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Talkhouse

Zachary Ray Sherman is an actor, director, writer, and producer from Portland, Oregon. After early success opposite Kirsten Dunst in Lifetime’s Fifteen and Pregnant, and as Jasper on the CW’s reboot of 90210, Sherman has gone on to build an impressive acting resume balancing television work (Netflix’s Everything Sucks!) with edgy roles in independent films (Archie’s Final Project, West Virginia Stories, Cuck). Sherman has also directed three feature films to date: Particular Crowd and Mar Vista’s upcoming Do You Hear What I Hear, the award-winning indie Barbie’s Kenny and HBO’s Young Hearts, a sweet and touching coming-of-age film executive-produced by the Duplass brothers. He will soon be seen in the indie dramas The Send-Off, produced by Glenn Howerton, and Can’t Seem to Make You Mine, opposite Lindsay Burdge, and is currently starring in Hulu’s Under the Banner of Heaven starring Andrew Garfield, created by Dustin Lance Black from the book of the same name by Jon Krakauer, and executive-produced by Jason Bateman and Brian Grazer. (Photo by David Zaugh.)

Zachary Ray Sherman

Film

20 Years of Tenacity

Actor, writer and comedian Rell Battle stars opposite Craig Robinson in the new comedy series Killing It, now streaming on Peacock. He also recently appeared Will Smith’s comedy stand-up series, This Joka, where a diverse group of comedians come together in Vegas to showcase their material and explore the nature of comedy and its unique ability to unite people. Battle is maybe best known for his two seasons on CBS’ Superior Donuts, playing Franco’s best friend and fan favorite, Sweatpants, as well as appearances on ABC’s The Good Doctor and Black-ish. In addition to his acting resume, Rell is behind multiple projects in the works including Peacock and LOL&#8217;s So Dumb, It&#8217;s Criminal with Snoop Dog and NBC’s Uncivil Law, which he is co-writing alongside Pardis Parker for Hazy Mills. Rell also created and executive produced Comedy Central’s Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle.

Rell Battle

I Used to Love H.E.R.

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

Kindred Spirits: Shaina Feinberg in Conversation with Joan Darling

Ito Aghayere is currently playing young Guinan in Season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, taking on the role originated by Whoopi Goldberg. Ito is Nigerian, Canadian American and a former White House intern. Ito was recently seen in the sitcom Carol’s Second Act, starring opposite Patricia Heaton and Kyle McLachlan. Her other TV credits include: Instinct, The Blacklist, Elementary, Doubt, Braindead, Orange is the New Black, The Knick, Unforgettable and Forever. Her film credits include Logan Lucky and Goldie. She made her Broadway debut in Ayad Akhtar&#8217;s Tony Award-nominated financial thriller Junk at Lincoln Center Theater. In 2016, Ito starred Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in Danai Gurira&#8217;s critically acclaimed play Familiar in a role in which she was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play. She was most recently seen on Broadway in Bernadette/Hamlet opposite Jane Lynch. Ito attended Duke University where she received her BA and then went on to Columbia University for her MFA. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Ito Aghayere

The Case for Empathy

Micaela Wittman is a Los Angeles-based actress, writer and director. Her feature debut, Clairevoyant, received international distribution with Gravitas Ventures/Myriad Pictures. She has also appeared in shows such as Teen Wolf, Modern Family and Sharp Objects. Her next film, Remy &amp; Arletta, will be released this fall. (Photo by Arthur De Larroche.)

Micaela Wittman

How Being a Failure Led Me to Making My Feature Debut

Named one of “Ten Actors to Watch” by both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, Caleb Landry Jones just received the Best Actor Award at Cannes 2021 for his performance in <a href="https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/nitram" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nitram</a>, which is out now in theaters, on digital and on AMC+ through IFC Films. In 2019, Landry Jones was a recipient of both the SAG award and Critics Choice Award for Best Ensemble for his work in Martin McDonagh’s Oscar-winning Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, opposite Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell. He also co-starred in Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning Get Out and Sean Baker’s Oscar-nominated The Florida Project. His additional credits include Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, Lone Scherfig’s The Kindness of Strangers, Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral, Josh and Benny Safdie&#8217;s Heaven Knows What, John Boorman’s Queen and Country and Neil Jordan’s Byzantium. (Photo courtesy IFC Films.)

Caleb Landry Jones

Three Great Things: Caleb Landry Jones

Kelly Murtagh is a mom, Louisiana-native, and an award-winning actress, writer, producer, singer and children&#8217;s book author who works in film, television and theatre. She has received multiple awards including the Best Actress Award at Festival South, and the Best Actress Award at the 48 Independent Short Film Festival. Kelly wrote the feature-length film <a href="https://www.instagram.com/shapelessthefilm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shapeless</a>, telling of her personal struggle with an eating disorder, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is now out in theaters and on VOD. Kelly also executive-produced and was lead actress of the film. She also co-owns production company, Water Meter Productions, with Bobby Gilchrist. Kelly is the founder of SoulStar Space, an online spiritual safe space for mystic mindfulness and healing. Kelly also authored the children&#8217;s book Zoo Krewe – which was illustrated by Samantha Aldana, who also directed Shapeless. She also works with the organization Project Heal which helps break down systemic, healthcare and financial barriers to eating disorder treatment. (Photo by Dana Patrick.)

Kelly Murtagh

How I Healed From an Eating Disorder with My Mind (and Body and Spirit)

Krsy Fox began acting professionally at the age of 12, appearing in the films Underworld Evolution, In the Land of Women and Nightmare at the End of the Hall, and the CW series Aliens In America. She garnered three #1 radio hit songs and seven Top 10 singles with bands like Theory of a Deadman and Halestorm, toured internationally as the frontwoman of her own band Knee High Fox, and is planning a release of all new music with her latest band, Quinn. Fox also scores all of her films. Krsy began the production company OneFox Productions with fellow musician and filmmaker Spider One. After producing and directing several music videos, in 2020 Krsy wrote, directed, and starred in the short film What the Spell? and wrote, directed, edited, executive produced, and starred in the horror feature film Frank, which was released October 25th 2021. Her second feature as writer-director, I Live Alone, starring Bonnie Aarons, was released in December 2021 through Gravitas Ventures. Krsy also is the co-creator of the fiction podcast Bleeders DIEgest on the Bloody Disgusting podcast network, which releases a completely original scary story each week told in a fully immersive theatrical experience.

Krsy Fox

A Strange Girl’s Path To Creating Strange and Beautiful Things

Barbara Crampton&#8216;s career as an iconic figure in the horror/thriller genres has spanned five decades and continues to gain momentum. Currently, she is starring in the horror films Alone with You and King Knight, and she recently starred in and produced the genre thriller Jakob&#8217;s Wife and produced a remake of the Stuart Gordon classic Castle Freak, based on the H.P. Lovecraft story. Other recent titles as an actress include We Are Still Here, Little Sister, Sun Choke and Adam Wingard’s You’re Next. Barbara guest-starred on the last season of Channel Zero: The Dream Door and starred in the Culture Shock episode of the highly acclaimed film series Into the Dark. Barbara can also be seen in the latest season of Creepshow from award-winning producer and SFX wiz Greg Nicotero. She made her screen debut in 1984’s Body Double, and Stuart Gordon’s 1985 cult classic Re-Animator, in which Barbara portrayed the leading role of Megan Halsey, continues to be a huge fan favorite. Other films Crampton starred in during her early career include From Beyond, and the original versions of Puppet Master and Castle Freak. Barbara lives in California with her husband, Robert.

Barbara Crampton

Three Great Things: Barbara Crampton

Allison Gabriel currently plays Mary Vaughn Lewis on Netflix’s hit romantic-drama series Sweet Magnolias, whose second season just debuted on Netflix. In film, Allison had a memorable role in director Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver,” for which The New Yorker praised her performance as being “the most natural” among the star-studded cast, while her other film credits include Thank You for Your Service, starring Miles Teller, Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special, with Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst and Adam Driver, and most recently Braden King’s The Evening Hour, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Allison has also appeared on some of the most popular television shows, including Better Call Saul, The Resident, The Purge, Homecoming and Revenge, among others. When not acting, she enjoys cooking and crafting. (Photo by Emily Sandifer.)

Allison Gabriel

How Walking the Camino de Santiago Helped Me Realize I Wanted to Be an Actress

Award-winning actor Patrick Wilson, who has tackled lead roles in major Broadway musicals, as well as starring in big-budget blockbusters, currently stars in the new movie <a href="https://moonfall.movie/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Moonfall</a>, also starring Halle Berry and John Bradley, out February 4 through Lionsgate. He recently wrapped Aquaman 2, opposite Jason Momoa, and will star and make his directorial debut in the fifth film in the Insidious horror franchise. He previously starred in The Conjuring franchise and his other film credits include Aquaman, The Founder, Prometheus, Young Adult, Watchmen, Little Children. Hard Candy and The Phantom of the Opera. He starred in the TV series Fargo, opposite Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Ted Danson, and received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his performance in the HBO miniseries Angels in America, based on Tony Kushner’s play. Wilson earned two consecutive Tony Award nominations for Best Actor in a Musical, the most recent coming for his performance as Curly in the 2002 Broadway revival of Oklahoma!, starred in the revival of the Neil Simon comedy Barefoot in the Park, opposite Amanda Peet, and acted in the 2008/2009 revival of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, with John Lithgow, Dianne West and Katie Holmes.

Patrick Wilson

Three Great Things: Patrick Wilson

Emily Bennett is an award-winning writer, director and actor. Her most recent film, <a href="https://darkstarpics.com/alone-with-you" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alone with You</a>, which she stars in and wrote and directed with Justin Brooks, was released in 2022 by Dark Star Pictures. Her screenplay Ache placed as a quarter-finalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in 2020. Bennett’s short film LVRS screened at Sitges and the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, and won her best Director at the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival. Her short film Bed screened at Fantasia in 2021 and has already secured distribution on Gunpowder &amp; Sky’s horror platform prior to its ongoing festival run. In addition to her ongoing partnership with Justin Brooks and Untapped, Bennett has been hired to direct the upcoming horror film The Vineyard, with Daryl Freimark producing. (Photo by Keith Barraclough.)

acting