Brown Arts Institute

Hollywood Creators Series

FILM/TV | CONVERSATIONS
Spring 2025–2026
A series of intimate conversations with influential writers, producers, and directors, hosted in collaboration with the course Advanced Screenwriting in the Department of Literary Arts.

Spring 2026

April 16, 2026: A Conversation with Talia Light Rake

Thursday, April 16, 2026, 12:30 – 1:30 PM
Englander Studio, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts

Talia Light Rake is a Los Angeles–born, Brooklyn-based writer, director, and producer. A 2023 Film Independent Fellow and NYU Development Lab Fellow, her short film The Captives premiered at Mill Valley Film Festival and screened at festivals nationwide, including the American Cinematheque’s PROOF Film Festival. She has produced content for Sundance, Tribeca, and New York Fashion Week. In 2022, she founded Heavy Shovel Productions, a production company and filmmaker community reaching more than 100k creatives online, where she shares practical insights, resources, and behind-the-scenes perspectives on independent filmmaking. She also created The Big Dig, a curated filmmaker matchmaking event designed to bring artists together through intentional, data-informed pairings that foster collaboration and hiring opportunities. She is currently developing the indie TV series Too Romantic, executive produced by Bachelor couple Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon

Postponed: A Conversation with James Grey

Postponed

James Gray made his directorial debut in 1994 at the age of 25 with LITTLE ODESSA, a widely acclaimed film which received the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. In 2000, Gray wrote and directed THE YARDS, his second feature and his first with Joaquin Phoenix, who would become a frequent collaborator, going on to star in his next three films: WE OWN THE NIGHT (2007), TWO LOVERS (2008) and THE IMMIGRANT (2013), all of which screened In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. 

Gray's THE LOST CITY OF Z, based on the best-selling novel by David Grann and starring Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland, had its world premiere as the closing night selection of the 2016 New York Film Festival and was released in theaters by Amazon and Bleecker Street in 2017. Disney/Fox’s AD ASTRA, directed by Gray and starring Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones, world premiered In Competition at the Venice Film Festival and was released in theaters in September 2019. 

His latest film, ARMAGEDDON TIME – which he directed, wrote and produced – was inspired by his own childhood in 1980s Queens. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by screenings at the Telluride Film Festival and New York Film Festival before its release by Focus Features in October 2022. 

Gray just finished production on his latest feature, PAPER TIGER, starring Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller and Adam Driver. Born in New York City, Gray grew up in Queens and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television.

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