Behind The Lens

It's another jam-packed episode of #BTLRadioShow as we go from the Atlantic to the Pacific thanks to our special guests, ALEX NOYER and actor JASMIN SAVOY BROWN, fresh off their world premiere at SXSW talking about their frightening and intriguing new film SOUND OF VIOLENCE, and director/co-writer PAOLO PILLADI who makes his narrative feature directorial debut with the delightfully engaging and fun LAST CALL.

First up we head to Philly with PAOLO PILLADI and LAST CALL, a fun film that focuses on lifelong friends and family, "the old neighborhood", gentrification, redevelopment, and the nostalgic warmth of neighborhoods and the mom and pop shops of our youth. Shooting in Bayonne, NJ as a perfect stand-in for the suburban Philly neighborhood of Upper Darby ("Darby Heights" in the film), this is the story of Mick, a guy who wanted more than what he thought the neighborhood could give him and moved all the way to Rittenhouse Square and Center City (about 10 miles) to become a mover and shaker in real estate development complete with fancy car and cash. But behind the allure of cash and cars and the high life, is the ugly reality that Mick may be helping his own father's bar and his friends' homes be destroyed as the result of a big real estate deal. Listen as Paolo and I go in-depth into the making of LAST CALL; from co-writing with his fellow Philadelphian Greg Lingo, to casting, to location scouting, to the importance of showcasing the home and hearth of neighborhoods, to cinematography, editing, and score, we cover it all. LAST CALL is in theatres, On Demand, and digital now.

Then we are joined by writer/director ALEX NOYER and actor JASMIN SAVOY BROWN to discuss their new narrative film SOUND OF VIOLENCE. This is an absolute "Must See"!! A fascinating and horrifying film that tells the story of Alexis, a young girl who lost her hearing as the result of an accident only to have it suddenly restored by another traumatic incident, one that involved her witnessing the brutal death of her mother at the hands of her father, but also Alexis' own violent actions. Now an adult and in college with a focus on an auditory world and music, Alex is energetic, focused, alive; not what one might expect from a once traumatized child. But has she put the trauma of the past behind her? Opening us up to the world of synesthesia which is where stimulation of one sensory pathway activates another, in this case the sound of violence and death becoming joyously orgasmic for Alexis, listen as first-time feature director Alex talks about crafting the script and diving into synesthesia and making it visually palpable by using color and music to translate sound into emotion. SOUND OF VIOLENCE is releasing through Gravitas Ventures on May 21, 2021!

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It's a busy episode of #BTLRadioShow as we're talking Oscar nominations, plus. . .

ALEXANDRA LORETH and KEVIN PONTUTI are live talking about their new film making its world premiere at the virtual Cinequest Film Festival, THE YELLOW WALLPAPER. Mesmerizing and hypnotic, the film dazzles with its meticulous and methodical sound design and rich cinematography. Take a listen as we dive into not only the excitement and anticipation of a world premiere but "the making of" THE YELLOW WALLPAPER, starting with the challenges of adapting this acclaimed gothic feminist horror story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman which essentially takes place in the mind of the protagonist, giving a fully tapestried identity to her, and then crafting meticulous tactical visuals that bring the story to life. In addition to discussing the stunning and metaphoric visual design both from a cinematographic and production design standpoint, we delve into the use of sound and the film's overall soundscape, all of which fuel the pacing as it progressively spirals into frenzied intensity. This is definitely one of my "Must See Films" of 2021!

And then RYAN BARTON-GRIMLEY is back with us talking about one of my indie faves of 2020, HAWK & REV: VAMPIRE SLAYERS, which now has distribution and is available on VOD and DVD. While everyone will enjoy Ryan's neverending amiability and sense of humor, filmmakers, in particular, will appreciate some of Ryan's pearls of wisdom on making the "lo budget/no budget/micro budget" indie and the challenges to anticipate when trying to get the film to market. Some valuable lessons to be learned today.

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It's a fun episode of #BTLRadioShow this week thanks to director CRAIG BREWER and writer/director LESLIE THOMAS. First up we're taking a little trip back to Zamunda with director CRAIG BREWER as we go in-depth talking about the hilarious COMING 2 AMERICA in this prerecorded exclusive interview. Hear my review of the film and listen as Craig talks about casting, incorporating touchstones to the original film, finding the heart of the film, the comedy beats, cinematography and working with cinematographer Jody Williams to capture familial intimacy within the comedy canvas as well as staging those incredible production numbers, the production design of Jeffrey Sage, and the award-worthy costume design of Ruth E. Carter (hand her the Oscar 2022 now).

And then writer/director LESLIE THOMAS is live talking about her new film, HONESTY WEEKEND, where the age-old adage of "honesty is the best policy" is put to the test with laughter and love. Leslie covers the gamut from story to casting an ensemble, location location location, using color and tone for each room in the location house and for each character, scoring - which is a huge part of the connective tissue of this film, and so much more.

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It's a jam-packed extended show this week thanks to our special guests, filmmakers and co-directors ANDRE PHILLIPS and CHARLES VUOLO, plus some very enlightening and fun prerecorded exclusive interviews with writer/director NICHOLAS JARECKI and writer/director LOUISE LINTON.

First, take a listen to our exclusive conversation with writer/director NICHOLAS JARECKI talking about his latest film, CRISIS. Much like his first film, "Arbitrage", Nicholas delivers a hard-hitting and riveting film, this time centered around the opioid crisis and the business of drug trafficking…through the Northern borders. Listen as Nicholas discusses at length his approach to the script and working with his actors in its development following the "first draft", casting, his extensive research into the various elements of the opioid crisis which set the stage for the three narrative threads which compromise the story, cinematography and finding visual tonal bandwidth through color and light, location selection, shooting on Kodak film and not only his reasons for so doing with CRISIS but a wonderful discussion on the beauty and need for film in cinema, and why he chooses "morally gray" areas and societal issues to tell stories.

Then co-directors ANDRE PHILLIPS and CHARLES VUOLO are back on #BTLRadioShow talking about their first feature, LUPE. Our regular listeners may recall that Andre and Chuck were last with us in March 2019 while LUPE was on the festival circuit and screening at Cinequest. Now, LUPE has distribution and is available on HBOMax! An intimate, yet complex story, of an immigrant struggling with their transgender identity while searching for their missing sister in New York City's underground sex industry, listen as we again talk about story and actors, but a longer segment on the show this go-round, we dig deeper into the story itself, casting – notably the outstanding young actor Pedro Rodriguez who plays a young version of Rafael Albarran's lead character "Rafael", shooting in the Dominican Republic as a stand-in for Cuba, working with cinematographer T. Acton Fitzgerald and the handheld yet stylized look of LUPE, shooting flashbacks with a life and vibrancy rarely seen in films, the importance of choosing "grittier" underbelly locations in the boroughs of New York City, editing and finding not only a tonal balance but a story balance between past and present, and the distribution process.

We round out the extended last 30 minutes of the show with our exclusive conversation with writer/director/producer/actor LOUISE LINTON talking about her directorial debut, ME YOU MADNESS. You've already heard me rave about the film over the past few weeks, now hear what Louise has to say about the "making of": the importance of physical details with production design/costume/set dress in the telling of this story and serving as character exposition, crafting rapier dialogue, paying homage to the femme fatale and classic films of the 40's and 50's, selecting needle drops that serve not only in paying homage to the 80's but that serve as dialogue within the film much as the 1950's MGM musicals, working around coverage issues in editing and with pick-up shots, navigating set closure because of the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, distribution and deliverables, and lessons learned as a first-time director not the least of which involves insurance.

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This episode of #BTLRadioShow takes us from the social consciousness of A TINY RIPPLE OF HOPE in Chicago to the wild and wacky world of WILLY'S WONDERLAND.

First up is our exclusive conversation with director KEVIN LEWIS going in-depth on the wild and wonderful world of WILLY'S WONDERLAND starring Nic Cage! Who doesn't love a Nic Cage film – especially when he's being Nic Cage at the top of his game. And that's exactly what we get from him in WILLY'S WONDERLAND. Listen as Kevin talks about his attraction to G.O. Parson's script, working with Cage in developing the character of "The Janitor", Molly Coffee's detailed production design, cinematography and developing extreme dutched angles and explosive use of color and light in collaboration with his cinematographer David Newbert, scoring by Emoi, and so much more.

Then we shift gears as director/producer JASON POLEVOI joins us live talking about his documentary A TINY RIPPLE OF HOPE which had its world premiere at the virtual 2021 Slamdance Film Festival. Focusing on the story of Chicago native, Jahmal Cole and his My Block, My Hood, My City organization which brings hope and opportunity to teenagers across Chicago's segregated South and West Sides, the film follows a formative year for Jahmal as he makes the hard decisions and sacrifices for the community over himself. Listen as Jason talks about the genesis of the documentary, the multi-year course of shooting, shifting through-line of the film's focus, narrowing the scope of story to one year and making the decision as to which year would be the focus, the lengthy and challenging editing process, and more.

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It's a full house this week on #BTLRadioShow thanks to our special guests, filmmakers STEPHEN JANIS, DEANNE FOLEY, and LATONIA HARTERY. Plus, some quick review bytes on two new films streaming everywhere right now – ME YOU MADNESS and PARADISE COVE.

One of my fave films of the year already is ME YOU MADNESS, written and directed by LOUISE LINTON and starring Linton and Ed Westwick. Irreverant, politically incorrect, high octane, glamorous, breaking the fourth, rapier wit-filled darkly comedic action movie love story, ME YOU MADNESS is delicious dark decadent fun from start to finish. Linton shows good command as not only a wordsmith, but as a storyteller (much of which I believe we can credit to her trial advocacy skills as a lawyer) is well constructed and structured. Visually, Linton knocks it out of the park with polish and color thanks to cinematographers Reinhart Reschke and Boa Simon, whose lighting and lensing only serve to elevate the already sumptuous production design of Allura Johnson and Travis Zariwny, while editor Samuel Means maintains high octane energy, most notably in some over-the-top musical montages set to touchstone needle drops of the past few decades. (I want the soundtrack.)

And then there's PARADISE COVE. Written by Sherry Klein and directed by Martin Guigi, PARADISE COVE stars veteran actors Todd Grinnell, Mena Suvari, and Kristin Bauer van Straten in this psychological thriller genre blend based on a true story. Van Straten stars as Bree, a once-wealthy Malibu matriarch and actress who has lost her home but refuses to leave the Paradise Cove colony, now living on the beach underneath her once home. Grinnell and Suvari are Knox and Tracey, a young married couple looking to get rich quick by flipping the Malibu beach home of Knox's recently deceased mother. Of course, that home was once Bree's and under which Knox and Tracey find her. Performances are solid with van Straten soaring as Bree. And while the script itself is unremarkable and easily fills the bill as a Lifetime TV movie versus a "theatrical" release film, elevating the film as a whole is Guigi's direction and his collaboration with DP Massimo Zeri, production designer Alessandro Marvelli (who uses color and texture to define and distinguish the character traits of our principals) and editor Eric Potter, the latter who delivers some truly shocking moments thanks to abrupt emotional cuts.

Co-directors DEANNE FOLEY and LATONIA HARTERY join us live in the first half of the show talking about their charming and sweet anthology narrative about love and romance, HOPELESS ROMANTIC. Six women, six stories about love, all told within the setting of a wedding complete with the good, the bad, and the ugly cry. You laugh, you cry, you nod your head in sympathy, and by film's end you may even find yourself more of a "hopeful" romantic than not. Deanne directs one of the "segments" as well as the umbilical throughline while Latonia is not only one of the directors but a producer of the film which meant she was on hand for virtually all of the filming. Listen as Deanne and Latonia talk about the genesis of this anthology, collaboration amongst all six female directors, crafting characters and casting, diversity of characters, finding cohesive yet individually distinctive tone, using one cinematographer and one editor for the entire film and each segment, scoring, and let's not forget, the wealth of talent in the Nova Scotia area who we see on screen and behind the lens.

Joining us at the midpoint of the show for a fascinating conversation about his documentary, THE FRIENDLIEST TOWN, is STEPHEN JANIS. An award-winning investigative journalist, author, musician, and now writer/co-director/editor of the documentary, Steph.

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Take a listen to this episode of #BTLRadioShow as we welcome writer/director RAVIN GANDHI talking about the psychological thriller 100 DAYS TO LIVE and co-directors NIKIEA REDMOND & KIRSTEN D'ANDREA HOLLANDER talking their documentary ANATOMY OF WINGS.

Joining us live at the top of the show is writer/director RAVIN GANDHI talking about the making of 100 DAYS TO LIVE, a chilling psychological thriller with twists and turns that will have your jaw dropping as we follow the story of a woman grappling with her own emotional fragility who runs a suicide support group. Having rebuilt her own life and found happiness, the rug is pulled out from under her as her fiance is suddenly kidnapped by a known serial killer who has thus far eluded the police. With the clock ticking, she races to uncover the identity of the killer/kidnapper and more importantly, why he kills. Listen as Ravin talks about the genesis of the story, building tension to a crescendo and then pulling the ultimate shocking twist, building character, his cinematographic design and importance of color and lighting in defining tone, and so much more.

We then shift gears and head to Baltimore with the documentary ANATOMY OF WINGS as we speak with co-directors KRISTEN D'ANDREA HOLLANDER and NIKIEA REDMOND about a project that began as a 10-week afterschool workshop that turned into a more than 10 year journey for a group of 10 Baltimore City girls at the Dunbar School. Listen as Kristen and Nikiea not only talk about the WINGS project, but this amazing cinematic journey spanning more than a decade and how years of footage depicting the lives and what became lifelong friendships among these girls formed this documentary, the challenges of editing, finding and developing a throughline, and more.

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It's all about the heartfelt enchantment of animation, music, and the love of a father-daughter, plus the power of redemption and family on this week's #BTLRadioShow thanks to special guests YIBING JIANG & JASON KEANE, plus our exclusive interview with director FISHER STEVENS!

Joining us live today to talk about the very special animated short film (award-worthy Oscar consideration, folks!!), WINDUP, are writer/director YIBING JIANG and animation director JASON KEANE. Emotionally exquisite, this may well be the best 9 minutes and 55 seconds you ever spent watching a film. It is truly the beating heart of love as we watch the tale of a father and young daughter unfold. Take a listen Yibing talks about the birth of the story and bringing it to life while Jason goes into detail about the animation style and use of color, while each weighs in on the importance of music in not only the creative scoring process as a whole but specifically as to the accompanying animation, not to mention their love of the animated format of storytelling. And could there be a WINDUP feature film in the works? Listen and you'll find out! WINDUP is available to watch for FREE on YouTube!

But before Yibing and Jason, take a listen to our prerecorded exclusive interview with director FISHER STEVENS talking about his new film, PALMER. Known for his work as an actor, director, writer, and producer for the past more than three decades, Fisher has spent much of the past decade producing and directing documentaries (THE COVE, RACING EXTINCTION), so it takes a lot for him to direct a narrative feature. It has to "say" something. With PALMER, starring Justin Timberlake, Fisher jumps into the director's chair and delivers a gut-punching tale about second chances, family, and hope. Listen as Fisher and I go deep into the making of PALMER, from script to financing to casting (Ryder Allen! The find of the year!) to the story behind Justin Timberlake's casting to the visual mastery of cinematographer Tobias Schliesser to praying for cloudy weather to Tamar Kali's score to editing and pacing and so much more!

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Another big episode of #BTLRadioShow thanks to filmmakers SEAN PATRICK FLANERY and TYLER WAYNE!

First up, take a listen to our prerecorded exclusive interview with SEAN PATRICK FLANERY talking about his new film BORN A CHAMPION. While you may know Sean best for all of his work in front of the camera, with BORN A CHAMPION, together with co-writer and director Alex Ranarivelo, Sean does double duty as screenwriter and actor. A passion project that took years to bring to fruition, Sean talks candidly about the screenwriting process, "recollective storytelling", the importance of jiu-jitsu in his life and in telling this story, the cast, hiring real-life jiu-jitsu and martial arts champions for the film, and more.

And then writer/director/actor TYLER WAYNE joins us talking about his feature directorial debut with GOODBYE, BUTTERFLY. An intriguing murder mystery that explores a father's grief and rage as he sets out to find the man who murdered his 5-year old daughter. In addition to writing and directing GOODBYE, BUTTERFLY, Tyler also co-stars as BFF to Adam Donshik's grieving father, Ryan Olsen. Listen as Tyler talks about the genesis of the film, directing and acting, casting (very notably, Addison Ross), working with limited locations, working with a character's traits to create effective and believable production design and set dress, the metaphoric importance of butterflies, and so much more!

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It's another big week on BEHIND THE LENS as we welcome writer/director/producer RENJI PHILIP live to the show talking about his new film, THE WAKE OF LIGHT, plus our prerecorded exclusive interview with none other than musician/actor/songwriter and all-around good guy FRANK STALLONE talking about the new documentary about him, STALLONE: FRANK, THAT IS.

Joining us live at the midpoint of the show is RENJI PHILIP talking about his new feature film THE WAKE OF LIGHT. Visually and emotionally exquisite, the film has the thematic and emotional feel of an existential Malick, but with more visual clarity (and some fabulous sun flares!). Complementing some beautiful performances and the thematic cinematography is a beauteous score punctuated with the exquisite delicacy of piano music. Take a listen as Renji goes deep into the making of THE WAKE OF LIGHT and the cinematic tools and components he employed to create this emotionally experiential film; working with his cinematographer Rainer Lipske, finding unscripted imagery to create powerful montages, his journey to find the perfect location (Sutter Creek, California), casting and writing roles specifically for some longtime collaborators like Rome Brooks and William Morton, bringing on actor Matt Bush, the importance of music to Renji's creativity and creative process, and a real treat with this film – score and not only the work of composer Josh Mancell but that of fellow composer and pianist Josh Kramer whose piano pieces here are almost ethereal.

But before we get to Renji, we're gonna be talking STALLONE: FRANK, THAT IS with the man himself, FRANK STALLONE. STALLONE: FRANK, THAT IS, is an up-close and personal documentary on Frank from writer/director/editor/producer Derek Wayne Johnson. Thanks to archival materials, interviews from individuals in Frank's professional life that span more than 50 years including some heartfelt reunions, and some "Frank on Frank", by film's end you really know more about what makes Frank tick, who he is, where he came from, what he loves, where his heart is, and that Frank Stallone is far from over. A "must hear" interview, take a listen to this exclusive conversation that goes beyond the documentary as Frank and I stroll down memory lane together talking about Staying Alive, Rocky, Philly and the Philly music and radio scene in the 60's and 70's, his mom Jackie, his brother Sylvester, surprises in the documentary, and so much more.

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