indie forever

The internet might call Damien Hauser an AI filmmaker, but would he? According to him, "definitely not.”  And we agree. In this week’s episode, we sat down with the 24-year-old writer and director to talk about his latest feature, Memory of Princess Mumbi , the Venice-premiering, award-winning film that’s sparked conversation for its use of AI. When Tania and I saw the film at TIFF, we walked away...

This week on the podcast, we’re talking about the highs and lows of living an unstructured life. The freedom can be beautiful. No set path, no rigid schedule, no one telling you exactly how your days have to look. But that same freedom can also become exhausting when there are no real boundaries, no sick days, no clear off-switch, and no one else coming to manage the chaos for you. So, this week w...

This week on the podcast: notes! How to give them. How to receive them. How to figure out which ones are actually useful and which ones are just someone projecting their own taste onto your work. A very real conversation about notes, ego, perspective, and protecting the core of your story while still staying open to feedback. This week we talk about the difference between taste and actual story pr...

This week, we’re catching up and checking in, which means chatting about writing deadlines, weird workflows, the psychological horror of always feeling like something is due, and the very specific chaos of trying to balance your own creative instincts while working on commissioned projects with actual expectations attached to them. We also review the new indie film Is God Is and talk about what wo...

Our first guest conversation is here ! This is part one. Be sure to listen to part two, exclusively here. This week, we’re talking with Malkah Manouel about launching Lunette Films after her time at MUBI, building a home for bold independent cinema, what theatrical can still do for films, and what it means to create something outside the usual systems without pretending those systems don’t exist....

New name! New episode! New platforms! We’re now Indie Forever - a name that reflects what this has always really been about: independence as an ethos, not just a budget. Still rooted in indie film, but expanding the conversation - from filmmakers to designers, distributors, and people building things on their own terms. Our Patreon supporters still get all the goods - decks, resources, early drops...

Multitasking is often celebrated as a skill but sometimes the real skill (read: challenge) is knowing when it’s helping and when it’s costing you. This week we get into the difference between productive momentum and burnout, how we each actually work when deadlines pile up, and why sometimes multitasking isn’t a choice so much as the season you’re in. Plus more on writing habits, routine vs unpred...

This week we talk about realizing that while we love Everyday People as our production company name (and we’re keeping it), there are, however, just too many other Everyday People titles out there for it to work as a useful search name for our podcast. So… we’re changing it. We already have a front-runner since recording, but in the episode we ask you to weigh in. Comment or DM us with your best i...

This week we’re talking about creative compromise - what it actually looks like in development, and where the line is between being collaborative and losing the thing you set out to make. We get into navigating notes that fundamentally change the project, new execs coming in with a completely different vision, and the reality that sometimes the win is just getting something into production at all....

We saw the Is God Is trailer and went “uh oh.” This week we’re talking about the feelings artists rarely admit to out loud: jealousy, ego, and what it actually feels like when you see someone else make something that lives in the same lane as you. We get into that very specific feeling - the mix of admiration, envy, and the quiet panic that maybe your idea wasn’t as singular as you thought. We unp...

To our beloved subscribers: First thing's first - sorry this episode is coming to you late this week! Sasha forgot to hit publish on the post. OUR BAD. Promise it's still worth the watch! Alright, now second, on to the Oscars recap you didn’t ask for :D A show that started strong (Conan’s monologue was a 10/10) but ultimately carried us to a unsatisfying ending. We get into a few results that left...

This week we're checking in with each other and with y'all. Navigating the industry right now as an independent creative is a bit of a mind f*ck. We discuss burnout, riding the waves of a creative career in today's climate, the uncertainty that can come with development cycles, and what it takes to maintain perspective during slower seasons. Plus Sasha shares why working at her local Chuck's Roadh...

This week we’re talking decks — what makes them good, the different kinds you actually need, and why a creative deck isn’t just for selling a show… it’s also for aligning your collaborators. We get into pitch decks vs. creative decks vs. grant decks, when to DIY and when to bring in a designer, and why it felt like we stuck gold when working with a designer like Onyeka Oduh (@queerdweeb) (Seriousl...

Episode 5: All Things Writing Pt. 2 This one’s a rapid-fire Q&A where we get into the writing rules we live by, the ones we think are wildly overrated, and what keep us sane through the hard parts. We talk worst notes we've ever received, writing late at night versus early mornings, whether a little bourbon helps or hurts, and why some of our best ideas show up on airplanes or long drives in v...

In this first writing-focused episode, we talk about the kind of rejection that lives inside the writing process itself. We talk about writing for hire versus writing for yourself. About rejecting each other’s ideas in a partnership, not placating each other for the sake of harmony, and navigating notes that don't necessarily make something “better,” just different.  We get into the energy of a wr...

Earlier this year, creator @gracefullygabbie started publicly tracking her goal of collecting 1,000 rejections. She logs the auditions, brand pitches, and submissions she makes - with the understanding that more no’s inevitably increase the odds of a few meaningful yeses. That framing stuck with us. In this episode, we talk about what it would look like to actively pursue rejection instead of quie...

This episode is a direct response to a question we received from one of our viewers, Gavin, who is currently in post on his feature: What has your experience with Filmhub actually been like? In this Distro Dump, we break down our journey with Filmhub so far - why we chose it, how the onboarding process works in practice, what’s felt promising, what’s been less clear, and where it sits within our b...

Everyone talks about premieres and sales. Almost no one talks about what comes after. In this episode, we share our first monthly distribution update on Dinner With Friends — the decisions and some of the trade offs. The journey of getting this film out into the world is far from over but we wanted to share the messy middle, while we’re still in it. If you curious about new paths for independent f...

TL;DR: We started a podcast and episode one is all about awards. Jump to 29:10 if you want our thoughts on this year's Oscars.  Welcome to the Everyday, People Podcast (EPP), we’re excited to share this first episode where we get into awards culture: do they matter, what it’s actually like to win, the CSAs, the Oscars, and the narratives that form around them. We don’t get into who the fuck called...