PUBLIC SCHOOL PICTURES PODCAST : Recent Episodes
PUBLIC SCHOOL PICTURES
Public School Pictures founder Emily Ruhl takes you inside independent filmmaking. Twice a month, Emily will speak with a cast or crew member behind one of your favorite Public School Pictures productions. #BACKTOSCHOOL
Meet Gemmarosa: Gemmarosa is a writer, director, and photographer based in New York City. She just finished her debut short, The Things We Bring, and has several new projects in the works. Through her writing and visual style, Gemmarosa interrogates themes of temporality, authenticity, and absurdity. As an intern for Public School Pictures, Gemmarosa directed a commercial and designed an online campaign for the company’s merchandise line.
GEMMAROSARYAN #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Matthew: Matthew is a film and business student at Northwestern University. He produced the feature length film Mixed Signals with Applause for a Cause. He is also the co-president of Northwestern's oldest student-run production company, Studio 22. Matthew had the privilege of working as a production assistant on the Public School Pictures short film Pretty Sad, and has enjoyed his time as an intern ever since. #MATTHEWMOSELEY #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Taylor: Taylor is a Los Angeles based actor most known for playing Ally Wernick in DAVE on FXX. She also starred in Pillow Talking, alongside Dave Burd (Lil Dicky) and John C. Reilly. Her other television credits include Paramount Plus Original Players, Netflix's American Vandal, and NBC's I Feel Bad. Taylor stars in Public School Pictures’ The Last Brunch and Pretty Sad. #TAYLORMISIAK #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Russell: Russell is a visual artist and producer. His moving image work has been featured in the New York Times, Rolling Stones, Billboard, and USA Today and has screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Berlinale, The National Gallery of Art, and the MoMA. He produced Thou Wast Mild & Lovely (named the 4th “Best Film of the Century So Far” in the New Yorker), Jules of Light and Dark (2018 NewFest and OutFest Grand Jury Prize Winner), and Public School Pictures’ Playland (screened at Rotterdam and the Tribeca Film Festival). #RUSSELLSHEAFFER #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Kelly: Kelly is a Brooklyn based marketing specialist and model. Since her acclaimed debut in 2012, Mittendorf has collaborated with Prada, Glossier, Balenciaga, Cuup, Ami Colé, Food52 and more. She is excited to add “actor” to her resume as Hella in the Public School Pictures film, Playland . #KELLYMITTENDORF #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Georden: Georden is a multimedia artist and was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 2022 “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” They center their work around the experiences of fringe communities and challenge traditional notions of preservation. Georden offers a fresh perspective on the interplay, interdependence, and entanglement of queer histories. They were a 2021-22 Fine Arts Work Center Visual Arts Fellow and an alum of the 2022 Zurich Film Festival Academy. Georden won gold at the 46th Student Academy Awards and was a 2021 Academy Gold Women’s Fellowship finalist. Their first feature PLAYLAND, which was executive produced by Public School Pictures, world premiered in the Tiger Competition at the 2023 International Film Festival Rotterdam and had its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is a recipient of the 2021 LEF Moving Image Fund and 2022 Frameline Completion Fund. PLAYLAND also participated in 2022 Gotham Week (formerly IFP). #GEORDENWEST #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURES
Meet Sascha: Sascha was raised in London, England, and has previously studied acting at Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, and The Barrow Group. She has acted in several short films, campaign commercials for Volkswagen, and the recent Disney+ film Black Beauty. Sascha plays Matilda Horowitz in Public School Pictures’ 13TH STEPPING. #SASCHABELLENASTASI #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Julia: Julia is an Iranian-American writer, director and producer. Her independent short film, Yasamin, was a grand jury prize nominee at the AFI Film Festival. She also produced the short documentary, Team Meryland, which was acquired by The New Yorker and PBS’s POV Shorts Program. Julia associate-produced the short documentary Long Line of Ladies which premiered at Sundance and won the Short Film Grand Jury Award at SXSW. She recently directed the Public School Pictures short film, In the Garden of Tulips. The film premiered at the Aspen Shortsfest. #JULIAELIHU #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Emily: Emily Ruhl is a model, actress, producer, writer, and director. She has appeared in Teen Vogue, Marie Claire, WWD, Seventeen Magazine, Nylon, Oyster Magazine, Elle Canada, and Flare Canada amongst many others. She has been the face of many cosmetic companies including Smashbox, Too Faced, KKW Beauty, and MAC. Emily first starred opposite Nicholas Hoult in Drake Doremus' feature film Newness, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She also made a cameo appearance in Troian Bellisario’s short film, Life on Mars.
BLUE MOON is her producing, directorial, and writing debut. The film premiered in October of 2021 at NewFest in New York City. The short has been to over 100 festivals around the world and won numerous awards in categories such as Best Romantic Short (1x), Best LGBTQ Film (3x), Best Woman Filmmaker (1x), Best Cinematography (1x), Best Short Film (4x), Best Director (4x), and Best New Director (2x). Additionally, she co-wrote and produced the theme song to BLUE MOON titled HER. She is currently in development for her first TV series, 13TH STEPPING. Emily wrote and stars in the project. The series is being produced through her production company, Public School Pictures. Public School Pictures executive produced Georden West’s feature film Playland, which recently debuted at the Rotterdam Film Festival and will premiere in North America at the Tribeca Film Festival. Emily also hosts the Public School Pictures Podcast, where she chats with a cast or crew member behind one of your favorite Public School Pictures productions. #EMILYRUHL #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURESPODCAST
Meet Jim: Jim is a writer, director, producer, and actor based in Los Angeles. He made Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2012. His short film Thunder Road won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016. The feature length adaptation of Thunder Road won the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW in 2018. Jim has also written and directed the Original Topic series Still Life and the Fullscreen Original series The Minutes Collection, episodes of which have screened at Sundance and SXSW. He has two more beloved feature films under his belt with The Wolf of Snow Hollow and The Beta Test in which he again wrote, directed and starred in. He started a yearly Short to Feature Mentorship Lab where he develops and consults the next generation of independent filmmakers. Jim’s work is funny and heart-breaking and continuously explores how you can become a filmmaker on your own terms. Public School Pictures executive produced his next two short films, The Last Brunch and The Marvel Short. #JIMCUMMINGS #MEETTHECREATIVE #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURES
Meet Brad: Brad is a Los Angeles based personal trainer with over 20 years of experience. He previously worked with Gunnar Peterson at his Beverly Hills location. Currently at his own gym, Brad has trained the likes of Slash, Sylvester Stallone, Kate Beckinsale, Charlize Theron, Sophia Carson, Bebe Rexha, Darren Star, Chandler Parsons, Mariah Carey, Rita Ora, and Rebel Wilson. He got Emily Ruhl in movie star shape for Public School Pictures’ 13TH STEPPING. #BRADSISKIND #BACKTOSCHOOL #PUBLICSCHOOLPCITURES
Meet Dusty: Dusty is a Wisconsin native and former firefighter. He moved to New York City to pursue his acting passions and used his skill in front of the camera to model for many brands including Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Frame. He is currently the face of the Stetson Spirit fragrance commercial and campaign. Dusty has been shot by photographers such as Bruce Weber, Mario Testino, and Mariano Vivanco. He recently made his acting debut as Jasper Collins in Public School Pictures’ 13TH STEPPING. #DUSTYLACHOWICZ #BACKTOSCHOOL #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURES
Meet Lena: Lena is an acting coach with over 20 years of learning under Nancy Banks and Larry Moss, and advanced studying in London and New York based on the techniques of Adler, Meisner, Hagen and Strasberg, built upon a BA in Drama from Vassar College. Based in Los Angeles, she is currently teaching at the Nancy Banks Studio. Her clients range from up-and-coming tv and film stars, to acclaimed West End and Broadway actors. She is also an actress herself, and has appeared in many television shows such as DIRTY JOHN: THE BETTY BRODERICK STORY, WESTWORLD and PRIME SUSPECT. Most notably, Lena starred in the New York theatrical premier of BEAST ON THE MOON directed by Larry Moss. Georgas’ performance was hailed by The New Yorker magazine as “luminous” and she was named by Variety as one of the “10 Actors to Watch.” She was the on-set acting coach for Public School Pictures’ BLUE MOON and 13TH STEPPING. #LENAGEORGAS #BACKTOSCHOOL #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURES
Meet Ana: Born and raised in Los Angeles, Ana first fell in love with film during her production classes in high school. During her time at Loyola Marymount University, she took a research trip to Cuba for a student documentary project. It was after that project, that she truly realized her dream was to produce both beautiful and culturally relevant content that connects people of all walks of life. She is passionate about filmmaking and advocates for storytelling that personifies the meaning of inclusion. Ana previously worked as an analyst at Warner Brothers Studio and is now the Visual Production Manager at Public School Pictures. #ANAPATINO #BACKTOSCHOOL #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURES
Meet Micah: Micah is a director, producer and cinematographer. His works include MENTHOL (2014 Santa Barbara IFF), SHADOW OF A GUN (2018 Narrative Feature Audience Award, Knoxville Film Festival), SUPER HEADY (2020 NoBudge). Micha’s short film DEL ARCO VACÍO was selected as the #1 finalist for Black Factory Cinema's 2018 program with Werner Herzog in Peru and went on to screen with the Werner Herzog Foundation in Munich. He has worked as a cinematographer and director on music videos for artists like Weyes Blood, Neil Hamburger, Alex G and Tim Heidecker. As a writer for No Film School from 2013-2020, Micah has reached millions of readers in his effort to stimulate discourse around films that reflect a commitment to personal and courageous work. He is currently in post-production on his fourth film SNAKE OIL SONG, shot on location in Colombia in 2021. The film is executive produced by Public School Pictures. #MICAHVANHOVE #BACKTOSCHOOL #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURES
Meet Zack: Zack began his career studying film at the University of Texas. After marking the move to Los Angeles, he landed a position at Parkes+Macdonald Productions. He went on to AMC Networks, where he worked in original development for the steaming services Shudder and Sundance Now. Zack also produced the independent feature film Thunder Road, which took home the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. The film and its producers were nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards, which is presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $500,000. His passion is finding and ushering in the next generation of independent filmmakers and creative storytellers as Public School Pictures’ Head of Development. #ZACKPARKER #BACKTOSCHOOL #PUBLICSCHOOLPICTURES