Haven't Made It Yet

Julia Kennelly returns with a quick segment on how to truly embrace the scrappiness when making an indipendent film. We discuss differences in the LA and New York film scene, share our stories on what we've done to embrace the scrappy, and Julia gives good insight on what it means to have a good relationship with her film colleagues.

Mike has followed the wind. Listen to his riveting story; a Filipino surfer turned big time art director. Mike has worked with companies such as National Geographic, Discovery, BBC, and other travel related shows that have filmed near the Philippines. Always a proponent of hands on work, Mike spends his free time designing bird houses in his jungle wood shop and building schools for the Yellow Boa...

Our first Oscar winner guest! Woo! Julia is a producer, director, and writer. She has experience working in New York and LA and has primarily worked on independent films.   juliakennelly.com @jmkennelly

Coming to Hollywood from Armenia, Arax is determined to bring her creatures to life in anything from feature films to video games. Forever fascinated by creatures both fictional and real, Arax has been designing monsters all her life. During this episode, she talks about her creative process which includes a vigorous research stage, drawing concepts, and problem-solving during the physical creatio...

We're really on a roll with our international guests!  Pinar is a Turkish-American film producer. In this episode, we try to define the role of a film producer and talk about what she learned during her time at the Film Independent Producing Fellowship. Pinar also talks about her time working in NYC, how her cultural past has shaped her, and her fascination with history. As a natural leader, Pinar...

Katy Bentz shares her successes as a voice actor, full body motion capture artist, and Twitch streamer as she pursues to become an award winning actress. Katy is greatly known in her role as Steph in the award winning video game, Life is Strange: True Colors. As Steph, she does both voice acting and full body motion capture. From doing video game voice acting, she has grown her fan base through tw...

Our guest today has made great waves through the world of reality television. He's worked as a Senior Producer for Fox's Season 1 of Farmer Wants a Wife as well as helped create shows such as Holely Moley and The Real Love Boat. Jannik had the pleasure to work side by side with Nick on Farmer Wants a Wife and found out just how much creativity pours out of this man. We knew that we needed to get N...

Makhas dives into her South African upbringing, reconnecting with her Zulu roots and how she found acting,  which she describes as a "refuge for misfits". After being a casting assitant in NYC and an LA actor with some close calls (Star Trek missed out) Makha shares what she learned auditions are really all about. Now, she spends her professional life performing on stage and on the screen as well...

Robert Mai creates musical scores for films, video games and commercials. Having experience in a variety of creative positions on and off set has allowed Robert to look at the role of music in visual media holistically. Afterall, the music should accentuate something this is already present not tell the audience how to feel. At least Robert and I think so. He describes taking on the role of an act...

Most filmmakers who  Havn't Made It Yet are NOT naturally good at marketing themselves. Sam, a long time friend of mine, has always been good at the social (or networking) side of film. During this episode we break down what it really means to network before getting into Sam's pesonal journey of finding his creative confidence. Sam's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samgostnell/

They say working in management is one of the best ways to start a career in film because of all the exposure you get to the inner workings of the industry. On this episode, Sam Hong enlightens us about the mysterious and unseen processes that decide which movies get made and which don't. For someone who has one of the most stressful jobs imaginable, Sam holds a surprisingly calm outlook about a po...

I met Joe on a commercial shoot after overhearing him talk about his D&D based passion project. He showed me the trailer for "The Dice Decide" and I instantly knew I wanted to interview him. Joe is one of those people that just seem to have the freelancer-in-hollywood thing all figured out. He would probably humbly disagree, but the guy gets free camera gear from name brands. For free! For free is...

If you think filmmaking is hard, try doing it well dangling off a cliff. Our guest today does just that and more. As an adventure photographer, Max goes above and beyond to get the beauty shot. On this episode, hear the ins and outs of Max's life as a camera operator as he shares what it's like to live life on the edge. The. Mountain's Edge. Because he climbs. He's a climbing filmmaker, I don't kn...

In this addendum to the Francisco Lederman episode we talk about different fundraising strategies for independent short and feature length projects. 

A woman so multitalented we hardly had enough time to cover it all. Lauren is a playwright, director, graphic designer, author and filmmaker. During our remote conversation Lauren flipped the script on us in a question free-for-all using her self help book Heart Gym as a guide. We also covered her road show play, a bi-coast movie project and the real reason for her recent relocation to London. Tra...

Tomer works as a camera operator and assistant camera in LA. He's known to be the family historian throughout his life and has continued that calling as a documentarian. One of his recent short films, Grandma Sings Arirang (2023), just featured at the LA Asian Film Festival. He's got a great mind in storytelling and puts his heart into all the work he's a part of.  Oh, by the way, he owns an ARRI...

Mark just featured in Tommy Wiseau's latest film, Big Shark. He shares some interesting stories on working with Tommy as well as how he got the job. He's managed to work his way up as an actor in Hollywood through having spontaneity and being open to put his all into every project. Link to the Video Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNk8Gg8zmdc

Francisco is a film producer in the commercial and music video world. As a Venezuelan native, a Full Sail University graduate, and semi-recent LA resident, Francisco shares from a diverse wealth of experiences spanning a multitude of on set positions in a variety of industry subcultures. Some of his most recognizable credits include F9: The Fast Saga, Westerworld and Creed 3. He's currently develo...

Our guest today is a commercial and non-union Production Designer (PD) for projects all around the United States. Chloe gives an indepth look at how the art department functions through the messy chaos that is film production. She also tells us how she operates effectively using money, time and resources in order to get the best outcome on the projects she works on.   For more Chloe Reisen, visit...

Can't get enough Will Lamparelli? Look no further. On this podcast short, we discuss Will's recent development making a quickly growing TikTok channel. Will talks about all the juicy details as a TikTok content creator. From how to use TikTok's algorithm towards your advantage to how he's been able to grow his channel at such a fast pace. All that and more in ummmmm... What is this series' name? O...

Will Lamparelli gets down to business with Jannik and Hayden to discuss his experience in rising from the ashes of being a Production Assistant and transforming into the great phoenix he is today. He currently works as a Production Manager/Coordinator and Producer and plays a vital role in the logistics of film production. This is a great episode for any of you bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Product...

We're headed way out of Hollywood for this episode. On their EPIC  journey through Europe, Jannik and Hayden met with Greek background actor and youtuber, Thanos Toliopoulos, on his film experiences in Greece. As a part time DJ and actor, Thanos has a very relaxed approach to his acting career and hopes to do great things in the coming future. Hear his thoughts on the greek film industry as well a...

In this episode, we head to the pacific northwest... again... to a magical and wonderful land called Eugene, Oregon. There, we meet a fierce and daring wizard by the name of Jeremiah Lieberman. Jeremiah has worked hard to hone in on his character-channeling wizardry. But not to worry, he uses his power for good. With great power comes great responsibility. Jeremiah is both responsible and powerful...

In this episode, we're headed to the wild wild west; the Pacific Northwest to be specific. Conner Wayne Brown comes with an extensive knowledge of the performing arts. Whether it's acting in a lead role, directing stage plays and musicals, or teaching acting to children of all ages, this man lives and breathes theater (or, going by the more politically correct term, "thespian"). Conner's career in...

This week on whatever we call this thing, ummmmm, Have Yet to Make It... Yet??? Our guest is Lucian Morfa. Lucian, who also goes by Luci, has been killing it in the Atlanta, Georgia film industry. She is primarily a script supervisor for narrative films but has also shown interest in joining the wonderful people of the Art Department. During a two month long gig as a set dresser in Athens, Georgia...