Alas, we missed the crying. Jacqueline led us around her building to a patio cluttered with furniture, tools, and a stray remote control, saying she had intentionally left the place as-is, and that maybe she could clean up for us on camera—a bid for realism and vulnerability that felt especially refreshing in Hollywood. She proceeded to give us a tour of every inch of the patio, which wound up being a tour of her mind too.

Subscribe to Jacqueline's Substack

Tune in next week for the final installment of Someone on Film, Los Angeles.

Anna hadn’t planned on becoming a TikTok star. But while getting her master’s in film and TV production, she and her classmates started experimenting with ways of documenting their lives that would actually resonate with an audience. It worked.

The forecast called for rain—not ideal for a sunset shoot in L.A. But overcast weather on 16mm film has its own kind of beauty, so we stayed optimistic. As luck would have it, the rain held off and the sun peeked out just as we arrived. Anna emerged from her car in a bright red outfit, a nice contrast to the pale blue sky. We got to tag along on her weekly run, weaving through the crowds of Venice Beach while she talked about the joy of running a marathon, trying to be someone her younger self would look up to, and the importance of knowing when to turn off the camera and just be in the moment.

Subscribe to Anna’s Substack

Tune in next week for another episode of Someone on Film.

The counterculture may have a reputation for open-mindedness, but that doesn’t always translate to a willingness to be captured on camera. But with Michelle Lhooq—a psychedelics and rave journalist investigating how counterculture is evolving—as our guide, doors started opening. We found ourselves welcomed to a “puppet rave” at an undisclosed location in downtown Los Angeles. But there was a catch: we’d have to act like we were part of the performance.

So we arrived early at a warehouse on which a sign read “Café Los Angelitos,” though it didn’t look like a café. People dressed in various renditions of crisp white shirts bustled around setting up instruments, running sound checks, and assembling the makeshift bar. The show was being put on by Poncili Creación, a Puerto Rican art collective known for its puppetry and performance art. One of the twin brothers behind Poncili sat our crew down and explained that we’d need to pretend we were running a restaurant out of the warehouse, and that we were there making a documentary about Michelle because we loved her so much. Easy enough.

As guests began arriving, we tried to get a sense of the crowd. L.A. art scene people, Michelle guessed. Dave exchanged contact information with a fellow owner of a Bolex film camera. Some guests went to the bar and ordered the “weed whacker,” a shot of tequila accompanied by a slap in the face with a leaf of romaine lettuce.

The show started. The twins got onstage—a garage door with a ramp into the warehouse—and started running around and shouting in a made-up language before stripping down to their underwear. And then the promised puppets appeared. But these weren’t puppets like we’d ever seen them: they were making strange sounds, caressing audience members, and being pulled from nearly every human orifice. We were, frankly, a little befuddled. And perhaps a little relieved when the dancing finally began.

For Michelle, events like this represent something more than a simple challenge to conventionality. “I think that raving is a kind of wisdom that lodges itself into your soul,” she told us, “and it’s up to you whether you choose to carry that forward or if you just think of it as purely a bubble of escapism.”

Subscribe to Michelle's Substack

Stay tuned for more episodes in the coming weeks.

LA is a city of creative strivers, and we tried to capture that ambition from several angles: a TV-showrunner-slash-illustrator, an underground club raver, a veteran entertainment journalist, a lifestyle creator with millions of followers, and a touring comedian. We shot it all on 16mm film, as usual, working with Director of Photography Jack Duffy, sound recordists Kenneth Orozco and Adrian Arteaga, and with our very own behind the second camera and in the editing booth.

First up, we visited , who you might know as the creator of Tuca & Bertie and the production designer of BoJack Horseman. She’s currently working on a book called I Can’t Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex, and she let us invade her (very nice) lair to take a look at the pages. We traded imaginary horses for real ones when Lisa brought us to the stables, where we met her horse, Juniper.

Subscribe to Lisa's Substack

I hope you enjoy our first installment of Someone on Film: Los Angeles. There’ll be more episodes in the coming weeks.

As a former Vogue editor, Plum is known for having exacting taste. And having read Plum’s post where she ranked her houseguests by the gifts they’d brought, I was a bit nervous. I was visiting her as a representative of Substack, after all, and I didn’t want to choose the wrong gift lest it reflect poorly on the company. After fruitlessly trying to find something unique, I settled on what felt boring, but respectable: Aesop soap and hand cream.

Dajiana and I arrived in the evening and were squired about town by Plum in her trusty Land Rover. After a lovely dinner out, we drove to the house and found her daughter, Tess, sitting at the kitchen table working on a sewing project. Plum gave us a tour before turning in for the night and strongly recommended that we take baths in our respective private tubs.

The next morning, we woke up early and followed Plum around as she went through her routine: picking an outfit, visiting Tim the farmer, tending to her horses, and working on her Substack, of course. In Plum’s world, there is a right way to do everything, and we spent the day absorbing her hard-earned knowledge. A couple weeks later, she wrote a post inspired by our time together, and I was deeply relieved to learn that my gift and behavior had passed muster.

That’s a wrap for this season of Substack on Film! You can get more Plum on her Substack. Let us know where we should go next, in the comments.

We chatted with the father and son about Hanif’s medical condition, their writing process, and how their relationship has evolved through working together. They let us peek behind the curtain, so to speak, and gave us a look at what it’s like to collaborate with your kin. Comedy is part of what keeps them going (sometimes at Carlo’s expense).

You can read the essay mentioned in the film on their Substack, . We’ll be back next week with the final installment of Substack on Film: London.

As we walked through Westminster, Stella shared the story of how she ended up as a talking head in London despite being a Greek immigrant to the U.K. In British fashion, we were politely asked to get off the grass in Parliament Square as we captured Stella taking a phone call to prep for a TV appearance later that day. We wrapped up the morning with a sweet treat and sent her on her way.

You can read Stella’s commentary and essays on her Substack, the Human Carbohydrate. We’ll be back next week with another episode of Substack on Film: London.

When I imagined an English garden, I thought of perfection: manicured lawns, clipped hedges, and fountains with angelic little sculptures (I later learned that Real Garden Heads know that this style is more characteristic of French gardens). While Jo is perfectly capable of that sort of work, her style is more approachable. She has a disarmingly down-to-earth way about her—she laughed off a dying houseplant in her studio—and a contagious enthusiasm for every rose she plants.

We spent the afternoon in her studio flipping through her books and hanging out with Basil the dog before stepping outside to see her garden. Though it was already September, well after peak season, we were charmed by the magical feeling of her garden and delighted to catch a few blooms peeking out of the greenery.

You can read more of Jo’s writing (and see plenty of roses) on her Substack. We’ll be back next week with another episode of Substack on Film: London.

Most people know David through the short, polished poems he posts online—bursts of joy delivered from the street, the park, wherever he happens to be. We wanted to showcase what sits behind that energy: the quiet thoughtfulness that fuels it.

We planned to meet in the park, but the weather had other ideas. Instead, we wandered through a local library, talking softly about writing and routine while waiting for the rain to clear. When the sun finally came out, David stepped outside and, without hesitation, started to rhyme—an off-the-cuff poem inspired by nothing more than the wind in the trees.

You can read more of David’s work on his Substack. We’ll be back next week with another episode of Substack on Film: London.

We only planned to make one season—just five episodes, each featuring a different creator going about their daily life in and around San Francisco. Then we read the comments. Viewers called the episodes “magnetic,” “thought-provoking,” and “full of wonderful reminders that the world isn’t as grim as they would have us believe.” Our subscribers care about the creative life, and Substack on Film enables us to showcase the many ways it can look. So we decided to keep going.

The idea to do the next season in London actually came from our co-founder Hamish. He’d just returned from the city, still buzzing from the energy of the writers and creators he’d met there. London is, of course, a historic city of letters, and home to our second-biggest share of bestsellers on the platform. And we’re an international bunch—just look at our co-founders. Hamish is a Kiwi from New Zealand, Jairaj is Indian and grew up in Japan, and Chris is Canadian. We’re headquartered in the USA, but Substack is global, baby.

For the first episode of our London season, we met up with Laura Jackson, the Glassette co-founder, broadcaster, and mother of three. Thanks to a Tube strike, our local cinematographer, Daj, our sound recordist, Nick, and I took an incredibly long Uber ride from West London to Hackney Depot, where we found Laura hard at work under the expansive skylight of a converted bus station.

Laura has had a fascinating career, finding her way through event management, broadcasting, and, ultimately, starting her own e-commerce business. She’s also charming. A native of Northern England who dropped into East London nearly 20 years ago, you can still hear the north in her accent. We watched Laura assemble a moodboard and then take a coffee break, strolling Broadway Market, shaking hands, kissing babies and dogs, and waving to friends real and imaginary.

I hope you enjoy our first installment of Substack on Film: London. There’ll be more episodes in the coming weeks. And let us know: Where should we film next?

Lloyd is a pioneer of the green building movement and a writer, editor, photographer, and publisher. There’s a lot to admire about Lloyd, but we especially love his deep curiosity and compulsion to share what he learns. That curiosity extends to publishing platforms; he joined Substack just last year, at the age of eighty-nine.

In the film, we followed him through the Bay Area he knows so well: tending his garden in Bolinas, biking the neighborhood, swimming at Aquatic Park, and savoring an Irish coffee at The Buena Vista Cafe. When we suggested ending with a shot of Lloyd leaving The Buena Vista, he asked, “Can I keep going?” so we let him get on with his day in the city. Realizing we probably should’ve said goodbye, we tried to catch up, but couldn’t—he’s impressively quick.

This marks the final film in our first season of Substack on Film, all shot on 16mm in the Bay Area by director . You can check out the previous editions, featuring Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, Jasmine Sun, Violet Witchel, and Viv Chen.

Have strong feelings on what city we should film next? Let us know in the comments.

This film is the latest in our Substack on Film series, directed and shot by in 16mm. Check out previous editions, featuring Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, Jasmine Sun, and Violet Witchel. And stay tuned for more Substack on Film in the coming weeks.

This film is part of a series directed and shot by in 16mm in the Bay Area. You can also watch the first edition with Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen and the second with Jasmine Sun. Stay tuned for more Substack on Film in the coming weeks.

This film is part of a series directed and shot by Nathan Zack on 16mm in the Bay Area. You can also check out the first edition with Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen. And stay tuned—we’ll be sharing more of the Substack on Film series in the coming weeks.

The better a work of art is, the more we want to climb around in it, take it apart, figure out exactly how it works—how it makes us think, or laugh, or feel. And our curiosity extends to the creators too. Who are they? What inspires them?

Substack on Film is a new series inspired by that curiosity. These vignettes capture writers and creators in their natural environment—at their homes, in their neighborhoods, hanging out at their local haunts. Directed and shot by on 16mm film, the videos have a timeless quality that feels both playful and intimate.

For our first film in the series, we visited Mac and Jon at Mac’s home in Oakland, California. We captured them doing what they often do: sitting together and poring over a classic picture book. Birds chirp in the background, pages turn softly, and Henry the dog ambles by now and again.