Shagun Singh is an artist, first and foremost. Through Urban Matter, she creates large-scale interactive sculptures that bring together architecture, technology, and human-centered design. Her installations include a pop-up mobile confession booth with an AI “priest,” a grid of illuminated pixels over an empty Brooklyn storefront allowing strangers to play ping pong using their phones, and an air quality sensor encouraging passersby to unlock tips to counter air pollution. Her Substack, Science of Art, focuses on the practical and sustainable considerations of making art your career.

In Episode #020 of NonDē Uprising, Shagun illuminates why she believes making art and making a living aren’t contradictory goals. She explains how artists can utilize grants and find additional sources of income, suggests equity structures that can support entire communities of artists, and gives tips on how artists can juggle their career goals with the realistic necessity of paying bills.

It’s one thing to make a movie; it’s another to sell it. Alex LeMay’s Substack, Pitch Craft, helps creators pitch projects for funding. In addition to offering his own expertise on pitching to Hollywood studios, Alex is currently funding his own project openly sharing statistics and information to help fellow filmmakers see his process (how NonDe!).

In Episode #019 of NonDē Uprising, Alex reimagines what the film industry will look like by the end of this year. He predicts how the tech takeover of Hollywood will launch what he calls “Hollywood 2.0,” why studio executives’ reliance on gatekeeping will fall apart as creators gain control of moviemaking, and why he thinks the best days of Hollywood are still ahead of us.

Stephen Follows mixes data and filmmaking in his fascinating Substack asking the questions you might have always wondered but never knew how to answer. If your brain hobbles down towards questions like “What makes people never want to rewatch a great film?” or “Which colors dominate movie posters and why?”, you’re in for a treat. And if being able to back that all up with charts and numbers gets you tickled, you’ll be swooning.

In Episode #018 of NonDē Uprising, Stephen breaks down why audiences pick feelings, not films, when they sit down to watch a movie. He explains why “trash” movies make for the best comfort watches, the “creative cowardice” of production companies, and why emotional safety is crucial for NonDe movies to succeed.

Note: This episode is audio only.

jen harrington is an exemplar of the NonDē movement. She wrote and directed the horror movies Shook and Housekeeping, and has sold her scripts Hell’s Belles to Amazon Studios and The End of Liz As We Know It to Sony Pictures. She’s also had an impressive documentary career, editing Gaga: Five Foot Two, Banksy Does New York, Source Family, and Bogalusa Charm, for which she wrote as well. In her Substack, Inspired, Jen delves into the art of screenwriting.

In Episode #017 of NonDē Uprising, Jen dips into the nerve-wracking world of microbudget filmmaking. She gives pointers on how to think about your (micro)budget when you’re writing your script without hindering your creativity, when to fold in absurdity into your process, and why she hopes horror loses its grip as the microbudget genre of choice.

If you’re in the NonDē world, the FilmStack community, or have some knowledge of what it means to produce a movie, then you know of Ted Hope. He’s of course the brains behind Hope For Film, his Substack that helped launch the NonDē movement. So it’s quite appropriate for him to come back to the podcast and talk about the paradox of starting a leaderless movement.

In Episode #016 of NonDē Uprising, Ted chats about how working in corporate filmmaking informed how he thinks about NonDē, why it’s important to engage with people who don’t agree with you, and the crucial key to making NonDē a movement with lasting power.

Fawnia Soo Hoo is a freelance fashion and entertainment journalist whose bylines have appeared in Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, Elle, W Magazine, GQ, CNN, and more. She writes Whatever Nevermind on Substack, which explores Gen X pop culture through the lens of modern fashion, beauty, and entertainment.

In Episode #015 of NonDē Uprising, Fawnia offers insight into the ultimate business-in-the-front-party-in-the-back style statement: the mullet. She dives into the surprisingly political history of the mullet, what kind of characters tend to sport the style, and why people love to hate the hairdo.

Kate Wilson is the author of the Substack Kate Wilson Has Zero F***s to Give, where she writes essays on films. She’s also the author of the 2024 novella Prospects, which is about a woman who shows up in Los Angeles to work “in the industry” and which one reviewer described as having “made me laugh out loud many times, and moved me to tears in others.” She is the co-founder of the Call It! App, which empowers people to create a safer workplace. She’s a 25-year veteran of the film industry and lives in London with her family.

In Episode #014 of NonDē Uprising, Kate analyzes the joy and profundity of the zero- and one-star review. She explains why schmoozy, swanky press tours are ruining critical reviews, uncovers the secret joy of the lowest reviewed flicks, and urges viewers to watch movies “blind” more often.

jillian vogel has worn many hats throughout her career. She’s a development executive now but she’s also been a producer (she’s one of the producers behind the rom-com Fire Island), a studio executive at Imagine Entertainment director of development at Jax Media, which helped create Russian Doll and Emily in Paris. Jillian also writes Chicken Scratch, her Substack where she offers a “peek inside her notebook” – her treasured Moleskine.

In Episode #013 of NonDē Uprising, Jillian recalls Quibi. Remember Quibi? Jillian does. She breaks down how company execs lost the plot on what viewers actually wanted, why she’s obsessed with Quibi’s “fail big” philosophy, and why artists have to think like business people — and vice versa.

Evan Shapiro is an Emmy- and Peabody-award winning producer of TV, films, and podcasts. He served as President of IFC and Sundance Channels and has become known as the “Cartographer of the Media Universe.” He currently runs the Substack Media War & Peace and co-hosts the Media Odyssey Podcast. He also recently collaborated with his daughter to make Skit, a $65k film that had distribution planned before production even started—a tried and true blueprint that’s as NonDē as it gets.

In Episode #012 of NonDē Uprising, Evan shares his vast knowledge of emerging media trends and explains why the creator economy is here to stay. He predicts how big brands will try to act more like creators, why Taylor Swift is the ultimate NonDē icon, and why everyone should be hunting down their 100 biggest fans.

Having worked as an entertainment journalist and film critic, Charlotte Simmons now writes for her publication, The Treatment, while also writing screenplays, designing games, and being extremely modest about her creative output. Charlotte is without a doubt one of the sharpest, most introspective film critics on Substack. In her review of Saltburn, she essentially introduces a new method of film criticism, which she brilliantly puts on display in her review of One Battle After Another.

In Episode #011 of NonDē Uprising, Charlotte Simmons demonstrates her infamous “new film criticism” by applying it to comic book movies. With a profoundly philosophical lens, she analyzes the cultural significance of comic book movies, explores their interconnectedness to genre, and offers points of contemplation that may offer audiences a way to enhance their cinematic experiences.