Natasha Kermani on The Dreadful & Directing Under Pressure | Women in Entertainment Podcast

What does it take to build a lasting career in horror and still protect your creative soul?

Director Natasha Kermani traces her path from editing neighborhood videos on an early iMac to premiering her first feature, Imitation Girl, and becoming a distinctive voice in genre filmmaking. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Natasha shares how the horror community embraced her early work and why she found freedom in a genre that welcomes experimentation, new perspectives, and bold storytelling.

Her latest film, The Dreadful, was years in the making, written in the emotional aftermath of the 2016 election and inspired by a folktale about two women surviving brutal times. Natasha reflects on navigating industry resistance to period films, shelving and resurrecting the script, and ultimately bringing it to life with Sophie Turner, Kit Harington, and Marcia Gay Harden, all on a tight 17-day shoot.

In this candid conversation, she also shares her vulnerabilities as a director, the pressure of low-budget filmmaking, and her commitment to protecting time for process and imagination in an industry obsessed with speed.

Listen to learn:

- How the horror community became a launchpad for her career

- Why The Dreadful was shelved and how it came back to life

- The reality of directing a feature in just 17 days

- How collaboration (and preparation) fuels her sets

- Why “dreaming time” is essential to meaningful filmmaking

The Women in Entertainment Podcast presents thoughtful conversations with leaders across entertainment from film and television, to media and gaming, and everything in between; as we talk about what it takes to make your mark in the industry, lessons these incredible people have learned along the way, and how they have found their way in an ever-changing environment.

With in-depth conversations and pre-submitted listener questions, each episode provides candid advice for navigating today’s entertainment industry, giving listeners an inside look at how key players got their start, and guidance for building the necessary toolkit to bring careers to life in film, TV, music, theater, graphics, writing, animation, and beyond.

Listen on Spotify: ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/5AfPfPQ...

Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast..

Listen on Audible: ⁠https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85..

#NatashaKermani #WomenInFilm #FemaleDirector #IndieFilmmaker #GenreFilmmaking #FilmDirectorLife #IndependentFilm #TischSchoolOfTheArts #NYUFilm #HorrorFilmmaking #HorrorDirector #HorrorCommunity #IndieHorror #GenreFilm #PsychologicalHorror #FolkHorror #HorrorFans #TheDreadful #ImitationGirl #SophieTurner #KitHarington #MarciaGayHarden #PeriodFilm #LowBudgetFilmmaking #17DayShoot #CreativeProcess #FilmmakingJourney #DirectorInterview #BehindTheScenesFilm #ProtectYourCreativity #ArtVsIndustry #WomenInHorror #CreativeEntrepreneur