I mean this in the best possible way: Nathan Schiltz doesn’t give a fuck. About chasing laurels for your short films. The professors at Woodbury. THE FABELMANS saying you are going to get the girls by becoming a film geek.

What he does care a lot about is the quality of his art. This is what made the episode so much fun for me. If you think I’m describing somebody with a nihilistic point of view, that’s not what I’m saying. He’s that dedicated to his art that he’s tuning out everything else and concentrating on what matters for him. 

Hope he stays this way the rest of his career.

I can say with certainty I've never laughed more when discussing dead bodies than I did with P.D. (Phil) Viner, currently crowdfunding for LAST NIGHT TOGETHER on Kickstarter. You can tell straightaway Phil is a born storyteller, whatever the medium.

Practically lives in a film theater? Develops films showing the plight of sex workers? Who does this sound like? Welcome to First Time Go, I’m Benjamin Duchek. It sounds like the brilliant Angel Fernandez, who wowed me with a tour-de-force discussion about his journey into filmmaking and his current film, THE TIMES OF MELANCHOLY. 

You can see the artistic talent of Christian Kamaal in the vivid way he describes his life -- and that's only half of it. This episode blew me away in the perspective -- and talent -- Christian brings to independent film.

"It's not about me, it's about my films." When you get awards for your filmmaking at 15, you can either become arrogant about it or you can become reflective, humble, and brilliant, and from listening to this episode, I think you can tell which path filmmaker Ava Bounds chose.

I talk with Aleks Dimitrijevic, executive producer of the British Film Institute's Future Film Festival.

The UnShushed! Film Festival is coming to Washington, DC on October 13th, 2024 for its inaugural year. In this episode, I talk with its founder, filmmaker Tanya Upshur.

This is what you have to give to be successful in indie films: everything.

I'm so proud to share my conversation with So Young Shelly Yo on the eve of her Los Angeles theatrical run with SMOKING TIGERS. The film won the AT&T Tribeca "Untold Stories" competition in 2022 and after it screens in LA, it will stream on MAX starting August 23, 2024.

Expect it to show up in indie awards season. Shelly turns everything on its head in this interview.

Have you ever watched a film about a middle-aged man falling in love with a public bus? In the spirit of Yorgos Lanthimos comes Leonardo Perez and his film MOTORIZED LOVE, currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo.

Speeding in a Mini and filming it for a short? Aussie-born? That's our podcast gold, and Dan Lesser blew away all expectations, as he crowdfunds for his film ONE TWENTY SIX. Guess the next podcast guests have to be Australian.

Filmmaker Hyejin "Grace" Park has such incredible range as an indie filmmaker: she's directed everything from sci-fi to gangster films and made them her own in a way that's utterly enchanting and unique. Her Vimeo page is a testament to her range as a filmmaker.

I talk with five of the most daring and ambitious filmmakers out there — 2004 Straight 8 winners. This is from a live podcast episode recorded on July 24, 2024.

If you like filmmaking with film, “slice of life”/character studies, and 1980s camp party films, you’re welcome to join our club. In today’s episode, I talk with filmmaker Will Mustin about all these things and his new film currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, WHILE THE SUN SHINES.

After listening to all five finalists of the Bloomberg Green Docs, be honest -- there's no way you can tell who won. They are all that good. Listen to all five here and see who won the $25,000.

This week is all about the Bloomberg Green Docs festival, held in Seattle on July 12, 2024. Thanks to Bloomberg Climate, especially Emily Anton and Courtney J. Boland, I interviewed most of the judges and all of the five finalists.

Part 2 will be released on Friday, July 26th, with the five finalists.

Independent cinema won't save itself. People have to go to local art house theaters and support the films they are showing if they want them to survive. And by them, I mean the theaters and the filmmakers

The good news is: we have a day coming up where you can do just that. Art House Theater Day is July 25th, 2024, and my guest, Kate Markham, managing director of Art House Convergence, is here to talk about it.

There's not been another episode like it. And maybe that's because I've never had a Brazilian filmmaker on the show. But that changes with Pedro Freire, director of Sundance favorite MALU.

Have you ever heard of a Western from a female perspective? I haven’t. Neither have filmmakers Avery Warsaw & Chloe Fontenot — they set out to make one. What a wild story.

In this re-release from season one, I talk with Scott Monahan, director of ANCHORAGE. It’s one of the most comprehensive and fun episodes about releasing an indie feature film and what that process is like…with one of the most generous directors in independent film.

I talk with filmmaker Corey Deshon. He calls DAUGHTER (2022) a calling card for his filmmaking. This episode is the calling card for the podcast -- remarkable insight and breakdown of how he accomplished what so many dream to do.