Independent Filmmaker's Guide | IFG

Send us a text Meyer Lansky is as instrumental to The National Crime Syndicate as Harvey Keitel is to legendary cinematic performances. In writer/director Eytan Rockaway’s second feature, he brings them both together, with an all-star cast in order to tell the true and personal story of the most infamous gangsters you’ve never heard of in the movie LANKSY. In today’s episode, hosts Steven Pierce a...

Send us a text Producing an indie pilot for a potential series is almost like making half of a feature film, but with its own unique challenges. In addition to the usual hurdles, it also entails conceiving hours and hours of future content and story arcs, selling those ideas to potential buyers or investors. It is a different fork of the same river as features, but many times involves a very large...

Send us a text Many filmmakers spend their lives learning to create, rewrite and refine their visions into something personal and meaningful. And for most, distribution is that step where they look for someone else to take that film and shepherd it to success. Today we speak with Michelle Shwarzstein, Vice President of Marketing and Acquisitions at Brainstorm Media. She oversees all their film acq...

Send us a text When host Steven Pierce started working with SNL he met Josh Bohoskey, an amazing colorist who also works with The Mill in NYC. In addition to coloring multiple pieces a week for SNL, Josh colors everything from commercials, feature films, to music videos, and is a recent recipient of the AICE Colorist of The Year. In today’s episode, Steve and Josh explore the critical nature and i...

Send us a text A movie poster can be the difference between a successful movie and a failure. After designing posters for films like Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Y Tu Mamá También, Ocean's 11, Training Day and countless others, James Verdesoto of Indika Entertainment Advertising has made key art for films of all size budgets. In this episode we talk through many of the considerations an...

Send us a text Independent filmmaking already comes with so many inherit challenges. Now imagine creating an independent film during the height of the 2020 Covid 19 outbreak in the US. Today we speak with the filmmakers, director Gary Gardner and producer Monica-Tezla Solis Vega behind the new indie feature Every Man For Himself, to find out how they adapted their production to Covid 19,  becoming...

Send us a text Think of an iconic movie poster from the past 20 years. There is a good chance you're thinking of the work of Indika Entertainment. They design movie posters, ad campaigns, key art and have created many memorable images including some of the legendary art for Pulp Fiction and Ocean's Eleven among many, many more. Creative Director Vivek Mathur talks us through the process...

Send us a text With big studios increasingly producing so-called “indie films” that headline the festival circuit with top tier celebrities, it may be easy to forget what the term actually means: being truly independent from the studio system and raising film's the budget from, well, wherever the film's producers are able to find it. The producer of this film touts “made with love, not w...

Send us a text The role of Producer for a movie often wears many hats. And in indie filmmaking they often wear hats upon hats.  What do they do?  They make it happen.  Today we speak with Sam Goldberg about his journey throughout the creation of his latest film, SILO.  He'll talk through everything from securing locations for filming to finding theaters for distribution, and all the relations...

Send us a text The old adage in school is to write what you know, and in independent film to shoot what we have. Today we talk to two resourceful filmmakers who made a horror film with what was right in front of them, proving how important it can be to do both.  The 2021 release of THE DJINN with David Charbonier and Justin Powell. "A mute boy is trapped in his apartment with a sinister monst...

Send us a text Filmmaking consists of many moving parts all working together cohesively. One of the most visible of those parts is obviously the actor. Today we take a look at the process of the actor, discussing the perspective, lessons and workflow of navigating many different sets. You will have seen our guest on The Punisher, Broad City, Quantico and much, much more. Actor Todd Alan Crain. IFG...

Send us a text From working with Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg on huge budget classics, to helming indie film darlings such as Donnie Darko and Strange Brew, Cinematographer Steven Poster, ASC shares what it takes to continue making films, over 70 films and tv episodes in fact, for more than 50 years. Today we sit down with him to discuss how he's built such a lasting career and how he ma...

Send us a text It’s easy to think new filmmakers arrive on the scene out of nowhere, creating their first feature success overnight. The truth is- filmmaking is born out of experience. In this interview, we speak with the producer and director duo, who took the years of lessons learned from commercial work and relayed them into their first feature film, The Ghost Who Walks. Visit www. IndependentF...

Send us a text Writing and directing your first feature will always come with its own unique challenges. But now add working with an ensemble cast of famous actors and basically creating your own niche in order to comedically tell your meaningful story. This is exactly what Jenna Laurenzo navigated successfully with her hilarious film Lez Bomb now on Amazon Prime. IFG Podcast | How Movies Get Made...

Send us a text Creating a story for your feature length film sometimes develops along the way. That is certainly often the case when filming a Documentary. We speak with this filmmaker about the importance of having access to the talent, staying authentic when representing them, and digging in on long edits, while creating his Documentary Feature, American Rapstar. IFG Podcast | How Movies Get Mad...

Send us a text The most important answers to questions no filmmaker knows to even ask. Many filmmakers have spent countless time studying camera, lighting, and story. But when it comes to actually making the project, many artists are completely lost. Estimating a budget, raising and allocating funds, and all the nitty gritty details surrounding business of filmmaking are often mysterious and hard...

Send us a text Low budgets and fast schedules are prevalent in the world of independent filmmaking. Today hear about both of those things as we speak with Noam Kroll, who made a truly independent micro-budget feature in just 9 days. Learn some of the lessons and takeaways from his film PSYCHOSYNTHESIS. IFG Podcast | How Movies Get Made⁠ ⁠IFG is created by Framework Productions. This episode was di...

Send us a text The Horror genre has long been a cornerstone for independent films. Today, we speak with a writer whose love of (and unique takes on) the genre has helped carve out his own place among horror films and fans, both in the past - with the launch of the Final Destination franchise - and into the present and future with his latest movie Don’t Look Back. IFG Podcast | How Movies Get Made⁠...

Send us a text In this episode we spotlight one of the central parts of putting your film together: attaching your actor. So today we sit down with actor Jeremy Holm, best known as Agent Nathan Green on “House of Cards”, Mr. Sutherland on "Mr. Robot”, and now as the terrifying forest ranger in the indie horror feature The Ranger. (If you haven’t heard our full episode on The Ranger, check it...

Send us a text Every filmmaker’s journey is unique. Some follow paths while other times we make them like photographer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur, Nigel Barker. The important thing is to bring your passion with every pivot. This artist's passion has led him from photography to filmmaking, and tons of places in between. Be it from America’s Next Top Model to documentaries in Haiti, many migh...

Send us a text Filmmaker Jenn Wexler is well-known and highly respected in the horror film community. In this episode, we talk with her about her love of the genre and how she strategically progressed in the film industry to not only direct her first feature, but also create an immediate cult classic. The punk slasher horror film, The Ranger. IFG is created by Framework Productions. This episode w...

Send us a text Genre films are a great way to build a fanbase and community. Horror in particular is one of the most successful and loved genres that, much like its villains, never seems to die. It's also where many indie features can thrive and reach an audience without a major studio attached. Today we have the team behind the punk/slasher film, The Ranger, who have done just that. IFG is c...

Send us a text On the surface, how a film succeeds can feel like a roll of the dice. In our conversation, this Director of Photography and Writer/Director duo reveals how it was actually their skill, determination, attention to detail and relationships that helped them create their heist comedy, LUCKY GRANDMA. IFG is created by Framework Productions. This episode was directed by James Allerdyce, p...

Send us a text Still Here is a film about resilience, following the heartbreaking story of a missing 12-year-old girl, and the pain her family endures. In a previous talk, we were able to sit down with the director and cinematographer of the film, where director Vlad Feier stressed that films are made by people, not equipment. And so, in this episode we are joined by some of the very people who br...

Send us a text John Leguizamo has been a force in the entertainment industry for over 30 years and still the storytelling freedom of independent filmmaking attracted him to team up with writer Dito Montiel. Facing the challenges of self-funding and financing and working with a low budget, their movie is more than a story to them. It is a part of the mission to represent their culture in the media,...