Rob Munday / UK Editor: Head of Content / @_RobMundayWriting these ‘end of year’ lists can be tricky. Too often we’re influenced by what they say about us and end up writing the list that projects the perfect image or the list you feel makes you look most knowledgeable.

With fictional podcasts identified as a potential career path for directors, Stefanie Abel Horowitz (sometimes, I think about dying) joins us to discuss what it was like to work with Rami Malek and Cole Sprouse and the difference between directing podcasts and short films.

This year’s winning live-action filmmakers represent a diverse group: a star feature film directing duo, a veteran commercial director, a pair of award-winning photojournalists, a Canadian writing/directing duo, and a young LA up and comer. What all these creators share is an ability to tell fantastic stories.

For the trio of films highlighted as our Best of the Month picks for April, the S/W team select a period drama focused on performance and dialogue, a playful documentary exploring the routines of non-playable characters in video games and an experimental animation unravelling the creative process.