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Talkhouse

Zachary Ray Sherman is an actor, director, writer, and producer from Portland, Oregon, whose new film <a href="https://tubitv.com/movies/100022519/all-that-fall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All That Fall</a> is now streaming. 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 All That Fall 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.

Chadd Harbold is a Brooklyn-based director, producer, and writer. He wrote, produced, and directed Private Property starring Shiloh Fernandez, out May 14 through Lionsgate, and Long Nights Short Mornings. Recently, he produced Colin West’s Linoleum, starring Jim Gaffigan; and Aharon Keshales’ South Of Heaven, starring Jason Sudeikis. His other producing credits include Ana Asensio’s Most Beautiful Island, Dan Berk &amp; Robert Olsen’s Villains, Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Premature and horror icon Larry Fessenden’s Depraved. As a director and producer, his films have screened around the world, including AFI Fest, BAMcinemaFest, BFI London Film Festival, Fantaspoa, Fantasia Film Festival, Film at Lincoln Center, International Film Festival Rotterdam, The Museum of Modern Art, Tribeca Festival, and Sitges Film Festival, among others. He is a Film Independent Spirit Award nominee, Gotham Fellow, and graduate of NYU&#8217;s Tisch School of the Arts.

Chadd Harbold

Remaking Myself

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

Director, producer and screenwriter Keith Maitland follows up the Emmy-winning Tower with a psychedelic look at money, desire and ultimately, love in his fourth nonfiction feature, <a href="https://greenwichentertainment.com/film/dear-mr-brody/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dear Mr. Brody</a>, which is out now on digital and on demand. Maitland lives in Austin, TX with his wife Sarah Wilson, and their six-year-old production assistant/son, Theo. Wilson is the producer/cinematographer on Dear Mr. Brody and the co-founder with Maitland of their production company, Go-Valley. Tower won multiple festival awards, received PGA, Gotham, and Peabody nominations and won the first-ever Critic’s Choice Award for Most Innovative Documentary, as well as the Emmy for Best Historical Documentary. Maitland began his career on the streets of New York, working on the fiction side of the industry as a DGA Trainee and Assistant Director, spending seven seasons on Law &amp; Order, and working on a variety of features. In addition to developing new documentaries, Maitland works as a screenwriter (partnered with New York Times reporter Matt Apuzzo) and he’s currently attached to direct Nobody’s Money, a fictionalized adaptation of one of Apuzzo’s articles. (Photo by Sarah Wilson.)

Keith Maitland

Continuum: Breakfast Paintings by Keith Maitland

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

That Time I Tried to Get the Stage Rights to My Favorite Film, Newsies (When I Was 12)

Jessica Dimmock is an award winning filmmaker and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York and the director of the new Hulu true-crime series <a href="https://www.hulu.com/series/captive-audience-a-real-american-horror-story-d840873f-211e-47a8-864b-8aa7c54d193c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Captive Audience</a>. She is the recipient of numerous international awards including an Emmy for The Gallagher Effect (FX/Hulu), a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Inge Morath Award from Magnum and the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography. Her directing credits include Flint Town (Netflix), Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix), The Weekly (FX/Hulu) and Home (Apple TV). When she is not working on her photography or film work, Jessica is leading a campaign to ensure that members of the Directors Guild of America retain their healthcare when they have a child.
Piper Weiss is a writer and the co-executive producer of Hulu&#8217;s Captive Audience. Her memoir, You All Grow Up and Leave Me, published by HarperCollins, was included in best books lists for Marie-Claire, CrimeReads and Vulture. She recently adapted the book into a feature-length screenplay for JAX Media.

Jessica Dimmock and Piper Weiss

“Truer Than Any Documentary”

Olympian turned writer-director Gigi Gaston’s latest film, the drama thriller <a href="https://screenmediafilms.net/film/3443/9-Bullets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9 Bullets</a> starring Lena Headey, Sam Worthington, Dean Valesquez, La La Anthony and Barbara Hershey, is in theaters from April 22. Over the course of her accomplished creative career, she has directed music videos, features and an award-winning Sundance documentary. Gaston began pursuing Olympic equestrian show jumping at 11, and became the youngest rider ever to win an Olympic Competition when she took top honors at the Washington International Horse Show at 17. Continuing to ride competitively, she also began to pursue writing, selling her first script, Like a Lady, to Miramax and Drew Barrymore. Additional script sales followed, including Mockingbird, an action-sci-fi-love story based on the award-winning Walter Tevis novel of the same name, and a historical drama Madame Lupescu, which Universal purchased for director Ron Howard, and Unreliably Yours to director Garry Marshall. Gaston made her directorial debut shortly thereafter with Sundance Channel documentary The Cream Will Rise, showcasing Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, Sophie B. Hawkins. Since then she has directed countless music videos (including Olivia Newton John’s “I Honestly Love You”), as well the action heist Rip It Off, starring Nastassia Kinski, Alyson Hannigan and Jennifer Esposito. In 2014, she wrote and directed the stage play Room 105: The Highs and Lows of Janis Joplin, which starred Sophie B. Hawkins in the title role and was held over for an extended six-month run in Los Angeles to sold out audiences.

Gigi Gaston

Be Strong. Don’t Quit.

Jack Dunphy is a filmmaker, animator, actor and writer from Chicago whose short films Serenity and Chekhov have played at Sundance, AFI and festivals around the world. His latest short, Bob&#8217;s Funeral, won Best Nonfiction Short Film at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. His new podcast, Revelations with Jack Dunphy, premieres on October 15. His short film Revelations premiered at Slamdance and went on to play the Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris, France. His short film Brontosaurus played the True/False, Nashville, Florida, Philadelphia and Cucalorus film festivals. He starred in Assholes (directed by Peter Vack) which won the audience award at SXSW. He co-wrote Stinking Heaven, which premiered at the International Festival of Rotterdam, with Nathan Silver, and wrote, edited and produced Silver’s The Great Pretender, which played Tribeca, AFI and festivals around the world. (Photo by Shutterstock.)

Jack Dunphy

I’m Thinking of Ending Things — No, Really.

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

Kelsey Peterson is the co-director, producer and subject of the new documentary <a href="https://www.movemedoc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Move Me</a>, which world premiered at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and is currently steaming as part of the <a href="https://reelabilities.org/newyork/film/move-me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ReelAbilities Film Festival</a>. She was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and received her BFA in Dance from the University of Montana in 2008, and later, her yoga teacher certification from CorePower Yoga. Her previous path was interrupted when she sustained a spinal cord injury in 2012 and became paralyzed from the chest down. But Kelsey continues to dance, now from a wheelchair. She is a dancer, choreographer, writer, and filmmaker. She currently serves as co-director, choreographer and dancer on A Cripple’s Dance, a live music and dance production featuring inter-abled artists. (Photo by Mercedes Jelenik, courtesy of Submerged Film LLC.)

Kelsey Peterson

Undefined: A Lifelong Journey with Adaptation and Self-Love

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.)

film essay