The Independent Spirit John Cassevetes Award is, for me, the best film award an indie film can get. It's for independent feature films made under $1 million dollars. And we can discuss, as I do with my guest Corey Sherman on the show, whether that's 1 mill is a great arbiter, but it's the best one we have. And here we are, with one of the nominees, ultra-talented filmmaker Corey Sherman.

He's here to talk BIG BOYS, his debut feature, and so much more.

In this episode, we discuss:

• the almost universal praise for BIG BOYS and whether that was expected;
• the thought process behind his debut feature and if it ever was conceived as a short film;
• short v. features as a way of starting out;
• what Hammer To Nail called "sympathetic cringe" and the director's ability to toy with the audiences' emotions;
• how he views that as "too glossy" and smoothing over real life -- it's a great answer to making films that can relate to people like BIG BOYS;
• how that mindset influences the future of his filmmaking;
• the progress in making LGBTQ films;
• the film's nomination for the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $1m;
• what he would do differently looking back at the experience of making the film;
• what's next for Corey -- probably not an action film, although I'd love to see it -- and how he could absolutely take on a script even if he didn't write it himself, as long as it is "performance focused."

Corey's Indie Film Highlight: INHABITANTS (unreleased) dir. by Matt McClung

Links:

Follow Corey On Instagram

Stream BIG BOYS Now

Corey Sherman Films

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