THE HOLLYWOOD PODCAST

Emmy and NAACP Image Award nominated directors Deondray and Quincy Gossfield – known for being the couple behind the GLAAD Media Award-winning series, The DL Chronicles, that paved the way for Black queer storytelling, as mentioned by The Advocate. Now they’re out with their latest project Smoke, Lilies and Jade which is a short film adaptation from writer/painter Richard Bruce Nugent’s short story about the life of Alex (Xavier Avila), a poetic artist who encounters Beauty (Ernesto Reyes), a Latino man, while cruising Harlem during its famed Queer Renaissance during the 1920s. Beauty quickly becomes the object of Alex’s desires. Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Billy Porter serves as narrator and also stars Alexandra Grey who’s been named one of Hollywood’s biggest stars on the Rise by Out magazine.

Inspired by true events, Everybody's Talking About Jamie follows Jamie New (Max Harwood), a teenager from Sheffield, who dreams of life on stage. While his classmates plan their livelihoods after they leave school, Jamie contemplates revealing his secret career ambition to become a fierce and proud drag queen. His best friend Pritti (Lauren Patel) and his loving mum (Sarah Lancashire) shower him with endless support, while local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle (Richard E. Grant) mentors him toward his debut stage performance. But Jamie also has to contend with an unsupportive father (Ralph Ineson), an uninspired careers advisor (Sharon Horgan), and some ignorant school kids who attempt to rain on his sensational parade. In rousing and colourful musical numbers, Jamie and his community inspire one another to overcome prejudice, be more accepting, and to step out of the darkness into the spotlight.

Jonathan Butterell makes his feature film directing debut with Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Butterell is a stage director and choreographer who has worked in London, New York and around the world. As well as developing and directing the stage show of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, further theatre director credits include: Alone Together; Floyd Collins; Peter Pan; and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Butterell created the musical staging for the Tony® award-winning shows The Light in the Piazza and Assassins, as well as the revival of Fiddler on the Roof and the musical staging for the original workshop of Sondhiem’s musical Wise Guys with Nathan Lane and Victor Garber at New York Theatre Workshop, directed by Sam Mendes. Butterell also choreographed the Tony award-winning Nine, starring Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera on Broadway (and further productions in London, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo, all directed by David Leveaux).

Newcomer Lauren Patel will make her screen debut in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the feature film adaptation of the hugely successful West End Musical of the same name. Lauren will play “Pritti Pasha,” a modern Muslim girl who is Jamie’s best friend and ally. Originally from Bolton, Lauren was cast as “Pritti” after responding to an open call for the film, while still studying at college.

Emmy-winning producer/director Chris McKim is known for his executive producing work over the years for RuPaul’s Drag Race. In 2017, he won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special for the TV documentary Out of Iraq. He also won the 2020 Freedom Award at LA Outfest for the film Freedia Got A Gun. His newest film Wojnarowicz is an autobiographical portrait of the life of noted New York artist, writer, photographer, activist David Wojnarowicz.

Written and directed by Luke Willis, Pool Boy is the tender love story which follows a conflicted young man who must reconcile his growing feelings for someone he never expected against the face he shows the world. GLAAD-award winning actor/filmmaker/activist River Gallo stars in the titular role, opposite Tim Torre. Pool Boy made its world premiere at BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival in August and also screened at the Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival. A highlight of the festivals, it was was hailed by critics and audiences, including a ringing endorsement from actor and writer Stephen Fry, who called the short "superb".

Actress/composer Brittany Allen is known for her Emmy-winning portrayal of Marissa Tasker in the soap opera All My Children, along with her performances in horror films such as Extraterrestrial, It Stains the Sands Red, Jigsaw and What Keeps You Alive. She also starred in a recurring role on the popular Amazon Prime superhero series The Boys. More recently, she has taken a step behind the scenes working as a composer for film & television, including the CW series Two Sentence Horror Stories and the new FX on Hulu series American Horror Stories.

Peruvian writer/director/producer Javier Fuentes-Leon most recently served as the director and executive producer of the first Colombian Netflix original series Wild District telling the story of a guerrilla fighter who moves from the jungle to Bogota after the signing of the Peace Treaty. Now, with his newest film The Best Families, Fuentes-León shares the story of a long-hidden secret which flips generational hierarchies upside down at a huge birthday celebration. Encompassing an important message on Latin American class relations, The Best Families has screened at the Miami Film Festival and the Outfest Los Angeles Film Festival. Fuentes-León’s films have screened and won prizes at festivals such as the aforementioned Outfest & Miami Film Festival, as well as the Sundance Film Festival. His 2010 film Undertow received a Goya Award nomination was the official Peru entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars in 2011. Fuentes-León shares with Max upcoming projects he's working on including a Netflix sports drama series, a rock musical, and more.

Two-time Emmy winning hair stylist Lawrence Davis is known from his work on a variety of notable films and television series such as J Edgar, Bessie, Green Book, Watchmen, True Detective, Lovecraft Country, and The Underground Railroad. Now, his work can be seen in the new Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, starring Jennifer Hudson. Davis has worked with Hudson for several years, and was tasked with creating different hairstyles across the multiple decades that the film is set in. On top of relying on his own heavy research, Lawrence was pleased to have the Franklin family on set as well, ensuring that Aretha’s character was portrayed as authentically as possible.

Davis also served as the hair department head on the critically-acclaimed HBO original limited series Mare of Easttown starring Kate Winslet, Jean Smart, Julianne Nicholson, and Evan Peters. For his work, Davis has received his fourth Primetime Emmy nomination this year for Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling.

Since 2002, Cinespia has grown to become the preeminent destination for the outdoor theatrical experience that brings movie magic to life with screenings of classic films throughout the year to an audience of hundreds of thousands from all around the world, including some of Hollywood’s most famous faces. With over 30 events per year, Cinespia hosts dazzling screenings under the stars at iconic venues throughout Los Angeles, primarily at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The 2021 season, presented by Amazon Studios, marks the 20th anniversary of the first and longest running outdoor screening series in Los Angeles. John Wyatt is the founder of Cinespia.

Johnny (Tre Ryder) loves his babysitter Melanie (Colby Minfie), and he’s heartbroken that it's her last day with him before she transitions into being a full-time doula. He discovers a YouTube video that teaches him about Free-Spirit Meditation, a practice by which you can send your spirit out of your body and into someone else’s body. Johnny sends his spirit into Melanie. He can see through her eyes and operate her body from the inside out. From there, the pressures of pretending to be someone else stack up fast. In this charming Freaky Friday meets Being John Malkovich fantasy, writer/director Joseph Sackett explores gender expression with pure wonder through a fresh and whimsical lens in his hilarious and touching feature debut.

Colby Minifie stars in Homebody as Melanie, the babysitter whom Johnny's spirit inhabits her body. Appearing on Broadway, television and film over the years, Colby is perhaps best known as playing Ashley Barrett in the superhero Amazon Prime original series The Boys. She's also appeared in the Amazon Prime original series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Netflix original film I'm Thinking of Ending Things, and the AMC series Fear the Walking Dead.

Joseph Sackett is an award-winning filmmaker who has written, directed, and produced projects that have screened in competition at the Festival de Cannes, Slamdance, OutFest, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the Rooftop Films Summer Series among others. He received his MFA in Screenwriting and Directing from NYU Graduate Film, and is the recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Grant. He is currently in post-production on his second feature film Cross Pollination.

Jump, Darling stars Cloris Leachman, who recently passed away at the age of 94, in her final starring performance, praised by critics in this worthy swan-song from the late Oscar-winning Hollywood legend.

Written and directed by debut filmmaker Phil Connell, Jump, Darling follows a rookie drag queen (played by newcomer Thomas Duplessie) reeling from a breakup who moves in with his declining grandmother (Leachman) to protect her from the local nursing home. The supporting cast of Jump, Darling includes Linda Kash (Best in Show), Jayne Eastwood (Chicago) and cameos from well-known drag queens Tynomi Banks (featured recently on Canada’s Drag Race), Fay Slift and Miss Fiercalicious. The film showcases six on-screen drag performances against a pop soundtrack including Robyn, Allie X, Rough Trade, Years & Years and more. The film is produced by Katie Corbridge (An Acquired Taste), Executive Produced by Karen Harnisch (White Lie) and Allison Black (Giant Little Ones).

Cloris Leachman won both an Academy Award and a BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Last Picture Show and holds the record for the most Primetime Emmy acting nominations in history – 22. She is best known for her role as Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, played to such great success that it led to her own television series spinoff, Phyllis.