Beyond Your Imagination

After a detour through art and madness, Kelley and I return to music documentaries and revel in the double feature of Zappa (2020) and The Sparks Brothers (2021) , two stories about bands and personalities that overlap in impact, work ethic, and a body of work that boggles the modern mind. There isn't a shortage of talking points with either Frank Zappa or Sparks. Throughout our conversation,...

In this episode, we travel to South America with filmmaker Werner Herzog and documentarian Les Blank in the double feature: Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Burden of Dreams (1982). It's one thing to watch a film where the main character moves a giant ship over a mountain, it's another to watch the documentary revealing the painstaking process of making cinema magic come to life. In a world that...

In this episode, Kelley Baker AKA The Angry Filmmaker and I explore two films by filmmaker Stacy Peralta: Dogtown & Z-Boys (2001) and Riding Giants (2004) . Having no personal experience with skateboarding or surfing, it was eye-opening to have a front row seat to the movements presented in both films. Kelley and I dive into these films and talk about a range of topics including corporatizatio...

Kelley Baker AKA The Angry Filmmaker is an author, filmmaker, and music aficionado. Music and music documentaries are a common point of discussion whenever we get together, so we thought a great double feature to discuss would be It Might Get Loud and The Other F Word . How can a good documentary humanize a myth or a god? On the surface, a good documentary brings you into a world you know little a...

Kelley Baker AKA The Angry Filmmaker is an author, filmmaker, and music aficionado. Whenever we get together, we’re always talking about music and music documentaries, and two films we can’t stop talking about are  Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage  and  Muscle Shoals . As we discuss this double feature, we touch on themes of history and mythology in the music business, curiosity and dissatisfaction,...

How do you know you're getting the real story when you go someplace new? If you're a documentarian, how do you tap into the reality that stories are everywhere, as long as you have the key, the very object that provides access to the storytellers? In Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus , directed by Andrew Douglas, the South came alive with a 1970 Chevrolet Impala. Kelley brought this fil...

Kelley Baker and I are kicking off this season in style with a lively chat about his independent filmmaking and writing journey from film school, working in the sound department, and directing shorts and features in Portland, Oregon to writing books and short stories. We talk about why living life is so important for artists, what makes a memorable story, what he looks for and what turns him off i...

What is the future of your filmmaking career? This is one of the many questions that Ryan and I talk about in the season finale of the podcast. From producing and releasing feature films on a more consistent schedule to creating projects that have more depth and substance, we explore the topic of legacy and what we bring to our films as we get older. Additionally, we further the discussion around...

A critical component of filmmaking is making sure there's an audience for your film. Ryan and I talk about ways to get your film in front of the right people from sharing about it on social media and going to related events to premiering it in your local town. But a larger conversation throughout the episode is not just finding the audience, but building the community who will continually sup...

Whether you are in the film industry or not, you've probably heard the phrase, "We'll fix it in post." It's a philosophy of production that allows directors to speed through shoots, not worrying about whether something is technically perfect or not, because everything can be fixed in the computer. In this conversation, Ryan and I talk about our thoughts on this phrase, alo...

You've done the work of writing, casting, and preparing to make your film, now it's time to actually shoot it. From planning production days and figuring out what equipment you'll need to making sure you have the necessary crew members and getting everything set up accordingly, there are endless factors that can make or break your film. And those issues multiply if you are both dire...

We're taking a short interlude from the regularly scheduled program as Ryan recovers from some seasonal sickness and regains his voice. We collaborated on a few ways for you to strengthen your imagination, because let's be honest, if you're anything like us, you need to let your mind wander in the ethereal realm of creativity more often. But how do you do that? I'm glad you ask...

Yes, actors are essential to the success of any film, but equally important are the found spaces and sets that contain the stories. In this episode, Ryan and I talk about our formative years of exploration and how they influence the films we make and the stories we aspire to tell. One of Ryan's superpowers that never ceases to amaze me is his ability to find filming locations, and he shares h...

There are two big questions that inform this episode: First, when we trace back the mythological lineage of our modern stories, where in time do we end up? And second, will modern audiences accept and believe old stories if told in new ways? Ryan and I explore these questions along with where ideas come from starting with our shared love for concept albums and music videos. Additionally, Ryan shar...

Welcome to a brand new season of Beyond Your Imagination , a podcast that celebrates the kick-ass DIY spirit of independent film. I'm Chris Martin, and my co-conspirator this season is Ryan Erlandsen of Marble Mountain Films. In this episode, we explore team work and the many ways to build a cast and crew for independent projects. From gas station casting and coffee shop networking to bringin...

Welcome to a brand new season of Beyond Your Imagination , a podcast that celebrates the kick-ass DIY spirit of independent film. I'm Chris Martin, and my co-conspirator this season is Ryan Erlandsen of Marble Mountain Films. In this episode, we dive into the murky waters of money and what it takes to make micro-to-no-budget films in the Pacific Northwest. From creative ways to funding movies...

Welcome to a brand new season of Beyond Your Imagination , a podcast that celebrates the kick-ass DIY spirit of independent film. I'm Chris Martin and I love movies—watching them, making them, talking about them. My co-conspirator this season is Ryan Erlandsen of Marble Mountain Films. Ryan produces music videos, short films and features of the horror persuasion. Throughout the season, we are...

Ryan Erlandsen of Marble Mountain Films produces music videos, short films and features of the horror persuasion and is the special guest for season two. Over the next 10 episodes, we are going to explore micro-to-no-budget filmmaking in the Pacific Northwest. We'll touch on the hot topics of the today and our shared love for symphonic metal and cheesy horror films. On top of that, each episo...

Deep in the heart of downtown Vancouver, Washington, on Main Street, you’ll find the Kiggins Theatre, run by a small team of film lovers, including today’s guests, Dan Wyatt and Richard Beer. From storytelling and searching for meaning to the changing nature of audiences and the cinematic experience, our conversation weaves between a multitude of topics. There’s a lot here about the struggles and...

There is something magical about music and how it brings a film to life. From a melody that finds an emotional and psychological connection to characters to the unique soul of instruments, music goes deeper than other storytelling mediums faster. Ian Honeyman is a composer, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist with over 60 feature film and TV credits. In this conversation, he talks about how...

When I think about people who love movies, my friend and today’s guest Kyle Shold instantly comes to mind. An illustrator by trade, who created the fantastic poster for this podcast, he uses his passion for film and storytelling tools—from cinematography to scores—to influence his work. In this conversation, we cover a lot of ground, from his first cinematic memory that sparked his imagination to...

How do you reclaim and redefine the stories and American iconography present in films? Kanani Koster is a filmmaker from Portland, Oregon, flipping the script and telling stories that explore race, power, and privilege with violence, gore, and brutality, without feeding collective trauma. From her early days in Seattle meeting amazing mentors to the community atmosphere and punk vibe of Portland,...

With over 8,000 and counting film festivals worldwide, how will you make sure your film gets into the right festivals? Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith is the founder of The Film Festival Doctor, a company that helps filmmakers create a focused film festival strategy, including planning, organization, logistics, and support. Suppose you are a filmmaker who hasn’t considered the life-changing impact of fil...

Never before in the entire history of cinema has animation been more crucial to film and television production. Not to mention technologically possible and affordable for artists around the world. From his early days programming draw functions in computers to currently teaching students rotoscoping and animation, Karl Jahnke has been exploring stories and the surreal much of his life. In this conv...

What does it take to build and connect with an audience in the digital age of independent film? Taylor Morden of Pop Motion Pictures discovered the answer in his early musician days: make friends, not fans. The transition from music to film was natural as the do-it-yourself punk rock work ethic made sense in the world of documentary film. Learn whatever you need to learn, do what you need to do, a...