt</a>, is available on Amazon and AppleTV.

James Ward Byrkit

The Knowing and the Victory of Magical Thinking

Areeb Zuaiter is a multinational filmmaker based in Washington, D.C. Her work focuses on art, identity, and social issues. Her debut feature film, <a href="https://www.yallaparkour.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yalla Parkour</a>, has its world premiere at <a href="https://www.docnyc.net/film/yalla-parkour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DOC NYC</a> on November 16.  She holds an MA in Film and Video from American University. Zuaiter’s work has been nominated at film festivals around the world. Zuaiter’s career includes experience with the Associated Press and a fellowship as a Goldman Sachs Film and Video Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Zuaiter led the Regional Training Department at the Royal Film Commission – Jordan, and taught at several universities in Washington, DC. In addition to working on her films, Zuaiter heads the programming department at the Amman International Film Festival (AIFF).

Areeb Zuaiter

Life in My Hands, Death Before My Eyes

Tom Bateman made his screenwriting debut with the neo-noir thriller <a href="https://www.shoutstudios.com/magpie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Magpie</a>, which had its world premiere at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival and is out now in theaters and on VOD. Tom also serves as a producer on the film. In 2023, Tom starred in Peacock’s Based on a True Story alongside Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina and will return for the second season in November 2024. Bateman previously starred in Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, opposite Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton. Tom is well known to audiences for the breakout role in Kenneth Branagh’s star-studded Agatha Christie film adaptation Murder on the Orient Express and reprised his role in its sequel Death on the Nile. Tom’s film credits also include starring in Cold Pursuit, opposite Liam Neeson, and Jonathan Levine&#8217;s Snatched, with Goldie Hawn and Amy Schumer. On TV, Tom led the Netflix series Behind Her Eyes, opposite Eve Hewson, and appeared in the small-screen adaptation of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair opposite Olivia Cooke and Johnny Flynn. (Photo by Lee Malone.)

Tom Bateman

“To Know That We Are Not Alone.”

Tyler Taormina is a film director based in Los Angeles whose latest film, <a href="https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/christmas-eve-in-millers-point" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christmas Eve in Miller&#8217;s Point</a>, starring Michael Cera, Elsie Fisher, Francesca Scorsese and more, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 and is out now in theaters through IFC Films. His debut film, Ham on Rye, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and went on to receive critical acclaim, including Best Films of the Year from The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Slant Magazine and more. His follow up feature, Happer’s Comet, premiered at the 2022 Berlinale and won the Special Jury Prize at the BAFICI. His work explores vast ensemble casts and draws influence from 60s European art cinema and ’90s kids television. (Photo courtesy IFC Films.)

Tyler Taormina

My Life in Shitposting 

Morena Baccarin can currently be seen opposite Anthony Mackie the new action thriller Elevation, which is out now in theaters. In Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and this year’s Deadpool &amp; Wolverine, she plays Vanessa, the tough and witty love interest of Ryan Reynolds. She will soon lead CBS’s new series Sheriff County, a spinoff about her recurring Fire Country character, and star opposite Jason Mamoa and David Bautista in Amazon’s feature Wrecking Crew. Her long list of television credits includes a regular series in Fox’s Gotham, the lead in ABC’s V, the lead (and a producer) of CBS’s The Endgame, Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone, and of course, Homeland, for which she was nominated for Emmy and SAG awards. As a new Juilliard grad, Morena broke through in Firefly, which was followed by its big-screen adaptation Serenity. Her other film credits include Paul Feig’s comedy hit Spy, the Gerard Butler thriller Greenland, and Fast Charlie, opposite Pierce Brosnan.

Morena Baccarin

Three Great Things: Morena Baccarin

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

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

Andrew Boodhoo Kightlinger’s latest film, <a href="https://www.bluefoxentertainment.com/films/lost-on-a-mountain-in-maine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lost on a Mountain in Maine</a>, is out now in theaters. Kightlinger was born and raised in Madagascar, and later lived in South Dakota, and his multicultural origins have fueled a prolific genre-fluid approach to storytelling. In addition to Lost on a Mountain in Maine, Kightlinger has directed the prairie-bound drama Tater Tot &amp; Patton starring Jessica Rothe and the award-winning short film Destroyer, with Alan Ruck. He’s also winner of the Screenwriting Grand Prize at the Slamdance Film Festival and recently directed the short dance film Becoming, a collaboration between the Getty Center and Sony.

Andrew Boodhoo Kightlinger

Who Am I? Or, Finding My Identity in Cinema

The 25th anniversary 4K restoration of Alan Rudolph’s <a href="https://www.filmswelike.com/films/breakfast-of-champions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Breakfast of Champions</a>, an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s cult novel starring Bruce Willis, Albert Finney, Nick Nolte, Barbara Hershey, Glenne Headly and Lukas Haas, is out now in theaters. A pioneer in the American independent film movement, Rudolph began his professional career as an assistant director before being hired by Robert Altman to work on The Long Goodbye and later his masterpiece, Nashville. The two remained lifelong friends and collaborators as Altman served as producer on many of Rudolph’s future projects. His films are noted for their fluid style, unpredictable humor, and glowing performances, often peculiar ensemble-based stories exploring the paradoxical complexities of being human, and he’s perhaps best known for Welcome to L.A., Remember My Name, Choose Me, Trouble In Mind, The Moderns Mrs. Parker, The Vicious Circle, Afterglow and Breakfast of Champions, nominated for the Berlin Golden Bear in 1999. (Photo by Joyce Rudolph.)

Alan Rudolph

Three Great Things: Alan Rudolph

Your favorite musicians, filmmakers, and other creative minds one-on-one. No moderator, no script, no typical questions. The Talkhouse Podcast offers unique insights into creative work from all genres and generations. <a href="https://pod.link/Talkhouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Subscribe now</a>, and explore more illuminating shows on the <a href="https://talkhouse.com/category/podcast" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Talkhouse Podcast Network.</a>

Talkhouse Podcast

Podcast

Revisited: Lake Bell Talks with Santigold for the Talkhouse Podcast

Stavros Halkias is a comedian, actor and writer originally from Baltimore, Maryland, who is currently starring in <a href="https://darkskyfilms.com/film/lets-start-a-cult/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Let’s Start a Cult</a>, opposite Ethan Suplee, Joe Pera and CM Punk. His latest special, Fat Rascals, is out now on Netflix and his debut special, Live at the Lodge Room, reached a million views in its first four days and currently sits at over 6.8 million views. His podcast, Stavvy’s World, debuted at number three on the iTunes comedy charts and garnered hundreds of thousands of subscribers in its first year. He’s a former co-host and founding member of the popular podcast Cum Town, which ran from 2016 to 2022 and was recently featured in Steven Soderbergh’s sci-fi series Command Z. Halkias is also an accomplished model, walking in Kid Super’s Paris Fashion Week show in 2023, where he was described by Vogue as “the plus-est of plus size models.” His goal is to get just famous enough to buy his mother a nice home and then quit show business to open a surf and turf restaurant in East Baltimore.