My guest today are award-winning writer/director Sam Rudykoff and award-winning producer Mark DeLottinville and their newest short film, the horror comedy HALFWAY HAUNTED. 

Sam Rudykoff is a Toronto-based writer-director. His previous short film Cruise in 2022 was an official selection at over 75 festivals including Fantastic Fest, Fantasia, and Seattle International. It was awarded best Canadian Short at the Calgary Underground Film Festival in 2022, and selected as a Vimeo Staff pick.

Mark DeLottinville is an award-winning producer and president of Big Pig Co. He has won several awards for his work, including Best Canadian Short at the Calgary Underground Film Festival. 

His work has premiered at festivals like Fantasia, Hollyshorts, LA Shorts, Galway Film Fleadh, London Short Film Festival, Seattle International, and Rhode Island.

There newest short film HALFWAY HAUNTED stars Hannan Younis (What We Do in the Shadows), Kristian Bruun (Orphan Black, Ready or Not and The Recruit), and Sugar Lyn Beard (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates).

Ladies and gentlemen, HALFWAY HAUNTED is about a broke tenant teaming up with the ghost haunting her apartment to fight a ruthless developer trying to erase their home and the history it holds.

Set against the backdrop of mass eviction and gentrification, HALFWAY HAUNTED flips the haunted house trope on its head—where the ghost isn’t the threat, but the last line of resistance. It’s a dark comedy with bite, blending horror, satire, and social commentary into a timely story about housing insecurity, community, and survival.

Everything about this film, screams I want to be a feature film  and I would love to see it grow into one. 

The case of Hannan Younis, Kristian Bruun and Sugar Lyn Beard was absolutely perfect. They are all opposites, but that’s what create the synergistic comedy in this film. The comedic timing is perfect. The storyline moves along so effortlessly because the cast literally brings it to life. 

If you are attending HollyShorts Film Festival, be sure to be in the theater to see this film on the silver screen. You laugh and laugh.

#shortfilm #shortfilms #horror #comedy #darkcomedy #film #cinema #hollyshorts #filmfestival #filmmaking #filmmaker #filmdirector #filmproducer #bondoncinema #cinematography #storytelling #gentrification #socialimpact 

My guest today is filmmaker Carson Lane. She studied screenwriting at the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication at California State University, in Northridge.

Her script, "Triumph," was one of less than 3.5% of scripts on the Black List to have earned a score of 8. Her writing has been recognized by AFF, Page, Screencraft, and others.

Her directorial debut short film, “HOLE,” which we are talking about today, stars David Pasquesi from VEEP, and was an official selection in the HollyShorts Comedy Film Festival and the Pasadena International Film Festival.

Ladies and gentlemen, Carson Lane’s short film HOLE, isn’t about filling the emptiness in your life, but it seems to fill the hole up with all the mess in your life.

Of course every one has a different perspective. Now art is in the eye of the beholder. But David Pasquesi takes it a bit too far, which is both dark and comical at the same time. Again, I’m like ‘chill out dude’, it’s just a painting. #shortfilm #shorts #filmfestival #filmmaker #filmmaking #filmdirector #cinema #art #interpretation

Kerry Frances’ MAMA MAMA is a story of a dissociated mother who sees a toddler where everyone else sees a dog.

It is an emotionally tense and yet heartbreaking short film. For those of you who do not know what dissociation is, it’s a mental process where a person feels disconnected from their thoughts, feelings, memories, or sense of identity, often as a response to trauma or stress. It can manifest in various ways, such as memory loss or feeling detached from reality.

Kerry Frances’ performance in the film, makes you truly believe she is dealing with dissociation and gives the audience a feeling of uneasiness, watching someone deal with this mental process. 

MAMA MAMA is an official selection at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival so go and see it.

Actress/singer Kerry Frances. She is best known from the hit movie KNIVES OUT, POKER FACE on Peacock, and can be seen now in WAKE UP DEAD MAN opposite Daniel Craig, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, and Josh O'Connor. 

She has done theatre, playing the daughter of Topol, Harvey Fierstein, and Theo Bikel in Fiddler On The Roof, along with originating the lead in an Off-Broadway show, and countless other productions. 

Kerry made her writer and director debut on her short film MAMA MAMA, which will have its LA Premiere in the iconic HollyShorts Film Festival.

#shortfilm #shortfilms #motherhood #dissociation #mentalhealth #cinema #bondoncinema #actress #knivesout #pokerface #hollyshorts #filmfestival #cinematography #storytelling #cinephile #filmproduction 

I loved this film. Completely unexpected just like when two people meet and their spirits and their hearts come alive, when they first lay eyes on each other.

THE PAINTING AND THE STATUE is a slow, subtle waltz of two entities in the same room brought to life by one person who believes in love and romance. The film is as magical as both THE PAINTING & THE STATUE seeing each other for the first time.

Love is an emotion so powerful, it can’t be ignored and it can awaken the hearts and minds of those who feel they will never find it. But in this case, one person’s intuition leads to two people from different centuries finding each other.

I won’t tell you how it ends, so you’ll have to see for yourself at the HollyShort Film Festival. And this is one film we will have to keep an eye on as it could a long way this award season.

Freddie Fox, an English actor, director, and producer. He is known for the roles as singer Marilyn in the BBC's Boy George biopic Worried About the Boy, James Leighton-Masters in The Riot Club, Freddie Baxter in Channel 4 hit series Cucumber and Banana, Commander Pope in historical film Black '47, Detective Sergeant Wilbur Strauss in the Victorian sitcom Year of the Rabbit, and Jeremy Bamber in the true crime drama series White House Farm.

But he is here today to talk about his delightful romantic short film THE PAINTING & THE STATUE. Two lonely strangers meet across a crowded room. It just takes one held look, one breathless moment, to bring them completely alive…literally. #shortfilm #shorts #romance #hollyshorts #filmfestival #filmmaking #filmmaker #houseofthedragon #cinema #cinematography #art #painting #sculpture #lovestory #romcom

Ladies and gentlemen, THE THINGS WE CARRY examines the themes of mental health, grief and loss, and the cycle of gun violence in America.

This is one of those rare short films that will linger inside you long after you see it. Thibaud Goarin brings a man, a vigilante played by Michael Madsen who is dealing a deep sense of pain and loss. He grapples with a mixed bag of emotions, all the while exercising his 2nd Amendment right to open carry his firearm. 

This is a very polarizing subject, where do we create the line between mental health and guns? Grief has been defined as love looking for a place to go, but grief can also go looking for closure that leads to trouble for the one carrying it. 

Grief is such a strong emotion that no one should carry it alone. But we live in a world where people don’t know how to ask for help. If someone is dealing with grief and loss and you know they are, you must reach out to them. 

THE THINGS WE CARRY brings forth a subtle reminder that mental health and guns don’t mix. When a person, such as Michael Madsen’s character has experienced loss caused by gun violence, closure is very hard to come by. 

And revenge is never the answer and trying to avenge one’s death has a cost no one wants to pay. 

Thibaud’s short film feels like a feature film. It is tense, emotional and relatable. The cinematography is spot on and adds to the story in its own subtle way. 

As for the acting of the late Michael Madsen. What can we say, I feel it could be his finest performance as he delivered a character who is flawed and hurting. And we all feel that when we see this film. 

#michaelmadsen #actor #shortfilm #shortfilms #hollyshorts #film #movie #grief #loss #love #gunviolence #vigilante #cinema #bondoncinema #cinematography #filmmaking #filmmaker #filmdirector #filmproduction #cinephile #filmfestival

Filmmaker Adam Finberg is here with us today to talk about his new feature film, STAR PEOPLE, his first feature length narrative film.

Ladies and gentlemen, on March 13, 1997, thousands of people in Arizona witnessed the largest mass UFO sighting in U.S. history—now famously known as The Phoenix Lights. In the new feature film, STAR PEOPLE, a 10-year-old Claire, who felt as if the lights called to her.

Years later, Claire played by Kat Cunning, now a photographer, is still chasing that moment, hoping to capture the lights on camera and finally make sense of what she saw.  When a mysterious tip leads her deep into the Arizona desert during a deadly heatwave with her UFO streamer boyfriend played by Connor Paolo and troubled brother Taylor played by McCabe Slye in tow, they encounter a vulnerable immigrant family whose plight complicates her mission. As tensions rise, Claire searches for the answers among the stars.

I loved STAR PEOPLE and because I love strong character-driven films, you are watching more than the stars. You’ve got to keep your eyes on the cast, because even your eyes may deceive you. STAR PEOPLE is an independent film by Adam Finberg and debuts in selected theaters on July 25th, August 8th and will be available on streaming on August 12th.

STAR PEOPLE has a very strong cast, a great storyline that gives nothing away and it keeps the audience engaged and guessing throughout the film, but never confusing. Something I don’t always see with independent feature films.

#scifi #sciencefiction #ufo #aliens #phoenixlights #arizona #film #featurefilm #cinema #filmmaker #filmmaking #filmproduction #screenwriter #screenplay #theatricalrelease #movies #newmovie 

My guest today is filmmaker Natalia Agraz, who trained photographer as well as a director and screenwriter. She directed the short film El último Romántico in 2019, which was nominated for the 2019 Student Academy Awards and Ariel Awards. The film screened at over 60 international festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, the Los Angeles Film Festival, and the Morelia International Film Festival. 

As a screenwriter, she has worked on feature films and series for Netflix, Amazon, and HBO, including Mentidas: La serie, which broke records in 2025 as the most-watched Amazon Prime series in Mexico.   She recently directed the short film PASSARINHO, which has been part of the official selections at Tribeca, Guadalajara, and others, and has won awards at the Chicago International Film Festival, FSF Munich, and Palm Springs ShortFest.

And now is an official selection at the HollyShorts Film Festival.  Passarinho was also nominated for the 2025 Student BAFTA Awards and the Ariel Awards.  Let’s welcome filmmaker Natalia Agraz and her newest short film PASSARINHO to the show.

Ladies and gentlemen, Olivia and Laura, two 13-year-old girls, have a plan to get the autograph of Passarinho, a Brazilian soccer legend. However, before they can put the plan into action, Olivia gets her first period. The acting is authentic as you feel and see every emotion in every shot.

The cinematography is wonderful as it has the look and feel of real film. The colorization of the short film is impressive and I can’t wait to see how far PASSARINHO will go this film festival season.

#shortfilm #filmmaker #filmmaking #filmdirector #menstrualcycle #menstruation #soccer #futbol #mexico #cinephile #cinema #cinematography #filmproduction #studientfilm 

Arthur von Wiesenberger, an award-winning Executive Producer and Host of AnimalZone, the nationally syndicated television series that celebrates the powerful bond between humans and animals.

Since its debut in 2018, AnimalZone has spotlighted hundreds of rescue stories, nonprofit sanctuaries, and wildlife initiatives across the globe, earning honors from the Ponza Film Awards, Accolade Global Film Competition, and The Telly Awards.

Animal Zone is to provide a platform for animal shelters, welfare experts, and volunteers to share their stories, struggles and successes. Through our show, we hope to inspire more people to take action and make a difference in the lives of animals in need.

#pets #animals #dogs #cats #birds #tvseries #tvshow #filmmaker #film #filmmaking #filmdirector #animalrescue

In the underground world of diffing, a community finds solace in their passion, as they navigate personal struggles and challenges both on and off the road.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the underground world of diffing, a community finds solace in their passion, as they navigate personal struggles and challenges both on and off the road.

This film isn’t about cars doing donuts in the streets or in a closed off area. This film is really about mental health. 

There are areas like Ireland for example where the suicide rate is higher than other parts of the world. Young people today are looking for constructive outlets to unleash their passion for the things they like, to blow off steam and to focus on something besides the problems they may or may not be facing. 

The short film WE BEG TO DIFFER opens the conversation even more about mental health and what can be done to lower suicide rates in young people.

#drifting #diffing #automotive #carculture #ireland #irish #film #shortfilm #filmmaker #filmmaking #filmdirecting #passion #mentalhealth #community #youngpeople

Meredith Thomas, who’s acting career began with a role “Pleasantville” as a teenager. She hasn't stopped working in film and television since.

Meredith is known as the quirky blonde beauty with girl-next-door charm and wit, it's no wonder she has become a television movie favorite. She is second only to Vivica A. Fox in the number of Lifetime Television Movie appearances.

Ladies and gentlemen, "Aliwood," is a groundbreaking short-form series featuring Iranian-American actor and writer Ali Zahiri. 

The series, which aims to break the mold of Middle Eastern storytelling, has been a remarkable journey for all involved. 

"Aliwood" brings together a talented cast, Meredith Thomas, who shares her delightful experience working alongside Ali Zahiri.

Despite the challenges indie short-form series face in competing against network giants, Meredith is proud of the bold choice to champion an independently produced project.

#hollywood #actress #filmmaker #filmproducer #aliwood #miniseries #shortfilm #shortfilms #acting #actor #cinema #filmmaking #filmdirector