During this episode of “On the Neutral Ground”, Victoria and Jason chat about The Cool Cooperative with Felicia Stallard, Chair of the Board and Kirby Voss, Executive Director.  The Cool Cooperative, a 501(c) non-profit founded in 2014, is an after school program for New Orleans inner-city students from 7th grade through high school graduation. The program offers food, fun and education as these students gain experience and knowledge in all aspects of filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera.

“By the time our Cool Creators graduate high school, The Cool Cooperative will have offered them not only practical support like tutoring and individualized SAT lessons, but more specifically, they will have the confidence, skills, and connections connections necessary to secure well-paying jobs in the film industry.”

The Cool Cooperative along with Felicia and Kirby are very active in the Louisiana film industry having produced several short and feature films with numerous awards to boot.

Additional information about this incredible organization may be found at https://www.thecoolcooperative.org and you can follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

During this episode of “On the Neutral Ground”, Victoria and Jason chat with Katie Prior, Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Film Commission and Isaac Pletcher, Assistant Professor of Film and Television at LSU (Louisiana State University).  We discuss the exciting opportunities and economics of the film industry in the Baton Rouge area along with the upcoming “Take Six Film Festival”.  

The Sixth Annual Take Film Festival, sponsored by LSU is held at the historic Shaver Theatre on May 3, 2020 at 7:00 PM. Submissions are now open through mid-April and are free to LSU students, alumni and to those who attend or have graduated from any other Louisiana university. The film must have been completed in 2019 or 2020 and between 30 seconds and 15 minutes in length.

Katie and her office are very much involved with this event.  She tells us to “come prepared, to be inspired, entertained and wowed at the next up and coming generation of filmmakers.”

Additional information can be found at www.LSU,edu/cmda/theatre or http://filmbatonrouge.com.

Victoria and Jason chat with the filmmaking team of the award-winning film, ‘EASY DOES IT”. This 70s road trip, buddy movie about friendship and chasing the American Dream premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival in October, 2019 and has since screened from coast to coast throughout North America.  With a geeky hostage in tow, our co-stars travel across the US getting into trouble wherever they go.

Writer/director/producer Will Addison, writer/producer/actor Ben Methany and producer Lizzie Guitreau share their experiences from the story’s conception, working with well-known actors such as Linda Hamilton, to talking about the challenges of producing an independent film. This is a podcast not to be missed!  

Be sure to follow Easy Does It on social media (@EasyDoesItFilm) for screening dates, locations, etc

During this episode of On the Neutral Ground, Victoria and Jason chat with award winning social justice documentary filmmaker, Alex Glustrom.  Alex is the writer, director and editor of the powerful documentary film, Mossville:  When Great Trees Fall, currently on the film festival circuit and winning awards nearly at nearly every festival screening.  Alex discusses how he became a documentary filmmaker, the challenges and also his past projects including Big Charity: The Death of America’s oldest hospital.

Mossville:  When Great Trees Fall is about environmental injustice and how just one man stands in the way of a petrochemical plant expansion, refusing to give up or leave his Louisiana community.  Stacey Ryan Stay’s home in Mossville, a town founded by free slaves is no longer in a neighborhood but within a busy construction site, as a South African company expands their compound of petrochemical plants. They’ve bought out every other resident and cut off his utilities but, even faced with the risk of illness and death from chemical exposure that chased many of his neighbors away, Ryan doesn’t waver in refusing their offers. With an empathetic but rigorous documentary approach, director Alexander Glustrom exposes environmental racism threatening a community founded on resistance.

For more information about Alex and his films, please refer to the following links:

http://www.mossvilleproject.com

https://www.facebook.com/MossvilleProject/

http://www.bigcharityfilm.com

Jason and Victoria discuss the legal side of the film industry with entertainment attorneys Max Hass and Murray Roth.  We cover a variety of legal and business topics for independent filmmakers, with a focus on copyrighting, contracts, release agreements, and much more. 

@Action Potential Entertainment LLC www.actionpotentialent.com 

Murray Roth is a licensed attorney in Louisiana with over 20 years experience as a counselor, trial attorney and litigator.  Born and raised in the New Orleans area he obtained his Juris Doctor Law Degree from Loyola University in New Orleans, and since 2002, Murray has dedicated his law practice mainly to the areas of Business Law and Entertainment Law involving motion picture and television production. For his Entertainment Law practice, Murray provides legal services to individuals and companies operating in all areas of the motion picture industry in Louisiana.  He is well versed in the areas of intellectual property and 'chain of title,' production contracts, and is very familiar with the Louisiana Motion Picture Tax Credit Program. in addition to providing legal services, Murray is also an independent film producer who has served as a Producer, Executive Producer or at some other producer level on over 10 feature films and made-for-television movies produced in Louisiana.  Murray’s website: www.murrayroth.com

Victoria and Jason sit down with the award-winning husband and wife filmmaking team of LOST BAYOU, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and was just awarded Best Cinematography at the New Orleans Film Festival. The film tells the story of a struggling addict who ventures into the Louisiana swamps to reconnect with her estranged faith healer father, only to discover he is hiding a troubling secret aboard his houseboat.

Director Brian Richard and Cinematographer Natalie Kingston share their experiences in the industry while giving us the backstory and some insight into their award winning film. LOST BAYOU is currently on the film festival circuit, and is screening from coast to coast. Be sure to follow their journey on social media (@LostBayouFilm) for screening dates and locations.

During this episode of On The Neutral Ground, we chat with Fallon Young, the Executive Director of the New Orleans Film Festival.

Moviemaker Magazine named NOFF one of "the 25 coolest film festivals in the world".

With over 230 films being screened, there is something for everyone!

During this episode of On the Neutral Ground, Jason and Victoria sit down with Lisa Arnold - an award winning writer, director and producer.

Lisa has a slew of successful films under her belt, including One Nation Under God (2019), Caged No More (2016), Camp Cool Kids (2017), God's Not Dead (2014), and many more.

With over twenty-five years of experience in the industry, Lisa shares her advice about directing, writing, distribution, and following your dreams.

After finding your sweet spot and working hard, you can achieve anything you want.