Episode 216: This episode was recorded September 17, 2025 and published September 23, 2025.

Filmmaker, actor and author Miguel Lopez de Leon comes back to talk about the feature film he made, Bellow. We also talk about his IMFF 2025 short film, Inner Voices, which won best Ultimate Mobile Film Category, and what inspires him to make films. 

Miguel’s films shine a light on mental health in an entertaining and effective way. We discuss the topic of mental health as it affects filmmakers. Miguel talks about how much he got out of “the big circle” lab session during the International Mobile Film Festival 2025 in San Diego, last April, and how awesome it was for everyone who participated. We are thankful to all attending filmmakers who participated during IMFF2025.

Follow Miguel and Join him making his next film:

The International Mobile Film Festival is open for submissions. Feature Film Deadline is October 19.

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Shoutout and thank you to Zacuto for sponsoring IMFF 2026!

Your support means the world. Thank you! 

Join us on Patreon with bonus episodes and more! https://www.patreon.com/sbppodcast   

Podcast Update Page: https://subscribepage.io/svpkFh  

Community resource and support:

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l   

Thankful to our fiscal IMFF sponsor Angaelica: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/support/  

Follow Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2025 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 215: This episode was recorded August 10, 2025 and published August 19, 2025.

A conversation with Justin Ho about filmmaking, art and storytelling. Justin is back for the first time since he experienced the festival in San Diego. He joins me for a passionate discussion about the message film directors George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro just shared with their fans during their panel at SDCC 2025, on July 27. Justin watched the video (link below) and I attended in person!

Star Wars creator George Lucas was at San Diego Comic-Con International for the first, time ever and Susy Botello casually stumbled into Hall H for the panel with George Lucas, Guillermo del Toro and Doug Chiang; moderated by Queen Latifah. 

We discuss the topics they discussed about mythology, storytelling, community and art. We also talk about AI in the context Guillermo del Toro discussed. The panel was an announcement about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open in 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

Susy Botello was invited to participate in a panel inside the convention during Comic-Con. The panel was called “How to Bring Your Stories to Life: From Page to Live Action. I give shoutouts to co-panelists Multi-Nominated Emmy Award-Winners Mark Nazal and Sina San, Actor Earl Baylon and filmmaker Alan Chan; moderated by Author Lorran Garrison presented with Surreal Arts, Little Brainstorm & Visual Effects Society - Texas Section. Grateful to have been a part of this panel and thankful for the invitation and experience!

Justin Ho is a multi-award winning filmmaker who is using his iPhone to turn stories into film experiences. His full length feature film, “Broken Pieces” won Best Feature Film at the International Mobile Film Festival 2025 in San Diego.

The International Mobile Film Festival is open for submissions. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Mentioned:

Community resource and support:

SDCC Lucas Panel Video by Lucas Museum of Narrative Art:

Shoutout and thank you to Zacuto for sponsoring IMFF 2026 in April! 

Your support means the world. Thank you! 

Podcast Update Page: https://subscribepage.io/svpkFh  

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l   

Thankful to IMFF fiscal sponsor Angaelica: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/support/  

Follow Justin Ho:

Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2025 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 214: This episode was recorded March 26, 2025 and published May 20, 2025.

Part Two of my conversation with Justin Ho, the winner of the Best Feature Film 2025 at the International Mobile Film Festival  in San Diego on April 27. Justin Ho shot “Broken Pieces” with the iPhone 14 Pro. 

In this episode we discuss his feature film which was 1 hour and 23 minutes long. Justin discusses his film, and a few other topics related to the decision to shoot a feature film with iPhones.

We discuss production gear, the app he used to shoot, and editing software. Justin gives some shout outs to the wonderful humans who worked on “Broken Pieces” and much more! 

Broken Pieces: Writer, Director & Cinematography: Justin Ho; Editor: Justin Ho; Producers: James Orfanos, Teddy Orfanos, Justin Ho; Associate Producer: John Amedro; Costume Designer: Allison Windhausen; Score: Lee Armbrust and Andrija Lazarevic

Listen to Part One: Episode 213: https://mobilefilmmaking.podbean.com/e/feature-film-storytelling-and-the-iphone-part-one-with-justin-ho/ 

Article on Smartphone Filmmaking publication on Medium: https://medium.com/smartphonefilmmaking/feature-film-storytelling-and-the-iphone-with-justin-ho-e3721e85de2b 

Watch the Trailer for Broken Pieces: https://youtu.be/zATIJnRuZAg  

Congratulations to everyone who won an award at the festival this year and everyone who participated!

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

We’re on Patreon with bonus episodes and more! https://www.patreon.com/sbppodcast  

Your support means the world. Thank you! 

Podcast Update Page: https://subscribepage.io/svpkFh 

Community resource and support:

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l  

Thankful to our fiscal sponsor Angaelica: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/support/ 

Follow Justin Ho:

Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2025 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 213: This episode was recorded March 26, 2025 and published May 13, 2025.

My guest in this episode is Justin Ho, the winner of the Best Feature Film 2025 at the International Mobile Film Festival  in San Diego on April 27. Justin shot “Broken Pieces” with the iPhone 14 Pro. 

This episode is the first of a two part interview recorded March 27. Meeting Justin in person felt like the frosting on the cake. The second part of the interview, episode 214, will be out next week. Justin goes a deeper on some topics. Including some he mentions in part one. 

In this episode we discuss his feature film which was 1 hour and 23 minutes long. Justin discusses his film, an early start with cameras, cinematography in college and for his film, and details about the making of the film, without giving away too much. Except…there’s an incredibly well shot chase scene. Find out how he pulled it off.

Broken Pieces: Writer, Director & Cinematography: Justin Ho

Synopsis:

Watch the Trailer for Broken Pieces: https://youtu.be/zATIJnRuZAg 

Congratulations to everyone who won an award at the festival this year and everyone who participated!  

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Community resource and support:

Your support means the world, thank you! 

Podcast Update Page: https://subscribepage.io/svpkFh

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l 

IMFF Fiscal Sponsor Angaelica: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/support/

Follow Justin Ho:

Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2025 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 212: This episode was recorded April 27, 2025 and published May 6, 2025.

Feels good to be back with you and publishing episodes again. The 14th Annual International Mobile Film Festival took place April 25-27 in San Diego. During the festival, we scheduled the recording of this episode with a live in-person audience. 

Jason Rivera began composing music when he was 4 years old. He’s been on the show several times, and was at the festival, where we met, in April 2023.

This recording took place in the later afternoon at the festival. We enjoyed recording with an audience. Thankful to everyone who attended our special session during the festival.

Things we discussed:

EP 149 with Jason Rivera July 2023

*I mentioned panelists from "Fade In To Film" and missed mentioning Erica "ET" Taylor who is my guest in Episode 211.

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Community Smartphone Filmmaker Support:

Your support means the world! 

Podcast Updates Page: https://subscribepage.io/svpkFh 

Listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l 

Thankful to IMFF fiscal sponsor Angaelica: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/support/

Follow Jason Rivera!

Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2025 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 211: This episode was recorded January 29, 2025 and published February 4, 2025.

This is our first episode of the new year 2025! Erica “ET” Taylor is our featured guest in this episode of the Fade In To Film series. I’m stoked to have ET back again for this episode.

ET is teaching film appreciation and other filmmaking topics at a new university. We discuss ET’s work teaching film at the university where she is, in Texas.

She’s bringing guest speakers to her classes, like protagonist Shellsy Malveaux from her short film, “Coming Home” shot with her iPhone 13 Pro Max. ET’s also reaching out to smartphone filmmakers she met during IMFF 2023, to her classes to inspire her students to make films.

We discuss multimedia and ways you can bring one of your older films shot with older smartphone models back to life in 2025. We discuss topics like how filmmakers can publish printed books that play your videos—yes, you can do it now.

I appreciate you and the mobile filmmaking community for listening and sharing the podcast. Thank you!

Fade In To Film is a series by the SBP Podcast, where we discuss topics and events of interest to indie and mobile filmmakers. http://fadeintofilm.com

Joey Min has been extremely busy and we congratulate his success in the industry! He’ll be a featured guest occasionally, along with past and new guests to Fade In To Film.

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Community resource mentioned in this episode:

Enjoying our free podcast? You can support us! 

Sign up for our Podcast Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iwK-dM

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l 

Thankful to our fiscal sponsor Angaelica: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/support/

Follow ET:

Susy:

Videomaker Magazine: https://www.videomaker.com 

Our Links: 

© 2025 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 210: This episode was recorded December 21, 2024 and published December 31, 2024. New Year's Eve.

Part Two of a two part series with our guest, Miguel Lopez de Leon. In part one we share who Miguel is, his passion for storytelling and his newfound challenge in mobile filmmaking.

Join Miguel and myself now in part two as we discuss AI: Generating and automating as an artist, the film “28 Years Later” shot with iPhone cameras, mobile film gear in the earliest days, social media and video progress; and among other things, our mobile filmmaking community with the International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego.

Miguel was one of the attending filmmakers at this year’s 13th International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego last April. His short mobile film “Ghost Leave” had the audience laughing and loving it! He’s planning to attend the 2025 edition April 25-27. 

Thank you for listening to the podcast. I wish every one of you the very best in 2025.

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Enjoying our free podcast? You can give a little back.

Sign up for our Podcast Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iwK-dM

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l 

Please Support IMFF: https://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com/support/ 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Listen to EP 209: https://mobilefilmmaking.podbean.com/e/casting-yourself-in-smartphone-movies-part-one-with-miguel-lopez-de-leon/ 

Follow Miguel:

SUBMIT YOUR FILMS TO IMFF’S 14TH EDITION: http://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com 

Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2024 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 209: This episode was recorded December 21, 2024 and published December 24, 2024.

Part One of a two part series with our guest, Miguel Lopez de Leon. Miguel was one of the attending filmmakers at this year’s 13th International Mobile Film Festival in San Diego last April. His short mobile film “Ghost Leave” had the audience laughing and loving it!

Miguel has submitted again for the 2025 edition next April. We are blown away at how he is making films faster than we can watch them!

Join me in a conversation with Miguel about the storytelling skills he’s using as a novelist, and as a mobile filmmaker.

Thank you for listening to the podcast. I wish every one of you the very best during the holidays.

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Enjoying our free podcast? You can support us! 

Sign up for our Podcast Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iwK-dM

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Follow Miguel:

SUBMIT YOUR FILMS TO IMFF’S 14TH EDITION: http://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com 

Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2024 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 208: This episode was recorded December 14, 2024 and published December 17, 2024.

First of all, we wish all of you the best during this holiday season. 

In this episode of our Fade In To Film series, Joey Min and I team up to share some good tips and a few things we learned about what to do, and what not to do, on set of an independent film; and we’ll adapt some traditional on-set etiquette to smartphone filmmaking.

We also tackle the role of the gaffer on set, versus the grip; and if you will ever need one on set for a mobile film. We begin with drones in New Jersey because that’s where Joey is, and it’s interesting.

Learn more about Fade In To Film on the SBP Podcast: http://fadeintofilm.com 

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Enjoying our free podcast? You can support us! 

Sign up for our Podcast Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iwK-dM

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l 

SUBMIT YOUR FILMS TO IMFF’S 14TH EDITION: http://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com

Follow Joey and Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2024 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.

Episode 207: This episode was recorded November 27, 2024 and published December 3, 2024.

Joey Min and Susy Botello have a fun discussion the eve before Thanksgiving and we run some cool gift ideas for mobile filmmakers. Of course, that opens up our conversation to discuss filmmaking insights. 

Susy brings up how the industry is trying to catch up with the classification of cameras and smartphones regarding prosumer, consumer and professional cameras; and the distinctions between them.

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn more about Fade In To Film on the SBP Podcast: http://fadeintofilm.com 

SBP Podcast Mobile Filmmaking: The Voice of Mobile Film™ is for everyone who ever wanted to or is curious about making movies and videos using smartphones. 

Producer, writer, director, editor, composer, graphics and host: Susy Botello. This podcast does not use AI voices or generative AI.

Enjoying our free podcast? You can support us! 

Sign up for our Podcast Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iwK-dM

Subscribe to listen in your own app: https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/kOpp1Xtzvu6l 

SUBMIT YOUR FILMS TO IMFF’S 14TH EDITION: http://internationalmobilefilmfestival.com 

Follow Joey and Susy:

Our Links: 

© 2024 S. Botello Productions. All rights reserved.