River Gallo (Ponyboi, Every Body)

Welcome to The Hollywood Hang! A podcast about the highs, lows, and hell nos of this crazy industry. Hosted by Nicolas Curcio & Kristen Tepper. Edited by Luke Hellyer. Social and Promotion by Rodrigo Caraveo.

River Gallo (they/them) is a Salvadoran-American filmmaker, actor, writer, and intersex activist. Their feature PONYBOI premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. The film won the Grand Jury Award for Best US Feature at Newfest New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival and River won Best Performance at the Torino Film Festival. River wrote, produced, and starred in the film, making it the first narrative feature created by and starring an out intersex artist in cinema history. PONYBOI is based on their 2019 short film of the same name that was executive produced by Emma Thompson and Stephen Fry, and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. In 2023, River was the subject of the critically-acclaimed feature documentary EVERY BODY directed by Academy-award nominated director Julie Cohen. In the commercial space, River has directed advertising spots for Facebook, Maison Margiela, and MTV. For their work in the arts and on social justice issues, River was on the 2023 OUT 100 list and won a GLAAD Rising Star Media Award. River was named one of the 10 LGBTQIA+ Film and TV Creators on the Rise in 2023 by Indiewire. PONYBOI will be theatrically released June 27th by Fox Entertainment Studios.