Anne Hollister on Producing “Mattress Mack,” Financing Indie Films & Navigating Sexism in Hollywood

Anne Hollister—actress, writer, and producer at Happy Bad Bungalow—joins In the Room to discuss her evolution from Broadway performer to independent film producer.Anne shares the six-year journey of bringing Mattress Mack to life, the realities of financing independent films, and what it takes to build a production company from the ground up. She opens up about stepping away from representation to focus on writing, developing her thriller The Housesitter, and navigating the microaggressions and systemic bias that still exist for women in Hollywood.The conversation explores:• The actor-to-producer transition• Indie film financing and attaching talent• Why female-led stories are still labeled “unrelatable”• Manifestation as creative inspiration• Building community in film and televisionThis episode offers an honest look at persistence, authorship, and claiming creative control in a shifting industry.