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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

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

Andra Day can currently be seen playing Aisha in the new drama Exhibiting Forgiveness, out now in theaters. A Grammy-winning singer/songwriter, activist and actress, Andra Day was initially best known for her 2016 Grammy-nominated behemoth “Rise Up,” which amassed over 1 billion streams and an RIAA triple-platinum certification. And she’s performed alongside everyone from Stevie Wonder and the Obamas to Nick Jonas and Alicia Keys. In 2021, her feature-acting debut in the Lee Daniels-directed biopic The United States vs. Billie Holiday (in which she starred as Holiday) earned her a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama and a nomination for Best Actress at the Oscars. She also won a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Visual Media and a BET Award for Best Actress. Her upcoming studio album, Cassandra, is a soulful and timeless body of work that captures the artist’s essence and inimitable vocals.

Andra Day

Three Great Things: Andra Day

Rebecca Richman Cohen is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker who teaches courses on media theory and advocacy at Harvard Law School. Her film <a href="https://weedandwinefilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Weed &amp; Wine</a> is now available on VOD, and she is now <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1194067708/weed-and-wine-part-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crowdfunding</a> a sequel on Kickstarter. Through her work, she has examined a range of topics, including the prosecution of war crimes in Sierra Leone, responses to sexual violence in the US, cannabis legalization, and biodynamic winemaking. Her most recent film, The Recall: Reframed (broadcast on MSNBC) is the first in a trilogy of short films about mass incarceration, sexual violence, and racial justice. Her SXSW and Tribeca-award winning documentaries have been hosted on platforms including HBO, Amazon, Netflix, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera, public television, and more. She has taught at RISD, American University’s Human Rights Institute, and Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, and has held fellowships with Open Society Foundations, Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society, Harvard’s Film Study Center, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her very good dog and some nice humans too.

Rebecca Richman Cohen

Weed & Wine & Kids & Time

Antonia Bogdanovich is a film director. In 2014, she expanded her short, the critically acclaimed My Left Hand Man into a full-length feature, Phantom Halo, which she co-wrote. It was a New York Times Critic Pick and was released in theaters and VOD in June 2015. A Director’s Cut of that film, newly retitled <a href="https://www.irisindie.com/about-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sleep No More</a>, is now out in theaters and on digital. She was a co-executive producer on She&#8217;s Funny That Way (2015) starring Jennifer Anniston and Owen Wilson and directed by Peter Bogdanovich, and produced The Phenom (2016), starring Paul Giamatti and Ethan Hawke, and Six L.A. Love Stories (2018). She is set to direct the dramedy The Spectacular Brink of Life, about a Catholic boarding school for geniuses who build a series of rockets to in an attempt to reach heaven just outside earth’s atmosphere, which is currently in pre-production.

Antonia Bogdanovich

May I Sit Here?

Patrick Warburton can currently be seen in the new comedy <a href="https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/the-duel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Duel</a>, starring Dylan Sprouse and Callan McAuliffe. Known for his deep, booming voice, Patrick has had memorable roles in Seinfeld, Family Guy, Rules of Engagement and The Emperor&#8217;s New Groove. In addition to his iconic roles, Patrick charity efforts have raised over $4.7 million this year through his star-studded 13th Annual Patrick Warburton Celebrity Golf Tournament, benefiting St. Jude Children&#8217;s Research Hospital. This incredible achievement marks the tournament as the biggest celebrity golf event in the world, with a cumulative total of over $26 million raised over 12 years. (Photo by Bobby Quillard.)

Patrick Warburton

Three Great Things: Patrick Warburton

Tomás Gómez Bustillo’s debut feature, <a href="https://www.hoperunshighfilms.com/chronicles-of-a-wandering-saint" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chronicles of a Wandering Saint</a>, which was nominated for Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, and Best Cinematography at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, is out now in theaters. Born in Buenos Aires, he was brought up across Argentina, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the U.S. After studying Political Science in Buenos Aires, he relocated to L.A., where he earned his MFA in Directing at the American Film Institute Conservatory. After graduating, he co-founded indie production company Plenty Good. Breaking away from cliches in mainstream depictions of South America, Tomás tells stories that use religion, magic, folklore and myth to conjure up and celebrate the real human absurdity that lies underneath.

Tomás Gómez Bustillo

A Language Beyond Words

Sareen Hairabedian is a documentary film director based between New York, Armenia and Jordan who uses observational intimate cinematic approach to tell stories about people and places that often go unnoticed and unheard of. Her debut feature, <a href="https://www.mysweetlandfilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">My Sweet Land</a>, a coming-of-age story set against a multigenerational war in the post-Soviet Caucasus Mountains, had its world premiere at the Sheffield DocFest in June 2024 and is now playing on the festival circuit. She is the founder of <a href="http://hai-creative.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HAI Creative</a>, a production company that collaborates with artists and humanitarian organizations across continents, capturing the untold stories of underrepresented communities. Hairabedian’s directorial debut, We Are Not Done Yet, a 40-minute HBO documentary about U.S. veterans grappling with PTSD who use art and poetry to heal, was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the International Documentary Association 2018 Awards.

Sareen Hairabedian

A Letter to My Sweet Boy

Katherine Propper is a writer-director born and raised in Los Angeles. Her feature directorial debut, <a href="https://kinolorber.com/film/lost-soulz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lost Soulz</a>, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival 2023 and is now in theaters through Kino Lorber. Her 2022 short film Birds won the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest, a Special Jury Award for Vision at SXSW, and a Special Jury Prize in the International Competition at Clermont-Ferrand in France. Her 2019 short film Street Flame screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. She enjoys merging both fictional and non-fictional worlds in her filmmaking, and drawing upon experiences including working on director Terrence Malick&#8217;s editing team. Her short films can be streamed on The New Yorker, Short of the Week and Omeleto. Katherine received her MFA in Film Directing from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Art History from Georgetown University.

Katherine Propper

Lost Soulz Longing for a Home

Thomas Haden Church is currently starring in the feelgood movie <a href="https://roadsideattractions.com/filmography/accidentaltexan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Accidental Texan</a>, opposite Rudy Pankow, Carrie-Ann Moss and Bruce Dern, which will be in theaters from March 8. He was recently seen in Peacock’s series Twisted Metal, also starring Anthony Mackie, and in the independent break-out hit Peanut Butter Falcon, with Shia LeBeouf, Dakota Johnson and Bruce Dern. He starred opposite Sarah Jessica Parker in all three seasons of HBO’s Divorce, and had standout movie roles in William Friedkin’s critically acclaimed crime thriller Killer Joe, opposite Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsh, Juno Temple and Gina Gershon; the hit teen comedy Easy A, co-starring opposite Emma Stone, Amanda Bynes, Lisa Kudrow, Stanley Tucci, Penn Badgley and Patrica Clarkson; and Spider-Man 3, in which he played the villain Sandman, aka Flint Marko. In 2004, Church gave a career-defining performance opposite Paul Giamatti in Alexander Payne’s critically acclaimed Sideways, earning an Academy Award nomination, plus an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor. Church co-wrote and directed the film Rolling Kansas, which premiered as an official selection to the Sundance Film Festival in 2003. Church resides on his ranch in Texas. (Photo by Jalisco Wayne, courtesy Roadside Attractions.)

Thomas Haden Church

Three Great Things: Thomas Haden Church

Tehran-born, Australia-raised filmmaker Noora Niasari’s debut feature film, <a href="https://www.sonyclassics.com/film/shayda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shayda</a>, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award, and is in theaters from March 1 through Sony Pictures Classics. The film, which stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Cannes Best Actress Winner for Holy Spider) and was executive produced by Cate Blanchett, is a drama about an Iranian mother living with her six-year-old daughter in an Australian women’s shelter, trying to start a new life away from her estranged husband. Shayda is Australia’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Academy Awards. (Photo by Keiran Watson-Bonnice.)

Noora Niasari

Sundance and Pistachio Soup

Jaime King is currently starring in the thriller Lights Out, opposite Frank Grillo, Mekhi Fifer, Dermot Mulroney and Scott Adkins. She made her debut in Daniel Waters&#8217; Happy Campers, then starred opposite Johnny Depp in Ted Demme&#8217;s Blow, opposite Ben Affleck in Michael Bay&#8217;s Pearl Harbor and was part of an all-star cast featuring Benicio Del Toro, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and more in Robert Rodriguez&#8217;s Sin City. Her other major films include DJ Caruso&#8217;s Two for the Money, starring opposite Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey, Frank Millers&#8217; The Spirit with Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, appearing opposite Joseph Gordon Levitt and Josh Brolin. On TV, she was a series regular on the CW show Hart of Dixie and recently starred in the critically acclaimed hit Netflix series series Black Summer.

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