Slamdance First Film Podcast

Today's guest is legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, director of THE GODFATHER, THE CONVERSATION, APOCALYPSE NOW, and MEGALOPOLIS. His debut feature film, DEMENTIA 13, was made for just $40,000, produced by Roger Corman, and launched one of the greatest filmmaking careers of all time. Listen to Francis share tips, tricks, and his iconic origin story. Slamdance First Film Podcast is created &...

Today's guest is writer-director Wendy McColm, whose award-winning debut feature film BIRDS WITHOUT FEATHERS premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. Links: BIRDS WITHOUT FEATHERS (Tubi)FUZZY HEAD (Tubi) Sladance First Film Podcast is created & hosted by Michael Gallagher and Jana Gallagher. Produced by Peter Baxter. Edited by Daniel Angarita. QC by Max Brown and Tara Blossom. Music by Kevin MacL...

Today's guest is writer-director Todd Berger, whose debut feature film THE SCENESTERS premiered at the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival. Learn how Todd got his start making viral videos for the internet, raising money for an indie comedy, how to play the small film festival circuit to gain traction, and getting a distribution deal with Showtime. Links: The Scenesters (Tubi)It's a Disaster (Tubi) Slamd...

Today's guest is writer-director Francis Lee, whose debut feature film GOD'S OWN COUNTRY premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival where it won the World Cinema Directing Award. Francis shares how he made his first feature film in his 40s, how he writes his screenplays in a word document, the importance of creating a soundscape, keeping your crew small, and how he convinced Kate Winslet to star...

Today's guest is filmmaker Joe Penna, whose debut feature film ARCTIC premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Joe got his start making videos on YouTube as MysteryGuitarMan, where Joe honed his skills behind the camera, earning commercial directing opportunities while attracting millions of subscribers and racking  up hundreds of millions of views. Joe's pivot to make his first feature film AR...

Today's guest is writer-director Blake Robbins, talking about his debut feature film THE SUBLIME AND BEAUTIFUL which premiered at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival. It went on to win the Jury Prize for Best Feature, Best Actor and Best Director at the 2014 Newport Beach Film Festival. Having never directed before (not even a short film), Blake followed his passion, rolled up his sleeves, and crafte...

Today's guest is writer/director Clark Gregg talking about his debut feature film CHOKE (based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk) starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Clark Gregg got his start as an actor, joining the Atlantic Theater Company with David Mamet and William H. Macy. His acting credits include THE AVENGERS, 500 DAYS OF SUMMER and...

Today's guest is director Seth Gordon, whose career is filled with Hollywood hits such as Four Christmases, Horrible Bosses and Identity Thief. He got his start making the hilarious indie documentary THE KING OF KONG: FISTFUL OF QUARTERS which premiered at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival. Hear how Seth found the hilarious story, worked with his larger than life subjects, how his film festival scr...

Today's guests are the directors behind the indie hit THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON-- Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson. Hear their inspiring story of making a scrappy proof of concept, the art of the cold email, how Shia LaBeouf signed on without even reading the script, becoming experts in your film, and the secrets to creating genuine word of mouth. Their most recent film, LOS FRIKIS, is now availab...

Today's guest is acclaimed filmmaker Lynne Sachs. Her debut documentary feature film, INVESTIGATION OF A FLAME, is about the nine Vietnam War protesters, who in 1968, walked into a Catonsville, Maryland draft board office, grabbed hundreds of selective service records and burned them with homemade napalm. Learn how she tracked down the subjects and won their trust, why it can be important to captu...

Today's guest is filmmaker Jimmy Tatro, the co-writer and director of the hilarious feature film THE REAL BROS OF SIMI VALLEY: HIGH SCHOOL REUNION which is streaming for free on Roku. Learn how Jimmy went from making internet videos, to adapting his popular original series "The Real Bros of Simi Valley" into his debut feature film. Learn the secrets of making comedy and the value of multi-camera c...

Today's guest is filmmaker Numa Perrier, the writer, director, and producer of JEZEBEL which premiered at the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival. Learn how Numa created her own work in short form content that presented an opportunity to make a feature film during a two week hiatus. Mining her own life story, JEZEBEL captures a raw authenticity and vulnerability about two sisters grappling with...

Today's guest is filmmaker Ronan Corrigan, the co-writer, director, and co-editor of the new Screenlife film LIFEHACK which premiered at the 2025 South by Southwest Film Festival. Learn how he went from feeling stuck during lockdown to winning the chance to pitch Timur Bekmambetov and get his debut feature film greenlit in the middle of a global pandemic. LIFEHACK was shot in just 10 days but the...

Today's guest is award-winning filmmaker Andrew Patterson, the co-writer and director of the indie hit THE VAST OF NIGHT which won the audience award at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival. Learn how the film was rejected by 18 film festivals in a row before Andrew submitted to Slamdance and launched his career. At the festival, THE VAST OF NIGHT was bought by Amazon and received a nomination for Bes...

Live from the Egyptian! Today's filmmaker guests include Pulitzer Prize finalist environmentalist journalist Rosanna Xia & co-director Daniel Straub discussing their documentary feature OUT OF PLAIN SIGHT, which was the Opening Night Film at the 2025 Slamdance Film Festival. Learn how the filmmakers turned an LA Times article into an Award-Winning documentary feature by partnering with the journal...

Today's guest is award-winning writer/director Azazel Jacobs. His short film, KIRK AND KERRY, won the best dramatic short award at the 1997 Slamdance Film Festival. Then his debut feature film, NOBODY NEEDS TO KNOW, was rejected from Slamdance. Azazel talks candidly about making his first feature in New York City over two summers, handling bad reviews, the freedom of "no expectations" that led to...

Today's guest is award-winning writer/director Mo Perkins. Her debut feature film, A QUIET LITTLE MARRIAGE, won the grand jury prize at Slamdance in 2009 and was released by IFC Films. Mo first met her two leads, Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Cy Carter, on her UCLA thesis short film "Piss Hat" which was nominated for a Student Academy Award. The trio got together and collaborated on the script in a pro...

Anthony Russo and Joe Russo join the podcast this week to discuss the making of their feature film debut Pieces, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 1997. The film was shot in the brothers hometown of Cleveland, Ohio for a production budget of $30,000. During their press screening at Slamdance, a majority of the audience walked out of the divisive film except for one person who loved...

This week award-winning filmmakers Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou join the podcast to discuss the making of their acclaimed feature film TAKE OUT, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2004. The film was shot in New York City on a DV camera for a budget of $3,000 with only a two-person crew. TAKE OUT has been restored and re-released through the Criterion Collection and is now availabl...

Slamdance now offers a weekly podcast exploring how to make, premiere and distribute your first feature film. Each week, hear the origin stories of today's great filmmakers as they share their tips and tricks in these intimate interviews. With an aim to give back and support independent filmmakers, Slamdance's First Film Podcast demystifies process and the first feature film. Featuring Slamdance a...