On the show today I’m talking with James Insalaco, who made his first feature, a comedy entitled Will Reading, on a shoestring budget over eighteen months. This is one of those DIY stories of a filmmaker putting together a self-funded project with available resources and friends as cast and crew. I think this is a great way to approach a first feat…

Today I’m talking with Jason Ragosta, who’s been working on a variety of projects at both an independent and industry level for over two decades. Most recently Jason contributed a short to Sinphony: A Clubhouse Horror Anthology. We touch on a lot of stuff here covering Jason’s rich and accomplished history, focused on his team’s experience promotin…

Today I’m talking to Chris de Pretis, an East Bay filmmaker who made his first feature, Death Blood 4, on a shoestring budget, and is on the cusp of releasing his second. Chris’ approach was to use production of his first feature as a learning experience, as opposed to a bigger budget production with equity financing or crowdfunding tying him down …

In this interview, Jon Gustafsson tells the story of filming and releasing his documentary, Wrath of Gods. The film follows Icelandic/Canadian director Sturla Gunnarsson through the production of his ambitious historical adventure story, Beowulf & Grendel. Plagued by tempestuous Icelandic weather and unpredictable financing, the production survives…

UK-based filmmaker Richard Mansfield has been making micro-budget horror features for some two decades. After a few early experiences with more or less traditional distribution, Richard turned to self-distribution for the rest of his movies. He’s now up to 14 of them, and still going strong. Richard’s experience is a case study in ultra low budget …

Today I’m talking with Peter Hitchcock about making and distributing his feature film, A Song For Us. Peter, a UK native now living in Toronto, boasts a full and successful career working a variety of jobs in film and TV, but A Song For Us represents the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to make a feature film. The pleasantly understated and heartwar…

Allen C. Gardner has been making feature films since high school. Now in his early 40s, married with three kids to support, Allen is facing some decisions about how to make his lifelong obsession a bit more sustainable, but that’s not stopping him from charging forward. He has so many feature films to his name I couldn’t keep track of them all in t…

On today's episode I’m talking with Lisa Downs about her experiences distributing several documentary features which she collectively calls the “Life After” series. Each documentary catches up with the actor who played the lead character of an iconic movie, giving us a look at the paths their lives followed after such a unique and transformative ex…

Steve Rudzinski has carved out an impressive career for himself making and distributing a wide variety of indie films. Along the way Steve leaned heavily on horror conventions to sell his movies and build a strong and loyal fan base. Through his scrappy efforts, Steve managed to get to a place where he rejects traditional distribution options in fa…

I’m so excited to bring you this one today … it’s a long one, but I promise it’s worth it. Mark Stolaroff has been making films for over three decades, and in that time he’s seen the state of the industry and independent film distribution go through so many changes. I think that history is very important for filmmakers today to understand, because …

Today I’ve got an interesting one for you, kind of breaking the formula of the show a little bit, which is normally talking to filmmakers about their distribution experiences. But in this case we’re going to spread our wings a bit and talk about film festivals … which for many filmmakers is indeed a very important part of the early distribution exp…

My guest today is Samuel Calvin Morrison, an independent filmmaker based in Philly, talking about his distribution experiences with his first self-driven feature film, By Deception, and how that informed his later experiences. Sam takes us through the story of making and releasing the film, including some less-than-optimal experience with a -- dare…

Today I’m talking with filmmaker Clinton Cornwell about many, many things. Clinton has been making films for many years now, starting out with several shorts and then working toward his first feature, 12 Months, a completely improvised narrative following the ups and downs of a couple over twelve months of their relationship. 12 Months is now on th…

My guest today is stand-up comedian and filmmaker Zack Lyman, talking about filming and releasing his two stand-up comedy shows, The Big Laugh and Zen Comedy, through FilmHub. And while we mostly focus on feature filmmakers on this podcast, the efforts and strategies Zack put in to release and promote these shows is remarkably similar. Zack and I t…

On this episode I’m talking with Chris Maes about releasing his sci-fi movie, Hemisphere, which was shot mostly in his basement during the COVID-19 lockdown, and is now available on Amazon, Google Play and Tubi. What Chris accomplished here is a great lesson in DIY filmmaking, where Chris conceived the movie totally based on the resources available…

On this episode I’m talking with Cort Howell, who, along with his brother Stark, decided to self-distribute their film Mayberry Man after a less-than-optimal experience with a distributor on his previous film. Cort Howell has sage advice for any independent filmmaker seeking to navigate that line between finding a traditional distributor - whatever…

On this episode I’m talking with the highly prolific Omegia Keeys. Omegia has built an amazing career for herself, self-financing and distributing nine features over the past decade, and still going strong. In our conversation, Omegia leads us through her distribution experiences, most of which have actually resulted in recouping her production cos…

On this episode I’m talking with Gary Smith about his first feature SkyFly, a sports comedy about a group of skydivers who face off with another group of skydivers in a battle for supremacy in the sport of roller hockey. Yep, lots of adventures and hijinks in this one. This episode is a little different from most of my past episodes in that Gary ha…

Today I’m talking with Paul Osborne, who’s been making and distributing his films since the late 2000s and still going strong today. Paul has so many great stories to tell here, with a really wide variety of distribution experiences that span so many of the changes the industry has gone through over the past two decades. One of those films includes…

On this episode I’m talking with Calvin McArthy of Seventh Street Productions. Over the past decade, Calvin and his team have made six low-budget horror features, and still going strong. Calvin takes us through his filmmaking journey, starting out with his roots as an actor, then shifting to behind the camera with shorts and a horror anthology feat…

Today I’m speaking with Michael Epstein, a Los Angeles filmmaker with several low-budget and self-described “weird” features to his and his partner’s name. Our conversation covers the beginning of his career, his varied stories and experiences distributing each of his feature films, and his current plans for his latest feature, The Once and Future …

Today I’m speaking with Angelo Thomas, a filmmaker from Columbus with two features under his belt as well a number of shorts. Angelo made his first feature while in film school, The Incredible Jake Parker, about a male pop star struggling with anorexia, and followed that up with DeRosa: Love, Life, & Art in Transition, a documentary chronicling the…

Today I’m chatting with Victoria Vertuga, talking about her mockumentary found footage horror film, Lexi, about a social media influencer who seems to get stalked by some possibly supernatural forces, and the fallout that results. It’s a really cool, creepy, sometimes cringe-inducing movie made on a very very low budget during the pandemic lockdown…

Today I chat with Jason Charnick, the filmmaker behind “Getting Over”, a very personal documentary about Jason’s troubled relationship with his father, who led a life of crime fueled by drug addiction. This is a heartbreaking but ultimately heartwarming story about drug addiction and its impact on family, told with amazing openness and honesty. Jas…

In this episode, I talk with Shawn Dawes, one of the founders of Indie Scene, a platform for independent filmmakers aiming for theatrical distribution. Indie Scene provides valuable, accurate box office data, and looks to connect independent filmmakers with theaters worldwide. In our conversation, Shawn and I talk about his early efforts getting fi…

Today I’m talking with Marcus Markou about his experiences distributing his two feature films, Papadopoulos and Sons, put out in 2012, and his latest feature, The Wife and her House Husband, which is just starting its theatrical release. Marcus, Greek by descent and hailing from Great Britain, has a fantastic story to tell, starting in theatre and …

In this episode I talk with Antoine Dillard, filmmaker and founder of Indie Nation Network, a streaming site dedicated to independent film. Antoine founded INN after some frustration with an earlier distributor of one of his films. Antoine clearly has that independent spirit, and truly recognizes the difficult position that indie filmmakers find th…

Today on the program I bring you my one-of-a-kind conversation with Baraka Noel, an L.A. based filmmaker and standup comedian. Baraka and I really had a fun conversation here, certainly not one of my more structured interviews but that's just fine. We simply had a fun, stream of consciousness back and forth about a whole of things film related, dis…

Chance Shirley and his team at Crewless Productions have put out three genre features, but we spent most of this conversation talking about Chance's first feature, called Hide and Creep. The synopsis, straight from Tubi, is: “When an army of the undead attacks a small town, the residents must contend with bloodthirsty zombies, flying saucers, and b…

I'm back after an unplanned hiatus, bringing you a very interesting interview with Ankit Mishra, all the way from India. Ankit talks about the experience of making and distributing his feature, Ghost of Wuhan, a very personal story about a virologist who, after returning from the lab in Wuhan where Covid was (depending on who you talk to) discovere…

Today I talk to Ryan Graves, a fellow Portlander who also happens to be filling the role of colorist for the three short films I’m making this summer. Ryan has started to establish himself in the Portland as a professional colorist, but on the show Ryan and I talk primarily about his film, Emily, about a young married couple struggling to stay toge…

Josh has been the producer and/or director for several films, including All God’s Creatures, What Would Bear Do, Catch 22, and several more that I saw on his web site that I didn’t even know about. Josh has also written a self-distributed book series about his experiences, collectively entitled Filmmaking, The Hard Way. This a great casual conversa…

My guest today is Raphael Sbarge, an established industry actor and now director of the documentary, Only In Theaters. If you’re an independent filmmaker who appreciates the value of watching independent films in movie theaters as I do, then this is a film you must find a way to see. Only In Theaters follows Greg Laemmle, CEO of the iconic Laemmle …

Liz Manashil is, as she reminds me very quickly in this interview, first and foremost a filmmaker. She’s made two feature films, one with more or less traditional distribution, the second with a hybrid distribution strategy, and is on to make her third feature, Best Friends Forever, which she intends to entirely self-distribute. Liz came to my atte…

Ashley Maria and Lea-Ann Berst are the director/producer team behind Pioneers In Skirts, a documentary following Ashley’s own story as a director in Hollywood, the sexism and stereotypes she faced, and a candid exploration of how we can all work to “shift the tide” towards equality and fairness within the Hollywood system. it’s a dextrously light-h…

During the early days of COVID, Jack McDermott and Ethan Gomez Zahnley made Satan’s Servant, a horror feature, while they were still in high school. From a small, informal crowdfunding campaign, Jack and Ethan raised enough money to shoot the film making full use of their available resources. Informed partly by some experience they had already gain…

Today I’m interviewing Stefanie Davis, a Florida-based micro-budget filmmaker with three feature films and many more shorts under her belt. Stefanie embodies the spirit of micro-budget filmmaking, not just in production but in distribution as well. She’s put her movies out there on streaming platforms with a lot of thought given to not just the qua…

On this episode I’m really excited to bring you my interview with Andrew Bellware. Andrew has been making low-budget sci-fi movies for two decades, starting in the early aughts with a movie called Pandora Machine. As you might imagine, Andrew has seen a lot of changes in the world of indie distribution over that time, and it certainly shows in this…

On this episode I interview Stacey Maltin, one of the partners of the production company, Besties Make Movies. Stacey falls into that category of filmmakers who actually has gotten distribution for their movies, but in this day and age, I think there’s still plenty for filmmakers who are leaning towards self-distribution to take away here. In fact,…

My guest on this episode is Tim Lightell, who self-distributed his comedy, Manbaby -- about a stand-up comedian who tries to convince his wife to have a baby by actually becoming a baby himself. Tim made the film in the mid-2010s on a 5-figure budget, and spent eight - as he describes it - agonizing years trying to get his film made and out to audi…

In this episode I talk with Ian Austin, the director of the Barbatachtian series. Ian hails from England, and maybe better embodies the spirit of just-go-out-and-make-a-movie more than anyone else I’ve interviewed so far. During those early days of COVID, Ian decided that if he was going to be holed up in his apartment, he might as well make use of…

My interview today is with Randy Mack and Joanna Rudolph. Randy produced the coming-of-age comedy Burning Annie back in the early aughts, and Joanna came on as an executive producer early on in the distribution phase. Burning Annie tells the story of a college student, obsessed with the Woody Allen movie, “Annie Hall”, trying to navigate the waters…

Today I bring you my conversation with Andy Palmer, a fellow Portlander who makes a living as a reality TV editor, but who has several independent horror films under his belt, including a fun, campy — but not quite over the top campy — slasher film called The Funhouse Massacre. To be clear, Andy has gone with a distributor for all of this films, bu…

Zach Lona and Anthony Gibson are two independent filmmakers who hooked up to make the movie He Who Lives in Hidden Lakes, a sort of mockumentary folk-cult horror/comedy about a mysterious man who lives in the woods and in fact may or may not exist, and wreaks weird chaos on a quiet town, and in so doing becomes a Bigfoot-like of local legend. Zach …

Today I bring you my conversation with Sujewa Ekanayake. Sujewa is a New York based, very independent filmmaker. As we discuss in the interview, he makes his own micro-budget movies, completely on his own terms, and brings them directly to audiences through mostly self-arranged theatrical screenings. We also talk about his perspective that filmmaki…

Today I bring you my conversation with Dan Mirvish. Many of you may know Dan as one of the co-founders of the Slamdance Film Festival, founded in 1995, as an alternative to Sundance for first-time filmmakers. Dan’s first feature was entirely self-distributed, but since then Dan has made several more films, including his most recent 18 1/2, a thrill…

On this episode I interview J Horton, known among other things for his very informative YouTube channel. On his channel J speaks prolifically about film distribution and marketing. He is very open and transparent and he really tells it like it is from his point-of-view. J has built for himself a remarkable career, starting out with the high hopes o…