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Talkhouse

Lío Mehiel is an actor, artist, and filmmaker. Lío made their feature film debut starring in Sundance 2023’s Mutt. Their critically acclaimed performance earned them the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award in Acting, making them the first trans actor to ever win the award. The film can currently be streamed on Netflix. Most recently, Lío returned to Sundance 2024, starring opposite Leslie Grace, Sasha Calle and Residente in In the Summers, which won the festival’s top honor of Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. As a filmmaker, Lío is a co-founder of Voyeur Productions. Their most recent short, Entre Amigxs, can now be seen on NOWNESS. Lío is currently the producer and creative director of the transgender sculpture collection, Ancient Futures/Angels. The works most recently showed at GUTS Gallery in London and can now be seen at <a href="https://www.charleston.org.uk/exhibition/duos-the-art-of-collaboration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charleston</a> in the UK. Their piece Arcade Amerikana was included in the list of 10 Best Immersive Shows in NYC by Time Out and Gothamist. (Photo by Soni Broman.)

Lío Mehiel

Film

I’m Coming, or, I Am on My Way

Luis De Filippis is a Canadian-Italian filmmaker whose debut feature, Something You Said Last Night (2022) which received the TIFF Change Maker Award, the Sebastiáne Award at the San Sebastián Film Festival, and the Rotterdam Youth Jury Award, is out now in theaters. Her other work includes the short film For Nonna Anna (2017), which received a Sundance Special Jury Prize. (Photograph by Mar Marriott, courtesy Luis De Filippis.)

Luis De Filippis

On Being My Own Muse

Dawn Storey is an actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker from Los Angeles, California. While she wears many creative hats, she identifies overall as a storyteller. Her latest film, the campy horror dark comedy short Dooley Does Murder!, will be released on April 19. Her directorial debut, LiME, won Best Short at San Francisco Black Film Festival 2019, screened at over 14 festivals during its circuit run, and ended at the Los Angeles Outfest Fusion Festival 2020. Her upcoming projects include the feature film Boys Like Us.

Dawn Storey

How Horror Helped Me See Myself

Comedian Julia Scotti is the subject of the new documentary <a href="https://geni.us/JuliaScottiFilm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Julia Scotti: Funny That Way</a>, which is available on digital platforms on June 1. Since 1980, Julia has been honing her craft in clubs and theaters throughout the United States and Canada, performing for the first 20 years as Rick Scotti, and now, after a life-changing hiatus, returning as Julia Scotti. Since coming back to comedy in 2011, she has been named one of the Top Five Transgender Comedians in the Country by The Advocate, has performed at LGBTQ events across the country, and was one of the winners of the Laughlin Laugh Festival in Nevada. Simon Cowell said, “You genuinely made me laugh,” as she introduced herself to a national audience on Season 11 of America’s Got Talent. She was the first transgender comedian to appear on national television and was a quarter-finalist on the show. In 2017, Julia released her first, best-selling comedy CD, Hello Boys I’m Back!, and is gearing up to record her second one. In 2020, she was featured on the Showtime special More Funny Women of a Certain Age.

Julia Scotti

Success Isn’t Where You Think It Is

Lane Michael Stanley (he/they) is a transgender writer and director making community-embedded work around queerness, healing, grief, recovery, restorative justice, and housing insecurity. Their films include their award-winning debut feature film Addict Named Hal (2022); their upcoming second feature T (currently in post-production after being filmed incrementally over the lead actor’s first two years on Testosterone); their short films Untie, Promise and Boifriend (co-directed with Rebecca Marquardt); and their upcoming documentary Quentin Blue. Their plays and films have been presented at 20 theaters and 33 film festivals in 33 states, in addition to soup kitchens, shelters, addiction treatment centers, meditation gardens, and San Quentin State Prison. Lane holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin and is the 2023-2024 Resident Artist with coLAB Arts and Mission First Housing Group. For more information, please visit <a href="http://www.lanemichaelstanley.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.lanemichaelstanley.com</a>.

Lane Michael Stanley

How One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Helped Me Embrace My Transmasculinity

Tony Zosherafatain is a filmmaker, producer, and writer living in New York City. He directed <a href="https://www.transintrumpland.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trans in Trumpland</a>, a four episode docu-series which premieres February 25 to US and  Canadian audiences on Topic through <a href="http://topic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://topic.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1614100392770000&amp;usg=AFQjCNETwZdfSuBHfdkRn4iqiwZ00eSjHw">Topic.com</a> and Topic channels through AppleTV &amp; iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android, and Amazon Prime Video Channels. He is the co-founder of <a href="https://www.transwavefilms.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TransWave Films</a>, a New York City-based production company.

Tony Zosherafatain

How Making Trans in Trumpland Changed My Perception of the Transgender Experience

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.)

transgender