What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

I first had Rosalie Alspach on the podcast in July of 2021 to discuss how her short film “The Hostess” rocked Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2020.                                                                                              Rosalie has generously offered her film expertise as a juror on the FI-LA/SOFF Filmmaker’s Boards and recently returned to the podcast to discuss her crowd sourcing campaign for her upcoming project, “If We Be Friends”.

I always love returning to someones 4Qs years later to see how their answers have changed!

Rosalie’s Website: rosaliealpach.com

Rosalie’s IG @rosaliealspach

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Welcome back, Listeners!

I first had Rosalie Alspach on the podcast in July of 2021 to discuss how her short film “The Hostess” rocked Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2020.

Rosalie has also been a rockstar juror on the FI-LA/SOFF Filmmaker’s Boards so when she asked to return to discuss her crowd sourcing campaign for her upcoming project, “If We Be Friends” I was more than happy to accept.

Rosalie’s Website: rosaliealpach.com

Rosalie’s IG @rosaliealspach

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What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

I was sad I never was able to interview Jon James Smith after he wrote and directed “Last Orders,” a horror short that took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film – Horror at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2022.

Thankfully Jon’s work returned to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 with a new film, “Babushka,” and again he took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Featurette – Horror.

And even better, Jon flew all the way from London for the interview (well the festival) and that meant we had plenty of time to do our in-person 4Qs follow up!

Learn more about Jon and his work at:

JonJamesSmith.com

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This is a special podcast for me. Why? Jon James Smith wrote and directed “Last Orders,” a horror short that took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film – Horror at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2022.

Thankfully Jon’s work returned to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 with a new film, “Babushka,” and again he took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Featurette – Horror.                                                      But Jon was able to attend FI-LA’s 10th Anniversary Edition and, even though I prefer to do nothing the day after a festival wraps… how could I say no to having Jon over to the house to record a podcast?

I hope you all enjoy listening to our conversation as much as we enjoyed having it.                                                                                                                                                                                                        And a huge thank-you to Jon for being the kind of person who follows through on his intentions with actions!

Learn more about Jon and his work at:

JonJamesSmith.com

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Happy Monday, Listeners!

Selina Ringel and Dan Levy Dagerman brought their feature film “You, Me & Her” to Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2023, taking home three awards!                                                                                        Those would be the Grand Jury Awards for Best Feature Film – Comedy, Best Performance by a Cast – Feature Film – Comedy, and Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Comedy for Selina.

Excitingly, “You, Me & Her” had an innovative theatrical release! It was released in 200 theaters nationwide on Valentine’s Day 2025.                                                                                                                              I should not have to tell anyone what an accomplishment it is for an indie feature to get that kind of theatrical release.                                                                                                                                              This indie romantic comedy was the first film to use Attend, a direct distribution platform recently launched by The Fithian Group.                                                                                                                       Additionally, after its VOD run the film will be released on the streaming service STARZ!

I had been talking to Selina and Dan about their being on the podcast for a long time.                                                                                                                                                                                                     As you can imagine, a team with the drive to get an indie feature into theaters does not have a lot of spare time.                                                                                                                                                     Selina and I chatted about getting them over to record, as we live in the same Los Angeles neighborhood.                                                                                                                                                    Unfortunately our time was cut short and we did not get to go into their release with Attend as thoroughly as we would have liked.                                                                                                                                    If things slow down for them maybe they will come back!

In the meantime, check out their website https://www.ymhmovie.com/ and enjoy this podcast.

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What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

Matt Mazany wrote and directed the short film “Big Brothers,” taking home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Writing – Comedy at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024.

After you listen to Matt’s 4 Questions I highly recommend watching “Big Brothers” yourself!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             It’s here on Matt’s website at https://www.mattmazany.com.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Follow Matt on Instagram at @mattmazany

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Happy Humpday, Friends!

Matt Mazany wrote and directed the short film “Big Brothers,” taking home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Writing – Comedy at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024.                                                           He was also one of the titular brothers, having fun with his performance by handling the main stunt in the film himself.                                                                                                                                                   It’s always the smartest move in indie film; if it’s dangerous, get one of the producers to do it.

I was looking forward to talking to Matt about “Big Brothers.” Besides being a fantastic film with a terrific ensemble cast, it truly is written and directed with an attention to depth and detail that one rarely sees. The good news is that you can watch “Big Brothers” right now!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         It is accessible on Matt’s website at https://www.mattmazany.com.

Follow Matt on Instagram at @mattmazany

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What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

Ryan Barton Grimley returns to the podcast for the THIRD time! This time, to discuss “Listen Carefully,” the winner for Best Feature Film – Action/Thriller at Sherman Oaks FIlm Festival in 2024.

It’s fair to say Ryan has been a favorite guest over the years and I’m always eager to hear how the 4 Questions has changed and grown.

You can find everything you need at Ryan’s official website (https://www.ryanbartongrimley.com/) including where you can catch ALL of his films.

IG @ryanbartongrimley

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Happy Friday, Everyone!

I’m supposed to focus on Ryan Barton Grimley’s film career, right? But here’s the thing.                                                                                                                                                                                              We met in 2017 when he brought the feature film “Repatriation” the second ever Film Invasion Los Angeles.                                                                                                                                                                Plus, Ryan came onto this podcast in 2018 to talk “Repatriation,” then in 2022 to discuss “Hawk and Rev: Vampire Slayers” on episode 304, and now he is back on episode 561 to discuss “Listen Carefully,” the

There you have it. I’ve known Ryan for eight years and consider him a friend. I mean, we have met for coffee to just hang.                                                                                                                                    That’s for real, y’all. Heck, maybe when all three of our daughters, he has two and I’ve got one, are off to college we’ll hang out more.

You can find everything you need at Ryan’s official website (https://www.ryanbartongrimley.com/) including where you can catch ALL of his films.

IG @ryanbartongrimley

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What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

Ren Olivieri brought his film “The Trade” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024, and took home the Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking.

As you may have learned if you listened to Ren’s interview posted Monday, he’s the type of filmmaker you just want to get to know better and better and naturally the best way to do that is to jump into the 4 Questions!

Follow Ren on Instagram at @reno91

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