The first time I saw The Kidnapping of a Fish was at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2016 when it took home a Grand Jury Prize for Short Film.  This super enjoying film mixes drama, comedy and action in a way that few short films can manage.  In fact, if ever there was a short that audiences watched and said, “That felt like a feature film,” it was The Kidnapping of a Fish.

Writer/Director Philip A. Ramos also turned out to be as nice a person as you will ever meet.  We recorded an interview last year long via an internet connection, but then I lost it to a hard drive failure and instead of recording another phone call Philip stopped by my microphones to record one in person the next time he was in L.A.

But BEFORE you listen to this interview, WATCH THE MOVIE.  It is in Season 1 Episode 9 of the Discover Indie Film TV Series! or you can watch it solo on Amazon Prime Video.

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What are the 4Q’s?

D.A. Keenan premiered his smart, hilarious horror film Rotsy at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2018 and came in for a podcast around 8 months later.  It’s no surprise that a filmmaker whose work is marked by originality, boldness and creativity is drawn to films that fit that mold.  In this podcast you get to hear his answers to those 4Q’s above.

Here are Keenan’s answers:

Here are Sean’s answers:

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The horror comedy Rotsy was a hit when it premiered at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2018.  The brainchild of writer/director/producer D.A. Keenan, Rotsy is the touching tale of a killer clown spending quality time with his fellow mass murderers.  This smart, hilarious, visually stunning film has been rocking festival audiences ever since.

Because it’s still working its way through the festival circuit, you cannot watch Rotsy here yet… but you can enjoy this interview with D.A. Keenan all about the film and his path from movie-obsessed kid to filmmaker.

I have no doubt when you listen to his story that you’ll be looking forward to Keenan’s next project as much as I am.  And when season 2 of the Discover Indie Film TV series premieres on October 1, there’s a very good chance that Rotsy will be one of your favorite films in it.

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You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

What are the 4Q’s?

Russell Brown’s feature film Search Engines won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2016.  He came in for a Discover Indie Film podcast interview and I made sure to get him to answer the Four Questions before he left.

Here are Russell’s answers:

Here are Sean’s answers:

Comments are blocked on this website. To discuss Discover Film episodes, visit the Facebook Group.

You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

Search Engines, from writer/director Russell Brown, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature Film at the 2016 Sherman Oaks Film Festival.  Russell is a filmmaker who appreciates and makes the most of the film festival circuit.  Every now and then, he even sends a programmer like me an email that updates me about his newer projects.

With out last email exchange I realized it was long past due for Russell to be on the Discover Indie Film podcast.  He didn’t disappoint.  In fact, I can honestly say that I learned a lot listening to Russell share his film festival experiences and his experiences distributing independent films.

You should absolutely watch Search Engines.  It’s available on Amazon Prime Video and iTunes.

As far as I can recall, there’s not too many spoilers for Search Engines in the interview, so I’m not going to urge you like crazy to watch it before listening.  But watch it!  It’s a great example of an indie feature that came together in just the right way.

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You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

What are the 4Q’s?

This episode we get to hear those four questions answered by Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon, the team that made the fantastic short film A Bad Feeling.  These two met at day one of the NYU film program, so no wonder their 4Q’s answers display some deep knowledge of the classics.

Here are Charlotte’s answers:

Here are Sean’s answers:

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You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon are the filmmaking team behind A Bad Feeling which took home a Grand Jury Prize at tFilm Invasion Los Angeles 2018 for Best Short.

Interviewing Charlotte & Sean it became pretty obvious that their smart, funny, and emotionally honest film is a direct reflection of their talent.  Still, it’s always reassuring to find out that the people behind a delightful film happen to be delightful people as well.

They also gave me a look at a feature that they had made before A Bad Feeling called Virgin Alexander.  We talk for a while about it as well and I will try to get a link for it here.

In the meantime, before you listen to this fun interview with these delightful filmmakers you should WATCH THIS FILM.  Seriously.  It’s fantastic.

Comments are blocked on this website. To discuss Discover Film episodes, visit the Facebook Group.

You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

What are the 4Q’s?

This episode we get to hear those four questions answered by TJ Power, the writer-director of the award winning short Your Call Is Important To Us.  When a film is as funny, smart, and original as TJ’s it makes me really, really want to know what his favorite films are going to be.  And he didn’t disappoint.  You should listen to this podcast!

Here are TJ’s answers:

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You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

TJ Power’s short film Your Call Is Important To Us won four awards at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2018.  Brilliantly smart and bitingly hilarious, this is one of those films that people who worked the festival that year keep bringing up to me as one they will never forget.

When you hear filmmaker TJ Power’s story, two things are going to happen.  First, you’re going to see very clearly why this professional actor was ideally suited to become a great filmmaker.  Second, you’re going to think he’s a terrific guy and wish that you could hang out with him all the time.

Comments are blocked on this website. To discuss Discover Film episodes, visit the Facebook Group.

You can listen to the podcast using the media player below or on iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

Every year we do a Discover Indie Film “Oscar Predictions Podcast” and it would be ridiculous to not get the gang back together and go over their predictions.  This long conversation took place on two days… and then sat on the hard drive a long time.  My bad!

Here are the wonderful people whose opinions you will hear on this podcast:

Heather Hillstrom (The King In The Ring)

We hope you enjoy!