Filmmaking Conversations Podcast with Damien Swaby

Originally from the UK award-winning filmmaker, Gareth Kelly has had an unusual journey in becoming an above-the-line creative. After spending 10 years as a concrete truck driver, Kelly decided to pursue his lifelong passion for film and television. Along the way, he found himself covering the US 2016 Presidential election in Florida for various local, national, and international news organization...

Johnny Catalano is an American filmmaker and actor passionate about capturing the minutia and specifics of the Midwestern United States. Obsessed with Americana imagery and "slice-of-life" narratives within a specific genre's framework. He explores themes and characters objectively. Portraying the nuances and comedy in human behavior. F: https://www.facebook.com/catalanofilmco/ FilmFreeway: https:...

Today I speak to the super-talented Eryn Rea! Eryn Rea grew up in Kentucky and then moved to Los Angeles at a young age. Now she is a multi-hyphenate working in Atlanta and Los Angeles. Informed by her background across genres ranging from Primetime TV Drama to Indie Horror, her most recent credits include THE FIRST LADY series on Showtime, and the audio-drama BROKEN ROAD. A fan of all that is wei...

Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir is one of the industries most talented editors. After working in Europe for years, her first American film was the 2012 crime thriller Contraband, a remake of a film she edited in Iceland. Her close collaborator is stunt-man-turned-action-director David Leitch; they worked together on John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and most recently, Bullet Train: a neon-infused, viol...

Nobody Loves You and You Don't Deserve to Exist' is a multi-award-winning independent British feature film written and directed by Manchester filmmaker, Brett Gregory. Synopsis Loosely based on Hieronymus Bosch's heaven and hell 15th century painting, 'The Garden of Earthly Delights', we follow a grieving ex-English teacher, rotting away on welfare benefits, along the canals and crevices of gothic...

CATALANO FILM FESTIVAL : DATE: February 18, 2025 LOCATION: 33 S Main St, Miamisburg, OH 45342 TIME: 4pm-10pm EST FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/catalanofilmco EVENTBRITE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/catalano-film-festival-tickets-466846639867?aff=esfb&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-source=fb&utm-term=listing&fbclid=IwAR1WR48...

Sarah Moshman is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker whose work has been featured on Upworthy, Marie Claire, CNN, and Good Morning America. After directing two short documentaries about female empowerment in young women, (Girls Rock! Chicago (2010) and Growing up Strong: Girls on the Run (2012)) she set out to direct her first feature doc The Empowerment Project: Ordinary...

Daakyehene Ababio is an international filmmaker, originally from Ghana but currently based in Ohio with his beautiful wife Angeles Kay Ababio and two kids. Daakyehene Ababio has been chasing his filmmaking dreams for about 15 years now as a self-taught filmmaker. He did a couple of short films to grow his craft since he started Palmbook Studios in Ghana in February 14, 2014. He’s still pursuing th...

Clare Cooney is a SAG actor and filmmaker currently living in Los Angeles. Her credits include Steve McQueen's Widows, NBC's Chicago PD, Pop TV's Hot Date, NBC's Shrink, and lead roles in the independent features Rendezvous in Chicago and Soul Sessions. She recently wrapped the independent feature Relative this summer with a lead role opposite Wendy Robie (Twin Peaks). As a filmmaker, she wrote, d...

“I’m passionate about two things: creating activism centered films &demystifying the microbudget production process.” - Zanah Thirus Named one of Diversity in Cannes' Top 10 Filmmakers of the Decade, Zanah is a filmmaker (producer+ director+ writer) from Chicago, IL. Since launching her brand, Zanah Thirus Productions, Zanah has shifted her focus to merging arts and activism through documentary an...

Everyone remembers Daphne Maxwell Reid as an iconic TV mom of the 1990s, from her three seasons as Aunt Vivian on "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air." And Daphne couldn't be more excited when the cast of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" reunited 30 years later for an unscripted reunion special that aired on HBO Max last November. These days Reid is a Renaissance woman, respected artist and designer, and ed...

In her own words "Hi! I'm Suzanne. I'm an actress and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. My first directorial effort, short film Christmas Eve Eve: Or The Things I Can’t Remember (which I also wrote and star in) recently played at a number of festivals including the 2021 Mill Valley Film Festival. You can watch it here on the platform Omeleto, one of the best hubs for high-quality short films on the...

Who's Afraid follows this phenomenon to a cathartic yet heart-pumping conclusion as it answers the question: what would happen if someone had to face a life-or-death situation as a result of jeopardizing someone else's life out of sheer racism? Our main character, Whitney King, commits such an act of racism then flees the city to forget and reset. Unfortunately for her, she runs from one problem a...

Erin has directed and produced documentary television for CNN, HBO, Showtime, National Geographic, PBS, YouTube Premium, OWN, MSNBC, and Investigation Discovery. She's interested in stories that explore social justice, women's rights, environment, health and horror - she loves a good genre film. In 2011, she produced HOT COFFEE, an HBO feature documentary film that examines the infamous McDonald’s...

Emily Procter is an actress, entrepreneur, and activist. In 2019 Emily shifted focus from entertainment to community by founding Ground Breakers Inc. Ground Breakers is a nonprofit working to create positive identity opportunities for children, and additionally for adults, in compromised circumstances. Working to support people, community and equitable infrastructure, Ground Breakers hopes to be a...

An American writer and actress best known for originating the story and characters in the "Before Sunrise" trilogy with her writing on Before Sunrise 1995 and Before Sunset 2004 for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Writers Guild Award. The trilogy is based on characters she created with Richard Linklater. Before Sunrise is a 1995 romantic drama film di...

Selected as one of Variety's 10 Stars behind the Cameras, the German born cinematographer who graduated from University of Television and Film in Munich, has quickly developed an impressive resume of visually unique and critical acclaimed feature films. HELL marked his feature film debut, earning him a number of awards, including the 2012 German Camera Award for Best Cinematography, the Best Cinem...

Beatriz Browne is a Los Angeles/NYC based, Webby Award winning producer, director, and filmmaker specializing in non-fiction storytelling. Beatriz has worked extensively with clients such as Google, Airbnb, Peerspace, The New York Times, CNN, Square and Fatherly, creating multi-platform original content. Outside of branded content, Beatriz has directed and produced 34 Carmine St., an award winning...

Hallie Shepherd is a writer, actress, producer, and editor, and she co-owns Fireshoe Productions with Eric Colley. She’s currently wrapping up post-production on Fireshoe’s fifth feature film, a comedy called Bigfoot Killed My Wife. Shepherd wrote the screenplay and stars alongside director Colley. Shepherd’s past credits include producing Cuba Gooding Jr.’s directorial debut Bayou Caviar, which s...

Teller Of Stories. Mostly Fiction, Always Real. With a deft ability to balance both half-hour single camera comedies and one-hour dramas, Pete Chatmon has directed episodes of HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant, Insecure, Silicon Valley, and Love Life, Netflix’s You and Atypical, ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Black-ish, A Million Little Things, Station 19, Mixed-ish and Single Parents, CBS’s All Rise and The...

Rebecca Eskreis is a director, writer and producer whose work has screened at numerous international festivals, including SXSW, TIFF, SIFF, deadCenter, Savannah, Munich, Stockholm and Thessaloniki. Her directorial debut project, WHAT BREAKS THE ICE (Goldcrest Films), received the Sandra Adair/Empowering a Billion Women Grant for promising female filmmakers from the Austin Film Society, and was sel...

Bio A graduate of the American Film Institute, I am a documentary director, producer and editor whose work has aired on PBS series such as Independent Lens and has been seen at film festivals around the world, including Sundance, SXSW, New Directors, New Films and DOC NYC. My 2013 directing debut THE HILL, about the demolition of an African-American neighborhood in New Haven, CT, premiered on the...

Founded in 2016, we are a film and theater production company based in New York. We aim to disrupt storytelling as usual and make our stuff by any means necessary. We’re makers, not salespeople. We’re outsiders, and we’re inclusive, we’re rigorous, we’re generous, we make our own space and help others make theirs, We’re straight-forward, all-in, We take risks, give no fucks, and never quit. Who we...

Scott Leger is a Director and Screenwriter whose work has been screened at Cannes Film Festival, Austin Film Festival, SeriesFest, and Palm Springs International Film Festival. Drawn to filmmaking after a horrific mountain biking accident in high school derailed his illustrious Junior Varsity sports career, Scott transferred his manic passion from the field to the frame and hasn't exhaled since. A...

An award-winning actor and director, Murisa Harba lives to push boundaries. She is a leading acting coach, author, thought leader, and speaker in Los Angeles, passionate about empowering actors to elevate their truth in storytelling and ultimately unlocking their creative genius. Her fascination with the infinite ways in which our bodies communicate led her to create two custom signature technique...