First Time Go

The most Irish friendly film podcast is back with another Irish guest, director Damian McCann, who brings a host of firsts with him -- first Irish language film made in Northern Ireland; first guy to be doing the laundry when he found out that his film, AONTAS (2025), is Ireland's nominee for the 2027 Oscar for Best International Film; and first guy to ask his parents about how to rob a bank and then use that information to make a banger of a heist film.

On the last part: maybe. Hopefully. This is fantastic filmmaking that moves the bar foward for original screenwriting; Irish language films; and Irish filmmakers. Here's to hoping we get to hear some Irish at the 2027 Oscars.

Damian and I discuss:

• the weather in the film -- they rent RAIN MACHINES in Ireland?;
• why it's important that his new film is the first Irish language film made in Northern Ireland;
• how he got his start in filmmaking;
• the choice of making an Irish language film;
• what he took from his first feature and documentary work;
• the format of reverse chronology;
• how he researched robbing banks;
• linking objects to visually tell people about flashbacks instead of text;
• is there a reverse chronology club of filmmakers who tried this concept?
• how he found out about Ireland's nomination for the Oscars and what the campaign looks like;
• the production company he founded to create bilingual films and what's next for him.

Damian's Indie Film Highlights: KNEECAP (2024) dir. by Rich Peppiatt; THE QUIET GIRL (2022) dir. by Colm Bairéad; FOUR MOTHERS (2024) dir. by Darren Thornton

Memorable Quotes:

" It's actually a sunny day in Ireland, which is such a rarity that we are-- you're actually legally not allowed to complain at all throughout the day."

" I often say that a lot of Irish speakers will talk this way, that you're an activist first and then your job second."

"I just had it in my head that I wanted to make a heist film."

"As soon as you start writing [reverse chronology], you realize why people don't do it very often."

"The ideal case here is some people hate it and some people love it."

"The phone rings, do you fancy the Oscars?"

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Not a pop psychology show, but if it was, I'd explore more with my guest, writer and director Paula González-Nasser of the brilliant film THE SCOUT (2025), how she made her first feature about a job she didn't care for. I can't imagine a scenario where she was working as a location scout, and thought, this is my first feature film.

And yet.

THE SCOUT works brilliantly as a observational movie about the little seen lives of location scouts, even though their work has an outsized influence on the sets that you see in films. She captures all the little nuances of that life through wide shots and long takes. And she's here to share how she made it happen.

Paula and I talk about:

• the theatrical premiere of THE SCOUT at the Film Forum -- including Q&As on September 25th and September 26th!
• how she responds to the criticism that the film is slow;
• how much of her location scouting experience for six years winds up in the film and when she realized the job was her debut feature;
• the shocking part that the film only worked for her when she stripped out her own personal experience;
• the unexpected setup required for wide, static, long takes and the incredible work by her DP;
• how she knew when it worked;
• why she kept her main character, played by Mimi Davila, away from the supporting cast;
• the process between its premiere and its theatrical debut;
• what's next for her.

Memorable Quotes:

" If the slowness is by design, I hope people can at least understand or appreciate the reasons behind it, even if they don't like it."

"I'm so glad that it took me not doing the job anymore and having some distance away from it to really appreciate the job."

"I don't think I would have said yes to dinner. That's where I draw the line."

"I was very naive in thinking like, "Oh, I could just do these wide shots in the same amount of time." And it's like, no, it requires a lot of setup and lighting and timing and blocking."

"This film should be observational almost in the same way that the scout is observing these spaces and the people within these spaces."

"My style or my voice, I don't think has changed. If anything, I've really leaned into what I discovered about myself through this film."

Links:

THE SCOUT at the Film Forum

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My guest today, director Mylissa Fitzsimmons, previously released two features -- EVERYTHING IN THE END (2021) and THE LONG RUN (2025) -- and never got a premiere. She suffered from burnout of the excruciating process of making these brilliant films. And yet:

here she is in 2026 with MACKENZIE (2026), opening at Film Fest Oldenburg this year. What does that say about perseverance? Resilience? A never quit attitude and the ability to keep going on even though this is really, really, fucking really hard?

I think it says everything. I'm so motivated hearing her story and so excited for the journey of her new film and her renewed love of the art form.

Hat tip to the best friend any indie filmmaker can have, Scott Monahan, for making this interview happen.

In this episode, Mylissa and I talk about:

• why Oldenburg?
• how she's NEVER gotten an opportunity to have a full premiere for her films;
• what people should expect to see when watching MACKENZIE;
• why she waited till her third feature to tell her most personal story;
• the burnout she felt after her first two features;
• the incredible story in her film EVERYTHING IN THE END;
• directing actors to not really be actors in THE LONG RUN;
• where did the motif of running away comes from;
• the process of working with a non-professional actor as the star of MACKENZIE;
• why she has ambiguous endings in her films;
• what's next for her.

Mylissa's Indie Film/Filmmaker Highlight: Frank Mosley in JACKRABBIT (2026); Leonora Pitts in I HATE MYSELF AND WANT TO DIE (2024) dir. by J. Davis

Memorable Quotes:

" So the baby is ready to walk, and we're gonna be there all as proud parents watching."

" This kind of moment in childhood that we all have where we realize like the reality of the real world is seeping through the cracks of your childhood innocence and you are growing up."

I don't want to have to worry about saying, "hey, I really want you to work on this, but it's a microbudget and I can't really pay you a lot," and then feel guilty and then have them not really be 100% committed."

" When MACKENZIE came along, my only goal was like, "hey, I just wanna make a movie and have fun again."

"I actually set out to make a movie about people who are lost."

" I had worked with kids before, and I know it's like you don't really direct them, they direct you."

Links:

Follow Mylissa On Instagram

Expectations are good in a lot of ways. They hold us to a standard and promote accountability. But they can also be creatively limiting. For actor and executive producer Glen Steele of the film INFINITELY DENSE, who you heard in the intro, he took the shackles off the word expectation and made his art, giving the middle finger to age or any other perceived limitation.

INFINITELY DENSE is having its market screening at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 16th, 2026. If you have the ability to go, you should. It's a near-realistic sci-fi look at what happens if a guy unhappy with his life experimented with augmented AI.

I'm also joined by writer and director Ace Thor, who met Glen through his mom's acting class. This is an insane story of two people pushing the boundaries of independent film, both through the subject matter of their work and their overall art.

And -- Ace Thor & Glen Steele should be in a cop buddy comedy, right? I'd love it, because it would be another opportunity to have them on the podcast.

In this episode, Ace, Glen, and I talk about:

• how they describe the film;
• the many hats that independent filmmakers have to wear;
• the crazy story of how they ended up working together and how they got involved in filmmaking;
• the reality of acting in your 60s;
• making a scifi film that feels realistic and not having genre as the focus;
• casting for this film, why Ace watched every single tape, and why Glen kept his hands off the process;
• Glen's feelings on massive influencers taking over acting -- it's been happening for years in different forms;
• the process of a market screening at TIFF;
• should more actors get involved in making their own roles;
• advice for raising a family while acting and directing;
• what's next for them.

Ace's Indie Filmmaker Highlight: Nicolas Roeg

Memorable Quotes:

" It's more of a story of what happens when we are only in relationship with ourselves."

"It's just like no matter what you try and do in my family, if you wanna do something else, it's just not possible."

" No one's gonna hire me to be a lead in a movie at this point in my life."

" I didn't want the sci-fi to be the focus, right?"

" It's hard for the 64-year-old Glenn to tell a 25-year-old what to do because I wouldn't have listened to me when I was 25.

Links:

INFINITELY DENSE @ TIFF

INFINITELY DENSE Website

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Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: RYE LANE (2023)

Director: Raine Allen Miller

SYNOPSIS

Two twenty-somethings reeling from bad breakups spend an eventful day wandering South London, helping each other face their nightmare exes and rediscovering the possibility of romance.

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When you normally see a series like HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD, put together by my guest, filmmaker Dylan Mulick (and the team at World Within Studios), the tendency is to brush it off as do-gooders doing good things. Where is the conflict in that? A lot of great documentaries aren't seen because of these assumptions.

Dylan turns the usual tropes of the series upside down in so many ways by going there: inner city Chicago; the Bahamas; wherever there is actual conflict for people who are looking to change our planet.

The result is something altogether fresh: a ten part series, starting September 10th, 2026 that's shot cinematically and doesn't make you feel like you're watching an infomercial or about to see a Gofundme link roll across the screen. It's premiering on YouTube, it has the clout of Mark Cuban and others behind it, and the team's end goal is to launch a studio through their nonprofit.

This is what the future looks like.

Hat tip to David Goldblum for making this interview happen. If you haven't heard my conversation with him, it's a must-listen.

In this episode, Dylan and I talk about:

• the layout of HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD;
• the strategy of betting big on putting this series on YouTube;
• how he able to recruit high-level EPs like Chris Pratt and Mark Cuban for his projects;
• ENTOURAGE shout-out (it truly was a whole thing for dudes in the 2000s);
• the mentorship role he now takes on for people starting out in film;
• the lessons he took from his first feature documentary -- HELEN BELIEVE (2023) -- into this project;
• the story behind World Within Studios, which bills itself as " a nonprofit focused on tackling extreme wealth consolidation by investing in community-owned projects";
• what keeps him up at night regarding this huge risk;
• whether EPs matter anymore and why Mark Cuban is the perfect fit for this project;
• how cool it is when people post about their challenges in making films;
• what success looks like for this series.

Memorable Quotes:

" How to Change the World is a 10-episode documentary series that is essentially like Chef's Table for social entrepreneurs."

" They're not the people that you often see in the headlines. And we believe what they're doing should be rewriting the definition of what a founder and a CEO should be. So we wanted to show them cinematically. We wanted to shoot them heroically."

" Mentorship is so critical, and I think it's lost in today's Hollywood because the jobs are so competitive and the jobs are so few.

" These are all ideas that are probably pretty close to us, whether consciously or just like the mysterious stresses in our lives. But if you don't show a solution and then you don't take that solution and clearly communicate it to an audience, you can't build a movement, and ultimately World Within wants to build a movement from these ideas."

" I don't know that [EPs] move the needle, unless of course they're the sole person on camera, right?"

" The buyers are too reluctant nowadays, and I think quite honestly, like every famous person is pitching their own show."

" And I'm trying to walk the walk of this idea of always trying to be failing, 

Links:

Follow World Within Studios For The Series

Follow Dylan On Instagram

One of the most fascinating things I've learned about in conducting interviews are how top awards can end up meaning -- nothing.

Think back -- can you name who won the Oscar for best documentary short five years ago? Two years ago?

So often, it doesn't show a noticeable trajectory change in the filmmakers' careers. That's not true of my guest today, Orlando von Einsiedel, whose film, THE CYCLE OF LOVE (2025) opened in New York on August 28th and later in September for the rest of the country, has continually built on his success through taking on larger projects.

In the last 16 years, he's directed or produced at least 31 shows and series, an incredible workflow that speaks both to his work ethic and the value of awards (maybe?).

It's hard to tell whether the latter part mattered. What we can say is his filmmaking is sincerely moving, and I'm so glad to see him tackle evermore ambitious topics like THE CYCLE OF LOVE.

In this episode, Orlando and I talk about:

• he's won Oscars and opened at top festivals; is there's an achievement out there that he's aiming for in filmmaking?;
• his description of THE CYCLE OF LOVE;
• the decision to incorporate mostly reenactments into the film and where he drew the line between "how it feels" and what actually happened;
• how EVELYN (2018) helped make THE CYCLE OF LOVE happen the way it did;
• how he went from snowboarding into filmmaking
• the ways in which awards enabled his climb and how documentary filmmakers should view them;
• the role of EPs for documentary filmmakers;
• the value proposition of his production company, Grain Media, and how he'll use crowdfunding if it's the path for a particular film;
• the theatrical prospects for this film and the landscape for documentary filmmakers;
• what's next for him.

Memorable Quotes:

" Every story, every film we make, I just want people, audiences to connect with it."

" The challenge was there was very little archive footage from PK's journey, and and normally that is what kills a documentary in its tracks."

" I don't think anyone should start a film project thinking about awards."

" It doesn't matter how experienced you are, it doesn't matter how many awards you've won, every project needs a different path."

Links:

Follow Orlando On Instagram

Grain Media's Website

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: EVELYN (2018).

Director: Orlando von Einsiedel

SYNOPSIS

When a 22-year-old kills himself, his three siblings try to bury their pain. Ten years later, they go on a hiking trip and seek out the places he liked to walk in the English countryside, allowing them to contemplate their brother's life.

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If you are staying up till 1030 pm to talk with me from Milan, Italy, well, I'm going to be grateful no matter what.

But even better if your film is truly exceptional. My guest, Ang Geck Geck Priscilla, director of AH GIRL (2026), which premiered at Rotterdam and now screens at the Toronto International Film Festival next month, made a fantastic coming of age story from a child's perspective, cinematically. She wrote a semi-autobiographical story -- 70-80% true -- that her parents haven't even seen. And she's a Singaporean filmmaker making waves at huge festivals in ways that, if we're being blunt, we don't usually see.

But she didn't want to play the comparison game; she doesn't care about all that. She wants to tell her own story. I'm absolutely here for it, and if you're at TIFF, you should be there, too. What a great talent in director Ang Geck Geck Priscilla.

Ang and I talk about:

• how she describes the film and how much is true to life (70-80%);
• a coming of age story that she hasn't even shown her parents!;
• why she cast good looking people as her parents;
• shooting the film from a child's perspective;
• how she knew she'd become a filmmaker;
• why she cut the film to 99 minutes, including a wedding scene that I really want to see!;
• the genre of films that are tackling this coming of age, especially from an Asian perspective (e.g. LEFT-HANDED GIRL; A GIRL UNKNOWN);
• her thoughts on distribution;
• filmmaking in Singapore and the lack of theatrical opportunities;
• expectations coming out of screening at TIFF;
• what's next for her.

Ang's Indie Film Highlights: WE ARE ALL STRANGERS (2026) dir. by Anthony Chen (a fellow Singaporean and also playing at TIFF); THE VIOLINIST (2026) dir. by Ervin Han & Raul Garcia

Memorable Quotes:

" The small part that is not real is actually the message that I want to tell my parents."

" My producer would tell me about this film, and then they will start comparing. I honestly, I don't really care."

" I'm really happy to be able to tell a Singapore story because I think as Singaporean, a lot of people always say we don't have our own identity."

" I'm writing a psychological horror film next. I love horror."

Links:

Follow Ang Geck Geck Priscilla On Instagram

Follow AH GIRL On Instagram

It always fascinates me when people with other artistic backgrounds settle on making films. They end up creating an art form that is noticeably different than their peers. My guest, Australian director Peter Skinner, spent five years as a sculptor, and then with the precision that art form requires, turned his focus into making astonishing films like his most recent, TWO UGLY PEOPLE (2025).

It's a hard film to describe but a beautiful one to watch. The impetus for the story of TWO UGLY PEOPLE came in the form of a question: " how do I tell a story about two people who want be together, but the only way they can be together is by being strangers?" and Peter actualized that here, in a work worthy of a sculptor.

In this episode, Peter and I talk about:

• the Letterboxd comment of " Peter Skinner is one of Australia's most exciting emerging filmmaking talents";
• how he got involved in filmmaking and the path of his classmates;
• sculpture's role in telling stories, directing, and cinematography;
• what he learned from making four shorts before his feature;
• how he describes TWO UGLY PEOPLE;
• the title!;
• the role of feedback for a film that is pushing boundaries of what people normally see on screen;
• the cinematography and production design of the film;
• how they found a space six hours away from Sydney;
• the festival and release strategy for the film -- and the crazy "pre-selection" process for Venice (is this common?!);
• the distribution process for the film;
• what's next for him.

Peter's Indie Film Highlight: BABYTEETH (2019) dir. by Shannon Murphy

Memorable Quotes:

"I made figurative sculptures and that were based on myths and obviously very, narrative-based. But a sculpture is a, a physical object that sits in a space that if it's a static object, doesn't do anything other than sit there. So you have to tell a story as economically as possible, but also as much as you can in the static frame. So then when you look at filmmaking, filmmaking is just that 24 times a second over an hour and a half of a film." 

" Imagine you're a painter and you have to buy all the materials and you have to paint all the thing, and you've never painted a big painting before, but it's gonna cost you a million dollars, and then people have to really like it. It's almost a fool's errand."

"I wanted to make a film I've never seen before."

" It's like these places that hold every room is its own story, and I'm just telling you the story of these two people in these two rooms."

Links:

Follow Seymour Pictures On Instagram