A film by Daniel Talbott & Andrew Klaus-Vineyard
Extraordinary queer filmmakers kiki on life
Stand Tall Go Higher is a feature documentary that highlights a diverse group of queer filmmakers exploring the tenets of queercore filmmaking.
In intimate interviews, filmmakers explore how adverse circumstances — including lack of resources and political and cultural hatred for the LGBTQ+ community — have always fueled the community's filmmaking power and resilience.
Shot largely over one raucous day at a backyard BBQ in North Hollywood, the film gathers sixteen filmmakers to kiki on craft, survival, and the joy of making work no matter what.
Director
Daniel Talbott is an award-winning screenwriter and director and co-curator of The Black Cat Cinema Series. He runs Orphan Andy Films and is co-producing the feature film Upon Starvation with Neeraj Churi, as well as the half hour queer drama series Born Again (SeriesFest 2026).
His first feature film co-written and co-directed with Samantha Soule — Midday Black Midnight Blue — premiered at SIFF in Seattle and was released by Good Deed Entertainment. His feature script Gray is in active development with Motor Productions and Killer Films, and he is working with the folks at Saga Film on the limited television series To the Light.
He also co-directed the queer doc film Welcome to Tool Shed, which just began its festival run in Cannes 2026, and is currently in production directing his second feature, The World's Coming In Fast. Other TV writing includes The Mist, based on the Stephen King novella, and The Conners on ABC. He is a graduate of Juilliard.
Director
Andrew Klaus-Vineyard is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, musician, theatre director, and visual artist. His films include This House Is Not a Home, Motel, Unknown, At Large, Like Lightning, the upcoming All These Little Deaths, and the acclaimed documentary Welcome to Tool Shed, co-directed with Daniel Talbott.
Klaus-Vineyard is of Inuit, Icelandic, and Jewish descent, which fuels his passion for storytelling. He studied contemporary art and practice at Savannah College of Art & Design and holds a degree in Cultural Studies (focused on Queer, Feminist, & Marxist Theory in Media Analysis) and Time-Based Art from Portland State University and an MFA in Directing from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa.
He is also an internationally exhibited visual artist with commissions from The Tate Modern as well as solo exhibitions of video installations and photography. Klaus-Vineyard releases music as Lovers of the Arctic Circle. He is also a curator of the Black Cat Cinema Series — along with Daniel Talbott and Javier Fuentes-León — a monthly queer film screening series in Los Angeles, CA.
Producer
Erin Bednarz spends her time telling stories and amplifying human aesthetics through sound, music, performance, and production. After 15 years in Seattle, WA she's ecstatic to realize a bi-coastal existence between LA, New York, Seattle, and the East Coast at large.
She's got a particular knack for new works, takes a dramaturgical approach to most things, and really really loves collaborative relationships.
As a sound designer Erin works nationally, regionally, and institutionally in theatre and dance. Erin's work was directly mentioned in Wall Street Journal while accruing her third Off-Broadway credit of 2019. That same production caught literary attention from The New Yorker and became Critics Pick for the NY Times twice in a row. Another collaboration of hers is under a multi-year commission from American Repertory Theater, and took home multiple awards in Boston, MA's Elliot Norton ceremony. She also holds a Gregory Award (Seattle, WA) in Outstanding Sound and Music Design.
In film production, Erin works in capacities of Co-Producer, Lead Line Producer, 1st Assistant Director, Casting Director, and Event Manager. In full, Erin has contributed to projects that have collected over 23 awards, nominations, and selections. This year, she signed on as Junior Publicist + Marketing Assistant for Slamdance Film Festival.
Erin holds over a decade of Seattle-based artistic involvement with contributions to LiveGirls Theatre, Seattle Fringe Festival, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle Theatre Leaders, and Cheat Day Collective (a 4 Culture Grant Recipient). She is an incoming member of 14/48 Projects' Board of Directors and co-founder of Umbrella Project, a company investing in new play development throughout the Pacific Northwest. She has taught and served as a mentor for students navigating their way into a career in theatre and design at Cornish College, University of Washington, and Atlantic Theater's Acting School at NYU.
Executive Producer
Elissa Middleton joined the cast of Abby Rosenbrock's jet-black comedy Dido in Idaho, directed by Abigail Deser at LA's premiere indie stage, The Echo Theater, alongside Alana Dietze, Julie Dietzen, Nicole LePort, and Joby Earle.
On film, Elissa can be seen in two streaming features, as Jeannie Berlin's daughter in Harry Greenberger's Here After, and in Niav Conty's Small Time. Recent theater roles include Rebecca in Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes, in a workshop production directed by Guy Zimmerman; Queen Emer in W. B. Yeats' The Only Jealousy of Emer, directed by Dublin's Ray Yeates; the Baroness in the US premiere of Lermontov's Masquerade, performed with a 50-piece orchestra at St Ann's in Brooklyn; Helene Marais Rosenthal in James Bosley's Broad Channel; and the lead in the world premiere of Meredith Anthony's Murder on the Main Line at Manhattan Repertory Theater, which Elissa also directed. Her husband Clark directed her and the great Matthew Cowles in Craig Lucas' Reckless, and she performed and produced William Leavengood's one-woman play Special, about autism, at Theatre Row.
In New York, Elissa studied with William Esper, Austin Pendleton, and Jon Shear, among others. She completed Shane Ann Younts' two-year course in Voice, Diction, and Shakespeare. Elissa speaks five languages with impressive fluency, did her BA in Political Philosophy and Art History at Reed College, and earned an MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence.
Her book Spirit & Time, about jazz drummers, was recently published by Blue Note Records as part of their box set The Blue Note Review, whose magazine, Out of the Blue, Elissa edits. Her interview with drummers Victor Lewis and Billy Hart about Tony Williams also appears in the magazine. Elissa also edits the international art journal of the Laboratory Arts Collective.
Sound Designer
Mert Özcan is an award-winning Los Angeles–based sound designer, mixer, and music producer with over ten years of experience in film, television, and music. Founder of the Grammy-nominated studio The Record House, he has crafted sound for acclaimed films, major broadcast campaigns, and immersive Dolby Atmos productions, bringing a cinematic approach to every story he helps tell.
Editor
Noah Larsen is a multidisciplinary artist, editor, model, and media producer based in New York City. His films have been screened in festivals across both coasts, and his artwork has been shown in collaboration with MIX NYC x Museum of Modern Art (2025). In 2024, he and four other artists began Astroturf NYC, a music and arts collective based in Brooklyn, NY.
With a modeling journey that began in high school, Noah has walked for designers including Chanel and Lanvin, and recently modeled on the latest season of Project Runway, as well as acted in national commercials for RuPaul's Drag Race. He is also a singer-songwriter and regularly performs in New York.
Composer
Chris Waldt is an NYC-based music producer and DJ. They began producing electronic music in their bedroom while in high school, after receiving a copy of FL Studio from a friend. In 2019, they had their debut release on Canadian producer deadmau5's label, mau5trap, followed by releases in 2021 and 2024 on LA-based Space Yacht, along with several independent digital releases under the name CxC, a hard dance collaboration with fellow producer/DJ CYNTHESZR.
In 2021, they began performing live, and later formed the collective Astroturf NYC with friends in the Brooklyn scene to showcase the best the local underground has to offer.
Featured Filmmaker
Liam Calvert is a filmmaker from Leeds in the UK whose work explores identity, connection, and character-driven queer drama. With an MA in Film Production and background experience in assistant directing for major broadcasters like the BBC and Channel 4, he brings a grounded, craft-focused approach to storytelling.
His directorial feature debut A Night Like This premiered at BFI Flare and played around the world prior to its UK theatrical release. Currently based in Margate, Liam is developing his second feature while mentoring emerging talent.
Featured Filmmaker
Iris Dukatt is an emerging queer theatre and filmmaker who moves fluidly between stage and screen, committed to telling stories of taboo femininity. She's currently in preparation for her feature debut, DEATH DEATH, with Purple Intuition, and writing an original feature script, QUEENING.
Her most recent short, LONG PORK, starring Lena Headey, screened at Fantasia, Woodstock, Hollyshorts, NewFest, and Cleveland International, and won Best Horror Short at Cordillera Film Festival. Her directing work spans strange and playful worlds — Hungry Women, winner of the Soho Playhouse Lighthouse Series, MYTHICC, Pretty Girls Don't Light Their Own Cigarettes, and SUCKER.
As a producer, Iris is Head of Production at the ad agency Studio Lewis and served as Associate Producer on the short film GAPS (Tribeca FF 2023, NAACP Image Award nominee). She's an alumna of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and repped by literary manager Marc Manus.
Featured Filmmaker
With a background as a producer, writer, and actress, Annalea Fiachi has collaborated with filmmakers and global brands like Google, Porsche, and Facebook to bring all kinds of stories to life. Her producing credits include the award-winning shorts Snake Dick (Oscars Long List) and Pizza Panic Party, which enjoyed a two-month theatrical run at the Nuart Theatre.
Featured Filmmaker
KC Fralick is a writer and filmmaker from Utah's Wasatch Front, now living in West Hollywood with her wife and bunny. Her work includes the upcoming documentary short A Wake, the essay “Happiness in Family Life” for Folio Magazine, and the feature mockumentary 801, which she produced. She is an editor at Queer Film LA.
Asked once in a class exercise to describe herself, she said “guarded” while her partner called her “bubbly.”
Featured Filmmaker
After graduating as a doctor in medicine in Peru, Javier Fuentes-León received an MFA in film directing at CalArts. His short film Rooms (1997) won the Peruvian National Award.
His debut feature, Contracorriente (Undertow), won 50+ international prizes, including the 2010 Sundance Audience Award. It was nominated for a Goya Award (Spain's Oscars) and was Peru's 2011 Academy Award submission.
His subsequent films include The Vanished Elephant (Toronto 2014) and The Best Families (Rome, Busan 2020). Fuentes-León has directed and co-written two Netflix series: Wild District (Season 1) and Contigo Capitán.
He's the songwriter and lead singer of the indie rock band Left Avenue Joiners. He has also served on Film Independent's Board since 2012.
Featured Filmmaker
Cheri Gaulke has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and a Master of Arts degree (in Feminist Art/Education) from Goddard College. She has presented her work at the Museum of Modern Art (NY), the Museum of Contemporary Art (LA), in a Smithsonian-touring exhibition, and in settings all over the world including buses, churches, and prehistoric temples. She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, and the Brody Arts Fund. Her work has been written about in numerous books and publications. She was recently inducted into the UCLA Oral History Program and in 2004 received a mid-career COLA (City of Los Angeles) fellowship.
In 1975, she moved to Los Angeles to be involved with the Feminist Studio Workshop at the Woman's Building. There she embraced the notion that feminist art could raise consciousness, invite dialogue, and transform culture. She worked primarily in performance art from 1974–1992, addressing themes such as religion, sexual identity, and the environment. In addition to her solo work, she cofounded collaborative performance groups Feminist Art Workers (1976–81), which merged feminist art and education techniques into interactive performances; and Sisters of Survival (1981–85), who wore nun's habits in the spectrum of the rainbow and presented their anti-nuclear performances in Europe and the U.S.
Though Gaulke has moved away from performance, the feminist art strategies that she helped to innovate in the 1970s in southern California continue in her work. Her art continues to be a vehicle for social commentary and as a way to tell the stories of individuals and groups under-represented in society. She works in a variety of media, but mostly video, installation, artist's books, and public art. Such projects have included a video in collaboration with lesbian and gay teens, a photographic wall installation about lesbian and gay families, a video installation with Latino teenagers about the L.A. River, and a video installation about kids' perspectives on a river in North Carolina. Gaulke has completed three public art projects — a Metro-Rail Station in Los Angeles that tells stories about an oft-ignored urban river, an outdoor sculptural piece for a library in Lake View Terrace, and three stainless steel and glass glowing “Pillars of Community” for the City of Lakewood. A black granite memorial honoring the service of Filipino WWII veterans was dedicated on November 11, 2006 in a park in Historic Filipino Town, Los Angeles.
Featured Filmmaker
Ashley Gianni is an award-winning LGBTQ+ filmmaker, actor, and founder of Pizza Bagel Pictures, LLC, a queer, female-led production company dedicated to telling bold, socially impactful stories. Her work centers on uplifting queer and female voices, using storytelling as a tool for connection, healing, and change.
She recently appeared alongside Lindsay Lohan in a national Pure Leaf Tea campaign, and made her directorial debut with “Sorority”, a trans-centric short that earned 14 Official Selections and 7 awards. Ashley Executive Produced, Directed, Co-Wrote, and starred in the film, created by a predominantly queer, all-female team.
Ashley Executive Produced, Co-Wrote, and starred in the 2024 award-winning short film “The Fuscos” (12 Official Selections, 5 awards), a queer, female-driven twist on the classic 70s mob film. Her latest short, “The Late in Life Guide to Modern Day Lesbianism”, a satirical yet heartfelt 90s-style training video exploring identity, belonging, and the joy of coming into yourself, is currently on the festival circuit.
Ashley is financing her drag-inspired LGBTQ+ feature comedy “No Rules”, a Top 5% Coverfly script with 12 laurels. For more, visit norulesfilm.com.
Ashley holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Chapman University and is a proud SAG-AFTRA, WIF, WIM, and FilmmakeHERs member. ashleygianni.com · pizzabagelpictures.com · @ashleygianni
Featured Filmmaker
Jonathan Hammond is a three-time Emmy-nominated writer/director. He is the co-recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Justice and Peace, and a San Diego Film Award for Best Writing.
He has received dozens of awards for his filmmaking and is the recipient of two KPBS Explorer Grants. He is also the winner of Best Writing for the 2016 San Diego International Fringe Festival, and his work was selected for the prestigious New Playwrights Festival at The Old Globe in San Diego.
He attended the University of Illinois and NYU Tisch School of the Arts before moving to Los Angeles with his puppy, Dashiell Hammond.
Featured Filmmaker
Sydne Horton is a 2026 Film Independent Project Involve Directing Fellow and an alum of Women in Film's Directing Mentorship and the Emmys Television Academy Foundation Internship. Their work has screened in the Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival, Palm Springs ShortFest, and SXSW EDU, with their short Saturday Ritual winning the Best Teen Film Audience Award at NewFest.
Horton's films have also been exhibited at Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture and featured in the book I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies.
Featured Filmmaker
Joey Milberg is an award-winning writer and director who crafts intimate, compelling films that seek to capture the nuances, struggles, and triumphs of queer identity. His mission? To offer audiences an intimate and thought-provoking glimpse into lives that are often underrepresented on screen.
His restrained approach, mixed with his experimentation with narrative structures, visual aesthetics, and emotional depth, results in haunting, unforgettable stories. Joey is driven by a passion for authenticity and the desire to challenge conventional perspectives.
Featured Filmmaker
Giancarlo Nasi is a film producer, founder and former President of the Chilean Academy of Cinematic Arts, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and a mentor and jury member at some of the world's most prestigious film festivals. Specializing in international co-productions, he has collaborated with partners from more than 20 countries on over 20 feature films through Quijote Films.
His most notable productions include Land and Shade by César Augusto Acevedo, winner of the Caméra d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival; The Settlers by Felipe Gálvez, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, won the FIPRESCI Prize, and was selected as Chile's submission for the 2024 Academy Awards; and The Blue Trail (2025) by Gabriel Mascaro, which competed in the Official Competition at the Berlin International Film Festival and won the Silver Bear.
His most recent production, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo by Diego Céspedes, received the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Brussels International Film Festival, and was selected as Chile's official submission for both the 2026 Academy Awards and the Goya Awards. The film's success also led to its director being invited to serve on the Official Competition Jury at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
Featured Filmmaker
Born in Peja, Kosovo in 1992, Erblin started acting at ten years old. They earned their B.A. from George Mason University, where they studied film with a concentration in directing and a minor in photography. Their short film BINI, based on the day they became a refugee during the 1999 Kosovo war, won multiple jury prize and audience awards, a Regional Student Emmy Award, and was nominated for a Student Academy Award. Erblin is currently developing their debut feature film titled “I Love You More,” which so far has been awarded funding from the Kosovo Cinematography Center and the Albanian National Cinematography Center.
Featured Filmmaker
Saúl Ornelas has directed 4 short films, including “Carnival”, which won 1st place in PROCINEDF's “Barrios Originarios de la CDMX” contest, and “My Own Valentine”, which has amassed over 648K views on YouTube. His short film “Three Courses” has enjoyed an extraordinary international run, being selected in 25 film festivals and winning 8 awards worldwide.
As a writer, “Close & Broken”, a screenplay he co-wrote, was part of the 1st Young Talents Forum at FLICC. He is currently in pre-production for his next short film, the black comedy drama “Fragmentos de un Duelo” (working title in English: “Fragments of a Loss”). Across his career, he has worked on 10 feature films, a series, and a reality show within the direction, production, and BTS departments.
Featured Filmmaker
MT Peralta is the Director of Community & Volunteer Engagement for Queer Film Collective. He is a writer, producer, and creative who enjoys building spaces where people feel seen and heard.
With a background in sociology and a passion for storytelling, MT is dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices, particularly within LGBTQ+ communities.
Featured Filmmaker
Tyler C. Peterson (he/him) is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and the founder of Capital Emmy-winning production company Lux Daze Media. He is best known as the Writer/Director for short films STAN BEHAVIOR and COPPER & WOOL.
Raised in rural Maryland, Tyler graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor's Degree in film and a thirst for challenging industry ideologies. Living in Baltimore, he began exploring both his voice as a Writer/Director and his own queer identity. With a passion for leading projects that put diversity as a priority both in front of and behind the camera, he established Lux Daze Media in 2015. His work focuses on character-based stories following outsiders within niche communities, often playing between opposing genres.
Now based in Los Angeles, Tyler is developing features and promoting his fifth short film, STAN BEHAVIOR, on the festival circuit. Prestigious selections include the Oscar-qualifying Provincetown International Film Festival, Miami Film Festival, Frameline: The San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, NewFest: The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival, and SCAD Savannah Film Festival, where the film was presented by Amazon MGM Studios. The film stars Ginger Minj (RuPaul's Drag Race, Hocus Pocus 2) and Yvonne Zima (Our Flag Means Death). It won the Audience Choice Award at the Queer Fear Film Festival 2024, and Tyler received the Outstanding Director for Comedic Short Form Award at The Micheaux Film Festival 2024.
In between his own directorial projects, he Co-Produced Jena Burchick's feature-length documentary Mom & M, which won the Emmy Award for Best Documentary – Cultural/Topical at the 2023 National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Emmys. Tyler is currently developing his first feature film, Bellevue. The screenplay placed as a Quarterfinalist in Final Draft's Big Break Screenwriting Competition 2024 and Top 50 in Roadmap Writer's Jumpstart Writing Competition 2025.
Featured Filmmaker
Jackson Smith is a gay Canadian American filmmaker. In 2017, he graduated from Chapman University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production. His short film “The Chocolate Soldier” was an official selection at dozens of festivals around the globe, including Cleveland International Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and Camerimage.
He has since written, directed, and produced web series, short films, and archival content for Disney, DC Comics, Prime Video, and more. His latest short “Rodeo” is a queer surrealist horror film completed as part of the Agnès Anger Araki Akerman Dunye Film Challenge. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Featured Filmmaker
Wendy Wang is an LA-based Asian American writer, director, and producer and a USC School of Cinematic Arts alum with extensive experience in independent film production. She produced the independent feature Peacefully Conflicted, along with award-winning shorts including Kickstart My Heart (starring Emma Pasarow), Inked, and Burn Out (starring Everett Osborne and Tommie Earl Jenkins, executive produced by Jamie Lee Curtis). She is currently attached as producer on the feature films Invader (AMP) and Stay (Beryllium Entertainment), and is the writer of the upcoming feature Posthumous (Beryllium Entertainment).
Wendy is a hands-on producer known for her ability to balance a story's creative ambitions with the practical realities of production. Drawing from experience across multiple genres, she develops adaptable workflows that keep projects running smoothly from prep through delivery. Known for her collaborative leadership, she fosters inclusive, emotionally safe sets where actors and crew can do their best work. She is passionate about shepherding character-driven stories that connect with audiences while supporting filmmakers in bringing their unique visions to life.
Outside of filmmaking, Wendy is an avid gamer and volunteers in both pet rescue and homeless advocacy. Her diverse interests often inform her creative work, allowing her to bring fresh perspectives and specialized knowledge to the stories she helps bring to the screen.
A production of Orphan Andy Films