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Talkhouse

Nicole Riegel’s latest feature, <a href="https://www.ifcfilms.com/films/dandelion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dandelion</a>, starring KiKi Layne and Thomas Doherty, is out now in theaters and on VOD. Her debut feature, Holler starring Jessica Barden, was a Film Independent Spirit Award nominee for Best First Feature and was named one of the Top 10 Independent Films of 2021 by National Board of Review. She was named one of Variety&#8216;s 10 Directors to Watch in 2020. She served in the military prior to filmmaking and graduated from UCLA’s MFA writing program. She was named one of Filmmaker magazine’s 25 Faces of Independent Film. In addition to her work as a filmmaker, Nicole served as a co-writer on many of Dandelion’s songs in collaboration with Aaron and Bryce Dessner, including “The Ghost of Cincinnati,” an original song for Dandelion, which was released as a single from Aaron Dessner and Bon Iver’s Big Red Machine album on August 27, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Ana Lucia Espinosa.)

Nicole Riegel

Film

On the Economic Realities of Telling My Story

Brandon LaGanke is half of the directing duo Ghost + Cow (along with John Carlucci) whose feature debut is the new movie <a href="https://www.drunkbusmovie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drunk Bus</a>, out now through FilmRise. Ghost + Cow has had global viral success with several projects. Drone Boning, a comedic and voyeuristic look at sex and drone surveillance, has 11 million views on Vimeo, made world news, garnered the attention of late-night hosts such as Stephen Colbert, Conan O&#8217;Brien and Seth Meyers and was posted on Banksy&#8217;s YouTube page. Their music videos for Big Data&#8217;s “Dangerous” and Joywave&#8217;s “It’s A Trip” also went viral and continue to have a massive fan following. Some of Ghost + Cow’s other short films include Playhouse, Bunny Boy and Infinity Tree, which was created with Fox Digital. (Image courtesy Brandon LaGanke.)

Brandon LaGanke

The Story of Drunk Bus and the Real Pineapple Tangaroa

Anthony Giacchino is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning filmmaker living in Brooklyn, NY. His new documentary, <a href="https://www.colettedoc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colette</a>, won Best Documentary Short Subject at the 2021 Academy Awards, and tells a story about one of the last surviving members of the French Resistance. His previous film, The Giant’s Dream (Warner Bros.), is about the making of Academy Award-winning director Brad Bird’s first feature film, The Iron Giant. His first feature-length doc, The Camden 28, aired on the PBS series POV, and was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen. Giacchino is a former Fulbright Scholar at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg, Germany.

Anthony Giacchino

Let’s Go to the Tape

Talia Lugacy is a New York City-based writer, director, actress and teacher. Her second feature, <a href="http://www.thisisnotawarstory.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This Is Not a War Story</a>, about a ragtag group of combat veterans in New York who face their PTSD through art and community, is now playing on the festival circuit. It will screen next in narrative competition at the <a href="https://www.woodsholefilmfestival.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Woods Hole Film Festival</a>, between July 31  and August 7; tickets go on sale July 1. Lugacy made her feature debut as writer-director in 2007 with the New York Times Critics&#8217; Pick Descent, starring Rosario Dawson. A graduate of NYU&#8217;s Tisch School of the Arts and member of the Actors Studio Directors Unit, she has taught at the School of Visual Arts and is now a faculty member at the New School.

Talia Lugacy

Reflections on the Making of a Hybrid Film: This Is Not a War Story

Comedian Julia Scotti is the subject of the new documentary <a href="https://geni.us/JuliaScottiFilm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Julia Scotti: Funny That Way</a>, which is available on digital platforms on June 1. Since 1980, Julia has been honing her craft in clubs and theaters throughout the United States and Canada, performing for the first 20 years as Rick Scotti, and now, after a life-changing hiatus, returning as Julia Scotti. Since coming back to comedy in 2011, she has been named one of the Top Five Transgender Comedians in the Country by The Advocate, has performed at LGBTQ events across the country, and was one of the winners of the Laughlin Laugh Festival in Nevada. Simon Cowell said, “You genuinely made me laugh,” as she introduced herself to a national audience on Season 11 of America’s Got Talent. She was the first transgender comedian to appear on national television and was a quarter-finalist on the show. In 2017, Julia released her first, best-selling comedy CD, Hello Boys I’m Back!, and is gearing up to record her second one. In 2020, she was featured on the Showtime special More Funny Women of a Certain Age.

Julia Scotti

Success Isn’t Where You Think It Is

Lane Michael Stanley (he/they) is a transgender writer and director making community-embedded work around queerness, healing, grief, recovery, restorative justice, and housing insecurity. Their films include their award-winning debut feature film Addict Named Hal (2022); their upcoming second feature T (currently in post-production after being filmed incrementally over the lead actor’s first two years on Testosterone); their short films Untie, Promise and Boifriend (co-directed with Rebecca Marquardt); and their upcoming documentary Quentin Blue. Their plays and films have been presented at 20 theaters and 33 film festivals in 33 states, in addition to soup kitchens, shelters, addiction treatment centers, meditation gardens, and San Quentin State Prison. Lane holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin and is the 2023-2024 Resident Artist with coLAB Arts and Mission First Housing Group. For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.lanemichaelstanley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.lanemichaelstanley.com</a>.

Lane Michael Stanley

Sound of Metal: An Addiction Movie Without Drugs

Zeshawn Ali is originally from Ohio and is a graduate of Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. His feature documentary debut Two Gods, about a Black Muslim casket maker who takes two vulnerable teens under his wing, launches in theaters and virtual cinemas on May 21 through 8 Above. Two Gods received support from ITVS, Tribeca Film Institute, Ford Foundation, Sundance Institute, Doc Society, Points North Institute and IFP. He is a member of Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective and Meerkat Media. He is currently based in New York.

Zeshawn Ali

Navigating Grief and Loss While Making My First Feature

Devin Fei-Fan Tau is a gay, Asian-American filmmaker whose storytelling speaks out against the imposed silence he experienced from both his native and adopted cultures since immigrating to the United States as a child four decades ago. His latest film, <a href="https://nosunrisewasted.com/halfsisters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Half Sisters</a>, is available digitally for rent/purchase on AppleTV/iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, GooglePlay and Vudu and his George Takei-narrated documentary <a href="https://nosunrisewasted.com/whosontop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Who’s on Top?</a>, which tells the story of a group of LGBTQ+ athletes who set out to climb Mt. Hood, is also available to stream. He&#8217;s currently on his third career, having developed his financial and analytic skills in corporate finance and then adding an eye for fashion in apparel merchandising. BS University of California at Berkeley (Business), AAS Portland Community College (Video Production). He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Devin Fei-Fan Tau

Finding My Voice as a Gay Asian Immigrant Filmmaker – and Giving Voice to Others

Kim A. Snyder’s most recent feature documentary, <a href="https://uskidsfilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Us Kids</a>, premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and is in theaters and on PVOD on May 14. Prior, she directed the Peabody award-winning documentary Newtown, which premiered in the US Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and was theatrically released, followed by a national broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens and Netflix. Her most recent short, the Netflix Original Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane, premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and is now streaming in 196 countries. Snyder’s prior works include the feature documentary, Welcome to Shelbyville, nationally broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2011, and over a dozen short documentaries. Kim’s award-winning directorial debut feature documentary, I Remember Me, was theatrically distributed by Zeitgeist Films. In 1994, she associate-produced the Academy Award-winning short film Trevor. Kim graduated with a Masters in International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and resides in New York City. (Photo by Stefano Giovannini.)

Kim A. Snyder

A Nation of Traumatized Youth: From Newtown to Parkland and Beyond

Hedy Wong stars as the title character, Tera, in Take Out Girl, which is released May 18 by 1091 Pictures. Take Out Girl is her first feature film screenplay. She was born and raised in the Bay Area, Northern California. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and had since then booked national commercial campaigns such as Dove and Best Buy. She also appeared in music videos alongside Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Tyga, A$AP Rocky and Tory Lanez. In her spare time, she enjoys writing and creating music.

Hedy Wong

Who is Take Out Girl? Or, How I Found a Way to Show Vulnerability and Accept Myself Through My First Feature

Born in Spain and a London resident, Chino Moya’s first feature film, Undergods, which was supported by the British Film Institute and produced amongst others by Ridley Scott’s company, Scott Free, is now in select cinemas and On Demand from through Gravitas Ventures in the U.S. and will be in U.K. cinemas and on digital download from May 17 (pre-order <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/movie/undergods/id1564105407" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here)</a>. In 2009, Chino wrote and directed his first short film, Out of Here, which was selected at over 40 festivals worldwide and a year later he shot a music documentary in Israel, Below the Sea Level. His futuristic music video for 2015 Grammy winner St Vincent’s Digital Witness has appeared in Time magazine and has been listed as one of the best videos of 2014 in the Huffington Post and Rolling Stone. He has also shot commercials around the world and collected awards like a Film Lion at Cannes. In addition to his film work, in 2019 he published Flat Filters, his first comic book as a writer, illustrated by Israeli artist Tal Brosh, and his latest photography work, Monosodium Glutamate, is to be published as a photo book at the end of the year. He also created the horror cinema podcast Terrordrome.

Chino Moya

How Horror Movies and Rave Culture Made Me the Filmmaker I Am Today

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.

film essay