Discover Indie Film

What are the 4Qs?  (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Byrne Owens wrote, directed, edited, co-produced, and did a jillion other things including VFX for the film “My Roommate the Jedi.” This remarkable film happened to be the first to take home FIVE awards at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival, so you kno...

Byrne Owens brought his film “My Roommate the Jedi” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2021 and, oh my, became the first filmmaker to take home FIVE awards in a single festival.  I will not list them all, who has time, but Byrne and his longtime collaborator Lu Louis made a masterpiece that you can watch right now by going to  myroommatethe.com . Byrne also happens to be an incredibl...

What are the 4Qs?  (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Ashley Cahill wrote and directed the feature film “FIRST PERSON: a film about love” and his film won four Grand Jury Prize Awards at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival back in 2019.  Ashley hopped onto Zoom for a London to Los Angeles interview and of...

Writer/Director Ashley Cahill brought his feature film “FIRST PERSON: a film about love” to Sherman Oaks Film Festival back in 2019 and took home four Grand Jury Prize Awards.  We spoke on and off about recording an interview for a few years and we finally got it done!  Amusingly, we waited until we were not in the same city to record it, so this one has Zoom quality audio. Ashley is a...

What are the 4Qs?  (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. JJ Nolan (producer/lead actor) and Jameson DeSantis (writer/director/producer) brought their short film “Just A Ghoul” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2022 and took home three awards! You can learn all you need to know about this fantastic short fi...

Jameson DeSantis (writer/director/producer) & JJ Nolan (producer/lead actor) brought their short film “Just A Ghoul” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2022 and took home three awards! You can learn all you need to know about this fantastic short film at JustAGhoul.com or at  @justaghoulfilm on Instagram. Both JJ and Jameson are talented, hilarious people and I sure hope listening to...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Filmmakers Samantha Jean and Mandie Cheung came in to DIF HQ to talk about their award wining film “Other” I’m proud to say that you can catch “Other” in Season 6, Episode 2 of the  Discover Indie Film TV Series on Amazon Prime V...

Mandie Cheung and Samantha Jean brought their short film “Other” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2021 and took home the Audience Award for Short Film – Drama.  The truth is that “Other” is one of those incredibly authentic, effective films that makes you laugh, makes you think, and makes you want the world to be a better place. Both Maddie and Samantha have fasci...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Aysha Wax wrote and directed the film “Grief Vigiliantes” and att Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2020, she took home two Filmmakers Awards; Outstanding Short Film – Comedy and Outstanding Acting by a Cast.  If you listen to the podcast before...

Aysha Wax brought her film “Grief Vigiliantes” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2020, taking home two Filmmakers Awards; Outstanding Short Film – Comedy and Outstanding Acting by a Cast.  This talented writer and director has a fascinating personal story of how she ended up in entertainment. In fact, I find her to be an inspiring Renaissance talent who balances herself between multiple...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Actor/writer/director Camilla Roman brought her film “Waves” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2021 an took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short Film – Drama.  Camilla works regularly as an actress and has lived in Londo...

Camilla Roman wrote and directed the short film “Waves” and brought it to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2021, taking home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short Film – Drama.  Camilla works regularly as an actress and has lived in London and Los Angeles as well as at home in Norway, which is my way of saying she’s more interesting than most of us.  And I’m proud to...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Ari Schneider and Ryan Barton-Grimley have co-starred in two feature films, “Elija’s Ashes” in 2017 and “Hawk and Rev: Vampire Slayers” in 2020.  Ari and Ryan are the real deal, an on-screen comedy duo.  During the Golden...

Full disclosure… I love Ari Schneider and Ryan Barton-Grimley.  I saw the first feature film that they made together, “Elija’s Ashes,” back in 2018 after meeting Ryan at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2017.  (Ryan was there with another feature, “Repatriation.”)  Ari and Ryan are the real deal, an on-screen comedy duo.  Back in the golden age the studios knew the...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. But… in the podcast episode there were six guests, so instead of all 4Qs each person answers Q1, “Three Favorite Films.” The six people on Zoom with me are or were all involved in the amazing non-profit organization TYM4Change, &#8220...

TYM4Change is the abbreviated name for, “Transitional Youth Mobilizing for Change.” TYM4Change is A California Nonprofit Organization Centered Around Youth Empowerment.  They envision a world in which youth recognize and act on their capacity to create positive and meaningful change in their schools, neighborhoods, and communities. TYM4Change brought their wonderful documentary “...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Danielle Stritmatter brought her short film “Drunk” to Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2021.  This powerful and unique film combines elements of narrative and documentary in a way more effective than I’ve seen in any other film.  I&#821...

Danielle Stritmatter wrote, directed, produced and is the lead actor in the short film “Drunk,” an Official Selection at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2021.  This powerful and unique film combines elements of narrative and documentary in a way more effective than I’ve seen in any other film.  This wonderfully made film absolutely slayed the audience at SOFF 2021. I’m proud to...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Chris Hall, Patrick Tamisiea and Nicholas Leeds combined forces to make the short film “Bryers Cucumber Tostinos,” which took home four awards at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in November 2020.  All three of them hopped onto Zoom to discus...

The short film “Bryers Cucumber Tostinos” came to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in November 2020 and simply kicked ass.  The film brought home FOUR awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film – Comedy, the Filmmakers Awards for Outstanding Acting by a Cast – Comedy and Outstanding Acting by an Individual – Comedy for Patrick Tamisiea, as well as Outsta...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Jeff Hillard records music, sings, performs comedy, acts, directs, produces and more. Jeff brought the music video “Consensual” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2022 and took home three awards; Outstanding Music Video, Outstanding Director(s...

Do you wanna go for a ride?  I do, because Jeff Hilliard brought the music video for his song “Consensual” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2022 and took home the awards for Outstanding Music Video, Outstanding Director(s) – Music Video, and Outstanding Performance – Music Video.  Jeff does pretty much everything; music, comedy, acting, directing, producing… and more.  I was delig...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Fr3deR1cK Taylor brought his documentary short “Pre-Existing Freedom” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2021 and took home the award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual, Documentary. Fr3deR1cK gave an amazing interview in episod...

Fr3deR1cK Taylor is an artist who doesn’t just cross boundaries, he smashes them.  He’s a filmmaker, a writer, a performance artist, and more.  My favorite descriptor for Fr3deR1cK is “public intellectual,” because in my opinion the world needs intelligent, learned people to influence society.  His Documentary Short “Pre-Existing Freedom” was an Official Selecti...

What are the 4Q’s?  (1) Favorite films, top 3. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Allan Tran is a two-time Sherman Oaks Film Festival champion.  His film “Valley” won two awards at SOFF 2020 and his film “Exits” won two awards at SOFF 2021!  And I’m proud to say that you can catch “Valley” in Seas...