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. Caleb Garrett brought his film “Lonesome Town” to FIlm Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film, Experimental/Arthouse. Caleb and I got swept away in our chat (posted Friday) but you know I had to squeeze in our 4 Ques...

Thank Goodness It’s (DIF) Friday! Caleb Garrett brought his film “Lonesome Town” to FIlm Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film, Experimental/Arthouse.                                                                     I have yet to meet someone, audience or jury member, who did not love this 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. Maxwell Hamilton produced and starred in “The Mannequin,” a feature length horror film that came to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Horror,                                                              ...

Happy Monday, Film Folks! Maxwell Hamilton produced and starred in “The Mannequin,” a feature length horror film that came to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home a little award that we like to call the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Horror.                                                                                                                                          ...

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. Filmmaker Chloe Schieldhause’s “Pool House,” a surreal, original, imaginatively dark comedy kicked off Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality, Comedy. I was pretty eager to learn more about Chloe, and she d...

A Wonderful Wednesday to You All! Chloe Schieldhause won me over pretty quickly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The first time I saw the short film “Pool House” as a member of 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. Tommy O’Rourke and Josh Sathree had their theatrical premiere of the episode “Hairy Herb” of their comedy series, “Barney & Herb,” at Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2023.                                                                      Their screening...

Welcome back for another exciting Filmmakers chat! I met Tommy O’Rourke and Josh Sathree when we held the theatrical premiere of the episode “Hairy Herb” of their series, “Barney & Herb,” at Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2023. Thanks to some pre-fest emails, I wasn’t too surprised when their presents, screening and Q&A at the festival were extremely fun. The comedy series they created i...

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. Filmmaker JB Singh Ghuman, Jr. provided the main attraction at our Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025 Opening Night Gala’s VR Pavillion by presenting, “paSSive poWer.”                                                                     It was described...

Welcome back, Listeners! Meeting filmmaker JB Singh Ghuman, Jr. was definitely one of the highlights of Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025.  JB provided the main attraction at our Opening Night Gala’s VR Pavillion by presenting, “paSSive poWer,” described as, “a sonic visual 8K 4D 360 VR collaborative experience.” As you can imagine I am super busy at the gala and never get a chance to act...

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. Joel Benjamin created the Immersive Film “Max Q,” one of the highlights of the VR Pavilion at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025, and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Immersive Short! Seeing the array of great film posters behind Joel during our chat got me...

A Wonderful Wednesday to You All! Joel Benjamin created the Immersive Film “Max Q,” one of the highlights of the VR Pavilion at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025.                                                                                                                                      In fact, Joel took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Immersive Short! I am always too busy at our 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. Johnny Galvan III has had several scripts in previous festivals and returned to Film Invasion Los Angeles in June, but this time with the animated short film “Franks In Hell.”                                                                                      ...

Happy Friday, Film Friends! I’ve got a history with Johnny Galvan III. It started when Johnny’s screenplay “My Brother The Lion” was an Official Selection at Film Invasion Los Angeles in June, 2024. (More on that below.)                               In December, 2024, Johnny was an Official Selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival with the screenplay, “For Misty.” When 2025 rolled around, Johnny w...

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. Drew Lewis Guerra wrote and directed the film “The Last Light” and we had the honor of hosting its World Premiere at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025. Drew’s smart, touching and extremely powerful film took home two awards at FI-LA, the Filmmakers Awards For Outs...

Drew Lewis Guerra wrote and directed the film “The Last Light” and we had the honor of hosting its World Premiere at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I have watched this film several times...

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. Amy Whittenberger brought her film “As A Rake” to Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short Film, Horror! One of my favorite parts of interviewing such a smart, compelling, and entertaining person is asking them the...

Welcome Back, Listeners! Amy Whittenberger brought her film “As A Rake” to Film Invasion Los Angeles 2025. This smart, creepy and rather timely film took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short Film, Horror! Unsurprisingly, the person who wrote and directed the smart, compelling, and entertaining “As A Rake” is a smart, compelling, and entertaining person.                                  ...

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. Filmmaker Jannik Ehret is part of a unique trio that brought the wonderful documentary “Paisano Overhang” to FIlm Invasion Los Angeles in June 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short Film, Documentary as well as for Outstanding Cinematogra...

Happy Indie Film Friday! Filmmaker Jannik Ehret is part of a unique trio that brought the wonderful documentary “Paisano Overhang” to FIlm Invasion Los Angeles in June 2025.                                                                                      Among their collaboration “Indieknot Films,” the trio credited their film as, “Produced, Filmed & Edited by Dakota Kappen, Jannik Ehret,...

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. Braeden and Nathan Lambert premiered their film “The Big Picture” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Music Video. These brothers not only make amazing work, they have incredible taste in other’s work. Listen t...

I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to start the week with a great film chat! Braeden and Nathan Lambert brought their film “The Big Picture” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Music Video.                                                                     The story behind the film, and what led them to create it, is very engaging and I w...

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. Chris Fiore was one of my very first guests on the podcast and he returns to chat about his new documentary, “Broadway & Swan,” which was part of the 10th Anniversary edition of FI-LA and earned him the Grand Jury Award for Best Director, Featurette. I just...

Chris Fiore is back! This podcast holds a special place in my heart.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              The journey that I have been on for a decade, running two film festivals per y...

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. Actor, writer and producer Eddie Alfano brought his short “Mondays At The Office” to Film Invasion Los Angeles and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short Film, Comedy. We had a terrific chat posted on Friday but you know I can’t truly know s...