Two New York writer-directors discuss their work, gender inequality in film, bad actors, "director jail," finding your voice, and much more.

Daniel Schechter (Life of Crime) Talks with Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behavior) for The Talkhouse Film Podcast

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Julia Marchese is a filmmaker, writer, actor, podcaster, film programmer, VHS Vixen &amp; film critic. She’s known for directing the award-winning feature documentary Out of Print, an acclaimed exploration of repertory cinema culture and film preservation. She also adapted Stephen King’s short story I Know What You Need into an award-winning short film. Julia co-hosts the podcasts Horror Movie Survival Guide, The Loser’s Club and JodoWOWsky, reviews a VHS from her rainbow wall every day on her social media channels and writes about cinema for Talkhouse. Her work frequently explores nostalgia, genre cinema, physical media culture, and the communal power of moviegoing. She is @juliacmarchese on all platforms.

Julia Marchese

Film

What I’ve Learned From Reading All of Stephen King

Adam Rifkin is a writer-director whose eclectic career ranges from family comedies to thought-provoking indies to cult classics. Notable titles include The Dark Backward, Detroit Rock City, Look, Giuseppe Makes a Movie, Mousehunt, Small Soldiers and The Last Movie Star. His latest film, the Western <a href="https://lasttraintofortune.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Last Train to Fortune</a>, starring Malcolm McDowell, James Paxton, Mary Steenburgen and Bernadette Peters, is out now in theaters.

Adam Rifkin

The Little Train That Finally Came Home

Avalon Fast’s new film <a href="https://darkskyfilms.com/film/camp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CAMP</a> hits theaters on June 26. They hail from Vancouver Island, BC, and their first film, Honeycomb, which was selected for the 2022 Slamdance Film Festival and went on to screen at Boston Underground, Calgary Underground, Etheria LA, Fantasia, and many more. In 2026, they premiered Drinking and Driving &#8211; co-directed, co-starring, and co-written with Jillian Frank &#8211; at the Los Angeles Festival of Movies. In addition to writing and directing, Fast recently starred in Louise Weard’s cultural breakout trans DIY epic Castration Movie Anthology, co-starred in prolific young filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay’s sapphic horror The Serpent’s Skin, and appeared in Jane Schoenbrun’s recent Cannes sensation Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.

Avalon Fast

Chemical Come-down and August in the Water

Thomasin McKenzie is currently starring in the medieval drama<a href="https://www.focusfeatures.com/the-uprising" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> The Uprising</a>, opposite Andrew Garfield, Jamie Bell and Cosmo Jarvis. The New Zealand-born McKenzie was universally praised for her breakthrough performance in Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace, opposite Ben Foster, for which she won rave reviews and a slew of awards and nominations. She will soon be seen in Victorian Psycho, alongside Maika Monroe and Jason Isaacs and her recent notable credits include The Testament of Ann Lee, directed by Mona Fastvold, the Netflix feature film Joy, opposite Bill Nighy and James Norton, and her performance acclaimed performance as the titular role in the psychological thriller Eileen, opposite Anne Hathaway. She also starred in Edgar Wright’s psychological horror film Last Night in Soho, and portrayed Elsa, a young Jewish girl in hiding in Taika Waititi’s Academy Award®-winning film Jojo Rabbit and also appeared in M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog and David Michôd’s The King. (Photo via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drlovell/53885201978/in/dateposted/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flickr</a>.)

Thomasin McKenzie

Three Great Things: Thomasin McKenzie

Shannon Plumb has shot over 200 short films, which have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and on international screens. She started by shooting herself as various characters, acting out three-minute situations using humor and silence as her vehicles for storytelling. In 2013, her first feature film, Towheads, premiered at MoMA as part of New Directors / New Films; it is now streaming on the <a href="https://www.criterionchannel.com/towheads" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Criterion Channel</a>. You can see her short films at <a href="http://shannonplumb.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shannonplumb.com</a> and Towheads is available on Netflix and iTunes. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, director Derek Cianfrance, and their two sons.

Shannon Plumb

Holding It In

Amanda Drexton and Michael A. Drexton

The Moment That Nearly Broke Us

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Talkhouse

Podcast

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Daniel Schechter is an indie filmmaker living in New York City. His micro-budget feature Supporting Characters is now available on iTunes and Netflix and his latest film, Life of Crime starring Jennifer Aniston, will be released on August 29th, 2014.

Daniel Schechter

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Kevin Macdonald’s latest film, the thriller <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H8NPW2KZ?lv=shuf&amp;channelId=500&amp;plpRedirect=mhFallback" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Runner</a>, starring Gal Gadot and Damian Lewis, is out now on Prime Video. He is a Scottish filmmaker who has made numerous Oscar- and BAFTA-winning feature films and documentaries over a 30-year career. His features include The Last King of Scotland, State of Play, How I live Now and The Mauritanian. His documentaries include One Day in September (for which he won the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award), Touching the Void, Life in a Day, Whitney, Marley and most recently, One to One: John and Yoko. (Photo by Todd Williamson / January Images.)

Kevin Macdonald

Three Great Things: Kevin Macdonald