Hello again. The podcast has been on hiatus for a bit. I'm bringing it back in video form at least for a limited season. In this episode, I will discuss why I stopped doing the show, what brought me back, and where I hope to head in context of the films Gattaca, Begin Again, and Jerry Maguire. If you're trying to find your way or just trying to sta…

In this episode I expand on some ideas that came up in my discussion with Brian A. Loschiavo about his documentary about the Bluebird Cafe, a now iconic music in Nashville. After I did the interview, certain subsequent news stories involving Taylor Swift came out, and they did affect my take on the film. Since Taylor Swift was prominently featured …

Brian A. Loschiavo, the director-producer-editor of the Bluebird documentary, was first exposed to The Bluebird Cafe through the show Nashville, a series for which he developed supplemental digital content. The now iconic country-music venue that has been instrumental to the careers of so many musicians including Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, and Taylo…

By Nick Savides, director Jason Ressler

By Nick Savides, Byron Reese

What's Eating Ralphie May won Best of the Fest at Nashville Film Festival and Documentary of the Year at Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival. The film was initially intended to be a weight-loss documentary that followed beloved comedian Ralphie May and his family, but it turned into a raw and intimate portrait of a family dealing with addiction d…

My podcast coverage of Nashville Film Festival continues in this short-films episode where I interview the directors for two different short films that got my attention at the festival. One has more of a documentary feel while the other one is a more stylized film with elaborate production design, so I paired the two interviews to explore how short…

Hannah Leder has a variety of acting credits including Deep Impact, Pay it Forward, and Judd Apatow’s Love series. She also has a recurring role on Apple TV+'s The Morning Show. On this podcast episode I interview Hannah about her work on The Planters, a quirky, character-driven comedy that won Best of the Fest, Best Cinematography, and Best Song a…

This is Part III of my podcast recap of Nashville Film Festival 2019. In it, I share my top five films from Nashville Film Festival and why I picked them. It's a more personal take, so I also share some related things that came up when trying to put together the list. Sponsor for this Episode nsavides productions – I make friendly, engaging videos …

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend and do podcast coverage at the 50th Nashville Film Festival. While there, I interviewed a number of filmmakers and filled an entire notebook with observations about the various films and events I attended. My Nashville Film Festival podcast coverage began with this interview I did with some of t…

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend and do podcast coverage at the 50th Nashville Film Festival. While there, I interviewed a number of filmmakers and filled an entire notebook with observations about the various films and events I attended. My Nashville Film Festival podcast coverage began with this interview I did with some of t…

My podcast coverage of Nashville Film Festival begins with Lost Bayou, a film that premiered at Tribeca and went on to win Best Picture at the El Dorado Film Festival. Lost Bayou tells the story of a struggling addict who returns home to the Louisiana bayou to reconnect with her faith healer father, only to discover he’s hiding a troubling secret a…

Just a quick update about the recent hiatus, and where I'm at with the show. Short version: the podcast will return with my coverage at the 50th Nashville Film Festival. Special thanks to Stephen T. Hoover. His script Damage Control made it into the top-four finalist round for half-hour pilots in the festival's screenwriting contest, and he was the…

In this episode I reflect on my podcast interview with writer Tom Piazza and share more of my thoughts about HBO's Tremeand how it compares to The Wire, both of which were created by David Simon. Afterwards I share some updates about some possibilities on the horizon. # Sponsor for this Episode nsavides productions – I make friendly, engaging video…

Even in the early days of the internet, Brian Solis was advising prominent companies about how to use social media to connect with potential customers. He's been called "one of the greatest digital analysts of our time” and has been sought out by the likes of Oprah, Shaq and Ashton Kutcher. Brian is also an award-winning author and world-renowned k…

Jenna Suru's early film career involved working for Gaumont, one of the major French film studios and the world's first and oldest film company. There she was in charge of distributing Gaumont new releases to film festivals around the world. Later she went on to work for SND Groupe M6, a French distributor that also distributes American films in Fr…

Author Tom Piazza has written 12 books, many of which feature New Orleans, music, or both. His post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Mattershelped to inspire the HBO show Treme, and the show's co-creator David Simon brought him on as a staff writer largely because of it. Tom received a Grammy Award for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents T…

Renting film equipment can seem intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. John Baumgartner, the rental manager at Expressway Cinema Rentals in Philadelphia, came on the podcast to walk filmmakers through the rental process. "... at the end of the day I'm not going to let you walk out of my rental house not being able to make your picture." -John Bau…

Kate Krantz, the Chief Content Officer for Crypt TV, began her career by working for William Morris Endeavor. From there, she went to work for Walt Disney Studios in live-action production. That gave her a chance to observe how Disney developed characters and intellectual property beloved by millions around the world. Those observations helped her …

For the past 23 years, Cyber PR Founder Ariel Hyatt has been helping prominent musicians and creative people use public relations, marketing, and social media to connect with fans and be more engaging. She's also written four books on the music industry and is an internationally recognized speaker who has spoken at conferences around the world incl…

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse developed a new approach to computer animation so as to translate the comic-book experience for the big screen. Academy voters took notice and awarded the film an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. One of the last things that moviegoers see before leaving the film is the hyperkinetic title sequence animated by visual…

On this episode, I explore some of the big ideas and political discussions I heard at SXSW 2019. While this is not an inherently political show, political outlooks inform the films, music, and art we take in and strive to create, whether directly or indirectly. SXSW isn't just a prominent film and music festival. It's also where presidential hopefu…

First-time directors face all kinds of unexpected challenges. For Alex Ferrari, host of the Indie Film Hustle podcast, that meant trying to shoot a $20 million feature film in Louisiana and across the country for a bipolar, egomaniacal gangster. The dream of becoming a feature-film director turned into a nightmare for Alex, and it led to a textbook…

Our SXSW 2019 podcast coverage continues with two representatives from film-financing company Forest Road. The company sponsored one of the filmmaker dinners at SXSW this year. More importantly, they are a financing company that puts the filmmakers first. Forest Road Company's CEO Zach Tarica and Director of West Coast Operations Eric Boshart came …

Recently I had the opportunity to do podcast coverage at SXSW 2019, my third time doing coverage at Austin's preeminent film and music festival. (Before, I did coverage there as The nsavides Podcast. I changed the name to NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW for clarity and because nicksav.show is easier to remember then podcast.nsavides.com.) Part I of my co…

Years ago, I came to SXSW to see The Last Bison perform. Now with a few new hits and a refined sound, they're back, playing at Austin's esteemed film and music festival once more. Frontman Ben Hardesty came on the show to discuss The story behind their evolving sound What went into making their latest music video How they create a unified experienc…

This is the commentary track for my interview with singer-songwriter Lynn Drury, who has been performing in New Orleans for over 20 years. Some of the things I discuss include How to be more effective as a performer Building quality relationships over quantity The role of the artist in the world at large Things that get in the way of trying to make…

The seventh season of the NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW kicks off with Lynn Drury, a singer-songwriter who has played music in New Orleans for over 20 years. Those in the know about the New Orleans music community go out of their way to see Lynn perform, as do audiences across the country and around the world. Some of the things we discuss include How …

This is the commentary track for my interview with compositor Travis Nobles (Hugo, Game of Thrones, Mortal Engines). In it I share some of my takeaways from the interview, give my review of Mortal Engines and expand on my conflicted thoughts about Game of Thrones. The Lord of the Rings, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and Westworld Season 1 als…

Compositor Travis Nobles wanted to work on films ever since he saw The Lord of the Rings. Through an unexpected journey that led him from the United States to Germany and then to New Zealand, he finally got to work for the company that brought CG Gollum to life: Weta Digital. Before Weta, Travis's resume includes several Emmy-winning seasons of Gam…

This is my commentary track for my interviews at Cutting Edge C.E., an annual music conference in New Orleans that brings together prominent musicians, industry professionals, and filmmakers from across the country. Both episodes and show notes are here, or check feed for the prior episode with interviews. # If you'd like to hear from another band …

Cutting Edge C.E. is an annual music conference in New Orleans that brings together prominent musicians, industry professionals, and filmmakers from across the country. The 26th Cutting Edge conference concluded a few weeks ago, and for my podcast coverage I had the opportunity to interview the festival's founder Eric Cager, along with some musicia…

This is my commentary and takeaways from my conversation with Gordy Hoffman, the Sundance-winning writer of Love Liza (starred his brother, Philip Seymour Hoffman), and founder of BlueCat Screenwriting Competition. Check the feed for the interview. In this commentary I discuss What I appreciate about Gordy My thoughts on feedback and dealing with t…

Gordy Hoffman's first produced feature screenplay, Love Liza, won the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award when it premiered at Sundance. The film also featured a memorable performance from his brother, Philip Seymour Hoffman, his first starring role in a film. Dog Bowl, a short film that Gordy wrote and directed, also premiered at Sundance, …

Alex V. Cook is a journalist and music critic who has written for an assortment of publications including The Believer, The Oxford American, DownBeat, and Paste Magazine. His book Darkness, Racket and Twang: Essential Listening from the Fringes of Popular and Unpopular Cultureis a compilation of his music essays, which includes commentary on artist…

Do U Want It? is a music documentary that tells the story of the New Orleans funk band, Papa Grows Funk, their residency at The Maple Leaf Bar, and then their indefinite hiatus that they announced in 2013. The film doesn't just capture a band in transition and the creative differences that came along though. It also offers an insider's glimpse into…

Wumbo is a word coined on SpongeBob SquarePants. It is also an indie-rcok band that The Advocaterecently included in their list of 10 bands to check out in Baton Rouge. The band has played at most of Baton Rouge's esteemed music venues including The Varsity, Spanish Moon, Mid City Ballroom, Happy's Irish Pub, 524 Studios, and more. In a few days th…

Filmmaker Joshua Overbay's first film, As It Is in Heaven, was a Critics' Pick in The New York Times and favorably reviewed on rogerebert.com. Luke & Jo is Josh's third film, and it continues the tradition of exploring big questions while telling an intimate, character-driven story that Josh started with his first film. Nathaniel Glass was one of t…

Michael Berry is the writer-director of Stuck, an original character-driven musical set in a New York subway that stars Giancarlo Esposito, whom Breaking Badfans might recognize as the cunning owner of Los Pollos Hermanos. Giancarlo plays a very different character in Stuck: a mysterious, seemingly homeless man prone to break into song, who may or …

Some songwriters would kill for the chance to work with just one multi-platinum artist. Songwriter Brent Baxterhas worked with a handful of them. One of his songs even made it onto Rolling Stone's list of the 40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time. How does a songwriter get to write for multi-platinum artists, and what's it like writing songs for Ala…

This year, I had the chance to interview several filmmakers screening films at the Louisiana International Film Festival. On this episode, I recap some of those interviews and share some of my experiences and takeaways from LIFF2018. Here are my prior interviews from #LIFF2018. On the recap below, I share some of the highlights from each interview,…

My coverage of LIFF2018 continues with Tinker producer Tom Bhramayana. It was a sci-fi film that started as Kickstarter campaign which brought in over $100,000. A few year later, it has won 19 best-of awards at festivals around the country, and all three screenings at this year's Louisiana International Film Festival have sold out. The term produce…

Show notes coming soon.

Brimstone & Glory is a documentary produced by the Department of Motion Pictures that tells the story of Tultepec, a town in Mexico that is dedicated to the making and celebration of fireworks. It's a poetic, visually stunning film that the National Board of Review recognized as one of the top five documentaries of 2017, and it is one of the films …

My podcast coverage of Louisiana International Film Festival 2018 continues with director Maya Washington. She's the filmmaker behind Through the Banks of the Red Cedar and the daughter of Gene Washington, the wide receiver who played for Michigan State and then the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos. Gene's storied football career led to an …

My #LIFF2018 coverage continues with makeup artist and documentary filmmaker Tiffany Bartok. She's the director behind Larger Than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story. Prior to seeing the documentary and doing the interview, I wasn't aware of Kevyn, but then the few makeup artists I'm aware of tend to be special-effects luminaries like Jack Pierce (Franke…

This is the first part of my coverage for Louisiana International Film Festival 2018, which happens in Baton Rouge from April 19-22. In this episode, I talk to director Vincent Grashaw about his film And Then I Go. His film tells the story of two young people who contemplate a potential school shooting against their classmates as retaliation for th…

Cecilia Della Peruti has played guitar for and gone on tour with acts like Beck, BØRNS, and Charli XCX. That's helped to prepare her to launch her own band, Gothic Tropic. The band has a guitar-driven 80s pop sound infused with some R&B and funk influences. Elsewhere, Gothic Tropic has been compared to Blondie, Fleetwood Mac and Haim. I had a chanc…

South by Southwest is the whirlwind of activity that takes over Austin for about two weeks each March. It's a massive film, music, and interactive super festival, plus an education summit, plus a video game expo, plus a job fair, and so much more. It's a full-time job just attending the festival and figuring out what to check out next, so needless …

For the first time ever, I did a live episode of The nsavides Podcast a few days ago, and what an honor it was to do that as an official event at SXSW 2018. What's more I got to do the show with my friends and some of the most talented filmmakers I know in Louisiana: cinematographer Matt S. Bell, director-editor Misty Talley, and producer Sam Clait…