
David Wain joins us to talk about his new comedy, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass — a Sundance 2026 Official Selection starring Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, and John Slattery, from Sony Pictures Classics.
The premise is deliberately, gloriously absurd: a Midwestern bride-to-be discovers her fiancé has used his "celebrity pass" to cheat — and sets off for Los Angeles to even the score with her own pass, Jon Hamm. What follows is a full-tilt Hollywood comedy that never apologizes for being exactly what it is.
We talk with Wain about writing the film with longtime collaborator Ken Marino, assembling a cast that spans three generations of comedy, shooting an original comedy entirely on location in Los Angeles, and why comedy for comedy's sake has become an increasingly rare thing to see on screen.
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is directed by David Wain, written by Ken Marino & David Wain, and releases in theaters July 10, 2026, from Sony Pictures Classics.
0:00 Intro: David Wain on Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass
0:52 Clip: The Hollywood Journey Begins
1:45 Meet David Wain
2:25 Why Make a Pure Comedy Now?
5:10 The Celebrity Pass Premise
8:42 Clip: The Joke Gets Complicated
9:28 Casting Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm & John Slattery
12:40 From The State to Wet Hot American Summer
16:05 Why This Comedy Refuses to Apologize
20:15 Shooting an Original Comedy in Los Angeles
23:30 Building Ensemble Chaos
26:40 Clip Breakdown: Absurdity and Emotion
27:50 Why Comedy Belongs in Theaters
31:05 Audience Reactions and Festival Buzz
34:30 What David Wain Hopes Viewers Feel
36:50 Closing Thoughts
INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is an in-depth conversation series with filmmakers across independent and arthouse cinema. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres.
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Jul 8
37 min

Documentary filmmaking, indie films, and arthouse movies take center stage in this special Fourth of July episode of Inside the Arthouse — a film podcast dedicated to independent film, indie cinema, and the voices that define American storytelling.
While much of the industry turns to reboots, sequels, franchises, and superheroes, we're turning to a different kind of American story — films driven by voice, risk, authenticity, and the courage to see the world differently.
In this special edition, we revisit a curated selection from our library of more than 100 filmmaker interviews — five films that remind us why independent film remains essential to American film culture.
These are the films that don't just entertain us. They ask us to look closer, feel more deeply, and think beyond the familiar. From arthouse movies rooted in character and place to indie films powered by pure creative vision, this is the American cinema that matters.
As America marks its 250th birthday, we celebrate the documentary and independent storytellers who prove that American cinema is at its best when it dares to be independent.
Join us for this special Fourth of July edition of Inside the Arthouse: American Independents.
0:00 Introduction: American Independence in Cinema
1:17 Eephus — Carson Lund on Baseball, Mortality & Cannes
7:37 Sponsor: Carsey-Wolf Center
8:51 Northern Lights — Rob Nilsson on Prairie Populism & Independent Film
15:57 La Cocina — Alonso Ruizpalacios on New York & Immigrant Stories
19:49 If You See Something — Oday Rasheed on Asylum, Belonging & America
27:04 The American Southwest — Ben Masters on the Colorado River & Conservation
Inside the Arthouse is a digital series featuring in-depth conversations with filmmakers across independent and arthouse cinema. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres, the series explores film distribution, the creative process, and the evolving landscape of cinema.
Find Inside the Arthouse on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
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Jun 30
36 min

Carla Simón’s new film ROMERÍA follows Marina, a young woman who travels to Galicia in search of the truth about the parents she never really knew. What begins as a practical errand becomes something harder to name — an excavation of memory, silence, and the stories families carry across generations.
In this conversation, Simón reflects on the autobiographical roots of the film, the challenge of transforming private history into cinema, working with young performers, and the delicate balance between grief, imagination, and discovery.
Following the international success of SUMMER 1993 and ALCARRÀS, ROMERÍA may be her most personal film yet.
INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres. New episodes every week — follow wherever you listen.
Episode Guide:
0:00 Introduction: The Inspiration Behind ROMERÍA2:17 Exploring Personal Grief and Memory5:51 Historical Memory and the Heroin Crisis in Spain7:09 Connecting with Biological Roots8:34 Clip: Investigating the Past11:34 The Mystery of Memory and Family Secrets14:01 Using Personal Letters as Narrative Tools15:51 The Casting Process: Mixing Non-Actors and Professionals18:01 The Benefit of Three-Month Rehearsals26:01 Trailer Analysis and Cinematic Approach30:05 Defining the Title: ROMERÍA as Pilgrimage and Celebration33:04 Cinema as Personal Therapy34:03 Audience Reception and Future Projects
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Jun 24
39 min

From the directors of Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song comes a new portrait of a man who was somehow at the center of everything — and never quite in the frame.
Peter Asher was one half of Peter & Gordon, swept into the British Invasion on songs written by Paul McCartney. He signed and produced James Taylor at Apple Records. He spent the next three decades guiding Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, and many more — quietly shaping some of the most beloved records in American music.
PETER ASHER: EVERYWHERE MAN is the film that finally puts him in frame. Blending documentary, live musical memoir, and a remarkable archive of songs and stories, it's a portrait of what it actually takes to help great artists find their truest voice — and a reminder that the people who shape culture aren't always the ones standing center stage.
We sat down with Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine to talk about how this film got made, what it takes to earn the trust of legends, and why Peter Asher's story has never been told quite like this before.
From Hallelujah to Everywhere Man — Dan Geller & Dayna Goldfine on Peter Asher
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Jun 17
58 min

Who was she?
In this episode of Inside the Arthouse, we sit down with groundbreaking Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour for a conversation about UNIDENTIFIED, a gripping mystery thriller set in modern Saudi Arabia.
The film follows Noelle Al Saffan, a recently divorced woman rebuilding her life through a clerical job at a police station. When the body of an unidentified teenage girl is discovered in the desert, Noelle is drawn into a mystery no one seems eager to solve — and a question that becomes impossible to ignore: who was she?
What begins as a murder investigation becomes a deeper story about identity, silence, gender, and power — and the hidden lives of women navigating a society in transformation.
Known for Wadjda and The Perfect Candidate, Al Mansour describes UNIDENTIFIED as the completion of her "Saudi trilogy," continuing her focus on women who step outside the roles expected of them and challenge the systems around them.
UNIDENTIFIED is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics and premiered at TIFF 2025.
Follow Inside the Arthouse wherever you get your podcasts for conversations with the filmmakers shaping world cinema.
Inside the Arthouse is hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres, exploring film distribution, the creative process, and the evolving landscape of cinema. Also available on YouTube.
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Jun 10
41 min

INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE | THE CURRENTS — Director Milagros Mumenthaler
What happens when a woman survives an inexplicable impulse — and tells no one?
In this episode, Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge sit down with Argentinian-Swiss filmmaker Milagros Mumenthaler to discuss her haunting new psychological drama THE CURRENTS, distributed by Kino Lorber and an Official Selection of TIFF 2025.
THE CURRENTS follows Lina, a Buenos Aires fashion designer who, while accepting an award in Switzerland, is suddenly overtaken by an urge to jump from a bridge into an icy river. She survives. She says nothing. But she is never the same.
In conversation, Mumenthaler unpacks the film's obsessions: identity and exile, the body's hidden memory, motherhood, artistic crisis, and the life we perform versus the truths we can no longer suppress. They also explore Buenos Aires as a living presence, the influence of Virginia Woolf, and the challenge of putting interior life on screen.
For fans of slow-burn psychological drama, Latin American cinema, and bold auteur filmmaking.
Starring Isabel Aimé González Sola & Esteban Bigliardi
Distributed by Kino Lorber
INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres.
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Jun 3
22 min

For our 100th episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, we return to the belief that started it all: movies matter most when they are shared.
Over the course of 100 episodes, this show has become a gathering place for filmmakers, actors, programmers, distributors, theater owners, advocates, and film lovers who believe in the power of cinema on the big screen, in community, and in the places where stories still feel alive.
In this special milestone episode, we look back at conversations with Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated artists whose work reminds us what independent and international cinema can still do: challenge us, move us, connect us, and stay with us long after the lights come up.
Featuring conversations with Walter Salles, director of the Oscar-winning I’M STILL HERE; Mstyslav Chernov, Oscar-winning filmmaker and director of 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA; Kaouther Ben Hania, Oscar-nominated director of THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB; the filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning documentary MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN; and Atom Egoyan, Oscar-nominated director of THE SWEET HEREAFTER.
Across these films and conversations, we encounter stories of memory, war, resistance, grief, family, history, and survival — from Brazil and Ukraine to Palestine, Russia, Canada, and beyond.
At the center of it all is the arthouse itself: the theater as a gathering place, the screen as a doorway, and cinema as one of the last great communal arts.
Thank you for being part of the first 100 episodes of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE. Here’s to the films, filmmakers, theaters, and audiences keeping cinema alive.
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May 27
46 min

In Time and Water, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sara Dosa turns Iceland’s disappearing glaciers, a family’s archive, and one man’s fading memory into a cinematic letter to the future.
Dosa, the director of Fire of Love, joins Inside the Arthouse to discuss her new documentary from National Geographic Documentary Films. The film follows Icelandic writer and poet Andri Snær Magnason as he gathers photographs, home movies, folk songs, and the melting ice of his homeland into a time capsule for what may soon be lost.
In this conversation, Dosa reflects on grief as a cinematic form, shooting on 16mm in a digital age, the ethics of filming dementia without reducing a human life to metaphor, and why Time and Water does not land on simple hope or despair — but on uncertainty, and the responsibility that comes with it.
Time and Water premiered at Sundance 2026 and is presented by National Geographic Documentary Films and Sandbox Films.
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May 20
43 min

CAN ARTISTS AFFORD SILENCE? — BERNSTEIN'S WALL With Director Douglas Tirola
In this episode of Inside the Arthouse, we explore Bernstein's Wall with director Douglas Tirola, the powerful documentary examining the life, legacy, and contradictions of Leonard Bernstein. Going beyond Bernstein's extraordinary musical career, the film reveals the personal and political tensions that shaped one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century — in his own words.
Together we discuss what artists owe the public in times of upheaval, whether art can actually change the world, and why Bernstein's questions feel more urgent than ever.
More than a music documentary, Bernstein's Wall is a provocation: what happens when artists refuse to stay silent?
Inside the Arthouse is an insider's conversation with the filmmakers behind arthouse cinema across the US. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge. Also available on YouTube.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 13
50 min

What does it take to build power—and the people who wield it?
In this episode of INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE, filmmaker Olivier Assayas (Personal Shopper, Carlos) joins hosts Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to discuss his latest film, The Wizard of the Kremlin — starring Paul Dano and Jude Law as Vladimir Putin.
We explore:
– Political power and influence on screen
– Storytelling and the shaping of public perception
– The craft behind building complex, real-world characters
– Why films about power resonate so deeply right now
For cinephiles and filmmakers, this is a deep dive into how cinema reflects — and shapes — the world around us.
Featuring: Olivier Assayas, Director
Film: The Wizard of the Kremlin
INSIDE THE ARTHOUSE is a digital series and podcast featuring in-depth conversations with filmmakers across independent and arthouse cinema. Hosted by Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge in partnership with Laemmle Theatres, the series explores film distribution, the creative process, and the evolving landscape of cinema.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 6
44 min
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