THE HOLLYWOOD MAKERS

In our episodes of The Hollywood Makers, we’re looking for the same thing: people who are actually inside the changes happening in the media industry right now. This week’s guest, actor George Finn, is exactly that.George stars opposite Michael Bisping and Cuba Gooding Jr. in Atlas King, a crime thriller he didn’t just act in, he helped build it from the inside with his brother, director Nika Agiashvili. To play the part, he trained twice a day alongside actual UFC and Pride fighters. Host Valeria Asbjornsen has an honest and lively conversation with him about the choices people don’t see on screen.George also shares his take on AI in film, as someone who has genuinely thought about where it helps creators move faster and where it affects the work entirely. And something very interesting that’s been building for the past decade or so: he’s honest about the follower-count era of auditioning, the pressure every actor now carries to be a brand before they’re ever cast, and what that does to the stories that get greenlit.This is why we keep having these conversations. The industry is being rebuilt in real time, by tech, by new distribution, by who gets access and who is building their own roads, and the people living through that change have the most honest read on where it’s headed. George gave us that.Atlas King hits streaming platforms on August 21st! Watch it on Apple TV, Amazon Video, or Fandango.Listen to Valeria’s conversation (no filter) with George Finn on your favorite podcast app or watch the full episode on YouTube before you stream the movie!Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to get my latest articles and insider conversations with the new era of Hollywood Makers, and catch where the industry is going next. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

What does it mean to bring authenticity to a character when your own cultural identity becomes part of the process? Actor Keanush Tafreshi joins Mona on The Hollywood Makers to talk about it.From theater stages to sharing the screen with names like Richard Gere and Michael Fassbender in The Agency, Keanush opens up about playing Hassan Zamani with vulnerability and complexity instead of stereotype, and what it meant to reconnect with Farsi, the language he grew up speaking, as part of preparing for the role. He also gets honest about rejection, uncertainty, and the discipline it takes to keep showing up for your craft.This one hits different if you’ve ever chased something the industry didn’t hand you.🎙️Listen now on The Hollywood Makers podcast and on YouTubePromotional images courtesy of Paramount+ Press Express.Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: EKZWWFWWAUUESSIYSubscribe for free to receive new posts! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

What happens when two childhood friends run into each other on a Hollywood set and decide to throw a small “pop-up” film screening in a Soho loft?You expect maybe 20 or 30 submissions from local friends. Instead, you get hit with a tidal wave.Seventeen years later, the Soho International Film Festival has evolved into one of New York City’s most passionate, fiercely loyal hubs for independent cinema. But holding onto the raw, grassroots spirit of indie filmmaking in an era dominated by corporate mega-festivals, AI, and streaming giants isn’t easy—it’s a high-stakes balancing act.In this episode of the Hollywood Makers Podcast, host Anna Poghosyan sits down with multi-hyphenate creator and SOHO Film Fest Executive Director Sybil Santiago to pull back the curtain on what it really takes to build, curate, and protect a space for independent storytellers.In this episode:* The Soho Loft That Started It All: The accidental birth of a 17-year New York institution, and why standard film festivals were failing indie creators from the start.* The Anti-Theme Philosophy: Why Sybil completely rejects themed blocks or rigid genres when programming, and the surprising way she arranges short films to manipulate audience emotion.* Story vs. Star Power: What actually makes a submission stand out among thousands (and why an A-list cast won’t save a weak film).* The Golden Rule for Filmmakers: The single biggest mistake indie creators make when attending festivals, and how to actually turn a screening into long-term career momentum.“Film festivals were created to discover new voices, not just to sell commercial space. We can’t turn our backs on the storytellers who are still finding theirs.”This episode is part of THM Lab, our Gen Z creator series from The Hollywood Makers, with conversations on what’s next in the evolution of the media industry.Press play above to watch the full conversation with Sybil Santiago, and discover what it takes to survive, and thrive, in the world of independent film festivals.You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, AmazonMusic and all podcast apps. Music licensed through Soundstripe. Code: YPQQZFF77PVVIJWMEnjoyed this episode? Don’t forget to hit the Subscribe and share this post with fellow filmmakers and movie lovers! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

This episode, Mona sits down with EDM artist Joey Cash for a raw, no-filter conversation about what it actually takes to build a music career on your own terms.Joey talks about his path from classical violin to guitar to full-blown electronic music, and how “Are You Kissing Anyone” first put him on the map, even though he now calls it his least favorite song. The conversation gets real when Joey opens up about perfectionism and overproduction as his biggest creative obstacles. He also drops some blunt advice for anyone trying to break into the industry, so if your area as a Hollywood Maker is the music industry, this episoe may be for you.Joey also shares how social media reshaped the music business for young artists, and what fans can expect from his upcoming tour.This is a look at what it means to make music as a young artist right now.🎧 Follow Joey Cash: Spotify, Apple Music, Instagram, and TikTok This episode is part of THM Lab, our Gen Z creator series from The Hollywood Makers.Subscribe to be part of our community! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

New Hollywood Makers episode is up. Valeria sat down with her film school friend Amanda for a conversation that unpacks post grad life in this industry in a way that feels honest, not scripted.The title comes from a moment in the episode where they get into typecasting: the actors we keep seeing cast in the exact same role, versus the ones who actually surprise us. It turns into one of those tangents that says a lot about where the industry is right now, and it’s exactly the kind of fresh perspective our younger contributors from THM lab bring to the show, alongside every other multicultural voice and generation we feature.They also get into the realities of breaking in behind the scenes, a moment about an indie film that basically sums up why 2026 has been such a wild year for young filmmakers (Can you guess?) and a story about one tiny edit that completely changed a movie’s ending. Plus some advice at the end that honestly applies to more than just film.Go listen. hero, on your favorite podcast app, or watch the full episode on YouTube.Subscribe for free to receive new posts! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

An Episode by Anna PoghosyanA fake Instagram account just surpassed Warner Bros’ own marketing campaign, and nobody saw it coming. On this episode of The Hollywood Makers, host Anna Poghosyan sits down with Diego Andaluz, the marketing consultant behind it, who has worked across A24, Warner Bros, Neon, and Warner Music Group, to unpack exactly how it happened. Watch the full interview to know how Diego’s innovative methods made the success of the film. The core strategy was simple in concept and bold in execution: build an Instagram account where the film’s main character lived online as if he were a real person. No direct ads, no mention of the movie in the early posts, just the character being chaotic on the internet. Brilliant!The account ended up with more followers than several major studio marketing campaigns released this year.The key part I believe wasn’t the result, it was the philosophy behind it. Diego talks about treating marketing as an art form first, and a numbers strategy second. Anna interviews him with that same energy, the conversation moves like two people who speak the same cultural language, not like a formal industry interview.Whether you work in marketing, production, or just want to understand why certain campaigns actually connect right now, it’s worth watching Diego Andaluz’s episode of The Hollywood Makers Subscribe, share, and join me championing the multicultural, intergenerational voices shaping the future of media. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

In this episode of The Hollywood Makers, Mona sits down with Audio Prophecy, a DJ with over 20 years of experience and a practicing pediatrician based in Boston, for an honest look at what life in DJ and nightlife culture really looks like beyond the highlight reel.Audio Prophecy opens up about how his love for music was born during a childhood of constant movement, from Iran to Istanbul to Los Angeles, and how collecting music became his only constant. From the underground warehouse parties of 80s and 90s LA to playing the Moulin Rouge in Paris, his journey is one driven by genuine love for the craft, not clout.We get into the realities nobody posts on TikTok: empty dance floors, industry politics, rejection, backstabbing, and the relentless work it takes to stay relevant when every five minutes someone younger with more followers is coming up behind you. We also explore how he balances his career as a pediatrician with life as a DJ resident, and why the two worlds fuel each other more than you’d expect.If you’ve ever been curious about what nightlife looks like from the inside, without the Instagram filter, Mona pulls back the curtain in this one. Her ability to move between the personal and the professional gives Audio Prophecy the space to be genuinely candid, and it shows.Watch the full episode on YouTube and listen on all podcast platforms.Subscribe for free to receive new posts. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

Three New Voices. Three Elite Universities. One Shared Obsession here at The Hollywood Makers... This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

From Tijuana to Hollywood: How Truth Becomes Art - with María Jimena GastelumWhat happens when you grow up belonging to two worlds at once, crossing a border every morning just to get to school, absorbing two cultures, two languages, two ways of seeing life?For actress María Jimena Gastelum, that became her superpower.In this conversation with Rossy E. Eguigure, María Jimena shares her journey from community theater in Tijuana to training at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in Los Angeles, and what it truly takes to build a career in Hollywood with intention, integrity, and purpose.This episode is about more than acting. It’s about the courage to be a changemaker through storytelling, enjoy what you do, the power of representation, and why the stories we choose to tell, and the ones we choose not to tell, matter more than ever.For the creatives, the dreamers, and everyone building something meaningful for this world: listen to a person who is impacting with her craft... and remember, she’s one of the new talents to watch out for! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rossyeeguigure.substack.com

In this special episode, Rossy E. Eguigure shares the main purpose behind The Hollywood Makers community and how it's growing now with "RxMedia + Culture".After decades producing on both U.S. coasts and witnessing Hollywood’s cultural shifts from the inside, Rossy puts into writing her commitment to audience intelligence, multicultural storytelling, and the evolving relationship between media, tech, and humanity.She shares the moment that pushed her to start writing about it formally, and ...yes, it involves the film Idiocracy, so she shares with media psychology analysis and her experience on production, what Hollywood still gets wrong about audiences, and why understanding cultural context has never been more urgent.RxMedia and Culture is now live on Substack, offering unapologetic, insight-driven analysis on culture, tech disruption, the creator economy, and the future of media, straight from someone who has lived these shifts firsthand.Whether you’re a creator, producer, executive, or culture-curious listener, this is your invitation to join a community that’s rethinking the industry with clarity, context, and no filter.Subscribe to RxMedia + Culture on Substack and stay connected with The Hollywood Makers across YouTube and all podcast platforms. And join us on social.