In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia tackle one of the most pressing debates in independent cinema: the tension between festival accessibility and the irreplaceable value of the in-person viewing experience. As more festivals offer virtual screenings, how do we balance democratizing access w...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia pull back the curtain on how the film industry really works—exposing the tension between profit-driven decisions and artistic quality, plus the unspoken rules that shape how critics write reviews.

The Business Behind the Art: In this candid conversation,...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia discuss filmmaker Theo Panagopoulos's award-winning short film, a profound meditation on how personal grief transforms into collective mourning—and how images themselves can be both testimony and violence.
Reclaiming History Through Wildflowers: Greek-Leb...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia explore how Sundance 2025 tackled one of society's most taboo subjects: assisted death. While Out for Delivery approached the topic through dark comedy—finding absurdist humor in delivery mishaps during a woman's final hours—other films at the festival ex...

n the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia discuss Rains Over Babel, exploring one of the film's most powerful undercurrents: the experience of grieving disability, feeling unholy in a world that demands perfection, and navigating societal exclusion in spaces that weren't built for you.
Beyond the ...

In the Wake TV Producer Shayna keeps it 💯🏾 about Rains Over Babel—and yes, we're talking about La Flaca, the Grim Reaper who is absolutely, undeniably HOT. Forget everything you thought you knew about Death: this version is sexy, commanding, and stealing every scene she's in.
When Death is the Ma...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia discuss Love, Brooklyn, director Rachael Abigail Holder's powerful directorial debut that tackles one of the most urgent issues facing Black urban communities: gentrification and the feeling of becoming a stranger in your own neighborhood.

A Story of Dis...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia discuss Out for Delivery, a darkly comedic film that finds absurdist humor in the most unexpected place: a woman's final hours. The film follows Joanna (Deanna Rooney), who has chosen assisted death after receiving a terminal diagnosis—only to have her pl...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia discuss Como si la tierra se las hubiera tragado ("As If the Earth Had Swallowed Them"), filmmaker Natalia León's powerful animated short that confronts the epidemic of missing women and girls in Mexico—a crisis that remains largely invisible in mainstrea...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia have a critical conversation about the missing people crisis and how the true crime genre's sensationalization distorts reality—making what is actually serial femicide appear as isolated incidents for entertainment consumption.

Beyond True Crime Entertai...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia discuss Such Good Friends, a biting dark comedy that proves some classics never lose their edge. Starring Dyan Cannon as Julie Messinger, a wealthy and seemingly naive housewife, the film takes a sharp turn when her husband's routine medical procedure goe...

In the Wake TV Producer Shayna gets brutally honest about the current state of film criticism and pop culture discourse—calling out the gatekeepers, rage-baiters, and clout-chasers who prioritize viral likes over intelligent analysis.

Shayna's Penance Walk as a Reviewer: In this passionate conve...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia get personal about their approach to film criticism—choosing to feel and experience movies viscerally and ephemerally rather than analyzing every frame in the moment.

The Art of Presence in Cinema: In this candid conversation, Shayna and Julia discuss wh...

In the Wake TV Producers Shayna and Julia dive into Rains Over Babel, a visually stunning Colombian steampunk fever-dream where life, death, and destiny collide in the most unexpected ways. Set in Babel—a legendary dive bar that doubles as purgatory—souls gather to gamble years of their lives wit...