PANELISTS:

Asghar Farhadi

Writer/Director/
Producer

MODERATOR: Joe Utichi

"I couldn't go to sleep, and suddenly I felt like I had an idea for my next film and I started writing the whole night that night.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Nicole Kidman

Actor

Aaron Sorkin

Writer/Director

J.K. Simmons

Actor

Javier Bardem

Actor

Nina Arianda

Actor

MODERATOR: Pete Hammond

"Lucy and Desi were passionately in love with each other, and it's just heartbreaking that the two of them couldn't get it together to have this relationship for very interesting reasons.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Kenneth Branagh

Writer/Director/
Producer

MODERATOR: Dominic Patten

"It's the story of that moment that changed my life, changed the lives of our families… That moment when children have to perhaps be assuming a kind of grown-up quality that they weren't quite ready for.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Justin Chon

Writer/Director/
Producer/Actor

MODERATOR: Rosy Cordero

"Putting those kind of of images on a screen is very important because it normalizes an image that's not foreign or exotic anymore.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Mike Mills

Writer/Director

Woody Norman

Actor

MODERATOR: Justin Kroll

"The story, the heart of it came from me having a kid, and living with my kid, and experiencing the world with them, and having someone need you so fully.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Sian Heder

Writer/Director

Marlee Matlin

Actor

Emilia Jones

Actor

MODERATOR: Antonia Blyth

"This is what you can do with American Sign Language in a film, not only casting it authentically and respecting the culture, but displaying emotions in so many new ways that Hollywood could have done for such a long time with lots of deaf actors in film.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Adam McKay

Writer/Director/
Producer

MODERATOR: Mike Fleming Jr.

"I started thinking about all the presidents that we've had, and I was like, ‘Holy crap, it has been a murderer's row of louts and rollovers and suck-ups.' I took a little bit from each...” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Denis Villeneuve

Co-Writer/Director/
Producer

Mary Parent

Producer

MODERATOR: Anthony D’Alessandro

"It was the fastest meeting of my life -- it was like 45 seconds. I was dreaming to work on these books for 40 years, and we just shook hands and that was it.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Ridley Scott

Director/Producer

Lady Gaga

Actor

Adam Driver

Actor

Jared Leto

Actor

MODERATOR: Mike Fleming Jr.

"This is a modern Medici story in a funny kind of way. To me it is so extreme, it is almost operatic in its extremes, the way it comes down.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Dan Stevens

EP/Actor

MODERATOR: Pete Hammond

"What this film really reminded me...is that comedy is a great playground for philosophy...it doesn't always have to be in those heavy handed brow-beating kind of way.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Clint Bentley

Co-Writer/Director
/Producer

Clifton Collins Jr.

EP/Actor

Molly Parker

Actor

MODERATOR: Todd McCarthy

"Pound for pound, the toughest athletes on the planet. Just little and tough, and they break bones like putting your shoes on in the morning.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Reinaldo Marcus Green

Director

Zach Baylin

Writer

MODERATOR: Antonia Blyth

"There are many iconic moments in their life, and I think we worked hard to try to find the moments we didn't know.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Jan P. Matuszyński

Director

Tomasz Ziętek

Actor

MODERATOR: Todd McCarthy

"The problem was not the situation in the police station, the problem was that it was getting more and more political. This is something that is universal.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Florencia Martin

Production Designer

Michael Bauman

Cinematographer

Andy Jurgensen

Editor

MODERATOR: Anthony D’Alessandro

"You can have a day where you’re shooting like 'Oh my God, I don’t know if this is working'. The next day you can take a look at it and be like, ‘Oh, this is great.’” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Fran Kranz

Writer/Director/
Producer

Reed Birney

Actor

Ann Dowd

Actor

Jason Isaacs

Actor

Martha Plimpton

Actor

MODERATOR: Antonia Blyth

"I wanted to tell a story about forgiveness and reconciliation because I want to feel more of it.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer/Director

Penélope Cruz

Actor

MODERATOR: Pete Hammond

"This is not melodramatic. I tried to be as close to reality. Everything that happens in the end, I did like a documentary.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Sean Baker

Co-Writer/Director/
Producer

Simon Rex

Actor

Bree Elrod

Actor

Suzanna Son

Actor

MODERATOR: Joe Utichi

"We found their psyche to be so complex and interesting and disturbing that we wanted to tackle that as a character study.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Jennifer Hudson

EP/Actor

Liesl Tommy

Director/EP

Lawrence Davis

Hair Department Head

Clint Ramos

Costume Designer

Stevie Martin

Makeup Department Head

MODERATOR: Valerie Complex

"When I say everyone was there out of love and respect for Miss Franklin, you could feel it in the energy.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Garth Jennings

Writer/Director

MODERATOR: Anthony D’Alessandro

"[Bono] mentioned the fact that it reminded him of AM radio -- in that we had a mix of music, a vast array of music -- and he always loved that.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Pablo Larraín

Director/Producer

Kristen Stewart

Actor

MODERATOR: Joe Utichi

"I’m not somebody who had a super developed relationship with her as a figure...but I wouldn't have played this part unless I loved her.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Elaine Bogan

Director

Amie Doherty

Composer

MODERATOR: Antonia Blyth

"II’ve been an equestrian since I was a kid, and I grew up watching the first film until I broke the DVD in half.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Benjamin Cleary

Writer/Director

Mahershala Ali

Producer/Actor

Naomie Harris

Actor

MODERATOR: Dominic Patten

"It was more complicated than I imagined, but it was just a beautiful collaborative experience to be there for each other.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Tom McGrath

Director/
Story By/EP

Jeff Hermann

Producer

MODERATOR: Matt Grobar

"The thing that’s always exciting about the prospect of a sequel is really pushing open the boundaries of that world ... and seeing how much more can you do.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Benedict Cumberbatch

Actor

MODERATOR: Ryan Fleming

"The real electricity is love. That’s the flow, that’s the course that runs through his entire life. And, of course, it’s all from Emily.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Fernando León de Aranoa

Writer/Director/Co-Producer

Javier Bardem

Actor

MODERATOR: Dominic Patten

"We aim to tell the story through humor, because with humor you can also access the minds of the people in a different way.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Writer/Director/
Producer

Dakota Johnson

Actor

Peter Sarsgaard

Actor

MODERATOR: Pete Hammond

"AI know when you can create a space where there is actual love and respect, and it has to be real, then people take these wild risks onscreen. Then you're watching people actually learn something on film, instead of watching them pretend to learn something.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Jane Campion

Writer/Director/
Producer

Benedict Cumberbatch

Actor

Kirsten Dunst

Actor

Kodi Smit-McPhee

Actor

MODERATOR: Pete Hammond

"Hey, if it’s good enough for Paul Newman, who am I to shy away from the opportunity?” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Ben Affleck

Actor

Tye Sheridan

Actor

Daniel Ranieri

Actor

MODERATOR: Pete Hammond

"It is really only one of two times in my whole career that I had a great director send me a great script with a great part and offer it to me.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Andrew Garfield

Actor

Robin de Jesús

Actor

Alexandra Shipp

Actor

MODERATOR: Joe Utichi

"When I started to understand who Jonathan Larson was, it was as if Lin was re-introducing me to a long-lost brother I didn't know I had...” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Stefan Dechant

Production Designer

Mary Zophres

Costume Designer

MODERATOR: Justin Kroll

"One of the first things he said was he didn’t want to deny the original text was for a theatrical experience. He wanted an abstraction right away.” Read Story Here

PANELISTS:

Joachim Trier

Co-Writer/
Director/EP

MODERATOR: Matt Grobar

"We’re pretending it’s a small story about a young woman trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life, but actually, we’re making it more epic in the structure.” Read Story Here