This Episode’s Guest is Dan Attias - Dan is a television director from California. Dan has shaped such TV shows as The Wire, The Sopranos, Homeland, The Americans, The Killing, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and many more. The list is endless as well as Dan’s experience. We discuss the difference between TV and feature film directing, Dan shares the harsh lessons learned from his earlier career and goes into detail explaining how he breathes life into scenes that may not offer much on the paper. This episode focuses on: Television series directing. Building trust with your team as a seri ..read more

John Gaspard is an author, director and producer based in Minnesota. In this episode we talk about: Being a local and independent filmmaker rather than pursuing Hollywood. Harsh realities of Amazon Video algorithms. Taking economics out of filmmaking.  The journey of an indie filmmaker; small steps to success. Advice on things to avoid during production. Using star power to market your film without deceiving your audience.  The importance of rehearsal and picking up the pace when shooting scenes. Ensuring the right people are viewing your film for algorithm purposes. Important thing ..read more

This Episode’s Guest is Gerry Maguire - Gerry is a film production and exhibition expert, Head of Irish Film London. This episode focuses on: The financial challenges film festivals face.  Inside Irish Film London. The realm of festival programming.  The importance of having a festival strategy for your film. The role of a festival programmer. The importance of making the most of opportunities for your film.  George Ovashvili’s, Corn Island (2014). The changing approaches to film distribution/release strategies. The future of online distribution and the importance of expanding ..read more

This Episode’s Guest - Tara Jabbari. Tara is a digital media producer and consultant based in Washington DC.   This episode focuses on: Understanding the concept of ‘parasocial relationships’. Issues surrounding fandoms. The positive and negative effects of social media. Dissecting the extreme parasocial in music videos. Exploring how producers can ensure their films can be perceived in the right way. Tips on engaging with audiences and the common features that help to build a fandom. You can find Tara Jabbari on -  Instagram: @tara_jabbari Twitter: @tara_jabbari *** We Need Your ..read more

Scilla Andreen, CEO of IndieFlix Award-winning producer, director, and CEO of global entertainment screening service, IndieFlix, Scilla Andreen. Scilla fell into film, working initially as a costume designer on commercials and eventually for shows such as Dawson’s Creek, Smallville and The Wonder Years, in which she was nominated for an Emmy.  IndieFlix launched in 2005, aiming to “offer everything that Hollywood doesn’t offer”, starting off as DVD on demand with 36 titles, growing the library to 12,000 titles with worldwide rights. By 2007, the service transitioned the library to a strea ..read more

This Episode’s Guest - Preston Cato, Artistic Director of the Queens World Film Festival  Preston Cato is an experimental and feature filmmaker. He is Artistic Director of the Queens World Film Festival which he co-founded in 2011. Preston’s films have screened at a variety of film festivals across the globe, winning Best Feature for Be My Oswald in 2006 at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Wales. Presto has also worked as a Director of Cinematography, Editor, Sound Designer and teaches at the New York Digital Film Academy. Queens World Film Festival will be streamed on Film Festival Flix from 2 ..read more

Based in Washington DC, one of Jon’s first short film projects, Cyberslut (2001), took the festival circuit by storm, playing over 60 festivals around the world - yet here’s a man who has claimed he’s not a great filmmaker!  Jon takes pride in connecting people and being a problem solver. After his own disheartening experiences of film festivals, Jon started the DC Shorts Film Festival in 2003 which was a huge success, becoming the largest short-film festival in the US. Jon has since consulted on festivals around the world, such as the Sunderland Shorts Film Festival here in the UK. He is ..read more

Bennett Arron is a BAFTA Shortlisted Writer, Director, Comedian, Presenter and Author. He has written more than 40 sitcom, drama and radio play scripts.  His educational documentary 'Identity Theft' has led him to give speeches about the fraud in conferences around the world. He is currently running online Sitcom Writing Workshops. Check out how you can benefit from them. Follow the link: https://www.bennettarron.com/gigs/ This Episodes Guest: You can find about Bennett Arron at: https://www.bennettarron.com You can email Bennet Arron at: bennett@bennettarron.com You find Bennett Arron o ..read more

This Episode’s Guest - Christian Dines, Director of Yellow Jacket and Somero. In this final episode of Filmmaker’s Stories series 1, I caught up with director, editor, writer and old friend of mine, Christian Dines. Originally from East London, Christian quickly realised filmmaking was the avenue he wanted to explore, having been inspired by various films from a young age. Christian started out as an actor and proceeded to develop his first short film ‘Perceptions’ in 1999, screening to an audience at a pub, and was his first sign of success. Christian’s now made around 80 short films and curr ..read more

This Episode’s Guest - Nathaniel Francis, producer of Criminal Audition (2019). Nathaniel started out his journey in front of the camera, but quickly fell into producing after acting on a poorly-produced production, quickly realising he could do a much better job. We asked Nathaniel to discuss his experiences of the producing world and his lessons learned along the way. In this episode Nathaniel talks about: Experiencing problems and learning to deal with them as the role   requires. Giving your best efforts and the opportunities this leads to. Having more than one project in the pipelin ..read more