The Talk screens tonight, Friday, October2, in the 7:00 p.m. block, “Special and General Relativity” at HQSFF
Creator, writer and lead actor Jonathon Taylor Jones talks with The Hollywood Times about transforming a deeply personal experience into a story about family, queerness and the conversations we think we are prepared to have.
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/02/26 – Sometimes the conversation we spend so much time preparing for turns out to be an entirely different conversation altogether. That idea is at the heart of The Talk, a short film from creator, writer and lead actor Jonathon Taylor Jones, who recently joined me on Zoom to discuss the very personal story behind the film, the experience of writing and starring in the project, and what it means to have The Talk included in the 2026 Hollywood Queer Short Film Festival.
The film screens Friday, October 2 at 7:00 p.m. as part of HQSFF’s “Special and General Relativity” program, a collection of shorts exploring family, relationships, identity and the sometimes-complicated conversations surrounding queerness.
Click below for our exclusive interview:
What makes The Talk particularly compelling is how closely its roots are tied to Jones’ own life.
When I asked where the original idea came from and just how personal the story was, Jones did not hesitate.
“It’s actually really personal,” Jones told The Hollywood Times. “I had this situation happen to me, but it was a little bit reversed. It was my mom who answered the door and my date was the one who was at the door.”
The circumstances eventually evolved creatively when Jones began developing the short with co-star John Cutolo.
“We flip this to the father figure, and so that kind of led it to being an Italian American style story,” Jones explained.
But despite changing the family dynamic for the screen, much of what audiences hear is rooted directly in what happened that day.
“Pretty much everything that you hear and see in the short film is what transpired between my date and my mom.”
That real-life foundation gives The Talk an immediacy that is difficult to manufacture. Beneath the humor is the knowledge that these uncomfortable, funny and unpredictable moments actually happen around kitchen tables, on front porches and behind newly opened doors every day.
Jones faced another interesting challenge by serving as both writer and lead actor.
I asked whether stepping into the character changed the way Jones understood the words they had written.
“Honestly, it did,” Jones said, revealing that the screenplay had already undergone “probably six or seven” rewrites.
The process continued through rehearsals and performance, when Jones began noticing the difference between what felt natural personally and what truly belonged to the character.
“There were some different things that I was like, ‘Oh, this is very Jonathon-isms that are kind of leaning into this,’” Jones said.
That realization required another layer of discipline.
Jones explained that it became necessary to pull back and remind themselves, “No, this is a character.”
“It was really interesting to kind of see how Jonathon as a thinker was coming out in the words” and how those words were then being interpreted through the character Ethan Cole.
It is a fascinating creative tension: the writer drawing from deeply personal experiences while the actor has to create enough distance to allow a fictional character to breathe on their own.
Our conversation became especially personal when we discussed what having The Talk selected for the Hollywood Queer Short Film Festival means to Jones.
HQSFF is built around LGBTQ+ visibility and creating a place where queer filmmakers can tell their own stories. For Jones, that mission hits close to home.
“It is really special,” Jones said. “I grew up Mormon, and I’m from Utah originally.”
Jones then reflected on the difficulty of finding a space where their entire identity could be welcomed.
“I was never really celebrated in my queerness in Utah,” Jones said.
Even while growing up around theater, creatives and other artists, Jones said, “I never found a time where I could be fully myself and fully free in my full identity and be celebrated for that.”
That makes this moment considerably bigger than simply having another film accepted into another festival.
A personal experience became a screenplay. The screenplay became a short film. And now that short film is being presented to a queer audience in Hollywood that may recognize some of its own experiences within Jones’ story.
Jones said seeing audiences respond to the movie has already been emotional.
“To see how other people are enjoying it and finding the laughs and the joy and even finding similarities, it’s been really moving.”
There is also something wonderfully full circle in being able to look back at a period when acceptance was difficult and recognize the distance traveled since then.
“No matter how hard it had been, I still made it,” Jones told me.
Perhaps the most moving part of our conversation came next.
“I still found the peace and the love within myself that now I get to share with the people who may be looking for the love within themselves as well.”
That is ultimately where The Talk becomes something larger than one filmmaker’s story.
Queer films matter not simply because audiences get to see LGBTQ+ characters on a screen. They matter because someone sitting in that theater may recognize an emotion, a family dynamic or a piece of themselves they had never before seen reflected back at them.
When I asked Jones what one feeling, question or conversation they hoped audiences would take with them after seeing The Talk, the answer was wonderfully simple.
“Never open the door and assume the conversation you’re going to have.”
It may be one sentence, but it captures the film beautifully.
How often do we rehearse a conversation before it happens?
How often do we convince ourselves that we already know what another person is going to say?
And how often do we walk into a difficult discussion so committed to our assumptions that we stop ourselves from actually hearing the person standing in front of us?
The Talk plays with that uncertainty, reminding us that the conversation we fear, anticipate or think we understand may turn out to be something completely different.
Sometimes all we can do is open the door.
Fortunately, The Talk may not be the last audiences hear from this particular world.
Jones revealed during our conversation that the short is actually connected to a much larger screenplay currently being developed.
“The film is, ironically, a part of a larger screenplay that I’ve been writing,” Jones said.
The larger story expands upon the personal journey that helped shape the filmmaker.
Jones described it as exploring “my process of coming to terms with my identity, from Mormonism and LDS life to where I am today and just kind of what that looks like.”
That sounds like a story worth continuing.
For now, Jones remains active in the creative community, acting, developing new work and intentionally supporting other LGBTQ+ artists.
Jones said the goal is to continue “supporting other queer artists and celebrating their wins” while continuing to act and “explore this space of creation.”
That spirit makes The Talk particularly appropriate for the Hollywood Queer Short Film Festival.
Queer cinema has always been about more than telling audiences who we are. At its best, it creates space for conversations that families, communities and sometimes even individuals have spent years avoiding.
The Talk begins with the expectation of one conversation.
What follows reminds us why we should never be quite so certain about what is waiting on the other side of the door.
Screening Information
Screening InformationThe Talk
Hollywood Queer Short Film Festival 2026
“Special and General Relativity” Program
Friday, October 2, 2026
7:00 p.m.
Hudson Theater
6539 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90038
The program also features Hippie Hollow, Not Losing You, Bobo in Bliss, Redlining, HVAC, Hi Mom, Sunday Lunch and Same Time Next Year?
Tickets are available through the Hollywood Queer Short Film Festival.
The Hollywood Times is a proud media partner of the 2026 Hollywood Queer Short Film Festival.
By Valerie Milano
The Hollywood Times
