Best in Fest

Leslie talks with ex-development exec and current TV and Film writer Cynthia Riddle about what Hollywood is looking for in today's environment, how to get in the door and find management and agent representation, the value of film festivals and writing contests, how to get staffed on a show and much, much more... This episode is a bit longer, but the flow of information is fantastic!

CYNTHIA RIDDLE worked as a development executive for MGM and segued into a writing and producing deal with the studio. She has written movies and series episodes for CBS, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Netflix, Lifetime, Disney, Showtime, PBS, Hallmark Channel, Nickelodeon, and direct-to-video films.

Riddle and frequent writing partner, Peter Hunziker, wrote and Executive Produced the recent Lifetime true crime movie Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story that starred Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). They also wrote the award-winning CBS/ Hallmark Hall of Fame film Crossroads, the highly rated Puppy Love for Hallmark Ch, and biopic The Brittany Murphy Story that aired on Lifetime. Riddle and Hunziker’s stage musical, A Kid’s Life, has done two runs Off-Broadway and two successful national tours. 

Riddle’s feature script, Curtains, is set to be produced by the Academy Award nominated producer of Dallas Buyers Club and filmed in Paris in 2021. The script won 2 WGA script competitions: one a French Residency in Paris to location scout the project.

Riddle and Hunziker won and/or have been finalists in prestigious film competitions including Project Greenlight, the Coca Cola Refreshing Filmmakers Award (winner with film screened in 14,000 theatres nationwide), Nintendo/ Universal Studios’ Eternal Darkness film competition, the Disney Screenwriting Fellowship, won Screencraft’s Jamaica Residency, Top 20 out of 9,100 scripts in AMC/Austin Film Fest competition, and Finalists in Sundance’s Episode Story Lab and Humanitas’ New Voices Program.

Riddle holds a BA and MFA in Screenwriting and Film Production from UCLA.

This episode writes itself!  Actress/Producer Desiree Staples is a charming guest with great stories and incredibly valuable information about the business of producing feature films and networking your way through the film festival circuit to great success.

Desiree Staples is a seasoned producer, filmmaker, and actress multi-hyphenate, experienced in both short-form and feature film content. Circus Person, Produced by Staples, premiered at Tribeca N.O.W.'s 2020 showcase, and also was one of the selected films in YouTube's We Are One: A Global Film Festival, as well as winning the audience award for best episodic pilot at Nashville Film Festival.  Staples' Produced and acted in the feature filmTake Me To Tarzanadistributed by Gravitas Ventures in 2021 which stars Jonathan Bennett, Maria Conchita Alonso, Samantha Robinson, Andrew Creer, Oliver Cooper, and more. Take Me To Tarzana also won a Golden Remi Award at the Houston Worldfest Film Festival. 

Staples' dramedy pilot It's What She Would Have Wanted was selected and shown at LA Shorts, Mill Valley Film Festival, Catalyst Content, and St. Louis International Film Festival. Staples' comedy pilot The Influencers, that she co-created, stars in, and produced won the Audience Award for Comedy Short form content at the Reel Independent Film Festival in Hollywood, and has been selected in over 20 other festivals in the US and Internationally (including Santa Monica Webfest - Best Ensemble Cast - Winner). Staples' also Produced and acts in the Web-Series Stupid Cupid, that was one of the projects supported by NYC Media/NYC Life, and was distributed in 2021 by DunnVision. 

Desiree is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA,  Women in Film, the co-creator of the Female Filmmakers Forum on Clubhouse, and is the Co-President of Northwestern University's Entertainment Alliance - NUEA West, and a proud Alum. 

Leslie and Crystal dive deep as they discuss Crystal's path from her character Olivia on Guiding Light to producing her very successful web series "Venice." Crystal has  taken control of her career by launching Open book Productions,  a digital production company., which is currently making their first feature film. But that's not all, Crystal also co-founded the streaming platform "Real Women's Network." This episode is packed with inspiration and information.

More about Crystal:

Three-time Emmy Award Winning actress Crystal Chappell never stops! She won an Emmy in 2002 for Outstanding Supporting Actress as Olivia on CBS-TV’s “Guiding Light” as well as a 2011 Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Short Format for her web-series “Venice,” which she wrote, produced and created and a 2014 Emmy for Outstanding New Approaches Drama Series for “Venice.”  The web-series “Venice” revolves around a warm community of people who reside in Venice Beach, California. 

In 2009 Ms. Chappell founded Open Book Productions, a successful digital media company. Recognizing that media was moving in a new direction she developed and executed an in-house subscription-based business model to monetize the web. Using motion picture production techniques, Emmy winning talent and state of the art technology she created and stars in the award winning Venice the Series, the digital pilot The Grove, and most recently she partnered with Bella Productions for season 2 of Beacon Hill.  Season 7 of “Venice” will film in 2021.

​Crystal continued to break new ground by Partnering with Perfect Features in 2016 to star and produce Open Book Productions first film, A Million Happy Nows.

 In 2020, Chappell co-founded Reel Women’s Network, a streaming service dedicated to content created by women and women-identifying filmmakers and content creators.

 Although Crystal feels honored by her awards, her proudest achievements are her sons Jacob Walker and Dylan Michael Sabatino. When not working on her next production, Chappell enjoys time with her family, hiking, and a good chardonnay from the Central Coast of California.

Film Noir wasn't always cool, but thanks to the success of Jeanne Marie Spicuzza's film "The Scarapist", filmmakers have been inspired to take up the mantle... and Hollywood has noticed.
In this episode Leslie has a fun conversation with the passionate Writer/Director/Actor about financing an Independent Film, the struggles of being a female Director, the Me Too movement and diversity in Hollywood, navigating the best film festivals and much more...  

Jeanne Marie Spicuzza is an award-winning motion picture actress, writer, producer, director, fine artist, author and performer. She is the founder of Seasons & a Muse entertainment conglomerate, and the first studio in Hollywood fully-owned and run by a woman. She is a member of the Alliance of Women Directors, Film Fatales, Cinefemme and the Criterion Collective. She has taught at Grok Acting Studios, About the Work, Cardinal Stritch
College, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and more. She is a poet in the schools at Occidental College, Santa Monica College and others.

Jeanne Marie began painting at the age of two. She wrote her first poems and plays at age ten, gave birth to her daughter, Stephanie, at seventeen and was published by twenty-three. Shortly after a featured performance at Lollapalooza, she wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, Hope is My Favorite Color, and adapted it for the stage. It was performed at the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Jeanne Marie’s films have screened at theatres and festivals worldwide, and are distributed in domestic and international markets. She is listed in Who's Who in the World, and has received awards, placings and nominations with The Pushcart Prize, Shepherd Express, Fade-In Magazine, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Vatican Division of Arts and Culture and others. Jeanne Marie has served as external consultant for clients like
Toyota Motor Corporation and Wiseau Studio. She was nominated 'Woman of the Year' in 1998 through the National Organization for Women. Audio segments from her screenplay "Breath of God" are at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art in the Brooklyn Museum, as part of Judy Chicago’s celebrated installation, “The Dinner Party.” Jeanne Marie is the first and only screenwriter to have been selected for permanent museum exhibition.

Jeanne Marie earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in philosophy and psychology from the University of WisconsinMilwaukee, with a partially completed Master of Arts Degree from same. She has studied acting and art history in countries like the United States, Italy, United Kingdom, Greece, Germany, Holland and more. Jeanne Marie is published in Poetry Motel, Quill and Parchment, A Gathering of Tribes and others. Having toured several countries,
and winner of various poetry slams, her likeness appears on poet trading cards. Jeanne Marie’s paintings and illustrations may be found in the David Barnett Gallery, Children's Theatre School, Blue Fifth Review and more.

Jeanne Marie shares a deep affinity with medieval visionary, composer and abbess Hildegard von Bingen. She is dedicated to the production of the motion picture project “Breath of God,” based on the life of this amazing historical woman. Her VDKUF award-winning premiere feature film “The Scarapist” is currently in release. “Night Rain” and "Making Angels” are slated to follow. Her debut novel bears the latter title. She lives in Los Angeles. 

How do you get Hollywood to pay attention to your Independent short or Feature Film? In this episode Leslie gets the blueprint from successful Publicist/Producer Deborah Gilels.  From the Festival Circuit to Packaging a Feature with a major studio, this conversation has it all from two professionals who know the industry.

Deborah Gilels has run a successful PR/Media Consulting company for the past 16 years, assisting writers, filmmakers, and actors with PR and Marketing activities including promoting feature films, shorts and documentaries, by way of public relations, marketing, project development, and distribution strategy, repping documentaries and feature films in the international marketplace.

Among the films she has successfully launched are: Keiko the Untold Story of the Star of Free Willy, the award-winning documentary The War on Kids, and the Chazz Palminteri- Andie MacDowell family drama Mighty Fine for Lionsgate.  In the anime space, Gilels ran FYC campaigns for the award-winning features Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms and Liz and the Blue Bird (Satellite Award nominee), the short Lacrimosa and documentary The Gilligan Manifesto. She also was the lead publicist on Fathoms release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro, the award-winning A Silent Voice, Millennium Actress and Sound! Euphonium.  She has also done publicity for anime series Lupin 3rd Part 4 on Adult Swim in May 2017, Lupin the 3rd Part 5, Megalobox on Crunchyroll and Cartoon Network and theatrical release for the feature Penguin Highway. Gilels has also led publicity for the DVD/VOD releases for several titles. 

Other recent films include:  The World Without You starring Radha Mitchell, PJ Byrne and James Tupper,  Hajji starring The Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand, Pooling to Paradise, starring Taryn Manning and  Jonathan Lipnicki, Violet is Blue: A Tale of Gibbons and Guardians, Echoes From the Attic, Once is Enough and the LA Emmy winning documentary To Climb a Gold Mountain.

Gilels has successfully promoted films in festivals such as Dances With Films, LA Femme International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Starz, Toronto International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, New Filmmakers (LA and NY), St. Louis, UN Film Festival, Heartland, Cannes, and has represented feature films and documentaries in markets such as AFM, Anime Expo, Berlin and MIP-TV. 

She executive produced the award-winning documentaries Bearing the Torch: Politics & the Games for ESPN/Hearst Entertainment.   Prior to that, as a development executive and producer Gilels collaborators included actors Robert Duvall, Jenna Malone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rachel Leigh Cook; writers and directors A. Scott Berg, Michael Hirst, and Paul Verhoeven. Companies and producers such as: Mike Macari, Disney, ESPN, Wind Dancer Films, Lionsgate and New Line Cinema/TV. 

She has also held executive positions at Fox, Warner Brothers TV and PFG Entertainment. In that capacity, the films  she has worked on as a development executive include: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead starring Christina Applegate and David Duchovny, Crossing the Mob starring Jason Bateman, Showdown in Little Tokyo starring the late Brandon Lee and Cary- Hiroyuki Tagawa, Penthathlon starring Dolph Lundgren, and A Slight Case of Murder starring William H. Macy.

Gilels has programmed panels for LA Femme International Film Festival, where she is a Board Member, and HollyShorts.  She was also a screenplay juror for the LA Greek Film Festival.

How the heck do you get a period piece financed as an Independent Filmmaker? Well Writer/Producer/Casting Director Valerie McCaffrey knows and in this episode she shares her secrets with Leslie in a frank discussion about the creative business of filmmaking. But wait, she's also a Hollywood casting Director? That's right, and a very successful one. Don't miss this episode.

From April 1994-2000, Valerie held the position of Vice President of Feature
Film Casting for New Line/Fine Line Films. During her tenure at New Line/
Fine Line, Ms. McCaffrey cast scores of films, developing strong relationships with all major talent agencies and management firms. Among the many highlights of her career, she cast Edward Norton and Eddie Furlong in New Line Cinema’s AMERICAN HISTORY X which Edward Norton was nominated for an Academy Award. While at Universal Studios, she also cast BABE which garnered James Cromwell an oscar nomination for his performance as the pig farmer produced by George Miller.

She co-directed and co-produced a cancer documentary called “Cancer it’s
in the System”, with Cindy Pruitt. It’s goal was to give a overall education of
the dreaded disease and introduce alternative methods of cure. It stars
Melissa Etheridge and Trish Cyrus. They (McCaffrey and Pruitt) made it
available on you tube so that the public would have access to it without having to pay.

Since 2000, Valerie has cast independently and cast the critically acclaimed
HARD CANDY(she put Ellen Page in her first American film). To date, she
has cast close to 90 films and have worked with the biggest directors in the
film industry. She just finished shooting “Dirty Bomb” a short film which
chronicles a Jewish prisoner who manipulates the manufacturing of the V2
bomb, saving lives, yet sacrificing his own. The short film called “Dirty
Bomb” which shot in Fresno, Clovis and Mt. Pino. It got accepted into The
American Pavilion Emerging Filmmakers Showcase in Cannes, showing on
May 15, 2018 and went on to win various awards.

She also co-wrote ‘Sick” and directed a webisode which chronicles
teenagers in a mental institution. It stars West Duchovny who is David
Duchovny’s and Tea Leoni’s daughter. 

Don't do that! In this episode Leslie gets to the straight talk with acclaimed Hollywood agent Rima Greer about what agents will and will not look for from writers who want representation. They also discuss the differences between large agencies and boutique agencies, contract negotiation, the different paths a writer can take in their career and with each project, and much more...

Rima Greer paid her dues at the Writers Guild of America,
William Morris Agency, and Writers & Artists Agency. In 1994,
she started her own company, Above the Line Agency.

Ms. Greer has been involved in over 60 produced films, including
studio projects like HIGHLANDER, BACKDRAFT, JUMANJI,
CHARLIE’S ANGELS, and CONSTANTINE. A devotee of
independent film, she also shepherded projects such as THE
PROPHECY (Christopher Walken), ALEGRIA (Cirque du Soleil),
SLOW BURN (Minnie Driver), HE WAS A QUIET MAN (Christian
Slater and William H. Macy), and THE POKER HOUSE with
writer/director Lori Petty, starring Jennifer Lawrence.

Projects in development include SLINGSHOT at Scott Free,
DOOR WITH TWO ROOMS at Digital Riot, and an untitled
HISTORICAL EPIC with multi-Oscar- nominated producer Mike
Deluca at Lionsgate, and “Moose Murders” at MGM.

Current projects slated for release include three films for “Dolly
Parton Theatre” for Netflix, one of which has just received an
Emmy Nomination, “Backdraft 2” for Universal, award-winning
indie features “Steele Wool” and “With.,” and the upcoming
Netflix release,”Alien Xmas.”

Ms. Greer specializes in the finance and distribution of
independent film, including films from $10 million to micro-budgets of $100,000. Her first book, “The Real, Low-Down DirtyTruth About Hollywood Agenting”, was published by Quill Driver Books. 

So you wanna be a storyteller? Would you be surprised to learn that storytelling is selling? In this episode, Leslie talks to Screenwriter/Producer/Director Caytha Jentis about all the things writers don't, but should know about the business of writing. From development of a project to the launch of a very successful web series, this episode is packed with great tidbits for you.

Caytha is a successful independent filmmaker who began making movies while driving carpools in suburban New Jersey.   Primarily a writer, she has stage plays and screenplays at various stages of development. 

Pooling to Paradise is her most recent film that she wrote and produced and stars: Jonathan Lipnicki, Lynn Chen, Dreama Walker, Jordan Carlos and Taryn Manning.  It will be released in the Spring.

Caytha’s other credits include: The Other F Word, a short form comedic series that originally streamed on Amazon Video direct.  It was one of their top series four months in a row and now streams on The Girlfriend, AARP Gen X platform who have partnered with her to take out the series as a half hour series.  The cast includes: Steve Guttenberg, Judy Gold, Alysia Reiner and Gilbert Gottfried. 

Bad Parents, a comedy that she wrote/produced and directed was licensed to Cinedigm and Relatativity Media currently streams on HBO and Starz. The movie had previously streamed on Netflix and made Redbox and iTunes top 20 comedy lists.  The cast includes: Janeane Garofalo, Cheri Oteri, Christopher Titus and Kristen Johnston.

And Then Came Love, a romantic comedy feature, was licensed to Warner Brothers, reached net profits and played in heavy tv rotation. It now streams on Amazon.  Its cast includes: Vanessa Williams, Eartha Kitt, Anna Camp and Ben Vereen. 

Caytha also wrote/directed and produced The One, (2009) a feature film drama distributed by TLA Releasing and wrote the thriller feature film Exposed.   

In this episode Leslie talks to Writer/Director Nicole Conn about life as a filmmaker in the LGBTQ community.  From breaking barriers to thriving in the new world this is not an episode you'll wanna miss.

 More about Nicole:

Nicole has just released her 8th film, More Beauitful for Having Been Broken, which has won over 30 Best Awards from the 2019/20 Festival Circuit. The Advocate calls it “her most personal film yet,” and it’s being released Worldwide through Vision Films.

 Conn is also in the process of re-releasing Elena Undone for its 10th Anniversary. Winner of 4 Best Feature Awards, this film also boasts the LONGEST ON SCREEN KISS IN CINEMA HISTORY:  This classic romance with a twist became the best selling film of its genre in 2010.

She lives in Los Angeles with her son, Nicholas, who is very special needs and remains medically fragile and was the basis and inspiration for More Beautiful For Having Been Broken, the film in which her daughter, Gabrielle, a theater/education major also makes her film debut.  Conn is currently writing Do We Not Bleed, her next feature as well as finalizing her epic tome, Descending Thirds, which is in development as an Episodic Mini-Series.

In this information packed episode Leslie talks with guest Kristen Bedno - VP of Marketing and Distribution for Vision Films, Inc. about everything from how to choose and submit for consideration to the best distributor for your film to how to package your film for an on time and powerful release. If you ever wanted to know how to get your independent film into the hands of a great distributor then this is the episode for you.