EPISODE 20! If you are listening to this before March 12, 2026, congratulations, get out to the Green Mountain Film Festival and see some excellent work from all over the globe and also right here in Vermont…and if not, well, keep tabs on the coming years and you can still enjoy this conversation with today’s very special guest, the programmer for GMFF, Sam Kann.

Sam is an artist and programmer working across dance and film. Their previous work has been shown at The Flynn, the Provincetown Film Festival, and Middlebury College, as well as DIY venues and non-traditional spaces including the Off Center, Life World, and various parking lots around New England. Sam founded the Plex Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary arts event in Burlington, and they have been the programmer at GMFF for the past 3 years.

I'm excited to get Sam back on the prgoram to talk about their own creative works, but today we focus on this year's Green Mountain Film festival and the daunting task of programming and pulling it all together. Enjoy!

https://www.gmffestival.org/

https://samkanndancefilm.cargo.site/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGn3lV5jok4vJCE7pdsq5Wf0S9WvmmCmB5RWxpGAwxm3Tq_-h6mvmrx9aJ0m78_aem_YPi0PLCte80jWYYlTAb61g

The Film in Vermont podcast episode 19! Today’s guest is Noah Mauchly. Another member of the JAM fam, Noah is a graduate of the UK based Kingston University with a degree in Animation and Illustration and animated short films have played in festivals across North America and Europe. He has a beautiful approach to his work, by using animation as a means to explore deeply human emotions and themes, often under the guise of using 2D humanoid or animal characters to broad difficult subjects. 

We get into his process, his work and his love for the medium and how that all came to be. In particular, I loved Noah's response to the question of "what does Vermont need for creative media & film to thrive?"

Enjoy my friends.

https://www.instagram.com/idontnoahmockley

https://www.youtube.com/@NoahSportsman

Today’s podcast guest is Emma Schlenoff. I have had the extreme pleasure of working with her as Vermont Production Collective board member, but this is really the first time we are shedding the “business” aspect of things and just talking creative process and what drives her.

Emma is the owner and director of Witness Oak Productions. Her experience is drawn from working her way up in the industry from PA to now producing narrative features here in Vermont. Shes directed and produced work for the band Birds of Chicago, worked on the producing team for National Geographic's Origins, and was offered the opportunity to work on several projects with Emmy-Winning Director, the one and only Ken Burns. 

Her passion for film has risen from a deeply rooted love for storytelling and the human experience. We talk a bunch about the last project she produced here in Vermont, The Obelisk, returning to a literal sense of home in Vermont and so much more. Enjoy!

https://witnessoakproductions.com/

https://the-obelisk.com/

https://www.graftonthefilm.com/

Happy New Year and welcome back for the first episode of 2026. Today we have Vermont based animator and storyteller Travis Van Alstyne. Travis has a keen sense of connection to Vermont, its history, stories and other creatives here. His last project, Love of the Land, was recognized by the Vermont Historical Society with a Richard O. Hathaway Award and Vermont Public with a Made Here grant for the film...the first time I saw the film I was in tears.

Travis's next project is about the last catamount in Vermont. Another connection to the state's past and a perhaps a theme of melancholy running through his work.

Be sure to keep tabs on what he is up to bu following his socials and checking out his website.

https://www.travisanimates.com/https://www.instagram.com/travisanimates

Episode 16 we have the great Samuel LaPointe. His last project was highly regarded at both the Made Here Film Festival and Green Mountain Film Fest...and secured a spot at VTIFF screenings as a result of a great showing at Made Here.

Sam truly embodies the bold and free spirit of independent film. He was an absolute joy to talk with and I am excited to see what is next for him on the current project he is working on (and I got a little sneak peek of).

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/@somewhereupstateproduction8915

https://www.instagram.com/somewhere.upstate.productions/?hl=en

Todays guest  is Austen Hamel, an 18-year-old filmmaker from Vermont who is driven by a lifelong passion for storytelling. He has been making short films since he was 10 and just released his first feature (yes, a feature film at 18...)

Austen is the exact demographic I have heard so much about in some of my own advocacy work for film in the state and a key group that needs support. Late teens, early 20s creatives looking for a way to stay in the state they love, but the work just isn't here to support. But that is a conversation for another day...

It was great to get Austen’s perspective on his work, his home state and what it takes to create work here.

https://www.youtube.com/@hamelfilms701

Samantha Davidson Green is a film+theater director/educator based in the Upper Valley region of VT/NH. She is also the executive director at the absolutely wonderful Junction Arts & Media in White River Junction and a huge pillar of support in her community. 

Her history in film and creative media is deeply rooted in the communal space and within the realm of Community Access TV and education (both at the community level and higher education).

I got to know so much more about Samantha, her history and her past work through this chat and I am super grateful for that and am especially excited about the great plans that she has with JAM in the coming year and with the White River Indie Film festival…lets get into it!

https://sdavidsongreen.com/about/

https://uvjam.org/

Hello and welcome back to EPISODE 13 of the Film in Vermont podcast. 13 feels appropriate given its Halloween tomorrow and I first became aware of today’s guest through his work in the genre space with the found footage, Giallo inspired horrors mystery short “The Red Raven’s Kiss”.

Director/writer/storyteller Austen Sprake is on the podcast today and we get into all things storytelling, using what you have available to you to create the most intriguing story and his new project: a Dark Noir meets DnD Fantasy narrative podcast called Moxie Monroe: Private Eye.

Austen's work is always creative and inspired by and never limited by what he has available to him. Its really something that I admire about him and look forward to seeing more of his projects in the future.

As always, thank you for tuning in and enjoy this conversation with Austen.

https://www.instagram.com/aus10sprake/?hl=en

John Schlag is a visual effects artist turned screenwriter/filmmaker who's breadth of work in the Vermont landscape in just the past few years is impressive and enviable.

At the heart of our conversation, we dive into the idea of creating a team around you. Trusted creatives that you can lean on again and again. Develop a shorthand with and ensure what you are creating is something truly special.

That is what I have come to admire most about him and his work (that and the sheer amount that he and his crew are able to create.).

Enjoy and check out John's work at the links below:

https://www.infinovation.film/

Ok, I am going to fanboy out a bit here. Sean and Sarah are two of my favorite Vermont filmmakers. Their latest film, The Thaw, is one of my favorite shorts of all time...and my wife agrees as well.

They two of them have such a keen eye for details, a penchant for story telling and embedding real, honest and important themes into their work, which maintaining movies that are beautiful to look at and fun to watch.

We talk all things process, from writing to working together on set, making things in Vermont and ghoulish raccoons living in your walls...ok that last one was just a sidenote. But you get the point.

Watch THE THAW on Alter at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfsdtoBAEtw

Check out more of Sarah and Sean's work here: https://www.homebodypictures.com/