THE HOLLYWOOD PODCAST

Starring Golden Globe nominee Sarah Hay (Flesh and Bone) and Matthew August Jeffers (New Amsterdam), the Outfest Centerpiece feature Unidentified Objects is surreal sci-fi tinged comedy that follows a curmudgeonly gay dwarf (Jeffers) and his free-spirited neighbor (Hay) who hit the road in search of an alien abduction on a trip that will alter their relationship—and their sense of reality—forever. Along the way, their friendship will be tested by shroom-addled survivalists, overzealous cosplayers, and the painful realization that we possibly may be alone in the universe.  

Unidentified Objects director Juan Felipe Zuleta is a Colombian film-maker based in New York City. Starting his career at NYU, he has directed content for brands like Comcast, Budweiser, and Major League Baseball, as well as music videos for top artists like multi-platinum star Russ. His creative honors include support from the Richard Vague Production Fund, a Cannes Silver Lion, and being shortlisted as a Cannes Young Director. Juan’s second feature film project was accepted into the Frontières International Co-Production Market.

As Director of Festival Programming Mike is in charge of programming Outfest Los Angeles and ensuring the highest experience of filmmakers and audiences at all Outfest festivals. He has over a decade of experience in the finance, production and distribution aspects of the industry. Mike joins Outfest after five years as Acquisitions and Distribution Executive at Radiant Films International, and five years prior to that as a Creative Executive at Hyde Park Entertainment. Since 2014, he has been the Director of Programming for the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) and is an Associate Programmer for AFI FEST.

Ximena García Lecuona is the screenwriter of the upcoming Amazon Prime original film Anything's Possible. Serving as the directorial debut of Tony, Grammy, and Emmy-winning actor Billy Porter, Anything's Possible tells a modern Gen Z coming-of-age story of a trans high school student, Kelsa, as she navigates her senior year.

BAFTA-nominated make-up and hair designer Lynda Armstrong chats with THE HOLLYWOOD PODCAST on her latest work in the Hulu original movie, THE PRINCESS, starring Joey King. Armstrong discusses how she created the characters'' medieval looks and her sources of inspiration in doing so. She also touches on the symbolism behind Joey King's fiery red hair and the challenges of styling hair and make-up for characters constantly performing in fighting sequences.

Armstrong's previous credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Empire of the Sun, A Fish Called Wanda, Batman, 101 Dalmations, Troy, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, season 3 of the FX series Atlanta, and the final season of the Netflix series Stranger Things.

Production designer Liz Toonkel discusses the fictional, miniature world she created within our own in the newly released A24 film MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON.

Based on the viral YouTube videos from several years ago, Marcel is an adorable, 1-inch-tall shell who ekes out a colorful existence with his grandmother, Connie, and their pet lint, Alan. Once part of a sprawling community of shells, they now live alone as the sole survivors of a mysterious tragedy. However, when a documentary filmmaker discovers them, the short film he posts online brings Marcel millions of passionate fans, as well as unprecedented dangers, and a new hope of finding his long-lost family

The coming-of-age teen dramedy Hulu series Love, Victor comes to a sweet and satisfying conclusion with the release of its’ third season this past week. Serving as a spin-off television series to Love, Simon, Hulu’s Love, Victor has tackled a few of the many issues teens face, especially young LGBT people. From coming to terms with your sexual identity to having your first romantic relationship, Love, Victor has captivated young audiences around the globe through the realistic portrayals of high school students from different walks of life.

This season finds Victor going on a journey of self-discovery – not only deciding who he wants to be with, but more broadly, who he wants to be. With their post-high-school plans looming, Victor and his friends are faced with a new set of problems that they must work through to make the best choices for their futures.

Michael Cimino and George Sear discuss what working on Love, Victor has meant to them the past several years, how it’s blazing a trail for LGBTQ stories in television, and the biggest lesson they’ve learned from working on the series that they’ll take with them to future projects.

Oscar-nominated production designer Laurence Bennett (THE ARTIST, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, SHOW ME A HERO, THE WIZARD OF LIES, BILLIONS) discusses how he designed the never-before-seen story of making one of the greatest films in cinematic history, The Godfather, in Paramount+’s new series, THE OFFER.

THE OFFER follows Oscar-winning producer, Albert S. Ruddy (Miles Teller), throughout his journey towards the development and production of Francis Ford Coppola’s (Dan Fogler) landmark NYC gangster film The Godfather. The miniseries is based on Ruddy’s extraordinary, never-before-revealed experiences of producing one of the greatest films of all time; a film that was almost never made.

Laurence discusses how he designed the entire production in Los Angeles and how he overcame the challenge of selling 1968-1973 New York City, Los Angeles, Sicily and more while being on set in Los Angeles as well as staying true to the real-life events of the behind-the-scenes true events of the making of The Godfather.

Emmy-winning production designer Todd Fjelsted, whose past work you may know from series such as LOOKING, NOW APOCALYPSE, GLOW and HELSTROM, is kicking off 2022 with a bang with two already-popular series now streaming.

The first, Showtime's THE FIRST LADY, chronicles the lives of three influential first ladies; Michelle Obama (Viola Davis), Betty Ford (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Eleanor Roosevelt (Gillian Anderson). The other is AppleTV+'s ROAR, a feminocentric anthology series created by Liz Flahive and Carly Mensch (GLOW).

It's likely that cinematographer Simon Dennis, BSC has shot some of your favorite shows over the last several years. From the popular British crime drama PEAKY BLINDERS to his deep portfolio of work on Ryan Murphy projects including POSE, AMERICAN CRIME STORY, RATCHED, THE POLITICIAN, and HOLLYWOOD, Simon has delighted, entertained, and frightened audiences with his camera work over the several popular shows he's worked on. Now, Dennis is out with Hulu’s new true crime miniseries CANDY, which just premiered earlier this month.

The five-episode series is set in 1980s Texas and follows the true story of killer Candy Montgomery (Jessica Biel), a housewife and mother, who murders her best friend, Betty Gore (Melanie Lynskey).

Simon discusses how he captured the 1980s time period associated with the series and the research he undertook into studying the real-life community of Wylie, Texas during the time of this crime. Additionally, Simon spoke about his ongoing working relationship with Ryan Murphy over the years, especially the most recent Murphy project IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY.

Executive produced by Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix and Oscar-nominated actress Rooney Mara, The End of Medicine exposes the link between emerging health threats, such as pandemics and antibiotic resistance, and the role of animal exploitation. Told through the lens of industry whistleblowers, government advisors, medical experts, and leading scientists, The End of Medicine sounds the alarm few have heard.

Alex Lockwood is a BAFTA award winning documentary filmmaker from Birmingham, UK. He won a BAFTA in 2019 for his short film 73 Cows. The film premiered at Raindance Film Festival and was screened at European Parliament in order to provoke change in agricultural law. He founded his own film production company which initially focused on low-budget corporate films for local businesses but now only produces projects which aim to shed light on issues of ethics and sustainability.

Dr. Aysha Akhtar, M.D., M.P.H., is a double-board certified neurologist and preventive medicine specialist, with a background in public health, and is a U.S veteran. Currently, she is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Contemporary Sciences (CCS). As an accomplished author, she has published two books, added her expertise to peer reviewed journals and is a Tedx speaker. Dr. Akhtar is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.