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Talkhouse

Frank Mosley is a Texas-born actor and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. He&#8217;s a fellow of the 2015 Berlinale Talents, 2017 NYFF Artist Academy, and 2016 Workshop for Auteurs led by Abbas Kiarostami in Cuba. He can be seen in films such as Upstream Color (Sundance 2013), Freeland (SXSW 2020), Chained for Life (Kino Lorber), The Ghost Who Walks (Netflix), and Some Beasts (Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance at the 2016 Sarasota Film Festival). Kinoscope and The Spectacle Theater (NYC) have held retrospectives of his directing work that has played festivals such as Slamdance, Champs-Elysees Film Festival, Northwest Film Forum, Dallas Museum of Art, and Anthology Film Archives. He&#8217;s been called &#8220;a superb actor and filmmaker&#8221; (RogerEbert.com), &#8220;a major cinematic voice&#8221; (Vague Visages), and &#8220;a dependably fantastic American indie mainstay&#8221; (Filmmaker magazine). (Photo by Frederick Trevino.)

Frank Mosley

Film

This Film is a Labyrinth

After departing an early career path as the U.K.’s youngest wildlife hospital and rehabilitation center owner, MJ Bassett ventured into the entertainment industry, first as a television presenter of nature and science programs, and then transitioned into writing and directing in 2002 with Deathwatch starring Jamie Bell, Matthew Rhys and Andy Serkis. For the next decade, MJ would continue directing films like Wilderness (2006), Solomon Kane (2009) and Silent Hill: Revelation (2012). In 2013, MJ shifted her focus to television, becoming the lead director and subsequently a writer, co-producer and finally executive producer on Cinemax’s Emmy-nominated series Strike Back in both of its iterations. MJ’s latest feature, <a href="https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/rogue" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rogue</a>, starring Megan Fox and co-written by MJ with her daughter, Isabel Bassett, released by Lionsgate on PVOD and digital on August 28. A South Africa-set thriller, it combines her passion for wildlife conservation with her love of filmmaking, delivering action and thrills while reminding viewers of the value of the animals we share the planet with. Coming out as transgender in 2016, MJ spends a lot of time shooting around the world and is currently writing her next two eco-thrillers for Lionsgate and prepping to direct Showtime’s Halo with Pablo Schreiber. You can follow MJ on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/emjaybassett/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@emjaybassett</a>. (Photo by Madaleine Bassett.)

MJ Bassett

Life v2.0

Morgana Muses is the age-positive, sex-positive creative director and performer of Permission4Pleasure. She shares her journey of sexual exploration with audiences through her award winning films. The new documentary about her, <a href="http://morganadocumentary.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morgana</a>, screens at the <a href="https://fantasiafestival.com/en/film/morgana" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fantasia Festival</a> between August 20 and September 2. In 2012, she was the recipient of the Petra Joy Award for first time film-makers with her entry Duty Bound, which detailed her own experience hiring a male escort. Since then Morgana’s films have screened all over the world in leading erotic festivals such as Cinekink New York, the Berlin Porn Film Festival and in 2015 she won the Feminist Porn Awards’ Heart Throb of the Year. In 2017, she received three awards at the Toronto Porn Film Festival, including Best Fetish Film for Having My Cake, followed up in 2018 with Labia of Love picking up the Hottest Artful Porn Award.

Morgana Muses

On Control

Richard Tanne’s new film Chemical Hearts which he wrote, directed and produced for Amazon Studios, is out now on Prime Video. The coming-of-age drama, starring Lili Reinhart and Austin Abrams, is based on Krystal Sutherland’s beloved novel Our Chemical Hearts, an unexpected story about teenage love and loss. Tanne made his writing and directing debut with Southside With You, which premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, was purchased by Miramax and Roadside Attractions, and earned Tanne a Gotham Award nomination for Breakthrough Director and the Rotten Tomatoes Award for the Best-Reviewed Romance of the Year. The film, a romantic drama about Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date, was released theatrically worldwide and went on to gross six times its micro-indie budget.

Richard Tanne

Home Movies

Mattson Tomlin was born in Romania during its revolution and was quickly adopted into the U.S. After receiving his master&#8217;s in directing from the American Film Institute, he began a career in screenwriting and has appeared on the annual Black List six times. Some of his other projects include Project Power (Netflix, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman), Fear Agent (Sony Television, directed by David Sandberg) and Little Fish (directed by Chad Hartigan), and The Batman (Warner Bros/DC Comics, co-written with director Matt Reeves). His first film as director, Mother/Android, starring Chlo&euml; Grace Moretz, Algee Smith and Ra&uacute;l Castillo, is out December 17 on Hulu. (Photo by Henry Joost.)

Mattson Tomlin

The Matrix Has You

Ramona S. Diaz is an award-winning Asian-American filmmaker whose films have screened atSundance, the Berlinale, Tribeca, the Viennale, IDFA, and many other top-tier film festivals. Her latest documentary, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/a-thousand-cuts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Thousand Cuts</a>, a gripping look at Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war and courageous journalist Maria Ressa’s fight to hold him accountable, is out now. All of Ramona&#8217;s feature-length films — Imelda (2004), The Learning (2011), Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey (2012) and Motherland (2017) — have been broadcast on PBS, on either the POV or Independent Lens series. Motherland won an award at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, had its international premiere at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary,. She has received funding from ITVS, Sundance, MacArthur Foundation, the IDA, and Creative Capital, among others, was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship and was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts &amp; Sciences (AMPAS) in 2016. Ramona is a graduate of Emerson College and holds an MA from Stanford University.

Ramona S. Diaz

Sometimes Life Happens

Patrick James Lynch&#8216;s latest documentary, <a href="https://www.bombardierblood.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bombardier Blood</a>, is out now on digital. It follows mountaineer Chris Bombardier&#8217;s quest to become the first person with hemophilia to complete the Seven Summits, including his ascent of Everest. Lynch is the CEO and founder, Believe Limited, and his film credits My Beautiful Stutter (which he executived produced with Paul Rudd), and the scripted films Elsewhere (director/actor; Best Picture HRIFF; Best Ensemble NYCIFF) and sometimes, i think about dying (EP, Sundance 2019, Oscars 2020 shortlist).

Patrick James Lynch

Not Your Average Wedding Story

Twice SAG Award-nominated, Jenna Lyng Adams works both in front and behind the camera as an actor and producer in Los Angeles. The pandemic thriller Before the Fire, which she stars in and also wrote, is out now in virtual cinemas and digital/VOD through Dark Sky Films. She has produced music videos for major artists and digital content for a long list of big brands garnering millions of views online. Her most notable acting roles include the Golden Globe-winning Netflix comedy The Kominsky Method by Chuck Lorre with Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin and indie film Uncle John (official SXSW selection) with John Ashton and Alex Moffat. Jenna is currently penning a dark comedy TV pilot for HBO Max called So Much. She is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston. (Image by Jackson Adams.)

Jenna Lyng Adams

Parrots and Pandemics

Jeffrey A. Brown’s feature writing/directing debut The Beach House, a horror film starring Liana Liberato, Noah Le Gros, Maryann Nagel and Jake Weber, is now streaming on Shudder. He was born in Valparaiso, Indiana, and has been working professionally on film, television, and streaming media for 20 years. He has served as a location manager, assistant manager, and scout on over fifty productions, including Pieces of April, Kill the Poor, The Baxter, Spider-Man 3, P.S. I Love You, Cold Souls, The Taking of Pelham 123, Detachment, 2 Days in New York, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, They Came Together, The Harvest, Demolition, the first seasons of Fringe, Master of None, and The OA. Most recently he managed Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die (2019 Cannes Film Festival opening film). Brown’s short film Sulfuric premiered at the 2013 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and went on to play in over 20 film festivals.

Jeffrey A. Brown

Adventures of a Location Manager: From Spider-Man 3 and The Wolf of Wall Street to The Beach House

Muta’Ali is an award-winning film director from Westchester County, NY. His latest feature documentary, Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn, airs on HBO at 9PM on August 12. His past documentary films include the award-winning Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee, which featured notable guests including Harry Belafonte, Alan Alda, and Spike Lee. Muta’Ali is determined that his artistic body of work be wholly focused on what he calls “Love, Art &amp; Activism.” (Image by Jihaad Muhammad.)

Muta’Ali

Radical Honesty: You Alone Are Powerful

Laura Hunter Drago is a producer living in Los Angeles, California. Originally from a small town in Virginia, Laura grew up performing in theatre both in school and professionally. She trained as an actress at New York University&#8217;s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied at the Atlantic Theatre Company School and the Lee Strasberg Institute. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, the Assistant Editor-in-Chief of <a href="http://msinthebiz.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ms. in the Biz</a>, a website founded by Helenna Santos that provides resources for female entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry, and co-founder of <a href="http://www.newgirlpictures.com/">New Girl Pictures</a> with one of her best friends from her high school theatre days, Samantha Macher. Their production company focuses on getting women into positions both in front of and behind the camera early in their careers. Her first feature film, <a href="https://www.tothenewgirl.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To the New Girl</a>, which was made by an all-female cast and creative team, is released on VOD on August 11, 2020.

Laura Hunter Drago

From Competition to Collaboration: How Championing Women in Film Changed My Perspective

Sheila Vand is an extremely creative and expressive performance artist and actor. She can currently be seen in Dave Franco’s directorial debut, The Rental, currently #1 at the box office. Earlier this summer, she co-starred in TNT&#8217;s Snowpiercer opposite Daveed Diggs and Jennifer Connolly. Last year, she starred in a thrilling off-off-Broadway show, Nylon, written by Sofia Alverez. Additional credits include the 2018 Sundance Film Festival NEXT Award winner We The Animals, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Wave, Aardvark, Argo, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Women Who Kill and XX. Vand made her Broadway debut opposite Robin Williams as Hadja in Rajiv Joseph’s Pulitzer Prize finalist Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo; she starred in the Disney Hall&#8217;s 10th Anniversary LA Philharmonic staging of Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels for Esa Pekka Salonen, had her original performance piece Sneaky Nietzche mounted at LACMA and co-created the award-winning visual art series MILK: what will you make of me? with TED fellow Alexa Meade, which toured throughout Europe. This series served as the inspiration for Ariana Grande’s recent music video for “God Is A Woman,” on which Grande worked with Vand and Meade.

film essay