Sifter

“The Hitchhiker Effect” was produced in Virginia for under $20K. It features Michael Beardsley as a conspiracy theorist who struggles to understand paranormal events that begin when his neighbors drop by his remote cabin. He’s joined by the film’s writer/director Zack Van Eyck. The Virginia premiere will be at the Richmond Film Network’s day-long Indie Fest, noon, Saturday, 8/9 at The Park RVA. We...

After sold-out screenings at Charlottesville’s Indie Short Film Festival in March, “The Price of Resistance: Sala Udin, An American Agitator” will again be screened in Charlottesville on August 9, 7:30pm at Vinegar Hill Theatre. It will be paired with a companion documentary, “Uprooted,” that explores the displacement of a thriving Black neighborhood in Newport News. Today’s podcast features the d...

Isaac Regelson was trained as an architect, but he has made his career as a location scout and manager for movies, TV shows and commercials. Our chat includes: – Getting into the biz – Location scout vs location management – Why he never designed a building – Working commercials vs movies – Finding the right house for “Loving” – Locating a cliff to drive a truck...

This is part 2 of my interview with Jeanne Meserve, who was on CBS 6 here in the 80s and went on for a 20-year career at CNN. This discussion includes: – The difference between the elections of Clinton and Bush – Prepping nominees for congressional hearings – Changing her approach to covering abortion – Memorable fan interactions – Being a moderator all over the world...

Gordon Bass has been a working actor in Richmond since the 80s. He’s performed in theatres all over the area and made his living as the Tour Manager for Virginia Rep. All that time he managed to assemble an impressive roster of on-camera gigs from commercials to training videos to even a few films. Some of the things we discuss include: – The DuPont gig working in the freezing “rain” (for Je...

Jeanne Meserve was an anchor and reporter for CBS6 here in Richmond during the 80s (when I was reviewing at the station). She went on to have a successful career in news, including years at ABC News and CNN, winning 2 Emmy awards along the way. The first part of our chat starts with the early stages of her career, including: – Starting at a radio station playing polkas – The culture ch...

In 2022, Seth Wood started his own reality documentary competition for farmers titled “Corn Warriors.” Since then, he’s produced two more shows, “Top Crop” and “The Podfather.” Producing and directing them takes him all over the country, but he edits them up right here in Richmond. We’ll discuss: – The definition of Agritainment – How he got into this field (pun intended) – What...

Sharon Y. Cobb co-wrote “The Man in the White Van” with the film’s director Warren Skeels. It’s a thriller based on a true story about a serial killer in a small Florida town. We’ll discuss: – How they met – The story originated over coffee – Shooting in a 70s house – Directing a snake – References from the period like “Bonanza” and extension phones – Getting Se...

Drs. Peter Kirkpatrick and Françoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick created Richmond’s immensely popular French Film Festival in 1993 and ran it until 2022. The Festival became the largest French movie and culture showcase outside of France. In addition to film screenings and master classes, it included more than 900 guest artists. On this second part of the podcast we’ll cover: – How the festival chang...

Eight years ago, Angela Patton (CEO and founder of Girls For Change) started the program that allowed Black girls to attend a dance with their fathers, who were incarcerated. Earlier this year, she and her co-director Natalie Rae had their documentary picked up by Netflix. We’ll discuss: – How did the idea for the dances started – The evolution of the movie – Deciding which girls...

Drs. Peter Kirkpatrick and Françoise Ravaux-Kirkpatrick created Richmond’s immensely popular French Film Festival in 1993 and ran it until 2022. They were professors of French literature, culture and film studies at Virginia Commonwealth University and University of Richmond, respectively. The Festival became the largest French movie and culture showcase outside of France. In addition to film scre...

Rita McClenny was the Director of the Virginia Film Office for 21 years from 1991 to 2012. During her tenure, she grew the office and it’s burgeoning production capabilities. In 2012, she was promoted to President & CEO of Virginia Tourism Corporation, selling film and lots more for the Commonwealth. Our lively discussion includes: – Driving that Tourism truck in her high heels – W...

Virginia Home Grown was created by VPM in 2000, to serve as a resource to enrich growers and gardeners, while highlighting the richness of gardens and natural ecosystems throughout Virginia. We’ll talk with current host Peggy Singlemann, Senior Producer Bryant Dameron and Executive Producer Shawn Freude, along with some additional input from the original host Richard Nunnally. Our discussion...

Michael Gottwald was born and raised in Richmond. After he left, he got involved as a producer and the first major film was “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” which was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture. He’s been involved in a number of projects since then and the latest is “O’Dessa,” a a sci-fi musical with a rock score that dropped on Hulu in April. Our discussion includes: –...

John Bernier came to Richmond in 1984, as Chief Meterologist for WRIC-TV (actually WXEX when he arrived). He retired on April 23, exactly 41 years since the day he started. Our chat includes: – How he got into weather at age 2 – His first impressions of Richmond – Winning an Emmy – Memorable weather events – The weather apps he uses – Weird fan encounters &#8211...

Andy Edmunds is the Director of the Virginia Film Office. He was actually the first guest on this show when it launched in January 2022 and he’s back this year for his 4 th annual look back what happened with film and TV production in 2024. Our discussion includes: – The upcoming film “Griffin in Summer” – Max Fischer’s production “Saturnalia” – Film festivals around the state &#...

Dean King is best known as an award-winning author of ten nonfiction books. In 2020, he teamed up with James Campbell and former IBM executive Sam Williamson to produce GOLD & GREED: THE HUNT FOR FENN’S TREASURE. This documentary is about the craze around Forrest Fenn, who hid a treasure box worth at least a million dollars somewhere in the US. He also published a memoir with clues to the trea...

Patrick Clark created and narrated a documentary about a notorious Richmond gangster, LEO KOURY: THE GAY BAR GODFATHER OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. It looks at the history of this noted character and some of the crimes he committed locally. It’s currently airing on his special YouTube channel called “Esoteric History.” We talk about: – Where he got the idea – How he compiled the...

BLACKBIRD: LEGACY OF INNOVATION is a documentary about the famed SR-71 jet (there’s one hanging at the Science Museum of Virginia). It played nationally on PBS stations from 2018 to 2021 and is now streaming. Producer Todd Hervey talks about his “flight” to finish the doc: – Who is Fuel & 19Red? – How this project come about – The use of an auto pen for graphics – Shoot...

Kent Eanes spent years working as a grip for movies and TV before he started his career as an on-set photographer, where he had some great experiences, including: – Transitioning from Style Weekly to gripping – Special equipment for on-set photography – Staying out of the actors’ eyelines – Hiding on sets under a couch, in a fireplace and more – Paul Giamatti ne...

Janet Scagnelli, who made her career as an animator for dozens of commercials and TV shows, has created A HISTORY OF ANIMTATED TV COMMERCIALS. This one time only event features a variety of hand-drawn and puppet-animated techniques. It screens at this year’s James River Film Festival on 3/23, 3:30 at the VMFA. We’ll talk about: – Getting paid to animate at age 13 – Creating numerous co...

Roger Beebe is a filmmaker whose work consists primarily of multiple-projector performances and essayistic videos that explore the world of found images. He will presenting several of his performance pieces at VCU’s The Anderson (formerly Anderson Gallery) on March 20. We discuss: – How his love for film evolved – Starting multi-projector shows – Using film loops in his work &#82...

Eric Brown started writing women’s romance novels under pen name Cinnamon Brown, which sold well on Amazon. Since then, he’s written the three screenplays which have been produced: “Cuffs,” “Toxic” and his newest “Sundays After Church,” which is the pilot of a new series. It’ll have a premiere at the Hippodrome Theatre on March 8. We talk about: – How working for the CIA inspired him to writ...

Adam “Tex” has had a successful career writing comedy for movies and TV shows. In the previous podcast we covered numerous great stories. This show covers more: – Punching up or rewriting a script – Fixing a car wash when a pimp endangered his life – Adam’s wife unknowingly shoving Martin Scorsese at a premiere – Oscar-nominated director Sean Baker was his class...

Tom Barrett has spent the majority of his career working on movies and TV shows as a Best Boy Grip. He’ll explain what that means plus: – His first big gig on “Dirty Dancing” – Getting chigger bites on “The WalkingDead” – Working on Dolly Parton’s shows – Advantages of commercials vs. feature films – Differences between shooting on...