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Talkhouse

Celyn Jones is a critically acclaimed actor and BAFTA nominated screenwriter from Wales who is the director, co-writer and one of the lead actors in the acclaimed drama <a href="https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/the-almond-and-the-seahorse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Almond and the Seahorse</a>, also starring Rebel Wilson, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Trine Dyrholm, which is out December 16 through IFC Films. He started his producing career with a series of award-winning short films. Celyn is the co-founder of Mad As Birds Films and has produced on every one of their feature films including the Diane Keaton comedy Poms, which he developed from a one-line pitch. Celyn wrote Set Fire to the Stars (2014), in which he starred as Dylan Thomas opposite Elijah Wood. Since then he has written the critically acclaimed, BAFTA and BIFA-nominated, noir-thriller The Vanishing, starring Gerard Butler and Peter Mullan, and co-wrote Eddie Izzard’s first screenplay, Six Minutes to Midnight, starring Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent, which was released by Lionsgate. He co-wrote the screenplay for The Almond and the Seahorse after originating the role of Joe on stage. (Photo by Jemima Marriott.)

Celyn Jones

Film

Failing Better

Kit Zauhar is a filmmaker, writer, and actress from Philly currently living in NYC. Her first feature, <a href="https://www.factorytwentyfive.com/actual-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Actual People</a>, is in theaters through Factory 25 from November 18 and will stream in early 2023. You can find out more about her work and life and <a href="http://kitzauhar.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kitzauhar.com</a>.

Kit Zauhar

I Could Stay Here a While

Actor Pej Vahdat recently starred on three successful series concurrently: in The Old Man, alongside Jeff Bridges, for FX/Hulu, opposite Kevin Bacon on the Ben Affleck-Matt Damon-produced City on a Hill for Showtime, and in a pivotal role in the final season of Dynasty for the CW. Born in Tehran, Iran, Pej and his family moved to the United States to escape the revolution and landed in San Jose, California. Pej went on to attend San Diego State University where he played Division 1 Tennis, but ultimately turned his focus to acting. His first professional job was on CBS’ The Unit and he went on to work for eight seasons of Fox’s Bones. He had recurring roles on Shameless, alongside William H. Macy, Sneaky Pete opposite Bryan Cranston, and Fox’s Empire, opposite Taraji P Henson and Terrence Howard. His feature film credits include Christopher Morris’ The Day Shall Come, which he starred in opposite Anna Kendrick. When not acting, Pej resides in Los Angeles with his two dogs, Charlie and Zinfindel. (Photo by Jared Schlachet.)

Pej Vahdat

Being Jason Vaughn, or How I Kickstarted My Career By Becoming My Own (Fake) Agent

Ryan Spahn is an actor, filmmaker and writer. He has been published by Rotten Tomatoes, Metro Weekly, USA Today, IntoMore, and American Theatre Magazine. As an actor, he can be seen in American Horror Story, Succession, The Bite, Chicago P.D., and Modern Love. Ryan is a graduate of Juilliard and is based in New York City. Go <a href="https://linktr.ee/RyanSpahn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> for more info.

Ryan Spahn

For Michael

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

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

Vicky Krieps is an internationally acclaimed actress who is currently starring in the contemporary ghost story <a href="https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/went-up-the-hill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Went Up the Hill</a>, which is in theaters now. Her recent notable films include the period drama Corsage, for which she won the Un Certain Regard Best Performance Prize, Mathieu Amalric’s Hold Me Tight, Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s Beckett, opposite John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, Mia Hansen-Løve&#8217;s drama Bergman Island, opposite Tim Roth, Barry Levinson’s The Survivor, and M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, alongside Gael Garcia Bernal, Thomasin Mackenzie and Alex Wolff. Krieps had her breakout role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread, opposite Daniel Day Lewis, which received an Academy Award nomination in the category of Best Motion Picture.

Vicky Krieps

Three Great Things: Vicky Krieps

Melissa Navia is currently starring in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, out now on Paramount+, which follows Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy. Melissa plays Lt. Erica Ortegas. the Enterprise’s helmsman. Melissa’s recent television credits include a recurring role on AMC’s Dietland and guest roles on Showtime’s Billions and Homeland. In March 2020, she made her Off-Broadway debut in the praised Bundle of Sticks at INTAR Theatre. (Photo by Francis Hills.)

Melissa Navia

An Actor, a Helmsman, and My Brian: Boldly Going Where No Widow Has Gone Before

Wes Studi, who is currently starring opposite Dale Dickey in the light romantic drama <a href="https://bleeckerstreetmedia.com/a-love-song" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Love Song</a>, has seen his career journey take him from small-town Oklahoma native to internationally acclaimed actor and musician. Studi credits his passion and multifaceted background for powerful character portrayals that forever changed a Hollywood stereotype. Drawing from his rich life experience, Studi moved audiences with unforgettable performances in Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Geronimo: An American Legend, Heat, Avatar, Being Flynn and Hostiles. Breaking new ground, he brought fully developed Native American characters to the screen, and then took his craft a step further by highlighting the success of Native Americans in nontraditional roles. In 2019, Studi received the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Award, an Oscar® statuette given to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement.

Wes Studi

Three Great Things: Wes Studi

Born in 1981 in Copenhagen, Elvira Lind graduated from City Varsity School of Media and Creative Arts in Cape Town in 2006, majoring in documentary film. She has worked within that field since directing and shooting documentaries of various lengths for TV, cinema, and web on 4 different continents. Elvira now lives and works out of New York, where she also writes on various fiction projects. Elvira&#8217;s first feature documentary, Songs for Alexis, competed at IDFA in 2014 and screened at a long list of international festivals; she received CPH:DOX new talent award in 2015; and her first international documentary TV series, Twiz and Tuck, launched on Viceland this year. Elvira&#8217;s second feature documentary, <a href="http://www.bobbijene.oscilloscope.net">Bobbi Jene</a>, premiered at Tribeca 2017 and is being released theatrically by Oscilloscope from September 22.

Elvira Lind

Revisited: On Compulsive Home-Movie-Making During Loss, Birth and Hamlet

Samuel Dunning is an award-winning filmmaker and actor from Brunswick, Maine, based out of New York City and Los Angeles. He is currently on a festival tour for his award-winning performance in Tim Travers and the Time Traveler&#8217;s Paradox, as well as the feature film The Ones You Didn&#8217;t Burn, in which he co-directed/AD&#8217;d and had a supporting role. He is also in development on his first feature film, the comedy mockumentary Canoe Dig It?, which he will be directing, producing, writing and acting in. The film is currently raising a portion of its budget on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/canoedigit/canoe-dig-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kickstarter</a> until the end of July.

acting