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Talkhouse

Karla Murthy is an Emmy Award-nominated producer whose latest feature documentary, The Gas Station Attendant, has its world premiere at the <a href="https://www.sheffdocfest.com/film/gas-station-attendant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sheffield DocFest</a> on June 19. She previously directed and produced the 2020 feature doc The Place That Makes Us, about a new generation rebuilding home in Youngstown, Ohio, and the 2023 documentary short <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/love-jamie-short/33061/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Love, Jamie</a>. She began her career working for the veteran journalist Bill Moyers, and has been a producer, cameraperson and correspondent for various PBS news magazines over the last 15 years. Her work was cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as “compelling, informative and compassionate.” Karla is of Filipino and South Asian descent. She graduated from Oberlin College, is an alum of the Third World Newsreel Workshop and the Documentary Institute at Antioch College in Ohio.

Karla Murthy

Film

Personal Exposure

Zyortza is a Spanish writer-director based between Los Angeles and Spain whose work explores identity, cultural duality, and the resilience of immigrant women. With a background in acting and degrees in Film Production and African-American Diaspora Studies and an MFA in Film Directing, she has a storytelling style that blends emotional rawness with sociopolitical depth. Her latest short film, <a href="https://www.idesmovie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I Don’t Even Skate</a>, follows Nahiki, an undocumented girl chasing a dream on wheels while battling exploitation and survival in the shadows. The film, now on the festival circuit, captures the stakes of choosing between safety and self-determination. Zyortza creates in both Spanish and English and is currently developing her debut feature, to be shot across Spain and Los Angeles. More at <a href="http://www.zyortza.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">zyortza.com</a>.

Zyortza

You Think You Know the Story

Lovell Holder has produced the critically acclaimed feature films The Surrender, Peak Season, Midday Black Midnight Blue, The End of Us, Working Man, Some Freaks, and Loserville (which he also directed). He recently celebrated the theatrical release of his feature film adaptation of the play Lavender Men, which he directed, co-wrote, and produced. Collectively his films have screened at over 100 film festivals worldwide, including SXSW, Fantasia, Santa Barbara, Outfest and BFI Flare. His debut novel, The Book of Luke, will be published by Grand Central Publishing (an imprint of Hachette) in hardcover and audiobook in December 2025. Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, he is a graduate of Princeton University and Brown University, where he received his MFA in acting. (Photo by Luke Fontana.)

Lovell Holder

Heads Carolina, Tails California

Callie Hernandez is an actress, writer, producer and filmmaker. Her first film was Terrence Malick’s Song to Song, followed by a decade of work as an actress. She is known for Ridley Scott&#8217;s Alien: Covenant, Damien Chazelle&#8217;s La La Land, A24’s Under the Silver Lake, HBO Max&#8217;s The Flight Attendant and Pete Ohs’ Jethica. Upcoming work includes: Albert Birney’s OBEX, James N. Kienitz Wilkins’ The Misconceived and Mike Crane&#8217;s The Narcissists. In 2023, she founded an in-house film studio, which yielded upcoming features Invention (2025) and The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick (2025). She is currently working on her Untitled Erotica (2026).

Callie Hernandez

Devil in a Wig

Jon Bregel is a multi-disciplinary filmmaker, <a href="https://www.jonathanbregel.com/coaching" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coach for filmmakers</a> and founder of <a href="https://www.thenourish.community/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Nourish Community</a>, a community for filmmakers in pursuit of wellness, meaningful relationships, and purpose. Though Jon’s background is as a director and cinematographer, he also co-founded the influential production company, Variable, where he led award-winning campaigns for brands such as Nike, Audi, National Geographic, Cadillac, ACLU, Samsung, Pfizer, Gap, and Tiffany &amp; Co. In addition to his commercial work, he spent years traveling the country documenting musicians, leading him to tour the United States with Taylor Swift. Most recently, he shot Jay Duplass’ new feature The Baltimorons, which won the Audience Award at SXSW 2025, and is in post-production on Selah, a documentary he directed that centers a care-farm in Sedona for the traumatically bereaved. Learn more at his <a href="https://jonathanbregel.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">official website</a>.

Jon Bregel

How Filmmaking Became My Escape from Intimacy

Born and raised in New Jersey, Vincent D&#8217;Alessandro is a micro-budget filmmaker, whose work has played in various venues around the world, including the British Film Institute in London, the Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan, as well as festivals in Australia and Germany. His first feature film, Bottom Feeders, screened as an official selection at the Kansas City Underground Film Festival, Torino Underground Cinefest, and the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, and is now available on <a href="https://vimeo.com/ondemand/bottomfeeders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vimeo On Demand</a>. He is a graduate of the BFA Filmmaking program at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. For more info, visit <a href="http://www.vincentdalessandro.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vincentdalessandro.com</a>.

Vincent D’Alessandro

I Made a Movie for an Industry That Didn’t Want It

Max Talisman’s first feature as writer-director-actor, Things Like This, which was inspired by classic rom-coms and his own experiences as a plus-sized queer man, is out now in theaters. The film also stars Joey Pollari, Jackie Cruz, Charlie Tahan, Cara Buono and Eric Roberts. Max began his career at the age of 12 in acclaimed regional theater in his hometown of Washington, D.C., before landing roles in the indie thriller Super Dark Times, opposite Jennifer Lopez in Marry Me, Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, NBC’s The Blacklist, and MAX’s dark comedy Search Party. After facing Hollywood’s narrow casting limitations as a plus sized actor, Max founded Malibu, Bro Productions to create inclusive stories and champion underrepresented, authentic characters.

Max Talisman

The Secret Soundtrack to My Debut Feature

Sarah Kambe Holland is a film director based in Los Angeles. She is best known for her debut feature, <a href="https://eggheadandtwinkie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Egghead &amp; Twinkie</a>, which she directed, wrote, co-produced and co-edited. The film, which won the Jury Award for Best Comedy Feature at the 2023 Austin Film Festival, is out now on digital. Holland also directs commercial work for the advertising agency, 21GRAMS. She specializes in branded video content for social media, relying on her background as a YouTuber and TikTok creator. In 2020, Holland developed a viral TikTok campaign to raise funds for Egghead &amp; Twinkie, amassing millions of views and growing the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@eggheadtwinkiefilm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@eggheadtwinkiefilm</a> account to more than 250,000 followers. Holland loves working with emerging talent and developing multi-faceted characters, with a passion for telling queer and Asian American stories. She is currently writing her second feature.

Sarah Kambe Holland

Seeing Myself in Egghead & Twinkie

A former World Kickboxing Champion and United States Marine Corps combat instructor, German-born filmmaker Lexi Alexander worked her way up from stunt woman to Oscar-nominated director with her live action short film Johnny Flynton, a drama about a boxer. She has helmed feature films including the SXSW Jury &amp; Audience Award-winning drama Green Street Hooligans, Marvel&#8217;s Punisher: War Zone and the acclaimed military drama Lifted. Her latest feature, the martial arts movie <a href="https://www.giant.pictures/absolutedominion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Absolute Dominion</a> starring Désiré Mia, Alex Winter, Andy Allo, Olunike Adeliyi and Patton Oswalt, is now in theaters through Giant Pictures.

Lexi Alexander

The Impossibility of Promoting a Movie During a Genocide

Alina Adams has worked for ABC Daytime, Procter &amp; Gamble Productions, and the Daytime Emmy Awards. Her tie-in novels, Oakdale Confidential (As the World Turns) and Jonathan’s Story (Guiding Light) were New York Times bestsellers, while The Man From Oakdale won a Scribe Award from the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. She wrote the officially sanctioned continuations of Another World with Another World Today, and Guiding Light with Mindy’s Twitter. She currently writes for SoapHub.com, which originally serialized her May 2025 historical fiction novel, <a href="https://www.historythroughfiction.com/go-on-pretending" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Go On Pretending</a>, which is set in the 1950s world of radio soaps as they transition to television, and what that means for the show’s African-American leading man. Read more at <a href="http://www.alinaadams.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AlinaAdams.com</a>.

Alina Adams

Interracial Relationships, Soap Operas and Me

Sarah Jayne Brown is a Black-Jewish writer-director based in Los Angeles whose work explores the intersections of desire, identity, and emotional survival. Her storytelling blends dark humor, surrealism, and psychological depth, often centering messy, magnetic women who live on the edge of their own undoing. She is currently spearheading an <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/unicorn-s-dilemma/x/38532378" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indiegogo</a> campaign for her upcoming short, Unicorn’s Dilemma, which is based on lived experience and serves as a proof of concept for a feature-length project about the dangerous contradictions inside “liberated” relationships. Sarah’s background in independent film, and trauma recovery deeply informs her perspective as a filmmaker. She is especially interested in crafting stories that speak to underrepresented Black, queer and bi+ women, survivors and anyone navigating the blurred boundaries between fantasy and reality. You can follow her on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thepeoplevssarahjayne?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&amp;utm_source=qr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Sarah Jayne Brown

Throuples, Trauma and Taboos: Healing Through Art with My Debut Feature

Hala Matar is a Bahraini-American director based in Los Angeles. Electra, which she directed, co-wrote and co-produced, is her feature film debut and stars Maria Bakalova, Jack Farthing, Daryl Wein and Abigail Cowen. She has directed films for Vice and Nowness and for fashion brands including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Moncler, Kenzo, Vivienne Westwood and Diesel. She made music videos for Interpol, The Voidz and Poolside. She has worked with a variety of A-list talents such as Kristen Stewart, Chloe Sevigny, Johnny Knoxville, Suki Waterhouse and Matthew Gray Gubler. Her work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Vogue, NME, Spin, NME, W Magazine, Nylon, CNN and Harper&#8217;s Bazaar Arabia.

film essay