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Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: GHOST TRAIL Director: Jonathan Millet Writers: Jonathan Millet; Florence Rochat; Sara Wikler Cast: Adam Bessa; Tawfeek Barhom; Julia Franz Richter SYNOPSIS Hamid is a member of a secret organisation pursuing Syrian regime's fugitive leaders i...

If your documentary films were entered into the  Criterion Collection , you barely need an introduction, but let me give one to my guest, filmmaker Brett Story, by saying this: her films expand what's possible through visual styling and extensive preparation work. What I mean by that is if you take a look at her work, the story that she is telling can only be said through film. So Brett gives...

Happy Veterans Day! For this special episode, I talk with filmmaker Geoff Ryan about his 2012 film, FRAY . For me, FRAY is one of the more authentic "return from war" stories in a usually bad genre of overwrought films. I wanted to find out more about the making of the film, how the lead actor was cast, and what made Geoff the best person -- a non-veteran -- to tell this story. I'm loo...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: JIMMY AND CAROLYN (2022) Director: James Andrew Walsh Writer: James Andrew Walsh Cast: Alberto Bonilla; Mark H Dold; Gregory Harrison SYNOPSIS An emotional crisis threatens to destroy James and William's 20-year relationship. Subscribe to our...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: THE PROBLEM WITH PEOPLE (2023) Director: Chris Cottam Writer: Wally Marzano-Lesnevich Cast: Paul Reiser; Colm Meaney; Jane Levy SYNOPSIS Things don't go as planned when two distant cousins -- one from New York City, the other from Ireland --...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: INHERITANCE (2024). Director: Emily Moss Wilson Writer: Rachel Noll James; Austin Highsmith Garces Cast: Austin Highsmith Garces; Rachel Noll James; Wes Brown SYNOPSIS Estranged sisters Lucy and Paige reunite to bury their father, becoming entang...

Watch This Episode On YouTube At the end of each episode, I ask my guest if they’d like to highlight someone else, given how hard indie filmmaking is. It’s called the indie film highlight. And of course they do. My guest today, Ömer Sami, is the only person who was nominated on two separate occasions and that speaks to both how well respected he is amongst his peers but how groundbreaking his film...

Watch This Episode On YouTube This conversation could have gone on for another few hours. I felt so blessed to chat with a kindred spirit about raising the profile of independent filmmakers, Hope Lawson. Hope founded Takeout LA after finding herself in the filmmaking business. She also works for Gersh so this episode opens up discussions I’ve been dying to have on the podcast.  Takeout LA is a fil...

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: ADAM THE FIRST (2024). Director: Irving Franco Writer: Irving Franco Cast: Oakes Fegley; David Duchovny; T.R. Knight SYNOPSIS After finding a list of names and addresses, 14-year-old Adam sets out across the country to meet a series of men who could be his father. Subscribe t...

My guest, Lee Knight, won Best Director at 2025's HollyShorts for his stunning film, A FRIEND OF DOROTHY (2025) , but you wouldn't know it because as you just heard, his thoughts are with the indie filmmakers still out there struggling. That sounds exactly like my type of filmmaker to host on the podcast. A FRIEND OF DOROTHY could be described as "a lonely widow's quiet life is upe...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: GOODBYE, HELLO (2024). Director: Jack Cooper Stimpson Writers: Jeremy Ford; Bec Pittard Cast: Steve Guttenberg; Nancy Linari; Hollie Bahar SYNOPSIS Nate Ryan returns home to Bundy Canyon to visit his dying father; Nate opens old wounds in an atte...

Watch This Episode On YouTube That’s my guest, Alex Salam, with one of the most riveting reasons to become a filmmaker I’ve ever heard. Given their significant training, it’s practically impossible to do, but I wish we had more doctor/filmmakers in the world. From those that I’ve seen, they’ve produced work that is equal parts precision and creativity, the perfect combination of soul and mind.  Al...

Watch This Episode On YouTube I haven’t done a how much I love New York City episode in a couple weeks, so the indie smash, OR SOMETHING (2024) , and the film’s director, Jeffrey Scotti Schroeder, makes for the absolute perfect guest. Why is the film being extended at Quad Cinemas? What does it say for indie filmmakers that the Substack crowd got so behind this film? Is it repeatable? Let’s hope s...

Happy 2nd anniversary to the pod, and I can’t think of a more vital filmmaker for our time and for this episode than Nathaniel Lezra. His film ROADS OF FIRE (2025) , winner of the Best Feature Documentary at the 2025 ‪@officialSBIFF‬ interweaves the lives of a human smuggler navigating the treacherous Darién Gap (the only land bridge between North and South America), an asylum seeker rebuilding he...

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (2000). Director: Kenneth Lonergan Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan Cast: Laura Linney; Kenneth Lonergan; Mark Ruffalo; Matthew Broderick SYNOPSIS Sammy is a single mother who is extremely protective of her 8-year old son. She is satisfied with living in the s...

Watch FORWARD THINKING (2025) Now I’m not sure if the pod has ever gotten a bigger honor than what Antonio Harper & Abby Burton gave it in this episode — sure, they said, listeners can watch our short, currently on its festival run. FORWARD THINKING (2025) is a “surreal short film about a young black man who is attempting to trademark his likeness in the event that he's murdered by the pol...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: HOW TO MAKE MILLIONS BEFORE GRANDMA DIES (2024) Director: Pat Boonnitipat Writers: Pat Boonnitipat; Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn Cast: Putthipong Assaratanakul; Usha Seamkhum; Sanya Kunakorn SYNOPSIS A man, driven by his desire for a multi-million dol...

Watch The Video On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: GOD'S POCKET (2014) Director: John Slattery Writers: Peter Dexter; Alex Metcalf; John Slattery Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman; Richad Jenkins; Christina Hendricks; John Turturro SYNOPSIS A boozy lowlife (Philip Seymour Hoffman) tries to bury the t...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: BEFORE/DURING/AFTER (2020) Director: Stephen Kunken; Jack Lewars Screenplay: Finnerty Steeves Cast: Finnerty Steeves; Jeremy Davidson; John Pankow; John Ellison Conlee SYNOPSIS This sharp-witted dramedy studies a middle-aged NYC theatre actress s...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: UNTOGETHER (2018). Director: Emma Forrest Written By: Emma Forrest Cast: Jamie Dornan; Ben Mendelsohn; Jemima Kirke; Lola Kirke; Billy Crystal SYNOPSIS Once considered a teen prodigy, a recovering addict sobers up and tries to get her writing car...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Writer, filmmaker, actor...and activist Ben Steinberg joins me to talk about his campaign to save the Cinerama Dome and his filmmaking, most recently HIKIKOMORI , a surreal short film you have to see to believe. In this episode, Ben and I talk about: how he got decided to get into film and acting; his campaign to save Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles; why should indie fil...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: TO DUST (2018). Director: Shawn Snyder Written By: Shawn Snyder; Jason Begue Cast: Matthew Broderick; Géza Röhrig SYNOPSIS A Hasidic cantor in upstate New York, distraught by the untimely death of his wife, befriends a local community college bio...

Watch This Episode On YouTube It’s hard to say what’s been the biggest achievement for Daniel over the past few weeks — starting his own studio, Outerboro Films, getting selected as a 2025 Film Independent Documentary Story Lab Fellow , or telling the white supremacist Nick Fuentes that he’s an asshole. Daniel said it’s the latter, but I’m guessing as we look back, it’ll be the first two, as he re...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: BROKEN FLOWERS (2005). Director: Jim Jarmusch Written By: Jim Jarmusch; Bill Raden; Sara Driver Cast: Bill Murray; Jessica Lange; Sharon Stone SYNOPSIS When his latest girlfriend (Julie Delpy) leaves him, retired computer magnate Don Johnston (Bi...

Watch This Episode On YouTube Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: THE BACHELORS (2017). Director: Kurt Voelker Written By: Kurt Voelker Cast: JK Simmons; Josh Wiggins; Odeya Rush SYNOPSIS After the death of his wife, Bill and his 17-year-old son, Wes, move from a small town to a big city for a fresh start. As t...