When it comes to capturing the quiet malaise of young people online, Jane Schoenbrun is peerless. Emma Stone produced their breakout film, I Saw the TV Glow, an aching portrait of a teen’s gender dysphoria. This year, they’re releasing Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and their debut novel, Public Access Afterworld.
What keeps you up at night?
An overactive brain. I’m a classic insomniac. Doesn’t matter if it’s excitement or despair or anxiety, if my brain’s going too fast,
I can’t sleep. I started a daily meditation practice a few years ago, though, that helps.
What’s one work of art that got you through an important moment in your life?
During the years when I was first getting on HRT, I sang Mountain Goats songs on guitar every night, and it really helped calm me down.
What’s been the hardest part of your career so far?
I have a really hard time hiding my disgust at the bad morals and dehumanizing, exploitative power structures that undergird the whole Hollywood apparatus.
What do you want to see more of in your industry? Less of?
Trans people getting actual opportunities, like obviously. But more widely, I wish there were more soulful movies getting made that captured what it actually feels like to live in this terrible country and terrible moment right now. So much of what gets made says nothing to me about what life actually feels like, and it’s a shame.
When’s the last time you laughed hysterically?
I was stoned at the bar and my roommate was telling a crazy story about this boy she went to high school with. This kid’s dad coached the soccer team, and the kid’s girlfriend was on the team too, and then the dad literally stole his son’s girlfriend. I lost it at that story. That’s so insane. Just don’t do that, man.
What question do you ask yourself most often while you’re making work?
I always return to the relationship between the film and the audience as the most central part of any film. I try to make movies that feel generous and generative rather than didactic, like a cozy late night hang or a great stoned conversation.
Where do you feel most at home?
On the couch with my roommate. In bed watching my projector. At the local movie theater on Tuesday five dollar movie night.
What would you be doing if you weren’t working in your field?
Probably dying a lot younger.
What are you looking forward to this year?
I’m releasing a book and a movie this year, so will be in public a lot promoting myself, which I’ve learned can feel pretty weird and bad, like too much ego. The opposite of grounding soulful work. I’m gonna try to be in my real world as much as I can between press jaunts. I live in upstate New York and live a fairly monastic life. During the day I go for long walks and try to dream about new creative work. At night and on weekends, I like to cook dinner for loved ones, swim in creeks, watch movies on the projector in my bedroom, smoke weed, and hang out with my three partners.
To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.
in your life?
