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Talkhouse

Aaron Fisher’s first feature film, <a href="https://www.insidetherainmovie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Inside the Rain</a>, co-starring Academy Award nominees Rosie Perez and Eric Roberts, is in theaters nationwide from March 20. He wrote, directed, starred in and edited the movie, which premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival, was selected as the Centerpiece of the Twin Cities Film Festival and has been an official selection at numerous film festivals including the Nashville Film Festival. Most recently, the film won Best Feature Film at the Big Apple Film Festival and Special Jury Award Narrative Feature at the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival. Fisher graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His short film Love Out of Mind has been an official selection of numerous festivals, including the Max Ophuls Prize Film Festival in Germany, and he wrote, directed and starred in the web series Single and Baller, which is featured on Tubi.

Aaron Fisher

Film

Bipolar and In Love

Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ debut feature film, <a href="http://extranet.ifcfilms.com/Swallow" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Swallow</a>, starring Haley Bennett, Austin Stowell, Elizabeth Marvel, David Rasche and Denis O’Hare, premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival and is in theaters from March 6 through IFC Films. Davis has always been drawn to the mystique of psychological thrillers, subversive horror, and dark comedies. His Flannery O’Connor-esque thriller short, Knife Point, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, won Vimeo’s Short of the Week, screened on Arte-TV, and garnered him “Best New Director” at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. He went on to co-direct and produce the feature documentary The Swell Season starring Oscar-winners Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and earned a New York Times Critic’s Pick when it was released in theaters. Carlo is an alumnus of both of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the Sundance Directors Lab. He has spent over a decade teaching filmmaking to middle and high school students. Carlo’s passion for storytelling brought him to the Dungeons and Dragons community, where he has written and run numerous campaigns. He holds a MFA and a BFA in film production from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Carlo Mirabella-Davis

The Uplifting Grace of Horror

Alex Thompson grew up watching Humphrey Bogart films with his Popou and making movies, back when Coltneck Lane was still a cul de sac. He graduated from DePauw University and worked in casting before directing his first short, starring Olympia Dukakis and Rose Gregorio. He directed and produced Saint Frances, which won the Audience Award at SXSW in 2019. His second feature, Rounding, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 while Ghostlight, which he co-directed with Kelly O&rsquo;Sullivan, opened the Sundance Film Festival in 2024. He has been nominated for the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Prize at the Gotham Awards and the Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards. His latest feature, Mouse, which he co-directed with O&rsquo;Sullivan, premiered at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival.

Alex Thompson

My Eating Disorder Story

New York native Rashaad Ernesto Green&#8216;s latest film, <a href="https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/premature-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Premature</a>, co-written with the film&#8217;s star, Zora Howard, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and is now in theaters through IFC Films. Green&#8217;s first feature, Gun Hill Road, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and received nationwide distribution. He was honored with the 2020 Independent Spirit’s Someone to Watch Award and was also nominated for the John Cassavetes Award. In his work, Rashaad encourages people to have an active emotional experience by telling stories that are deeply rooted within the universal human experience.  His films have screened on Netflix, HBO, and at festivals internationally. He’s been supported by Cinereach, Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, IFP, HBO, NBC, Time Warner, and Warner Bros.

Rashaad Ernesto Green

A Different Kind of Black Cinema

As actor, writer, director and producer, Andrew Heckler has participated in all aspects of the entertainment industry. Heckler directed the feature film <a href="https://www.101studiosco.com/projects/burden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Burden</a>, starring Forest Whitaker, Garrett Hedlund, Usher Raymond, Andrea Riseborough and Tom Wilkinson, which is in theaters from February 28 through 101 Studios. Burden received the Audience Award at both the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and Nantucket Film Festival, where Heckler was presented with the Visionary Award for screenwriting. Heckler also founded the Tribeca-based Workhouse Theater in 1992, where he produced, directed and acted in over 35 plays over the course of six years.

Andrew Heckler

Get Out of the Fuckin’ Office and See the World

Bred in Alaska, James Sweeney is an actor-turned-playwright-turned-filmmaker. His debut directorial feature, <a href="https://strandreleasing.com/films/straight-up/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Straight Up</a>, which he wrote, directed, produced and acts in opposite Katie Findlay, was the Breakthrough Centerpiece at Outfest and is in select theaters from February 28 through Strand Releasing. His previous works have premiered at Frameline, Mill Valley Film Festival, and on Short of the Week.

James Sweeney

Maybe It’s Time to Give Up

Melissa Stephens is a comedian, actor, writer and director from the peach state. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and after graduation she relocated to L.A. She is a founding member of IAMA Theatre Company, performing in the world premieres of Leslye Headland’s Bachelorette, Reverb and Cult of Love. Her directorial debut, Peen, was a Vimeo Staff Pick, and she writes and directs the short series <a href="http://www.findingtheasshole.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Finding the Asshole</a>, which was chosen to show at Slamdance 2019 in the Episodes program. Her latest short, Travis, is now available online. (Picture by Christopher Stewart.)

Melissa Stephens

Making Amends

Marie Therese Guirgis is a film producer who has worked in both fiction and documentary film. She recently produced The Brink, by Alison Klayman.

Marie Therese Guirgis

Loving Movies in the Age of #MeToo

Dubbed the “hero hip-hop needed,” veteran music journalist, hip-hop curator, Queens-native, filmmaker, and musician Sacha Jenkins has narrated hip-hop poetics for three decades. At age 20, he co-founded Beat Down, the first ever hip-hop newspaper, and went on to spend several years at Vibe magazine, where he served as both Staff Writer and Music Editor. His first feature-length documentary, Fresh Dressed (which tells the tale of hip-hop fashion), premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Jenkins would go on to direct Burn Motherfucker, Burn! (2017) and Word Is Bond (2018), both of which premiered on Showtime. Jenkins served as Executive Producer on the Netflix hip-hop series Rapture (2018), and his latest project Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men, a four-part doc series which he directed by Jenkins, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, and aired on Showtime in 2019. Jenkins is also a musician, whose latest band, The 1865, has been heralded by legendary guitarist and Living Colour founder Vernon Reid as “the only band that matters. Right now.&#8221;

Sacha Jenkins

Journey Back to My Father

Brian McGuire is a a writer, director, actor, music maker, skateboarder, born in Chicago and raised in Austin, Texas. LeftHouse is his production company. Some have called him the king of independent film. Others have called him a young Bill Murray. And some have even called him one of the good ones. His latest film, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/1world100lonely" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1 World 100 Lonely</a>, is now free on <a href="http://bit.ly/1WORLD100LONELY" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon Prime</a>. Find out more about Brian and his work at <a href="http://www.lefthousefilms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lefthousefilms.com</a>.

Brian McGuire

The Cool of Film and Blockchain

Lone Scherfig is a Danish writer and director. Her many acclaimed films include Italian for Beginners, the fifth official &ldquo;Dogma&rdquo; film, which won three awards at the Berlin International Film Festival; her first English-language film, Wilbur Wants To Kill Himself; and the 2010 movie An Education, which won Sundance&#8217;s audience award and received nine BAFTA nominations and three Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay (Nick Hornby) and Best Actress (Carey Mulligan). Her latest film, The Kindness of Strangers, starring Zoe Kazan, Tahar Rahim, Andrea Riseborough, Bill Nighy, Caleb Landry Jones, and Jay Baruchel, is in select theaters through Vertical Entertainment from February 14.

Lone Scherfig

The Final Scene

Chelsea Stardust’s second feature, the horror comedy Satanic Panic, produced by Fangoria and Cinestate, releases theatrically through RLJE Films on VOD and digital HD on September 6. Her first feature film, the science fiction thriller All That We Destroy, was a part of Blumhouse series “Into the Dark” and is currently available on Hulu. Her Her first short film, Where Are You? was a part of the 2019 Etheria World Tour and was also featured on Nerdist’s Short Ends on Alpha. Chelsea also released four short films on Crypt TV, Slay Per View, Marco Polo, Project Hope and Under The Bed, two of which have exceeded over one million views. She recently directed a horror/musical/comedy for the stage titled Slashed! The Musical for the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival, which was nominated for Best Musical, Screamiest Show and won the Encore Award.

film essay