Sifter

Al Underwood teaches a class called Thespian Equestrian, which helps actors learn how to handle horses. He pairs up with Liquid Talent for these classes and there’s a link to the next session below. Our discussion includes: – How the concept came about – Getting into horses in the Army – Parading with William Shatner – Getting a dog to ride a horse (see foto) –...

Sina Khani is a Tehran-born filmmaker and a VCU grad student who’s already made his first feature film, TELL THE WIND TOO. He’ll be presenting it on May 3 as part of the First Features Screening Series that showcases emerging filmmakers at the ICA. We’ll talk about: – How he went from math to movies – Why he chose to shoot in black & white – How color gradin...

Yossera Bouchtia is a Moroccan-American filmmaker who teaches at VCU. Three of her shorts will be screened at this year’s James River Film Festival on Sunday, April 14 at the VMFA. This is the 30 th year of the Festival, which features foreign, indie and experimental films. It runs at various venues all over town from April 11-14 and finishes up on the 20 th . We’ll discuss: – Ho...

Even with the strikes, Virginia had some production activity in 2023. Andy Edmunds, Director of the Virginia Film Office, makes his annual visit to talk about last year and what’s coming up in 2024, including: – How we made it thru the strikes – The comedy shot here starring Melanie Lynskey – What a strike waiver involves – How our film incentives compare to other sta...

Tom Belgrey was born and raised in Richmond, but moved away for his career, which included numerous movies and TV shows. We discuss: – Acting on every soap opera but one – Auditioning in NYC and LA while living here – Making Spielberg laugh on the set of Lincoln – Using a variety of accents from German to Russian to Australian – Playing foreign villains so many times...

Donna Bailey runs ProPrompting, a company that provides teleprompting services for TV, movies and speeches. We talk about: – How she got into prompting – Those “sneeze guard” prompter for speeches – The one client she’d refuse to work for – Working with Tom Hanks, Rob Reiner, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Dick Clark and Lily Tomlin – Turning down Matth...

PJ Sykes, Jeff Roll and Shane Brown have launched CinemaNiche, a film group that presents movies in the Studio Two Three’s newly occupied building in Manchester. Their next screening is March 8 with the documentary Sisters with Transistors , celebrating International Women’s Day with a look at the women who were involved in the early days of electronic music. Jeff and PJ talk about: &#...

Tom Sanchez Prunier lives in Richmond and works as a location manager or location assistant on films and TV series shot in the area. He’s also written and directed some film shorts, written poetry and created a YouTube channel that features diecast cars. Our discussion includes: – Getting into the business – Location scouting is more than finding a site – Protecting a $1mil...

Crissy Offutt worked in Richmond’s production community before heading out to LA, where she was involved with lots of shows and people. Most notably, she was an enjoyable side character in Denise Richards’ reality show. She’s got lots of dish (and a few expletives), including: – An office encounter with Rob Reiner – Buying guitars for the Naked Brothers Band – H...

Nikki Giovanni is one of the world’s best known Black poets. She became famous in the 60s as part of the Black Arts Movement and went on to write more than 2 dozen volumes of poetry and 11 illustrated children’s books. She’s received the NAACP Image Award seven times and has taught at Virginia Tech from 1987 until she retired in 2022. We talk about the new documentary about her t...

Driving Madeleine takes a charming cab ride with a 93-year-old woman headed to her nursing home. Christian Carion is the director of the film, which goes deeper into drama than expected. He talked with me from Paris: – Transitioning from being a farmer to a director – How the friendship of Dany Boon and Line Renaud helped during the shoot – Line sang “Relaxez-vous” wi...

Blair Underwood is the best known actor to come out of Petersburg VA. He started his career in local theatre, but went on to star in numerous movies, TV shows and Broadway productions. His latest role is in ORIGIN, Ava DuVernay’s powerful film based on the book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” Some of the things we discuss: – Getting his start in local theatre &#821...

This week’s podcast is the first Double Feature of the year. The Virginia Screenwriters Forum is a resource for aspiring writers that’s been around for 35 years. Robin Farmer (Director) and Rachel Weatherly (Assistant Director) will tell us about the organization (with a special surprise guest). The new Winter Horrorland Film Festival features movies viewed thru a mental health perspec...

REMEMBERING GENE WILDER looks at the comic actor’s films, featuring interviews with Mel Brooks, Harry Connick Jr, Alan Alda, Karen Boyer (his 2nd wife) and more. It’ll screen at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture on Sunday 1/21 at 2pm. Ron Frank & Glenn Kirschbaum, who created the documentary, discuss the stories and surprises that made this such a joyful project. This is o...

BES Teleproductions (now BES Studios) is the longest continually-running video production facility in Virginia and Guy Spiller was the founder. Even after he sold it 1995, Guy continued to have video adventures, including his new company AnalogRetentive. We discuss: – Getting started operating a camera for basketball games at age 12 – The inspiration to open a video facility – Wh...

Robert Kendzie worked in Hollywood before moving to Fredericksburg, where he continues to write and produce. He also started the Northern Virginia Motion Picture Co-Op. We talk about: – Working in development for movies like Clear and Present Danger & Beverly Hills Cop 3 – The famous Paramount Gate – Firing himself in Hollywood – Starting the co-op – Working with...

Joe Carabeo is a multi-talented creator who got his start producing backyard wrestling videos, but went on to write, shoot and direct all manner of short and long films. He also helps run 2 of DC’s most successful short film festivals. We’ll talk about: – How the wrestling videos boosted his career – Project Resolution and RVAtv’s HouseShow in Richmond – Adding...

Raynor Scheine has been a working actor since 1979 (totaling more than 70 movies & TV shows). He’s retired now, living in Ashland and has great stories about his work: – Playing in two August Wilson plays on Broadway – W orking with friend Kathy Bates on Fried Green Tomatoes – Getting recommended by Joe Peschi after My Cousin Vinny – Going from In Living Color to...

If you’ve seen a movie in a theater in the last 20 years, it probably wasn’t from a classic film projector, but from a cinema equipped at DCP (digital cinema package). Stace Carter specializes in creating DCPs and he explains their origins, plus what indie filmmakers need to know when creating projects for projection. LINKS: Stace’s DCP website Criolla DCP The Electone Festival (...

Kathryn J. Hatam has worked as an indie film producer, but more often as an Assistant Director on films. Early in the interview, she explains that an AD is NOT the directors assistant, but part of the production team responsible for lots of logistics and more. She also covers: – The responsibilities of an AD – The difference between a 1 st and 2 nd and 3 rd AD – Being a producer...

Brian Rhodes owns Antique and Classic Automobiles in Staunton. We talk about renting cars for movies and other interesting car stories: – His first car, which he still drives – Getting started with Bruce Elder’s business – Delivering a car with 5 minutes to spare – What’s involved in renting cars for movies – What a classic car license really means –...

Frank Alfono has been working as a stuntman for movies and TV shows, including Joker , Gotham , The Gilded Age and lots more. He performs all kinds of stunts, but fire has become his specialty. Our discussion includes: – What’s different between a Stunt Coordinator and Stunt Performer – From falls to cars to fights to fire: What’s your favorite stunt? – Picking the ri...

Matt Paxton is considered one of the top downsizing and decluttering experts in the country. His show Legacy List with Matt Paxton in on PBS and he’s also been a featured cleaner on the hit television show HOARDERS for 15 seasons. He had so many great stories, that he’s back for a 2 nd week, and we’ll discuss: – How he created his own show Legacy List with Matt Paxton &#821...

Matt Paxton was born and raised in Richmond. He’s considered one of the top downsizing and decluttering experts in the country. His show Legacy List with Matt Paxton in on PBS and he’s also been a featured cleaner on the hit television show Hoaders for 15 seasons. Matt tells great stories about some of the things he’s found. In fact, we had so much fun that I divided this into 2...

The Magic of Horror Festival celebrates the “magic” that goes into making films with screenings, posters, trailers and screenplays. Two of the filmmakers discuss their entries into this year’s featival. Sergiy Pudich is a Ukrainian filmmaker living in Sinapore and Christopher Schrack works in Northern Virginia. The festival runs Sunday, November 5 at The Airfield Conference Cente...