Creative

Footer Legal

Main

NavBar

Sections

Topics

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Talkhouse

Beth Aala is a three-time Emmy Award-winning producer and Peabody Award winner for her documentary work at HBO. Beth’s latest documentary, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/made-in-boise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Made in Boise</a>, premieres on October 28th on PBS’ Independent Lens. Her previous documentary, Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman, which she co-directed and produced, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Beth was nominated for the 2015 News and Documentary Emmy Awards for her film, Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon (2013 Toronto International Film Festival), which she directed and produced with comedian Mike Myers. Her directorial debut, Pool Party (2010), played at festivals all over the world. She resides in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and two boys. In her free time (ha!), she makes woodblock prints, cooks, takes way too many photos of her kids, and documents her travels around the world.

Beth Aala

Film

The New American Family

Travis Stevens is the founder and CEO of Snowfort Pictures, a boutique production company specializing in the development, financing and production of commercial genre films. Since 2010, Snowfort Pictures have premiered at Toronto, Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, Telluride, Tribeca, Fantastic Fest, AFI and many more. Stevens&#8217; writing and directing debut, <a href="https://darkskyfilms.com/film/girl-on-the-third-floor-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Girl on the Third Floor</a>, stars Phil Brooks, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks, Travis Delgado and Elissa Dowling. It premiered at SXSW 2019 and opens in theaters through Dark Sky Films on October 25. (Image by Robby Klein/Getty; used with permission.)

Travis Stevens

Dry Rot: The Hidden Secrets Within Girl on the Third Floor

David Midell began his filmmaking career drawing inspiration from working as a teacher and therapist in economically disadvantaged areas of Chicago. David&#8217;s debut feature, NightLights, followed a sister and brother with autism as they experienced the heartbreaks and triumphs on their journey to find their place in the world. The film was released in 2014, made its network television premiere on the Lifetime Movie Network in 2015, and won numerous awards, including a Prism Award from the Entertainment Industries Council. His latest film, <a href="https://www.killingofkcfilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain</a>, tells the true story of the events that led to the death of an elderly African-American former marine, suffering from bipolar disorder, who was killed during a conflict with police officers in his home. The film, which stars Tony Award nominee Frankie Faison and Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose and has won awards at the Austin Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival, Urbanworld and more, and is out September 17 through Gravitas Ventures.

David Midell

How Special Education Led Me to a Career in Filmmaking

Writer-director Barbara Miller’s latest film, <a href="https://www.femalepleasure.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#Female Pleasure</a>, is in theaters through Abramorama from October 18. Miller, who was born in Switzerland and studied law, cinema sciences and psychology, worked on the Oscar-nominated documentary War Photographer. She has directed more than 20 acclaimed documentaries, ranging from the Anti-Globalization Movement to Domestic Violence, Youth Violence and The Clitoris. Her award-winning feature-length documentary Forbidden Voices was shown at more than 70 festivals worldwide. She is a member of the Swiss Film Academy and the European Film Academy EFA and is the President of the Swiss Filmmakers Association. (Photo by Jason Ashwood.)

Barbara Miller

What I Learned Talking to Strangers From Different Cultures About Intimacy, Sex and Female Pleasure

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 Time I Was An Alien Rapist (for Gregg Araki’s Now Apocalypse)

Erin Derham is an international award-winning filmmaker whose latest film,<a href="https://filmforum.org/film/stuffed" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Stuffed</a> – a documentary about the art of taxidermy that premiered at SXSW 2019 – plays at Film Forum from October 16. After receiving an MA in Oral History, Derham founded History Boutique Films, a production company focused on exploring the human experience, telling stories about inspirational people. Her first film, Buskin&#8217; Blues, attended over a dozen festivals and sold for world wide distribution in 2016. Erin began her career as a storyteller editing and directing for PBS, and has conducted close to 400 interviews. Her passion for filmmaking is shown on screen by exploring the human experience and her creative edge is evident in all of her work. For more on her and her work, visit <a href="http://www.erinderham.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">erinderham.com</a>.

Erin Derham

As a Vegan, Directing a Documentary About Taxidermy Transformed the Way I See the World

Patrick Lussier is a Canadian-born genre director, writer, producer and film editor. His latest film, the independent horror movie Trick, which he directed and co-wrote and stars Omar Epps, Ellen Adair, Jamie Kennedy and Tom Atkins, is out through RLJ Entertainment from October 18. Patrick recently directed an episode of The Purge series for Blumhouse/SyFy to air in the fall of 2019. His other directing credits include Drive Angry, My Bloody Valentine, Dracula 2000 and White Noise 2. Patrick’s website is at <a href="https://www.patricklussier.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PatrickLussier.com</a>.

Patrick Lussier

“The Seed is Planted, The Terror Grows”

Erin Sanger is a writer and director whose work spans both narrative and documentary realms. She is a Wasserman Award Winner, Student Academy Award Nominee, and Webby Award Honoree. Her directorial work has been featured on ESPN, National Geographic, PBS, The Atlantic, Topic, and Hulu. She is currently completing her first feature-length documentary. She is a graduate of NYU&#8217;s Tisch School of the Arts.
Taylor Hess is a filmmaker, journalist, and contributing editor for Filmmaker Magazine. She recently wrote and directed two episodes for a Vox Media documentary series on Netflix and directed a short documentary for The Atlantic called Guts. She’s produced at Part2 Pictures and has worked at Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), and for Scott Rudin Productions. Taylor is a graduate from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Erin Sanger and Taylor Hess

Meeting Mack Beggs and Making Mack Wrestles

Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth was born and raised in Glasgow and made his directorial debut wit the 1979 independent comedy That Sinking Feeling (made with a budget of only £5,000), which jump-started a then-non-existent Scottish film industry. His second film, Gregory’s Girl, the hit comedy starring John Gordon Sinclair, was followed by Comfort and Joy, Local Hero (starring Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert), and the drama Housekeeping. Forsyth would later make films starring Burt Reynolds (Breaking In) and Robin Williams (Being Human). A restoration of Gregory’s Girl is <a href="https://filmforum.org/film/bill-forsyths-gregorys-girl">currently playing</a> at Film Forum in New York City and the Museum of Moving Image’s <a href="http://www.movingimage.us/programs/2019/09/27/detail/five-by-forsyth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Five by Forsyth”</a> series is ongoing through October 6.

Bill Forsyth

On Making Breaking In with Burt Reynolds

Alexandre O. Philippe is the writer-director of <a href="https://screenmediafilms.net/productions/details/2891/Memory-The-Origins-of-Alien" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memory: The Origins of Alien</a>, an Exhibit A Pictures film produced by Kerry Deignan Roy, which is released by Screen Media on October 4. He holds a master&#8217;s degree in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and is creative director of Denver-based Cinema Vertige and Exhibit A Pictures. He has written, directed, and produced numerous award-winning films and documentaries, including 78/52 (a documentary about the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho),The People vs. George Lucas, The Life and Times of Paul the Psychic Octopus, and Doc of the Dead. Philippe is also co-owner and co-creator of Fried Comics.

Alexandre O. Philippe

Bursting From Within: Why Alien Struck a Nerve

Daniel Scheinert is best known as the redneck half of the writing/ directing duo DANIELS along with Daniel Kwan. Together they won Best Director at Sundance 2016 for their feature film Swiss Army Man, and Best Director at the MTV VMAs 2014 for &#8220;Turn Down for What.&#8221; Scheinert was born and raised in Alabama, and plays the titular role in his latest film, <a href="https://a24films.com/films/the-death-of-dick-long" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Death of Dick Long </a>(out September 27 through A24) because the screenwriter Billy Chew dared him to.

Daniel Scheinert

Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (DANIELS) are an award-winning directing duo. One time they won Best Director at The MTV Video Music Awards, but both their moms were bummed that they don’t announce that category on TV. They made all their music videos and short films with Prettybird, and they’re represented by Mosaic. Okay, bye.

DANIELS

Shooting My Fucked Up Movie Sustainably Helped Me Sleep at Night!

Mara Wilson is a writer, playwright, actor, and storyteller perhaps best known as the little girl from Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street, and Matilda. Her acclaimed memoir, Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, was published by Penguin in 2016. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Wilson regularly appears at live storytelling and comedy shows, including her own, What Are You Afraid Of?. Her writing can be found on Jezebel, The Toast, McSweeney’s, The Daily Beast, and Cracked.com, and on her blog, <a href="http://MaraWilsonWritesStuff.com">MaraWilsonWritesStuff.com</a>. A voice actor on the podcast Welcome to Night Vale, she will guest star on upcoming episodes of Broad City and BoJack Horseman. She lives in New York City. (Photo by Ari Scott.)

film essay