The Imperfect Podcast

This week’s guest is actress and comedian, Jill-Michelle Melean was introduced to us by our good friend Alex Ferrari of Indie Film Hustle. Jill is known for her work on the sketch comedy show MadTV where she had memorable moments impersonating Hollywood stars such as Drew Barrymore and Britney Spears. You may have also seen Jill in Comedy Central’s Reno 911 and most recently in This is Meg which she co-produced and wrote with Alex Ferrari.

We talk about Jill’s family life growing up in Miami, her transition to Hollywood and her worst moments as a female comedian. She’s held her own on the road with the big boys of comedy such as Carlos Mencia and has a unique perspective as a white latina. Look out for her 1 hour comedy special, called White Latina coming soon.

Follow Jill-Michelle Melean Online

Website: http://jillyonline.com

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0577549/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillyonline/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jillyonline

Pyrotechnics and fire are always a serious matter on set. Joe explains how to start a fire with a battery and matches which is a useful technique for indie filmmakers to be able to start a fire off camera, from a distance. With some household supplies, this DIY practical movie effect can be effective and looks better than any CGI fire effects you would otherwise have to use. 

Keep in mind, anytime you're working with fire, safety is important and we recommend supervision while attempting this practical fire effect at home. 

Materials To Start a Fire For Your Movie

MatchesPlywoodCopper WireSpeaker WireLighter FluidBattery Powered DrillDuct tape

How To Start a Fire with a Battery

Start by drilling a hole in the plywood and laying it over a hole in the table you're using.Strip the copper wire and leave the metal exposed.Strip the ends of the speaker wire leaving the ends exposed.Tape several matches together.Wind the copper wire like a spring.  You can use a match stick as a guide.Wrap the wire around the heads of the matches leaving room on each end. Wrap one end of the speaker wire to the copper and secure with tape. Repeat on the other end.Using your drill battery touch the end of the speaker wires to the leads on the battery. This will light the matches from a distance.Snake the wire through the hole and place the matches heads up in the hole.  Center your prop over the hole that you're going to light on fire. Douse in lighter fluid!

Gavin Michael Booth is a producer, editor and director who's known for his indie horror film The Scarehouse. "The Scarehouse" was distributed by NBC/Universal (USA) and D Films (Canada) in early 2015 with international releasing starting August 2015. The Scarehouse was funded in part by Telefilm Canada and the film won Best Feature at the New York City Horror Film Festival in 2014.

Booth has worked with some of the top entertainers in the music industry including Music Videos and documentary projects for Eminem's D-12, Third Eye Blind, The Tea Party, Our Lady Peace, Vanessa Carlton and The Afters. 

In our interview Gavin talks about his extensive career and how he used to sneak into concerts that led to a career in music videos, feature films and more. He's insightful, creative and has a ton of experience. Future filmmakers won't want to miss this interview.

We are back from the American Film Market in sunny Santa Monica, California where we spent three days learning, pitching and meeting the film industries biggest players from around the world. The American Film Market hosts one of the industries biggest events for film makers, screenwriters and distributors.

Our #1 tip for success at the American Film Market is preparation. Setup your meetings in advance, don't wait for the last minute to schedule them because the likelihood of getting into a meeting without an appointment is very low. Even if you have an appointment the odds of it being on time may dwindle the later you wait to make that meeting. Not only do you have to prepared to schedule meetings with buyers and distributors, you have to be prepared with your pitch. You need to be professional and have a plan and understand why your film may be saleable and even more importantly what aspects of your film may not be saleable.

Tip #2 for success at the American Film Market is having a completed project. Nobody wants to hear about your concept or idea. Everyone has ideas. Distributors won't even touch you if you don't have a completed production. Screenwriters need completed scripts. Networking and building relationships take time. If you're a first time filmmaker, nobody is going to hand you a check after a 15 minute pitch meeting. If they do, we'd love to hear about it on our podcast!

We interviewed filmmakers, screenwriters, distributors and film industry heavy hitters including:

Pilar Alessandra from OnthePage.tv

Alex Ferarri from IndieFilmHustle.com

Jason Brubaker at Distribber & FilmMaking Stuff

Actor Branscombe Richmond at the Southern Kentucky Film Commission

Susan Yang Translator Beijing

Paul Ayre from SevereComedy.com

Sean Crayne filmmaker of Twisted the movie

Mike Lippert filmmaker of Expecting

This week’s guest on the Imperfect Podcast is opera singer and actor Derrick Davis. Derrick is currently starring in The North American Tour of The Phantom of the Opera as The Phantom.  The grueling pace of a touring Broadway actor is no joke. Derrick shared his journey with us including the intense audition process it takes to land a role on Broadway. Having been hand selected by Andew Lloyd Weber himself Derrick remains humble to his roots and is so thankful for the wonderful fans that have supported him along the way.

Other roles for Derrick Davis include the Broadway production of Disney's The Lion King understudying the roles of Mufasa and Scar as well playing Mufasa in the National Touring company of The Lion King and the Las Vegas production. Derrick has 2 albums available online, "A Christmas Journey" featuring holiday favorites and his all original project "Life Music."

Keep up with Derrick Davis online:

Website: http://www.therealderrickdavis.com

Twitter: @dreamclimber

Instagram: @dreamclimber

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dreamclimber

Joe and Sal discuss their favorite indie horror movies to watch on Halloween.  We may catch some flack for what's included as a true indie horror movie since companies like Lions Gate are known for their big budget horrors. They hardest part for us was only being able to choose 5!  We also find out Joe's obsession with Bruce Campbell may be cause for concern. 

All we can say in advance about the list is that Sal and Joe only agreed on two movies but not where they belong on the list. From classics to modern terror, let us know what horror movies you love or who's picks you disagree with. 

When you're done, sign up to be an Imperfect Podcast Insider at http://hecklerkane.com

Subscribe to our YouTube channel at http://youtube.comhecklerkanecreations

Watch our short horror film TWiSTED: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfOabcpjPDQ

Follow our series Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire on Seed&Spark: https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/seymour-the-unfortunate-vampire/

Cupids is the latest comedy short film from Angelo Calarco. Cupids is currently on its festival run and was recently featured at the Soho International Film Festival and will be in New York again at the Gold Coast Film Festival. We discuss the challenges of shooting dialogue with 4 people on screen and how to not make it feel boring. Angelo has a unique perspective using visuals and sound, crossing from fantasy to reality to keep the audience engaged. 

Angelo Calarco is an Italian freelance Producer/Director living in London operating under the name of Beware Of The Dog Films.  His career started as a comedy writer and an award winning stand-up comedian. Angelo moved to London in 2010 and learned the art of filmmaking by working as a Production Assistant, Marketing Assistant, Assistant Producer and Assistant Script Editor for several Film Production companies in London such as JetSet Films, Wo-Ho! Productions and One Eyed Dog Films while also experimenting with his own passion projects.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/173517990 

Watch Cupids on Amazon: http://fave.co/2xiWKFk

Cupids Cast & Crew

Director: Angelo Calarco

Writer: Nick Grills

Starring Jenny Delisle, Tiernan Douieb, Michelle Fahrenheim & Daniel Knight

Logline: Two cupids must team up to face one of the greatest challenges of modern times: getting two strangers to talk to each other!

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This week's guest is your humble host, Alex Ferrari, known for his film making blog and podcast, Indie Film Hustle. With his 20 years of experience in the industry Alex dishes the straight line on making it in the film industry. He shared his experiences with us as a film maker, making the rounds at every film festival imaginable and why film festivals may or may not be a good idea for film makers. 

This year he put is money where is his mouth is and shot the feature film This is Meg starring Jill-Michelle Melean who also co-wrote the film with Alex. You won't want to miss this exclusive interview. Here are some of the questions and highlights.

Indie Film Hustle Roots And Why Alex Started the Popular Film Making Blog

Where does Alex find the time to create so much content?

How Does Alex Feel About Film Festivals For Film Makers?

Sundance Film Festival: Alex recounts his experience

What is Alex's opinion of The American Film Market? 

Where did the concept This is Meg start?

What was the distribution plan for This is Meg?

What did you shoot This is Meg on?

Our Indie Film Hustle Episode Recommendations

Visit http://hecklerkane.com to become an Imperfect Podcast Insider and never miss and interview.

Talking to Brimstone, you can see how important his personal brand has been to his success and what it takes to make it as a diverse entertainer. Brimstone is an actor, pro wrestler and Long Island radio personality that has been responsible for his own success as an entertainer for over three decades. He’s been called a Renaissance man by many, but is more accurately described as a well-seasoned entertainer and entertainment entrepreneur. We had some laughs discussing his roots dating back to an appearance on Sesame Street and relived some memories as a musician right here on Long Island.

Brimstone is the co-founder, President, and CEO of Hound Comics, Inc. (Hound Entertainment Group), that launched a comic book series, Brimstone and The Borderhounds that went worldwide via Barnes & Noble, B.Dalton, BN.com, and Amazon.

You can listen to Brimstone on The Grindhouse Radio, a pop culture talk-based podcast and series that is currently syndicated on eighteen digital & terrestrial radio networks (including iHeartRadio & Google Play Radio) with a listenership of between 3.5 – 4 million weekly worldwide. 

Keep up with Brimstone on Twitter @entrancetohell and look for him as Hagar in our upcoming web series Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire.

This week’s guest is Bill Ostroff, the First Glance Film Festival Director who tells us how indie film festivals have evolved in the past 20 years. Bill shares his insights on festival submission trends, storytelling, camera technology and most importantly marketing. First Glance Films is the creator of the hashtag #SupportIndieFilm that has engaged and united thousands of indie film makers around the world.

William Ostroff, the FirstGlance Film Festival’s creator and director, is a Producer, Independent Media Consultant and DGA Assistant Director who has worked on over 100 film and television productions. He graduated from Temple University in 1993 with a degree in film and video and has since worked with major studios such as Disney, Warner Bros, Universal, Dreamworks, and Paramount on feature films and television series.

As the FirstGlance Film Festival Director, he has produced 37 film festivals to date, has watched over 20,000 indie films and is hands on with programming and decision making of all aspects of the Film Festivals. In 2013, he created the World’s Largest Traveling Comic Con Film Festival, which has screened genre indie films to over 5 million attendees over the 1st fours year in 2 countries, with plans of taking this concept global. He continues to work on expansion and new avenues for exposure for filmmakers including creating the hashtag #SupportIndieFilm which is globally accepted as the go to branding on all social media platforms.