Discover Indie Film

Welcome back for another exciting Discovery of Indie Film! Zeshaan Younus came on the podcast to speak about his film “I’ve Seen All I Need To See,” which was a SOFF 2025 Official Selection: Feature Film – Drama. I’m clearly not the only one who saw what they needed to see to know this was a terrific film because it took home the Grand Jury Award – Best Feature Film –Drama,  Gran...

Welcome Back to the Discover Indie Film Podcast! And welcome back, Tatiana Blackington James. Tatiana returned to the podcast to talk about her film Lawyered Up, which was a SOFF 2025 Official Selection: Short Film –SciFi that impressively took home the Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – SciFi, the Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Director – Short Film – SciFi – Tatiana Blackington James, AND the...

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.’ Jesse Cook III came on the podcast to chat about his SOFF 2025 Official Selection LOOM that took home the Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Film – Short Film – SciFi. Jesse and I hit it off immediately when we met, but can I ever really feel close to someon...

Greetings Listeners! The only thing I love more than chatting with a really talented filmmaker is chatting with a REALLY NICE and lovely person that also happens to be a very talented filmmaker.                                                                  Jesse Cook III is absolutely both and I was thrilled to have him on to chat about his SOFF 2025 Official Selection LOOM that took home the F...

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. Lesley Hoyt-Croft wrote an internationally award-winning comedy/drama sports screenplay called Princess Di and the Lesbians (2026) and also known for her documentary films for the Arizona Justice Project called LIFE: The Bill Macumber Story (2010); The Ballad o...

Greetings and Happy Friday! Lesley Hoyt-Croft is known for her documentary films for the Arizona Justice Project called LIFE: The Bill Macumber Story (2010); The Ballad of Louis Taylor (2017); This Damn Town (2019, the latter two about Louis Taylor who was unjustly convicted of the Pioneer Hotel Fire in Tucson, Arizona, that killed 29 people and resulted in Taylor spending 42 years in prison). But...

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. Vidhya Iyer wrote and directed the short film, “Giving Mom the Talk,” which was a SOFF 2025 Official Selection and earned the Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Comedy AND the Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Director – Short Film – Comedy. I...

Welcome back, Film Friends! Vidhya Iyer wrote and directed the short film, “Giving Mom the Talk,” which was a SOFF 2025 Official Selection and earned the Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Comedy AND the Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Director – Short Film – Comedy. Vidya wasn’t able to attend the festival because she was traveling in India so I was very excited to get to...

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. Chad Andrews is the writer, director, and lead actor of “The Butchers”,  a fantastic SOFF 2025 Official Selection that took home the Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – Short Film – Action-Thriller. Meeting someone at the festival is n...

Welcome back on this fine Wednesday! Chad Andrews is the writer, director, and lead actor of “The Butchers”,  a fantastic SOFF 2025 Official Selection that took home the Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – Short Film – Action-Thriller. Chad lives in Toronto but was able to zoom so we could dive deeper on his life and artistic career. Follow Chad on IG @thisischadandrews 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. Ahmed Zayani wrote and directed “Hope,” a horror short that was an Official Selection at both Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2025 (where he took home the Programmers Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking) and Film Invasion Lima 2026 (where he snagged the Filmmakers Awar...

Happy Friday, Film Folks! Ahmed Zayani wrote and directed “Hope,” a horror short that was an Official Selection at both Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2025 and Film Invasion Lima 2026! In fact, Ahmed took home the Programmers Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking at SOFF 2025 and the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short – Horror at FI-Lima 2026!                                                     ...

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. Leo Berkeley wrote, directed, produced and is the sole performer in the film “Dark Matter,” a brilliant film that will forever be the first to film to ever win awards at Film Invasion Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks Film Festival, and Film Invasion Lima in succession...

May the 4th be with you, Listeners! Leo Berkeley wrote, directed, produced and is the sole performer in the film “Dark Matter,” a brilliant film that will forever be the first to film to ever win awards at Film Invasion Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks Film Festival, and Film Invasion Lima in succession. (I don’t get to say, “During a single calendar year,” because SOFF was held in December 2025 and FI-L...

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. Cassie Keet directed the feature film, “Abigail Before Beatrice,” that was in Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2025 and took home the Best In Fest award, the Grand Jury award for Best Lead Performer – Feature Film (Olivia Taylor Dudley, the Grand Jury award for...

Happy Wednesday, Listeners! Cassie Keet came onto the podcast to talk about her feature film, “Abigail Before Beatrice,” that took home the Best In Fest award at Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2025!                                                                             Not only that, the film’s lead, Olivia Taylor Dudley, took home the Grand Jury award for Best Lead Performer – Feature Film...

Welcome to Darren Coyle’s third appearance on the DIF Podcast!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Darren has had three films as well as a screenplay be Official Selections at Sherman Oaks Film Festival,...

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. R. Scott McHenry wrote and directed the short film, “Sentient,” that had its World Premiere at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025.                                                                                                                                   ...

Welcome Back, Listeners! R. Scott McHenry wrote and directed the short film, “Sentient,” that had its World Premiere at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025.                                                                                                                                         Scott took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film – Thriller as well as the Filmmakers Award for...

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. Nick Zweig created the animated masterpiece “I am Duck,” an official selection at FIlm Invasion Los Angeles 2025 that took home three awards including the Filmmakers Awards for Outstanding Short Film – Animation and Outstanding Originality – Animati...

Happy Friday Film Folks! Nick Zweig created the animated masterpiece “I am Duck,” an official selection at FIlm Invasion Los Angeles 2025 that took home three awards! Specifically, the Filmmakers Awards for Outstanding Short Film – Animation and Outstanding Originality – Animation, as well as the Grand Jury Award for Best Lead Performer – Animation to Marianna Hersko for her amaz...

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. Daniel Padulo wrote, produced, directed, and co-starred in the hilarious short film “A Haunt in Bushwick,” an Official Selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025 that won Daniel the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Screenplay, Short Film – Comedy. I...

Happy Monday and welcome back to reality for any Coachella-goers. Daniel Padulo wrote, produced, and directed the hilarious short film “A Haunt in Bushwick,” an Official Selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025 that won Daniel the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Screenplay, Short Film – Comedy. Daniel also co-stars along with lead actor Sophia Drapeau, whose character Daniella has wh...

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. Olivia Haller and Anna Long wrote the feature length screenplay “The Experience” that was an Official Selection at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025.                                                                                                            , An...

We have a terrific mid-week episode for you fine folks! Olivia Haller and Anna Long wrote the feature length screenplay “The Experience” that was an Official Selection at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025.                                                                                                            In other words, the screenplay jury placed “The Experience” in the Top 5 out of over on...