Panelists

Allan Mandel-baum

Producer

Malik Hassan Sayeed

Cinematographer

Jessica Ronane

Casting Director

“Luca was adamant about leaning into the morally gray area of it all and ambiguity, not making it as clear cut as the original draft of the script was.”

Panelists

Ethan Hawke

Actor

Richard Linklater

Director/ Producer

“Larry Hart was not a big man, and it was part of his wonderful contradictions that I loved, which is that he was the smallest person in pretty much any room, and also the biggest person.”

Panelists

Sydney Sweeney

Producer/Actor

Kerry Kohansky-Roberts

Producer

“Christy wants to sign me to fight, so if I disappear for a year, guys, you know where I’m going to be.”

Panelists

Isamu Imakake

Director

“As they ride the dragon to go through many spirit worlds, they are learning what is good and evil, and they are able to see the rules that govern this world that divide good and evil. I wanted to portray the love that protects us all the time from the invisible world.”

Panelists

June Squibb

Actor

Tory Kamen

Writer/Executive Producer

“I do think our whole population is interested in age. … I think so many people are frightened of it, don’t know what it means, don’t know what it entails, aren’t living with their parents or grandparents so they have no reference at all. I think these films give them an idea.”

Panelists

Joseph Kosinski

Director/ Producer

Al Nelson

Supervising Sound Editor

“You’re talking about telling actors that you’re going to have two or maybe three takes with these scenes to get it right, when we normally have hours or days to shoot a scene.”

Panelists

Nia DaCosta

Writer/Director/
Producer

Tessa Thompson

Producer/Actor

“I was writing it during the Sundance I did not get into. So I was like, ‘Instead of being angry and being on Twitter, I’m just going to be using all that energy and write the first draft of the script.’ And that’s what I did.”

Panelists

Neeraj Ghaywan

Director

Ishaan Khatter

Actor

Vishal Jethwa

Actor

“I wanted to dismantle the victimhood of marginalized communities and to bring in the joy, bring in the human nature of it, like present them as humans and not just victims of stay subjugation or oppression. There are also people who love their families, love each other…”

Panelists

Park Chan-wook

Writer/Director/ Producer

Lee Byung Hun

Actor

“In the credits, when you see the special thanks section, I almost considered putting in the American studios that turned me down but I didn’t.”

Panelists

James Vanderbilt

Writer/Director

Rami Malek

Actor

“There was a sense that I had to bring every level of humanity into that room — whether it was wit, charm, being able to be disarming, being able to be incredibly intelligent and being as powerful and having as much steeliness as I could …”

Panelists

Joachim Trier

Writer/Director

Renate Reinsve

Actor

Stellan Skarsgård

Actor

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas

Actor

Elle Fanning

Actor

“This is a very personal story to all of us, because Joachim allows us to share our own experiences with each other. He kind of shapes the character to you or cuts lines out that he doesn’t think need to be said and kind of lives in those silences.”

Panelists

Ryan Coogler

Writer/Director/ Producer

“I grew up loving weird movies, horror cinema and literature. I hadn’t made anything in that space, and I felt like I hadn’t made enough moments that were surprising. Even though I had done that before, I wanted to make a movie full of them.”

Panelists

Scott Cooper

Writer/Director/
Producer

Ellen Goldsmith-Vein

Producer

Eric Robinson

Producer

“To see Bruce Springsteen, one of the biggest stars in the world, suffer the way he did and get through it, I thought it would give people a lot of hope.”

Panelists

Susanne Scheel

Casting Director

(A House of Dynamite)

Francine Maisler

Casting Director

(Sinners, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,

Ella McCay)

Bernard Telsey

Casting Director

(Wicked/ Wicked:

For Good)

Mary Vernieu

Casting Director

(Wake Up Dead Man:

A Knives Out Mystery)

Bret Howe

Casting Director

(Wake Up Dead Man:

A Knives Out Mystery)

Nina Gold

Casting Director (Jay Kelly)

“The relationships are so strong with who we work with, you’re able to challenge them, and they trust you.”

Panelists

Guillermo del Toro

Director

“I aged into it. I failed into it; I succeeded into it. My knees hurt; my soul hurts. I have f*cked up enough that I feel the pain of the questions that [Mary Shelley] has. And I try to sing that song as if it’s new.”

Panelists

Andy Gill

Stunt Coordinator

(Sinners)

Brian Machleit

Stunt Coordinator

(One Battle

After Another)

“For me, it’s fooling the audience that the actor did everything, or they did do everything because we trained him the right way.”