CREATIVE TEAM
Director/Producer/Editor – Jeffrey McHale
JEFFREY McHALE is a documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. His feature film debut, YOU DON'T NOMI, is the zenith of what he calls his "Showgirls adventure." While McHale's inspiration for You Don't Nomi originated with the unexpected viral success of his 2010 trailer mashup of Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, Nomi also synthesizes recurring themes in McHale's work, including the examination of queer subcultures and the exploration of how identities are articulated.
As a television editor, McHale's work includes acclaimed technology and science news series TechKnow for Al Jazeera English and most recently the groundbreaking World Cup docuseries Phenoms for Fox. Earlier projects, including documentary shorts and music videos, have screened at NewFest, Frameline, Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival, and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. A native of Michigan, McHale began his career at WGN America after studying film at Columbia College Chicago.
Producer – Ariana Garfinkel
Through her company Carriage House Pictures, Ariana Garfinkel produced the feature documentaries Best and Most Beautiful Things (SXSW 2016, theatrical release, PBS’ Independent Lens, Netflix), I Am Maris (ro*co films, Netflix), Boys of Summer (Tribeca Film, ESPN), and two narrative shorts, Sea Meadow (SXSW) and A Juice Box Afternoon (Lincoln Center). She previously held positions at Miramax Films, Tribeca Productions, and Reno Productions. Garfinkel is a graduate of Stanford University.
Producer - Suzanne Zionts
Suzanne Zionts is a producer, writer, and classically trained journalist with a strong non-fiction background. She was an integral force in launching Fox Business Network and Al Jazeera America. She’s currently a producer and writer for Dr. Phil. Zionts has written for The New York Daily News, New York Press, Relix, and The Villager. She graduated from New York University with a degree in journalism and creative writing.
Associate Producer - Zel McCarthy
Los Angeles-based journalist Zel McCarthy focuses on cultural stories with a specialization in music. He currently works on strategy and editorial for Tidal and content development for Happy Street Entertainment. Recent bylines include The New Yorker and The Advocate. as well as digital publications from Working Not Working and LNWY. A graduate of the University of Southern California, he previously held positions at Vice, Billboard, Phaidon/Cahiers du cinéma, and Taschen.
Composer – Mark degli Antoni
Mark degli Antoni, is a composer/performer based in Los Angeles. A founding member of the band Soul Coughing, he has scored films for Werner Herzog, Roger Ross Williams, Joe Bini, and Matt Ruskin premiering at Sundance, SXSW, and more. In addition, he has performed with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Angélique Kidjo, John Zorn, among others.
CONTRIBUTORS
Original audio interviews and archival materials were provided by:
David Schmader
David Schmader is a writer and performer devoted to cracking open his obsessions, from homophobic rock stars and conversion therapy to cannabis and camp cinema. From 1998-2015, Schmader was a staff writer and editor at The Stranger, Seattle’s Pulitzer-winning newsweekly. His solo plays Letter to Axl, Straight, and A Short-Term Solution to a Long-Term Problem have been produced in Seattle and across the US. In 2016, his book Weed: The User’s Guide was published in the US and the UK.
Peaches Christ
Peaches Christ is a filmmaker and cult leader living in San Francisco. Her infamous movie events are self-produced at the Castro Theatre and regularly draw over 1,000 attendees to each new production before they tour. Events have featured special guest stars John Waters, Cloris Leachman, Bruce Campbell, Barry Bostwick, Pam Grier, and more. Peaches is the alter- ego of Joshua Grannell, the writer and director of the feature film All About Evil. The award-winning dark comedy gore film stars Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Dekker, Cassandra Peterson, Mink Stole, and Peaches Christ herself. Peaches Christ has been featured in the films Milk, I Am Divine, Diary Of A Teenage Girl, Mansfield 66/67, Tura!, and more.
Adam Nayman
Adam Nayman is a critic and author in Toronto. His book It Doesn't Suck: Showgirls, published by ECW Press, went into a second edition in 2018. He teaches at Ryerson and U of T and writes for the Ringer and Cinema Scope.
April Kidwell
April Kidwell is the writer, producer and star of I, Nomi - the one woman musical comedy about the life of Nomi Malone before and after Las Vegas. Previous credits include Showgirls! The Musical! (Nomi Malone), Bayside! The Musical! (Jessie Spano) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Live! (Willow). Film credits premiering this year: The Bride of Death (dir. Michael Phillis) and Eat the Rainbow (dir. Brian Benson).
She is a proud student and volunteer of the Earthship Academy and Foxhole homes - building off the grid, self sustainable houses made of natural and recycled materials for homeless veterans.
Haley Mlotek
Haley Mlotek is a writer and editor based in New York. Her essays, profiles, and reviews have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ELLE, SSENSE, Hazlitt, The Ringer, and GARAGE, among others. Previously, she was the editor of The Hairpin, the style editor for MTV News, and the publisher of WORN Fashion Journal. She is currently working on a book about romance and divorce for Viking/McClelland & Stewart.
Jeffery Conway
Jeffery Conway’s latest book is Descent of the Dolls: Part I, published by BlazeVOX [books], a collaboration with Gillian McCain and David Trinidad about the 1967 film Valley of the Dolls. His other books include Showgirls: The Movie in Sestinas (BlazeVOX [books], 2014), The Album That Changed My Life (Cold Calm Press, 2006), and, with Lynn Crosbie and David Trinidad, Phoebe 2002: An Essay in Verse (Turtle Point Press, 2003), a mock epic based on the 1950 film All About Eve. Current work can be found in the anthologies The Incredible Sestina Anthology, Dream Closet, and Rabbit Ears: TV Poems.
Matt Baume
Matt’s a writer, podcaster, and video-maker based in Seattle whose work focuses on queer culture, geeks, and anything strange and wonderful. He’s the creator of the YouTube pop culture series Culture Cruise, which holds a fun magnifying glass to historic queer milestones in popular TV and film; the podcast & live comedy show Queens of Adventure, which features drag queens on an Dungeons & Dragons quest; the LGBTQ interview podcast The Sewers of Paris; and the LGBTQ news shows Weekly Debrief and Marriage News Watch. His book, Defining Marriage, chronicles the personal stories of people who fought for marriage equality over the last forty years.
Jeffrey Sconce
Jeffrey Sconce is Associate Professor in the Screen Cultures program at Northwestern University. He is the editor of Sleaze Artists: Cinema at the Margins of Taste, Style, and Financing (2008) and the author of The Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity (2019) and Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television (2000).
Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
Barbara Shulgasser-Parker wrote the novel, "Funny Accent," and co-wrote with Robert Altman the film “Ready-to-Wear.” She was a film critic for The San Francisco Examiner for fourteen years and has written reviews and features for Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, Glamour, Mirabella, her blog Full Deck, and other publications. She currently reviews films for CommonSenseMedia.org. After receiving an M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she received an NEH grant to study Taste and Popular Culture at the University of Chicago.
Susan Wloszczyna
Susan Wloszczyna, currently a senior editor at the showbiz awards website Gold Derby, spent much of her nearly 30 years at USA TODAY doing her dream job as a senior entertainment writer. Her positions at the newspaper included being a film reviewer for 12 years as well as the Life section copy desk chief. She has free-lanced for RogerEbert.com, AARP-The Magazine, The Washington Post, The Buffalo News, MPAA’s The Credits, and Indiewire. She is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Alliance of Female Film Journalists and the Washington Area Film Critics Association.