Exploring Humanity Through Sci-Fi

Fear as a Villain, Humanity as the Battleground

Tony zoomed with filmmaker Christopher Piñero to explore how psychological horror can illuminate the most vulnerable corners of human experience. Piñero’s award‑winning short film The Prowler — starring Aaron Dominguez of Only Murders in the Building — is a tense, unsettling descent into fear, paranoia, and the fragile line between perception and reality.

As The Prowler prepares for its LA debut at the LA Shorts International Film Festival, Piñero joins Tony to unpack the film’s origins, emotional architecture, and the cultural influences that shaped its haunting atmosphere.

Piñero reveals the spark behind the film: “What if fear itself became the villain?” This question became the creative engine driving The Prowler, a story designed to keep audiences questioning what’s real until the final moment. Tony and Piñero dig into how psychological horror can externalize internal battles — turning emotion into threat, and tension into narrative propulsion.

Dominguez delivers a grounded, disquieting performance that anchors the film’s psychological tension. Tony and Piñero discuss how Dominguez navigates the character’s unraveling — guiding audiences through a night where nothing is quite what it seems.

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In this episode, Tony sits down with Chris MacLean, the Overall Visual Effects Supervisor for Foundation, for a sweeping conversation about how the show’s visual language continues to evolve in scale, sophistication, and emotional depth. From hybrid location/virtual sequences to metaphysical constructs like the Tree of Time, Chris breaks down how the VFX team expands the universe each season while keeping the story’s humanity at the center.

Chris MacLean — Overall Visual Effects Supervisor, Foundation A guiding force behind the series’ most ambitious visuals, Chris oversees the expanding workload across studios, continents, and timelines. His insights reveal how the show’s VFX pipeline blends cutting‑edge technology with grounded storytelling.

Covered Are:

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A conversation with writer/director/star Britt Bankhead & star Grace Patterson

In this episode, Tony zooms with Britt Bankhead — the writer, director, and lead actor of The Town That Takes — along with co‑star Grace Patterson, to explore the chilling mystery at the heart of their new film.

The story begins with a father whose son vanishes in a remote town. As he teams up with two detectives, the trio must confront the terrifying legend of CROATOAN before another child disappears. What unfolds is a collision of Native American mythology, supernatural dread, and action.

🪶 Croatoan & Native American Mythology

Croatoan legend as the film’s spine — how Britt researched the myth and why it still resonates

The team’s approach to weaving Native American folklore into a modern thriller

How ancient stories of disappearance and spirits shaped the film’s tone and world‑building

Britt’s triple role as writer, director, and star — and how that shaped the emotional core

Grace Patterson on grounding the supernatural with human vulnerability

Building tension through action sequences, practical effects, and atmospheric visuals

The film’s special effects: blending realism with mythic horror

A tight, demanding shooting schedule that pushed the cast and crew to innovate

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Widow’s Bay: Crafting Worlds with Emmy Nominees Steve Arnold & Jennifer Engel

In this behind‑the‑scenes deep dive, Tony sits down over Zoom with Steve Arnold, Emmy‑nominated Production Designer, and Jennifer Engel, Emmy‑nominated Set Decorator for Widow’s Bay. Together, they unpack the creative engineering behind one of television’s most atmospheric series — from designing entire environments across multiple soundstages to sourcing the unusual, character‑defining props that give the show its eerie, lived‑in texture.

They also share candid reflections on receiving Emmy nominations, what recognition means at this stage in their careers, and how the collaborative spirit of Widow’s Bay shaped every frame.

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Emily Hampshire interview is always electric — she’s one of those performers whose mind moves as fast as her characters. As Jennifer Goines on 12 Monkeys, she delivered one of the most unpredictable, heartbreaking, and darkly hilarious performances in modern sci‑fi. And now, with a slate of recent projects ranging from horror‑thrillers to sharp indie dramas, she’s in one of the most creatively exciting phases of her career.

This conversation explores how she built Jennifer’s fractured psyche, why she loves characters who “don’t care about being liked,” and how her career has expanded into bold new territory.

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From the red‑carpet special, Tony spoke with the U.S. cast of Syfy’s Being Human at the Paley Center in New York. during the run of the series — starring Sam Witwer, Meaghan Rath, Sam Huntington, and Sarah Allen — reimagined the supernatural roommate concept with surprising emotional depth. Running from 2011 to 2014, the show became a breakout hit, marking Syfy’s strongest winter scripted launch in nearly a decade.

Alongside the cast, Tony also interviews Mark Stern, then President of Original Programming at Syfy, who reflects on why Being Human resonated so powerfully with audiences.

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Three centuries after the fall of the Systems Commonwealth, the Andromeda Ascendant awakens into chaos — and standing at the captain’s right hand is Beka Valentine, the fiercely loyal, sharp‑witted first officer who helped chart a path toward rebuilding civilization. In this rare vintage interview with Lisa Ryder talking about the role that when the series was young. 

The role earned her a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance in a Featured Supporting Role.

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For the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: First Contact, Trek Tuesday presents a rare and lovingly reconstructed special drawn from Tony’s original Beverly Hills roundtable, long‑lost New York radio segments, and a recent conversation with Jonathan Frakes.

This anniversary episode brings together the voices who defined one of the most celebrated films in the franchise: Patrick Stewart, Rick Berman, Alice Krige, Brent Spiner, James Cromwell, Alfre Woodard, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, and Jonathan Frakes.

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In the final installment of your Cosmos series, Tony sits down with Mitchell Cannold and Brannon Braga, the executive producers who helped shape Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey and Cosmos: Possible Worlds. This episode explores how they preserved the spirit of Carl Sagan while reinventing Cosmos for a new generation — visually, narratively, and philosophically.

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On the red carpet for the World Premiere of Moana, with the filmmakers, performers, cultural leaders, and craftspeople who brought this new chapter of Moana’s journey to life. From the screenplay to the choreography, from costume design to visual effects, this episode reveals how a global phenomenon stays rooted in Pacific identity and storytelling. Thanks to Disney Pictures for the audio. 

Featuring Dana Ledoux Miller, Auli’i Cravalho, Catherine Laga’aia, Emma Puahi‑Shapazian, Amaya Masoli, Frankie Adams, John Tui, Lin‑Manuel Miranda, Maia Kayser, Rena Owen, Thomas Kail, Tiana Nonosina Liufau, and Liz McGregor.

Heritage & Responsibility — storytelling as cultural stewardship.

Generational Identity — three Moanas, one legacy.

The Ocean as Character — mythic, emotional, alive.

Family & Community — the foundation beneath every voyage.

Artistry Rooted in Culture — from choreography to costume to song.

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