The Art of Film Funding

Send us Fan Mail Description:  We’re joined by Bri Castellini, one of the top crowdfunding experts in the indie film world. While at Seed&Spark, Bri helped filmmakers raise over $25 million—achieving an incredible 85% success rate. Bri is an independent film and screenwriting consultant and a subject matter expert in arts crowdfunding, indie filmmaking, film festivals, podcasting , romance nov...

Send us Fan Mail A master storyteller shares decades of lessons and his newest book. Description - : Paul Chitlik has written for all the major networks and studios in English and in Spanish.  He was story editor for MGM/UA'S "The New Twilight Zone," and staff writer for Showtime's sitcom "Brothers."  He directed episodes and was coordinating producer for “Real Storie...

Send us Fan Mail Our special guest this week is the award-winning documentary filmmaker Jeremy Workman, whose work has been Emmy Nominated and Oscar short-listed. His films include LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD (Discovery) , DECIDING VOTE (The New Yorker) , THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET (Greenwich Entertainment / Kino Lorber) , MAGICAL UNIVERSE (IFC Films) , and most recently SECRET MALL APARTMENT. Secret M...

Send us Fan Mail Today our special guests are Elliot Kirschner and Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse. Elliot Kirschner is a New York Times best-selling author and an Emmy Award-winning news and documentary producer. Elliot began his career at CBS News, reporting and producing for 60 Minutes, Sunday Morning, and The Evening News. Elliot now authors the Through the Fog newsletter. Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse is...

Send us Fan Mail Carole Dean is Founder and President of From the Heart Productions Inc, a 501(c)3 Non-Profit. From the Heart’s mission is to help indie filmmakers and creatives, with unique projects that contribute to society, get funding.  From the Heart accomplishes this through five Roy W. Dean Film Grants a year, fiscal sponsorship, education, mentorship, and free resources.  Since 1993, From...

Send us Fan Mail Mark is currently directing The Baristas vs The Billionaire and Executive Producing, Exiled From Hollywood, Orson Welles’ Lost Masterpiece . His first film , Building Bombs , was an Academy Award nominee, Best Documentary Feature some of his other notable projects include: Kent State, The Day the War Came Home, Emmy Award, News and Current Affairs; Blood Ties the Life and Work of...

Send us Fan Mail “Inside Ukraine’s war zone, a filmmaker captures courage, chaos, and the cost of truth.” Xackery is a New York–based director and producer, drawn to stories that unfold in times of crisis, where resilience and identity intersect. His debut documentary, American Chain Gang , exposed controversial forced-labor prison programs in the U.S. His follow-up, Nothing Without You , explored...

Send us Fan Mail Our special guest today is documentary filmmaker Jonathan Berman, who began his career as a stock footage researcher and assistant editor. He is director and producer of The Shvitz, a film about the last traditional steambaths in New York. His film My Friend Paul , about his relationship to his bipolar best friend, was produced for public television. Calling All Earthlings is an e...

Send us Fan Mail Our special guest this week is Lisa D’Apolito, an Emmy nominated producer and director who is also a dual citizen of the United States and Italy. She started as an actress in film, theater and television, and her roles included a part in “Goodfellas.”  She went on to producing and directing in advertising. Lisa’s documentary, “Love, Gilda,” was nominated for 2 creative Emmys. Lisa...

Send us Fan Mail Emily Best is the founder and CEO of Seed&Spark , a platform that makes entertainment more diverse, inclusive, connected and essential. Seed&Spark’s platform and national education program have helped thousands of bold storytellers raise millions to bring to life entirely new stories, and Seed&Spark delivers those stories into workplaces for employee training, engageme...

Send us Fan Mail Jeff Annison is the co-founder and President of Legion M, the world's first fan-owned media company that is using new equity crowdfunding laws enabled by the JOBS Act to create a film and television company built from the ground up to be owned by fans. He was also the co-founder and CEO of Underground Labs, a product development studio that built mobile apps, websites, and en...

Send us Fan Mail Our special guest today is the award-winning documentary filmmaker, Philip Shane. A few of his career highlights include co-directing, writing, and editing BEING ELMO, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. For his editing work on DANCING IN JAFFA, which had its World Premiere at the TriBeCa Film Festival, Shane won the Best Editing Award at Israel&ap...

Send us Fan Mail Jilann Spitzmiller is a veteran filmmaker with over 20 awards for her documentary and multi-media work. For more than three decades, she has honed a mastery in long-range, character-driven, cinema verité storytelling, supported multiple times by funders such as Sundance Institute, ITVS and George Soros’ Open Society Institute.   She has been a Sundance Documentary fellow and was s...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s episode is especially important because I’m sharing the opening chapters of my new book, Creating your Future: The Difference between normal and genius is your connection to the field. I’ve written to empower filmmakers—not just with funding tools—but with access to the quantum field. I want to hear what resonates with you. Your feedback will help shape the rest of this bo...

Send us Fan Mail Chance McClain is a creative powerhouse, blending a rich background in filmmaking, radio, and theater with a passion for storytelling. As the founder of Heritage Films, Chance has created more than 800 feature-length documentaries, celebrating family stories and life legacies. His work has connected generations, preserving the essence of individuals and families through visually s...

Send us Fan Mail Our special guests today are the award-winning filmmakers Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum. Sabine and Zeva co-directed the NEH supported documentary Letters from Baghdad , which was edited by Sabine and produced by Zeva. Letters from Baghdad screened in the US in over 70 venues and was broadcast on PBS, ARTE and the BBC. Sabine’s numerous editing credits also include the Oscar...

Send us Fan Mail With Guest Erik Gordon from FilmHedge FILM & TV FINANCING, DONE BETTER Streamlined financing platform that provides filmmakers with the funds they need to bring their creative visions to life—quickly and reliably. At FilmHedge, we're revolutionizing the way stories are brought to life by reshaping the film and television financing landscape. As a trusted partner, we provi...

Send us Fan Mail Our special guest today is Nicholas Tabarrok. Nicholas is a prolific film and television producer whose company, Darius Films, has offices in Los Angeles and Toronto. His company has produced over 40 feature films which have premiered at the top film festivals and sold around the world. Nicholas is also active in television and has sold his productions to companies such as ABC, BB...

Send us Fan Mail Marc Iserlis is the Head of Film at Republic, an investment platform that lets everyone –both accredited and non-accredited investors–invest in private market opportunities like startups, films, sports, gaming, real estate, and beyond, and share in the financial upside. Republic boasts a community of nearly 3 million members, and has deployed over $2.6 billion through its investme...

Send us Fan Mail Our special guest today is Jason Perlman. Named #4 in LA Weekly's "Top 10 Entertainment Professionals to Watch in 2023," Jason is an accomplished screenwriter, director, producer and editor. He has worked with major television outlets and studios like Warner Bros, Sony, and Lionsgate. His material has screened at prestigious festivals such as Sundance and SXSW. As a...

Send us Fan Mail Breianne Pryse has been a coach, writer, inventor, healer, investor, spiritual advisor and guide in the physical and spiritual healing arts for 23+ years. She has recently moved into business coaching and leadership roles in her job as a startup investor.  She has had training in energetic modalities including Theta Healing, Pyranic Healing, energy psychology, animal healing, holi...

Send us Fan Mail Beth Basa Pielert is a Producer, Director, and writer of television and documentary films. She co-produced and co-directed Scha'nexw Elhtal'nexw Salmon People: Preserving a Way of Life with Darrell Hillaire, Executive Director of the Lummi media company Children of the Setting Sun Productions and Vision Maker Media. The film is now airing on PBS through WORLD Local U.S.A...

Send us Fan Mail Irina Chernikina is a filmmaker with over two decades of experience in producing, directing, writing, and editing. She has led multiple projects from development through post-production, focusing on narrative filmmaking. Her recent work includes directing and producing the comedy series Being Bossy (2021) and an ongoing anthology series Bedtime Stories (2020-) , where she also ser...

Send us Fan Mail Rachel Antell has worked in documentary film production for over two decades but found her true passion in archival producing. In 2014 she co-founded Sub-Basement Archival, where she’s had the honor of being archival producer on dozens of documentaries that have screened worldwide, and garnered FOCAL Awards and an Emmy nomination for research and use of archival footage. In 2023,...

Send us Fan Mail Tony Panaccio is a 36-year media veteran, having started his career in the 1980s as a newspaper journalist for The Clearwater Sun, The Tampa Tribune and others. He later shifted his career into public relations with video game producer Capstone, where he also scripted many of their games, including William Shatner’s TekWar. During that period, he was also Shatner’s publicist for h...