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Talkhouse

Writer-director Dan Levy Dagerman, along with his wife, writer-actress-producer Selina Ringel, made the new romantic comedy <a href="https://www.ymhmovie.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">You, Me &amp; Her</a>, which is out now in theaters. Their previous movie, Single Mother By Choice, documented Selina’s real-life pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic and was acquired by HBO Max. After earning an MFA in Directing from AFI Conservatory, Dan co-founded Two Hands Productions with Selina, also an AFI grad. He also founded High Concept Entertainment, a production company at the intersection of cannabis and entertainment, pioneering content marketing and distribution strategies that reflect the evolving demands of digital-age audiences.

Dan Levy Dagerman

Film

Love, Laughter and a Little Chaos: Making You, Me & Her as a Husband-Wife Filmmaking Duo

Max Rissman’s debut feature, the supernatural romance <a href="https://www.uponwakingfilm.com/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upon Waking</a>, is out February 14. Ever since he was four years old, when he forced his parents to watch and subsequently act out The Wizard of Oz with him nightly, he has been captivated by the power of stories to transform the mundane into the magical. After attending college at Washington University in St. Louis and completing New York University’s MFA program in filmmaking, he followed the yellow brick road to Los Angeles, where he has been creating stories about characters coming of age and embarking on journeys of self-discovery. His web series Root for the Villain was an official selection of the 2018 Austin Film Festival, and his feature screenplay Hit Me Harder was featured on the 2020 GLAAD List.

Max Rissman

Sometimes You Can Jump From a 10-Story Building and Land in a Thimble

Tzvi is a writer director from NYC. His debut feature film, Killer of Men, made on a $10,000 budget, premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival, which Eric Kohn hailed as &#8220;one of the best debuts of 2024&#8221; and Oscar-nominated director Ramin Bahrani said &#8220;Tzvi has created the definition of low-budget auteur cinema.&#8221; Filmmaker magazine called it &#8220;an eerily austere serial killer drama, with a (possible) science fiction twist.&#8221; In his free time, Tzvi writes short fiction, essays on cinema, and runs the monthly screening series Film Underground, focused on democratizing cinema. He can be found on Instagram <a href="http://instagram.com/tzvi_shadowplayfilms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@tzvi_shadowplayfilms</a>.

Tzvi

Time Stop

Julia Marchese is a filmmaker, actor, podcaster, cinephile and film programmer living in Hollywood, California. Her first film was the award-winning documentary Out of Print, about the importance of revival cinema and 35 mm exhibition to culture, and she is currently the co-host of the popular horror podcast Horror Movie Survival Guide. She recently crowdfunded on <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/i-know-what-you-need-a-stephen-king-adaptation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IndieGoGo</a> for her forthcoming Dollar Baby short film I Know What You Need, based on Stephen King&#8217;s story of the same name from Night Shift. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @juliacmarchese.

Julia Marchese

My Semester at Shermer High School

Gabby Kono-Abdy produced and costars in the romantic drama <a href="https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/wish-you-were-here" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wish You Were Here</a>, the directorial debut of Julia Stiles starring Mena Massoud, Isabelle Fuhrman and Kelsey Grammer, which is out now through Lionsgate. She is a bicoastal actress who has appeared in series such as Law &amp; Order: SVU, iCarly and Big Time Rush and has roles in such movies as Nighthawks, opposite Chace Crawford, and Agent Game, starring Mel Gibson and Dermot Mulroney. Gabby was the star and lead producer of Baker’s Dozen, a romantic comedic mini-series that premiered on Amazon Prime, and currently is working on several other producing projects with Universal, Lionsgate, and several independent production companies. Gabby recently publicly launched her production company, Little Fishy Films, which has optioned the rights to several bestselling novels and scripts, where various projects are currently in development. Gabby’s mission is to unearth the amazing books and authors who are currently flying under the radar. (Photo by Emma Silke.)

Gabby Kono-Abdy

From New Girl to Bookworm: How High School Loneliness Sparked My Love for Storytelling

Justin Martell and Matt Manjourides were producers on Fangoria&#8217;s Castle Freak with Seager Dixon serving as Unit Production Manager. Their company Not the Funeral Home produced <a href="https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/frontpage/products/street-trash-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Street Trash</a> in South Africa, which is now available on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome, and produces The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, which is currently in its seventh season on Shudder. The latest Not the Funeral Home film, Black Eyed Susan, is available for pre-order from Vinegar Syndrome <a href="https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/black-eyed-susan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Justin Martell, Matt Manjourides and Seager Dixon

How A Group of “Dumb Americans” Made One of the First Ever Horror Movies Shot in Albania

Sasha Rainbow is an award-winning New Zealand-born director whose new body horror Grafted is now streaming on Shudder. Her documentary Kamali, about a seven-year-old Indian girl skateboarder, was long listed for an Oscar, nominated for a BAFTA and was distributed through RYOT films. Sasha has been a mentee of the British Film Institute X British Academy of Film and Television mentorship since 2018 and attended the renowned Yaddo artists residency in 2019. In 2021, Sasha was selected as one of eight women for the Women in Film multi-hyphenate mentorship scheme in Los Angeles. Sasha is developing several feature-length scripted films, including BETA, a female lead sci-fi set in the Bay Area.

Sasha Rainbow

How I Lost My Face

Summer Shelton was the recipient of the 2018 Independent Spirit Producers Award. Her directorial debut,<a href="https://www.summershelton.com/films/project-one-youandithemovie" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> You &amp; I</a>, which she also wrote, produced and co-starred in opposite Clayne Crawford, is now available on digital. She produced the acclaimed films Maine, Keep the Change, People Places Things and Little Accidents, and is a frequent collaborator of Ramin Bahrani, including working as associate producer on his features Goodbye Solo and At Any Price. She was the recipient of the inaugural Bingham Ray Creative Producing Fellowship, awarded by the Sundance Institute (2012), a Rotterdam Producing Fellowship (2013), Film Independent Sloan Producing Fellowship (2014) and Cannes Producing Fellowship (2021) awarded by the Gotham.

Summer Shelton

On Losing It All and Gaining Back My Voice

Jim McKay is a filmmaker and co-founder, along with Michael Stipe, of C-Hundred Film Corp. McKay broke through with his debut feature, Girls Town (1996), the landmark Sundance-winning drama which is now in theaters in a <a href="https://www.filmmovement.com/girls-town" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new 4K restoration</a>. His other directorial features include Our Song (2000), Everyday People (2004), Angel Rodriguez (2005) and En El Septimo Dia (2017). He has produced and directed a full-length documentary, Lighthearted Nation; a feature-length concert film, R.E.M.’s Tourfilm; numerous music videos; and an award-winning series of public service announcements called Direct Effect. McKay has also directed numerous TV shows, including The Wire, Big Love, Law and Order, In Treatment, Treme, Mr Robot, The Americans, The Good Wife, Breaking Bad, Rectify and Better Call Saul. Visit <a href="https://jimmckayfilm.com/">jimmckayfilm.com</a> for more info.
Anna Grace is an actor, writer, and environmental lawyer. She is known for her work on Girls Town and has received grants and awards for her writing, including a New York Foundation for the Arts Award in Fiction. She was a trial attorney in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice enforcing federal environmental laws from 2014 to 2021. More recently, she served as senior counsel and legal strategist for an environmental response trustee responsible for remediating and revitalizing contaminated sites across the United States.

Jim McKay and Anna Grace

Letters from Girls Town

Amber Sealey is an award-winning filmmaker whose most recent film, <a href="https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/out-of-my-mind/5U9QeQMDIDaj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Out of My Mind</a>, premiered at Sundance 2024 to multiple standing ovations and is now streaming on Disney+. Based on the bestselling YA novel of the same name, it stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Kirby and Judith Light, with Jennifer Aniston voicing the inner life of the lead. Her feature No Man of God, starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby, was theatrically released in 2021 to rave reviews. Her feature No Light and No Land Anywhere was theatrically released by Factory 25 and won a Special Jury Award at the LA Film Festival. Her second feature, How To Cheat, won Best Performance at LAFF and both Best Narrative and Best Acting at BendFilm. Her first film, A Plus D, was released by IndiePix. Sealey has a BA in theater arts and modern dance from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an MA from The Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She studied Shakespeare at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She was born in England and lives in Los Angeles with her family. (Photo by Jack Caswell.)

Amber Sealey

Revisited: Neurodiversity is the Fucking Coolest Thing in the World

Joel Potrykus resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he works with a filmmaking band, Sob Noisse, including long-time collaborator Joshua Burge. His latest feature, <a href="https://tribecafilm.com/films/vulcanizadora-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vulcanizadora</a>, makes its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024. His films Ape, Buzzard, The Alchemist Cookbook and Relaxer have premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, and have screened at the Lincoln Center and the MoMa. He teaches filmmaking at Grand Valley State University.

Joel Potrykus

Revisited: Filmmaking and Fatherhood: Five Years Later

Sally Aitken is an Emmy® nominated director and writer, and a showrunner of multiple international series; her latest film, <a href="https://kinolorber.com/film/every-little-thing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Every Little Thing</a>, is out now in theaters through Kino Lorber. The film premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where her 2021 film Playing with Sharks (Disney+) also played. Sally’s previous work includes Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles (Amazon Prime); her debut feature doc, A Cinematic Life, her legendary film critic David Stratton which played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017; The Pacific with Sam Neill (2019); and Getting Frank Gehry (2015). (Photo by Jacquie Manning.)

film essay