American Filmmaker

Chelsea Hernandez talks about growing up in Austin, going to college in NYC, finishing film school at University of Texas, working at KLRU-TV - Austin’s PBS station, applying for grants, documentary filmmaking strategy and making her first documentary feature, Building the American Dream. 

Chelsea Hernandez is a Mexican-American filmmaker based in Austin, Texas. Her work focuses on the unique perspectives of various issues and topics through the lens of ordinary people who challenge the status quo and injustices across the globe. She is an 8-time Emmy winning director, producer and editor in the Texas region for her work on PBS documentary series, Arts In Context. Chelsea's short documentary work includes See the Dirt, (2012 Austin Film Festival Best Short Documentary, Edinburgh) and An Uncertain Future (2018 SXSW Texas Short Jury Winner, Aspen Shorts Youth Jury Winner, Dallas International Film Festival Best Texas Short Special Mention). Chelsea’s first feature documentary, Building the American Dream, premiered at the 2019 SXSW film festival and will air nationally on PBS. Building the American Dream was the Seed & Spark and Project Greenlight #UntoldStory Contest winner. She is a fellow of Firelight Media Doc Lab, Tribeca Edit Storylab, Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) National Mediamaker Program and NALIP Latino Media Market. She is also a grant recipient of JustFilms and Tribeca All Access. 

Bryan Rodriguez is an acupuncturist and tai chi practitioner living in Boulder, Colorado. Through his life Bryan found the healing arts.   A fun side note is the host of the podcast, Josh Hyde, and Bryan do tai chi together. 

Bryan talks about discovering the benefits of acupuncture, how it balances your body and the three basic energy centers of the body according to tai chi philosophy.

The music used in this episode comes from the film Return of the Kung Fu Dragon. It was in the public domain on Archive.org, so we decided to include it for fun.

Bryan Rodriguez is an acupuncturist and tai chi practitioner living in Boulder, Colorado. Through his life Bryan found the healing arts.   A fun side note is the host of the podcast, Josh Hyde, and Bryan do tai chi together. 

Bryan talks about discovering the benefits of acupuncture, how it balances your body and the three basic energy centers of the body according to tai chi philosophy.

The music used in this episode comes from the film Return of the Kung Fu Dragon. It was in the public domain on Archive.org, so we decided to include it for fun.

Bryan Rodriguez is an acupuncturist and tai chi practitioner living in Boulder, Colorado. Through his life Bryan found the healing arts.   A fun side note is the host of the podcast, Josh Hyde, and Bryan do tai chi together. 

Bryan talks about discovering the benefits of acupuncture, how it balances your body and the three basic energy centers of the body according to tai chi philosophy.

The music used in this episode comes from the film Return of the Kung Fu Dragon. It was in the public domain on Archive.org, so we decided to include it for fun.

Mitch Shenassa, writer, anthropologist, and co-founder of Incredibowls smoking devices, stops in to drink tea and help me with some research for a new script involving an artifact that's a spiritual weapon. Mitch was the script editor for the script I just published, How to Kill a Bad Man.

Mitch talks about magic, basic hoodoo practices, how to navigate the physical world and the magical world, and he helps me understand my cinematography and editing work on Sweet Micky for President, a feature documentary I helped shoot in Haiti where I realized Voodoo is real.

Mitch Shenassa is a reoccurring guest, specializing in ritual magic from an anthropological perspective.

As a filmmaker, sometimes you find yourself in strange situations with profound meaning.  I was filming extra shots for a feature documentary on the hemp industry in Colorado and I filmed a talk by Winona LaDuke at the 2019 NoCo Hemp Expo to get some sound bites to add to the film.  Instead, I came to tears multiple times, while holding the camera, and realized I have to make Winona's talk into a podcast episode from the the front lines of storytelling.  This episode is Winona LaDuke's talk in it's entirety and it covers: being a water protector, activism and environmentalism for life, fighting dumb ideas,  choosing the right future, creating a better future by working together, regenerative economies, the Sitting Bull Plan (the Green Deal) and an indigenous hemp industry.

Winona's been part of many documentary films.  Most recently, The First Daughter and the Black Snake is a feature documentary following Winona LaDuke as she fights to block an Enbridge pipeline threatening sacred wild rice watersheds and her tribe's land.  The film is directed by Keri Pickett.

Dr. Hari Ailinani stops by to help research my new documentary film, American Hemp.  We talk about healthcare in Indiana, a CBD study he did on his patients, and the results.  Hari was also an an actor in one of my feature films, My Friend's Rubber Ducky.  He plays Guru Harinana, a motivational speaker who helps calm down a kidnapping with his words.

Jeff Zimbalist was born on August 15, 1978 in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. He is an Emmy and Peabody award-winning producer, writer and director, known primarily for Favela Rising (2005), The Two Escobars (2010), Youngstown Boys (2013), Pelé: Birth of a Legend (2016), Momentum Generation (2018), and his Netflix Remastered Series: Who Shot the Sheriff?, Massacre at the Stadium, Devil at the Crossroads, The Lion's Share, The Two Killings of Sam Cooke, Tricky Dicky and the Man in Black, He works with his brother Michael Zimbalist.

On this episode, Jeff talks about making his first feature film, Favela Rising, and how it was a springboard into making documentaries for HBO, ESPN, and many others.  Along the way Jeff teams up with his brother to elevate their storytelling and this leads to their first narrative feature film, Pele: Birth of a Legend.

Chris Rejano was born and raised in the shadows of Detroit.  Chris has forged a career in feature film, commercials and music videos.  His creativity is steeped in early MTV, skateboard videos, and American independent cinema.  His cinematography has been featured at the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, Berlinale, and the Tribeca.  Rejano is a member of International Cinematographers Guild Local 600. 

Chris talks about his long time collaboration with all of his Chicago filmmaking friends from gaffers and grips to writers, cinematographers and directors.  His long time collaborator, writer and director - Jennifer Reeder, is now on the festival circuit with her new feature film, Knives and Skins. Along the way, Chris has worked with some of his long time heroes, Spike Lee and Matthew Libatique.

Russell Costanzo is the editor of All These Small Moments, a feature film written and directed by Melissa Miller Costanzo.  Russell also makes film.  His first feature as a writer/director/editor was The Tested.  Available on Amazon Prime, Google Play, YouTube, and VuDu.  On this episode, we talk about making your first feature film, the future of the Oscars, motivational films for independent filmmakers, trying to create a dynamic distribution system for filmmakers, and what happens when Netflix and Amazon buy theatre chains to release their films and increase their offerings to their members.