The Soft Sticks Podcast

Today’s guest is Richard Sowada, the Festival Director of the St Kilda Film Festival.  In this episode, Richard shares his insights on submitting films to Academy-accredited festivals such as the St Kilda Film Festival. He discusses his programming approach, describing how he identifies the “islands” that begin to emerge from more than 900 submissions, and explains why filmmakers should focus on m...

Today’s guests are Jasmine and Stuart Charles, the Festival and Artistic Directors of the Stellar Short Film Festival.  In this episode, Jasmine and Stuart share their approach to programming the ‘Stellar 12’, a collection of twelve highly acclaimed Australian short films, and explain their motivation behind establishing Melbourne’s popular outdoor film festival. Also, hear from Tony Briggs (SSFF2...

Today’s guests are the 2025 AIFF Official Selection filmmakers, including Travis Jeffery (writer, producer, actor) and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (director) for Dusty, Luke Neher (director, writer) and Sam Gill (director, writer) for Sisters, Rebecca Parker (director, writer) for Bear, Cate Commisso (director) for Choice, Dominic Campanella (director, writer) for The Moon Has Come to Lead Me, Jada Zilm...

Today’s guest is Kirsty Stark, an Emmy award winning producer, start up founder, speaker, podcast host and screen industry leader.  Kirsty’s screen credits include children’s series First Day , Stateless (co-producer for Matchbox Pictures), feature film A Month of Sundays (Madman Production Company) and ABC iview series Goober , Unboxed and Wastelander Panda . Kirsty founded and runs independent p...

Today’s guest is Ruth Estelle, an award-winning writer. Ruth is part of the dynamic writing duo at Word Ninjas. She is also the Business and Media Manager for UK business, Emotion Coaching, and was previously a Development and Production Executive at The Mercury.  Ruth has worked across a variety of formats, including TV, animation, feature films, and podcasts. She has also been a member of the Ju...

Today’s guest is Carlos Manrique Clavijo, a Screen Producers Australia award winning animation creative producer and sound designer.  Carlos is also the co-founder of Karu-Karu Animations and serves as the South Australian Representative of the Australian Screen Sound Guild. He has also been a member of the Jury for the Adelaide Independent Film Festival.  Carlos' latest short film, Wishes: Wi...

Today’s guest is Al Cossar, the Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival.  Al discusses what inspired him to pursue a career in the film industry and how he got started. Al highlights what filmmakers should focus on when submitting their short films to academy-accredited festivals, such as MIFF, and explains how MIFF Industry functions within the Australian film industry.  Th...

Welcome to The Soft Sticks Podcast, presented by The Adelaide Independent Film Festival! We speak with industry leaders to empower filmmakers as they navigate the ever-evolving film industry landscape. Hear from artistic directors at prestigious film festivals, along with award-winning screenwriters, producers, sound designers, directors, animators and more! Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for...