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Talkhouse

Born and raised in Lima, Claudia Sparrow is an Emmy-winning filmmaker who has been recognized as one of the ten most prominent directors in Peru. Her latest film, the documentary <a href="https://www.standwithmaxima.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maxima</a>, about Peruvian farmer and activist Máxima Acuña, is out January 11 in theaters and on demand. Prior to Maxima, she wrote and directed the romantic drama I Remember You, which is available on all major digital platforms. Claudia is the recipient of the Franklin J. Schaffner Fellow Award for directing her film El Americano.

Claudia Sparrow

Film

In Harm’s Way

Gianna Toboni is the director of the new three-part series Small Town Secrets: The Disappearance of Denise Pflum, which premieres on Vice TV on January 11. She is a multi-award-winning filmmaker with more than 40 films that have aired on HBO, Showtime, Hulu and VICE. She serves as a senior correspondent and producer for VICE News. Toboni was one of the first journalists in the world to interview ISIS fighters on the frontlines in Iraq. She’s covered escalating cartel violence and political corruption in Mexico, embedded with two Saudi sisters as they escaped their abusive family, forced marriages and country’s archaic guardianship system, interviewed the founder of Hamas in Gaza during the 2014 Palestinian uprising, tracked down Nigerian pirates at their illegal oil refineries, and interviewed an American death row inmate hours before his scheduled execution. Before joining VICE News in 2013, she worked as a correspondent for Al Jazeera and as a producer for ABC News. Toboni was named to Forbes&#8216; 30 Under 30 list for Media, is a TEDx Speaker and Peabody Finalist. She’s received an Emmy, GLAAD, Front Page, Gracie, and Webby Award for Best Documentary Series.

Gianna Toboni

To My Fellow True Crime Fans

Ebonée Noel is currently starring as the lead of OWN’s <a href="https://www.oprah.com/own-thekingsofnapa/kings-of-napa-coming-to-own-january-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kings of Napa</a>, a drama series centered on the power struggle between wealthy vineyard-owning siblings which premieres on January 11. Her additional television credits include series regular roles in FBI and Still Star Crossed, along with work on TBS&#8217;s Wrecked, Law &amp; Order: SVU and Eye Candy for Jason Blum, and her feature credits include I Love You Daddy and Long Nights, Short Mornings. Ebonée grew up around the world attending school in Cambodia, Croatia, Ethiopia, and Israel. She is a graduate of New York University&#8217;s Tisch School of the Arts and trained at the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. She resides in New York. (Photo by Emily Assiran.)

Ebonée Noel

Five Essential Truths About Performing I Learned From Watching Wrestling

Filmmakers

The 2021 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors’ Top Films of the Year

The 2021 Talkies: Talkhouse Film Contributors Share Their Top 10 Movies of the Year

Sonny Mallhi’s latest film, the horror movie Hurt, is out now through Gravitas Ventures. Born and raised in Chicago, he has spent many of the past 15 years developing screenplays with top-tier screenwriters and up-and- coming directors, giving rise to numerous projects around town including The Departed and The Grudge. Sonny has produced several films, including The Lake House, starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves; The Strangers starring Liv Tyler; House at the End of the Street starring Jennifer Lawrence; Old Boy directed by Spike Lee; and The Monster starring Zoe Kazan. In 2011, Sonny undertook a new role as writer and producer of the feature film, The Roommate, which was the number one film at the box office. Sonny made his directorial debut with the film Anguish in 2015. He also directed Family Blood for Blumhouse Productions and Netflix in 2018 and produced the recent acclaimed film The Dark and the Wicked.

Sonny Mallhi

“What Am I Doing Here?”

Filmmaker Pete Chatmon’s book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Transitions-Directors-Journey-Motivational-Handbook/dp/161593331X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Transitions: A Director’s Journey &amp; Motivational Handbook</a> is out now from Michael Wiese Productions. His debut feature as writer-director, Premium, starred Dorian Missick, Zoe Saldana and Hill Harper, and played on Showtime after a limited theatrical run. Chatmon also wrote, produced, and directed 761st, a documentary on the first Black tank battalion in WWII, narrated by Andre Braugher. He has directed episodes of television for numerous shows, including Insecure, Silicon Valley, You, Grey’s Anatomy, Black-ish, Blindspotting and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He is currently co-executive producer and producing director on Hulu’s Reasonable Doubt. Chatmon’s career began in 2001 with the Sundance selection of his NYU thesis film, 3D, starring Kerry Washington, and his most recent short film, BlackCard, premiered on HBO. His podcast, Let’s Shoot! with Pete Chatmon is available on YouTube, iTunes, and all podcast platforms.

Pete Chatmon

Exclusive Book Extract: Pete Chatmon on Discovering His Passion for Film

Shaina Feinberg (she/her) is an award-winning American filmmaker and writer. She spent her twenties making a stoner, punk sketch show called The Spew. She has been on This American Life, was a resident at Space on Ryder Farms (2018) and Twenty Summers (2021), a Reel Families for Change grantee (2022) and a recipient of the Reboot Studios grant (2023). Her film My Mom&#8217;s Eggplant Sauce (2022) played festivals around the world, including Hot Docs, Rotterdam International Film Festival and Palm Springs, won her a Best Director award and is featured on Short of the Week. Her short doc A Brief History of Hating My Face (2023), was commissioned by the New York Times. Her film Cleo From 8:20 to 2:35 premiered at the Aspen Film Festival (2024). Shaina is the author of three books, has written for The New Yorker, The Washington Post and Tablet and writes regularly for the New York Times. Her films and books have been written about in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Bust, Broadly, Logo, THEM, Indiewire and more. She is currently working on a film about Joan Darling, the first woman to be nominated for an Emmy in directing. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their two children.

Shaina Feinberg

Revisited: 9½ Weeks, Fatal Attraction and Me

Marnie Ellen Hertzler is a filmmaker living and working in Baltimore, Maryland. <a href="https://memory.is/crestone" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crestone</a>, her debut feature which she wrote, produced and directed is now on PVOD through Utopia. Crestone follows a group of SoundCloud rappers who live in solitude, growing weed and making music for the internet. When an old friend arrives to make a movie, reality and fiction begin to blur. Her films have screened at Locarno Film Festival, Rotterdam International Film Festival, MoMA, and more. In 2018, Marnie was named one of Filmmaker Magazine&#8216;s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”

Marnie Ellen Hertzler

Revisited: What I Learned From Being Geralt of Rivia

Writer-director Edgar Wright&#8216;s latest film, the documentary <a href="https://www.focusfeatures.com/the-sparks-brothers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sparks Brothers</a>, is in theaters through Focus Features from June 18. Wright first made his mark in the late 1990s with the British TV comedy series Spaced, written by Jessica Hynes and Simon Pegg, and starring Hynes, Pegg and Nick Frost. Wright reteamed with Pegg and Frost on his 2004 breakthrough feature, the international smash hit zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, and also on the two subsequent parts of the “Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy,” Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World&#8217;s End (2013), both of which were also big hits. Wright co-wrote and directed the star-studded Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), based on the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O&#8217;Malley, and wrote and directed the 2017 critical and commercial hit, Baby Driver, an action thriller starring Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx. He lives in Los Angeles. (Photo by Adrienne Pitts.)

Edgar Wright

Podcast

Revisited: Edgar Wright Talks with Ron and Russell Mael (Sparks) on the Talkhouse Podcast

Vincent D’Onofrio is currently appearing as Jelly Fallwell in the biopic <a href="https://www.searchlightpictures.com/films/theeyesoftammyfaye/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Eyes of Tammy Faye</a>, out now through Searchlight Pictures. He can currently be seen in EPIX’s new drama series The Godfather of Harlem starring opposite Forest Whitaker, and recently made his directorial debut with The Kid, starring Ethan Hawke, Dane DeHaan and Chris Pratt. D’Onofrio first gained attention for his haunting portrayal of an unstable Vietnam War recruit in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket; his other early film appearances include Mystic Pizza, JFK Oliver Stone’s and Robert Altman’s The Player. His recent major films include The Magnificent Seven and Jurassic World, and he played Kingpin in Netflix’s popular Marvel series Daredevil. D’Onofrio starred as Detective Robert Goren in over 100 episodes of the series Law &amp; Order: Criminal Intent and received an Emmy nomination in 1998 for his guest appearance in the Homicide: Life on the Street episode “The Subway.” D’Onofrio directed, produced and starred in the short film Five Minutes, Mr. Welles and recently appeared in the Academy Award-winning short The New Tenants. (Image by Todd Williamson / January Images.)

Vincent D’Onofrio

Revisited: Three Great Things: Vincent D’Onofrio

Neil Gaiman has written highly acclaimed books for both children and adults and is the first author to have won both the Carnegie and Newbery Medals for the same work – The Graveyard Book. The L.A. Times has described his multi-million-selling graphic novel series Sandman as “the greatest epic in the history of comic books.” Many of his books, including Coraline and Stardust, have been made into films; Neverwhere has been adapted for TV and radio; American Gods and Good Omens have been adapted into major TV series. He has also written two amazing episodes of Doctor Who and appeared in The Simpsons as himself. In 2013, he published his first adult novel for seven years, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which received stellar reviews and was a bestseller around the world. For more on Neil Gaiman, visit <a href="https://www.neilgaiman.com/">neilgaiman.com</a>. (Photo by Kimberly Butler.)