NonDē Uprising

Brooke Berman is an award-winning playwright, filmmaker, and author of three books, including a memoir, No Place Like Home. Her plays have been produced all over the world and include Hunting and Gathering, Smashing (which she adapted for Natalie Portman), Out of the Water, Sam & Lucy, and more. Her most recent work is Ramona at Midlife, which is now streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Fandango.In Episode #027 of NonDē Uprising, Brooke looks back at her journey as a playwright and offers playful yet practical advice like understanding how a dumpster fire gives a person room to grow, making a movie with friends is better than chasing movie stars, and why saying “I don’t know” can be the most convincing statement you utter. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Diana Cherry is a writer, producer, and activist who writes the Substack I’m Thinking of Mending Things. She is the managing editor and producer for the upcoming The Who We Are Project, a documentary travel series that will uncover hidden histories of oppression, resistance, and resilience in the United States, focusing on the history of anti-Black racism.In Episode #026 of NonDē Uprising, Diana talks about why truth can be stranger and more impactful than fiction. She dissects O Brother, Where Art Thou and argues it is a Black movie, a little-known Eric Larsson nonfiction book whose big reveal feels so crazy (yet is true), and breaks down why adaptations like Little Women pull in the author’s personal experience to drive the narrative. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Count on Ari Gold to always take the non-traditional path or make what seems straightforward a bit more interesting. Ari’s most recent film, Brother Verses Brother, was executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and premiered to rave reviews at SXSW. It’s a one-shot musical odyssey and a companion to Ari’s first book of poetry, Father Verses Sons. Ari’s work has screened at hundreds of other festivals and has won best film at SXSW twice. He’s now in post-production for his fourth feature film, Helicopter.In Episode #025 of NonDē Uprising, Ari talks about the surreal honor it is to have your hero be your mentor, the power of shooting a movie without permits or paperwork, and why shooting entirely in one shot was more than a gimmick. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Sandra Lehner is considered the TV Futurist on Substack for her uncanny ability to understand where Gen Z gathers for their cultural diet. A former marketer for films, she now works with the people who create content to understand how Gen Z consumes content and strategically think about the media landscape.In Episode #024 of NonDē Uprising, Sandra untangles why she thought she left film for marketing and what she realized in her new career. She explains why mainstream culture doesn’t exist any more, demographics don’t hold as much value as they once did, and how a European soccer YouTube show altered her thoughts on what makes content successful. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Thomas Verdi is a film director currently in pre-production on his feature debut, The Community. His work has been featured by Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Film Independent, No Film School, AT&T Shape, and more. He also founded and runs Wellsboro Film Festival, Discontent Media Group, and The Film Fund, which has awarded over $150,000 in funding to winning filmmakers. In Episode #023 of NonDē Uprising, Thomas explains how his pursuit of becoming a filmmaker led him down an unavoidable path of starting a string of businesses. He talks about how he merged his interests in filmmaking and entrepreneurship, reflects on the entrepreneurial tactics of his filmmaker heroes, and ponders how younger generations might react to a new wave of low-budget films. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

TimG (Tim Gleason) worked as an engineer at Google for fourteen years. He led a wide variety of teams and eventually founded an internal startup that developed AppSheet Databases. His final role involved helping to launch NotebookLM. The day after he retired, The Big Break started production, and Tim suddenly began his career as an actor.In Episode #022 of NonDē Uprising, now-actor Tim Gleason offers us cinephiles an outsider’s perspective on the independent film business. He asks some of the hardest questions we have to confront here: How can a person discover or stumble upon good indie movies if streaming platforms are catering towards big Hollywood productions? Will the rocky movie theater business ever show indie movies again like the 90s heyday? And can Tim bring his insight from developing successful apps to the film ecosystem? Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Sasha Santiago is a fixture in the NonDē community, and in many ways, was enacting NonDē elements in his work long before NonDē was coined. He’s a filmmaker with 20 years of work under his belt, much of which he’s written and shot within one month on tight budgets, with a series of short films he shot during the pandemic being made for what he has called #ZeroBudgetShoots.In Episode #021 of NonDē Uprising, Sasha Santiago fires on all cylinders trying to solve the broken cinema ecosystem. He contemplates how advancements in tech might benefit NonDē filmmakers, champions community-building efforts, and explains how guerrilla filmmakers have the upper hand. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Shagun Singh is an artist, first and foremost. Through Urban Matter, she creates large-scale interactive sculptures that bring together architecture, technology, and human-centered design. Her installations include a pop-up mobile confession booth with an AI “priest,” a grid of illuminated pixels over an empty Brooklyn storefront allowing strangers to play ping pong using their phones, and an air quality sensor encouraging passersby to unlock tips to counter air pollution. Her Substack, Science of Art, focuses on the practical and sustainable considerations of making art your career.In Episode #020 of NonDē Uprising, Shagun illuminates why she believes making art and making a living aren’t contradictory goals. She explains how artists can utilize grants and find additional sources of income, suggests equity structures that can support entire communities of artists, and gives tips on how artists can juggle their career goals with the realistic necessity of paying bills. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

It’s one thing to make a movie; it’s another to sell it. Alex LeMay’s Substack, Pitch Craft, helps creators pitch projects for funding. In addition to offering his own expertise on pitching to Hollywood studios, Alex is currently funding his own project openly sharing statistics and information to help fellow filmmakers see his process (how NonDe!).In Episode #019 of NonDē Uprising, Alex reimagines what the film industry will look like by the end of this year. He predicts how the tech takeover of Hollywood will launch what he calls “Hollywood 2.0,” why studio executives’ reliance on gatekeeping will fall apart as creators gain control of moviemaking, and why he thinks the best days of Hollywood are still ahead of us. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Stephen Follows mixes data and filmmaking in his fascinating Substack asking the questions you might have always wondered but never knew how to answer. If your brain hobbles down towards questions like “What makes people never want to rewatch a great film?” or “Which colors dominate movie posters and why?”, you’re in for a treat. And if being able to back that all up with charts and numbers gets you tickled, you’ll be swooning.In Episode #018 of NonDē Uprising, Stephen breaks down why audiences pick feelings, not films, when they sit down to watch a movie. He explains why “trash” movies make for the best comfort watches, the “creative cowardice” of production companies, and why emotional safety is crucial for NonDe movies to succeed.Note: This episode is audio only. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

jen harrington is an exemplar of the NonDē movement. She wrote and directed the horror movies Shook and Housekeeping, and has sold her scripts Hell’s Belles to Amazon Studios and The End of Liz As We Know It to Sony Pictures. She’s also had an impressive documentary career, editing Gaga: Five Foot Two, Banksy Does New York, Source Family, and Bogalusa Charm, for which she wrote as well. In her Substack, Inspired, Jen delves into the art of screenwriting.In Episode #017 of NonDē Uprising, Jen dips into the nerve-wracking world of microbudget filmmaking. She gives pointers on how to think about your (micro)budget when you’re writing your script without hindering your creativity, when to fold in absurdity into your process, and why she hopes horror loses its grip as the microbudget genre of choice. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

If you’re in the NonDē world, the FilmStack community, or have some knowledge of what it means to produce a movie, then you know of Ted Hope. He’s of course the brains behind Hope For Film, his Substack that helped launch the NonDē movement. So it’s quite appropriate for him to come back to the podcast and talk about the paradox of starting a leaderless movement.In Episode #016 of NonDē Uprising, Ted chats about how working in corporate filmmaking informed how he thinks about NonDē, why it’s important to engage with people who don’t agree with you, and the crucial key to making NonDē a movement with lasting power. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Fawnia Soo Hoo is a freelance fashion and entertainment journalist whose bylines have appeared in Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, Elle, W Magazine, GQ, CNN, and more. She writes Whatever Nevermind on Substack, which explores Gen X pop culture through the lens of modern fashion, beauty, and entertainment.In Episode #015 of NonDē Uprising, Fawnia offers insight into the ultimate business-in-the-front-party-in-the-back style statement: the mullet. She dives into the surprisingly political history of the mullet, what kind of characters tend to sport the style, and why people love to hate the hairdo. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Kate Wilson is the author of the Substack Kate Wilson Has Zero F***s to Give, where she writes essays on films. She’s also the author of the 2024 novella Prospects, which is about a woman who shows up in Los Angeles to work “in the industry” and which one reviewer described as having “made me laugh out loud many times, and moved me to tears in others.” She is the co-founder of the Call It! App, which empowers people to create a safer workplace. She’s a 25-year veteran of the film industry and lives in London with her family.In Episode #014 of NonDē Uprising, Kate analyzes the joy and profundity of the zero- and one-star review. She explains why schmoozy, swanky press tours are ruining critical reviews, uncovers the secret joy of the lowest reviewed flicks, and urges viewers to watch movies “blind” more often. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

jillian vogel has worn many hats throughout her career. She’s a development executive now but she’s also been a producer (she’s one of the producers behind the rom-com Fire Island), a studio executive at Imagine Entertainment director of development at Jax Media, which helped create Russian Doll and Emily in Paris. Jillian also writes Chicken Scratch, her Substack where she offers a “peek inside her notebook” – her treasured Moleskine.In Episode #013 of NonDē Uprising, Jillian recalls Quibi. Remember Quibi? Jillian does. She breaks down how company execs lost the plot on what viewers actually wanted, why she’s obsessed with Quibi’s “fail big” philosophy, and why artists have to think like business people — and vice versa. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Evan Shapiro is an Emmy- and Peabody-award winning producer of TV, films, and podcasts. He served as President of IFC and Sundance Channels and has become known as the “Cartographer of the Media Universe.” He currently runs the Substack Media War & Peace and co-hosts the Media Odyssey Podcast. He also recently collaborated with his daughter to make Skit, a $65k film that had distribution planned before production even started—a tried and true blueprint that’s as NonDē as it gets.In Episode #012 of NonDē Uprising, Evan shares his vast knowledge of emerging media trends and explains why the creator economy is here to stay. He predicts how big brands will try to act more like creators, why Taylor Swift is the ultimate NonDē icon, and why everyone should be hunting down their 100 biggest fans. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Having worked as an entertainment journalist and film critic, Charlotte Simmons now writes for her publication, The Treatment, while also writing screenplays, designing games, and being extremely modest about her creative output. Charlotte is without a doubt one of the sharpest, most introspective film critics on Substack. In her review of Saltburn, she essentially introduces a new method of film criticism, which she brilliantly puts on display in her review of One Battle After Another.In Episode #011 of NonDē Uprising, Charlotte Simmons demonstrates her infamous “new film criticism” by applying it to comic book movies. With a profoundly philosophical lens, she analyzes the cultural significance of comic book movies, explores their interconnectedness to genre, and offers points of contemplation that may offer audiences a way to enhance their cinematic experiences. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Kate Casey is the host of Reality Life with Kate Casey, a daily podcast about unscripted television with over 1,500 episodes that is in the Top 10 in TV & Film on Apple Podcasts. She’s also the creator of What to Watch This Week With Kate Casey, where she shares the best in new unscripted TV, covering sports docs, true crime, deep-cut documentaries, reality gems, and everything in between.In Episode #010 of NonDē Uprising, Kate Casey makes a convincing argument that the smartest people watch reality TV. She dissects how celebritydom has become more democratized and accessible, the shockingly endearing humanity of Ozzy Osbourne, and why reality TV is one of our culture’s best tools for the study of human behavior. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Courtney Daniels has written and directed three feature films: What Other Couples Do, Bedroom Story, and It’s Not You, It’s LA. She’s also published a book about microbudget filmmaking called Yes You Can – How to Make a Movie for Almost No Money, as well as a short novel, A Blind Date in NYC. And if that weren’t enough, she also hosts the podcast Gen X at Midlife.In Episode #009 of NonDē Uprising, Courtney Daniels talks candidly about her journey in developing a proactive, healthy work ethic. She explains the interconnectedness of action and pride, how she’s managed to overcome doubt to reclaim a productive attitude, and what’s keeping her motivated in 2026. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Richard Lorber is the Chairman and CEO of Kino Lorber, a leading independent film distributor in North America bringing films to audiences in theaters, on streaming with Kino Film Collection, and in physical home entertainment. Kino Lorber and Kino Film Collection are known for curating critically acclaimed arthouse films, documentaries, and international titles, including recent release Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which just received an Oscar nomination last week.In Episode #008 of NonDē Uprising, distribution legend, Richard Lorber breaks down the misguided distinctions between independent and nondependent distribution strategies. He addresses the frustrations both indie and NonDē filmmakers face when seeking distribution, explains Kino Lorber’s current efforts to address these frustrations, and urges filmmakers to look closer for common ground among their peers. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Marion Ranchet currently runs Streaming Made Easy and co-hosts The Media Odyssey Podcast. With 20 years of experience in the industry, she advises streamers, distribution platforms, and technology vendors on how to launch and grow in Europe.In Episode #007 of NonDē Uprising, Marion Ranchet offers lessons to Americans from the European cinema ecosystem. She discusses the importance of localization, France’s four-month theatrical window, and why Cineville works despite the failure of Moviepass. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Ted Hope is a producer on over 70 films, studio exec on over 60, and he launched Amazon’s foray into feature film production. Known as FilmStack’s resident coach, his newsletter Hope For Film is not only essential reading for today’s filmmakers, it is also where NonDē was born. Ted also initiated two community-curated newsletters: FilmStack Daily Digest and FilmStack Deep Dive.Before we started recording, Ted told me two things: “I don’t like video podcasts” and “I don’t like the 20-minute format.” On the other hand, he did let me choose his topic. In Episode #006 of NonDē Uprising, Ted Hope has 20 minutes to tackle everything there is to say about utopia. Good luck, buddy. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Dan Mirvish is a prolific filmmaker, equally prolific author, and the co-founder of Slamdance Film Festival. His book The Cheerful Subversive Guide’s to Independent Filmmaking was a #1 Amazon bestseller. His most recent film 18 1/2 is currently available to stream, while his upcoming film Atomic Fondue just launched on Kickstarter. In Episode #005 of NonDē Uprising, Dan Mirvish talks about the extensive pre-production process for his upcoming film Atomic Fondue. He talks about crowdfunding, ways to increase a film’s production value, and the eternal uphill battle of NonDē filmmaking. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Danielle A. Scruggs is the founder and curator of Black Women Directors, a digital library. Her work has been featured in Marie Claire, Blavity, The Cut, and Block Club Chicago. In 2025, Danielle won two Webby Awards, including Best Personal Website and a People's Voice award.In Episode #004 of NonDē Uprising, Danielle A. Scruggs takes us back to the 90s and recalls the significance of Black cinema soundtracks. She gushes about her favorites, ponders their downfall, and offers some hope for soundtracks to come. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Ben Sinclair is iconically known as the star and co-creator of the critically acclaimed show High Maintenance. His long list of additional acting credits includes the film Save Yourselves! and episodes of Dave and The Resort, which he also produced and directed, as well as an episode of Poker Face, which he also directed. In Episode #003 of NonDē Uprising, Ben Sinclair explains our culture’s need for experiential art and entertainment. He recounts the NonDē origin story of High Maintenance as a Vimeo web series, the destructive forces currently threatening art, and the emerging trends that are finally fighting back. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Elliot Grove founded both the Raindance Film Festival and the British Independent Film Awards, and is a prolific writer championing independent filmmaking.In Episode #002 of NonDē Uprising, Elliot Grove recounts legendary stories from the lead-up and early years of founding Raindance Film Festival in 1992. He also explains why he believes British people are snobs, questions whether theatrical cinema is dead, and shares optimism on the upcoming NonDē film wave. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe

Sandi Tan is best known for Shirkers, which made its debut at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and won the Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary. She is also a novelist with two published books: Lurkers and The Black Isle. In Episode #001 of NonDē Uprising, Sandi Tan talks about how Netflix probably wouldn’t make her 2018 film Shirkers in 2026. She reflects on Shirkers, talks about its impact on aspiring filmmakers, and discusses what she’s working on now. Get full access to The Big Break at nondeuprising.substack.com/subscribe