
102 episodes

Filmmaking Conversations Podcast with Damien Swaby Damien Swaby
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- Film Interviews
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4.9 • 10 Ratings
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Filmmaking Conversations with Damien Swaby is a small fraction of the critical conversations currently taking place across the indie film community. The podcast reaches out to the next generation of filmmakers, who continue to look for inspiration and guidance.
Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (www.ifhpodcastnetwork.com)
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Ep 103: Independent Filmmaker - John Painz!
John Painz started his filmmaking experience with "8 for Vegas", a 9-episode web series that he wrote, directed, produced, shot, and edited. What started as a fun project soon turned into a career. He was hired to shoot and edit three other web series, produced a TV pilot (Untitled Zombie Project), and, in 2013, produced, shot, and edited his first feature film, Enchantments, for director Kelsey O'Brien.
In February of 2014, John and Julie Sisson embarked on their first feature film, Stuck, with producer Lynn Mancinelli. The film premiered at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival and was accepted into the Newport Beach Film Festival, The Soho International Film Festival, the Long Island International Film Expo, the Hell's Half Mile Film Festival, the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, and the Milledgeville Film Festival.
It was nominated for a number of awards, including Best Supporting Actress (Katie Howe), Best Script, and Best Feature. John won the Soho International Film Festival Carbon Award for Most Creative Filmmaker, and Stuck won the Programmer Award at HHM.
Their second feature film, Four Bottles, is out at festivals and will premiere in mid-2017.
Their third feature film, See You Next Week, is in pre-pre-pre-production.
W: wordsfromhere.com
T: https://twitter.com/jpainz
Four Bottles - Feature Film
https://vimeo.com/304064629
Like to have a ASC cinematographer as a mentor?
Have you thought of upgrading your cinematography game?
Would you like to have an ASC Cinematographer mentor you for free?
Join veteran cinematographer Suki Medencevic, A.S.C. (Disney, Pixar, FX Networks, Netflix, American Horror Story). He teaches you how to create beautiful images using three lighting techniques he has mastered on film sets over his 30+ years in the film industry.
Each technique uses basic, low-cost lighting equipment so that anyone can achieve beautiful visuals no matter your projects's budget.
Learn film lighting from an ASC cinematographer. If you want to take your cinematography to the next level, this free training will get you there. These videos are available for a limited time, so sign up for instant access.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
https://www.ifhacademy.com/a/28632/aLFBXkpN
If you liked this podcast, shoot me an e-mail at filmmakingconversations@mail.com
Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: https://www.kweli.tv/programs/the-people-of-brixton
Damien Swaby Social Media Links:
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/filmmaker_damien_swaby/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/DamienSwaby?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Website
http://filmmakingconversations.com/
If you enjoy listening to Filmmaking Conversations with Damien Swaby, I would love a coffee. Podcasting is thirsty work https://ko-fi.com/damienswaby -
Ep 102: Award Winning New Zealand Actress and Filmmaker, Rachael Wotherspoon!
Rachael Wotherspoon is an Award Winning New Zealand Actress and Filmmaker based in Los Angeles.
Rachael (nickname Rey) has been Acting since she was a child and has always had a strong interest in Art; throwing herself into Drama and Art classes in and outside of school throughout her Primary and High School years.
Fresh out of High School Rachael began working full-time to help support family members through a tough time, while putting herself through night classes at TAPAC, The Actors Program Workshop and The Actors Lab. Upon moving to Los Angeles Rachael attended the Pearlman Acting Academy, Bob Corff’s Voice Coaching and The Groundlings Theatre & School.
In between her years studying Acting Rachael also attended an Arts University for Web Development and Design, Graduating as a qualified Web Developer.
Rachael has studied under renowned coaches and tutors in New Zealand and Los Angeles, including Larry Moss, Joseph Pearlman, Miranda Harcourt, Peter Feeney, Andrea Kelland, Vicky Yiannoutsos, Sara Wiseman and Fiona Edgar and she is represented by Gail Cowan Management.
Rachael’s career spans Television Drama, Comedy, Film, Web Series’, Commercials, Modeling and Theatre, as well as Writing, Producing her own Web Series’ and Short Films earning her multiple American Film Festival Awards.
Outside of Acting Rachael is an active Volunteer Worker, engaged in helping with causes including Human Rights, Environmental issues and Animal Welfare. She works / has worked as a volunteer and / or fundraiser for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, the SPCA, Coastal Cleanup, the Divine Homeless Project and other foundations.
Rachael is also a Painter and enjoys painting and working on her Art in her spare time.
For all Business Enquiries please contact Gail Cowan Management or Trinity Artists International.
W: http://rachaelwotherspoon.com/about-rachael/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/rachwotherspoon/
T: https://twitter.com/ImRachW
YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTjvPhU9nO2ERVdBc27iBYA
Like to have a ASC cinematographer as a mentor?
Have you thought of upgrading your cinematography game?
Would you like to have an ASC Cinematographer mentor you for free?
Join veteran cinematographer Suki Medencevic, A.S.C. (Disney, Pixar, FX Networks, Netflix, American Horror Story). He teaches you how to create beautiful images using three lighting techniques he has mastered on film sets over his 30+ years in the film industry.
Each technique uses basic, low-cost lighting equipment so that anyone can achieve beautiful visuals no matter your projects's budget.
Learn film lighting from an ASC cinematographer. If you want to take your cinematography to the next level, this free training will get you there. These videos are available for a limited time, so sign up for instant access.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
https://www.ifhacademy.com/a/28632/aLFBXkpN
If you liked this podcast, shoot me an e-mail at filmmakingconversations@mail.com
Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: https://www.kweli.tv/programs/the-people-of-brixton
Damien Swaby Social Media Links:
Instagram
a href="https://www.instagram.com/filmmaker_damien_swaby/"... -
Ep 101: International Cinematographers Guild DOP, Robby Baumgartner
Robby Baumgartner began his film career 28 years ago in New York City. His interest in lighting inspired him to choose the unconventional route to DP via Gaffing.
This career path allowed him to light films and learn from some of the most talented DP’s in the business: Rodrigo Prieto, Chris Menges, Robert Elswit, Dante Spinotti, Darius Khondji, Janusz Kaminski, and Emmanuel Lubezki. Some of the films include: “8 Mile”, “25th Hour”, “21 Grams”, “Babel”, “Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada”, and “There Will be Blood”.
In between Gaffing gigs he took every opportunity to DP or camera-operate on feature films, 2nd-unit photography, commercials, and shorts.
Then in 2008 “There Will be Blood” shot by Robert Elswit, won the Oscar for Best Cinematography; the highest honor for any DP/Gaffing team. That event was the impetus for Robby to stop gaffing and DP exclusively.
In 2009 Robby joined the International Cinematographers Guild as a DP. Since then he has gone on to shoot 2nd unit on both “Hunger Games” l and ll, “Water for Elephants”, and “Argo” amongst other films. For the last 5 years he has been concentrating on shooting main unit for films such as “The Guest”, “Blair Witch (2016)” and now “Blindspotting”, which has been selected for competition in the US Dramatic category at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
W: http://robbybaumgartner.com/about/
Like to have a ASC cinematographer as a mentor?
Have you thought of upgrading your cinematography game?
Would you like to have an ASC Cinematographer mentor you for free?
Join veteran cinematographer Suki Medencevic, A.S.C. (Disney, Pixar, FX Networks, Netflix, American Horror Story). He teaches you how to create beautiful images using three lighting techniques he has mastered on film sets over his 30+ years in the film industry.
Each technique uses basic, low-cost lighting equipment so that anyone can achieve beautiful visuals no matter your projects's budget.
Learn film lighting from an ASC cinematographer. If you want to take your cinematography to the next level, this free training will get you there. These videos are available for a limited time, so sign up for instant access.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
https://www.ifhacademy.com/a/28632/aLFBXkpN
If you liked this podcast, shoot me an e-mail at filmmakingconversations@mail.com
Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: https://www.kweli.tv/programs/the-people-of-brixton
Damien Swaby Social Media Links:
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/filmmaker_damien_swaby/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/DamienSwaby?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Website
http://filmmakingconversations.com/
If you enjoy listening to Filmmaking Conversations with Damien Swaby, I would love a coffee. Podcasting is thirsty work https://ko-fi.com/damienswaby -
Ep 100: CYNDA WILLIAMS - Acting and Producing in the age of COVID and more!
Williams was born Cynthia Ann Williams in Chicago, Illinois, to Charles, a police officer, and Beverly, a medical lab technician and raised in the Pullman neighborhood on the south side. She spent parts of her early childhood in Indiana, where she sang in her grandfather's church. Williams attended Bennett Elementary School and Dunbar Vocational High School before moving with her mother to Muncie, Indiana when she was a teenager. While in Indiana, Williams attended Northside High School, graduating in 1984. After high school, Williams attended Ball State University, studying theater. While in college, She was crowned Ms. Ball State in 1987 and later graduated in 1989.
She has appeared in the movies Mo' Better Blues, Wet, The Sweeper, Shooter, One False Move, Divine Intervention, and many more.
In 1990, her appearance on the soundtrack to Mo' Better Blues was on the song 'Harlem Blues.' The single was widespread, reaching #9 on the R&B charts on November 17, 1990.
With the single success, Cynda had been lined up with Sony to produce her album.
Cynda is still creating music and working in the film industry.
CHECK HER OUT!
CREDITS
Film Appearances
Clarke Bentancourt, Mo' Better Blues, Universal, 1990
Lila "Fantasia" Walker, One False Move, IRS Media, 1992
Rebecca, The Killing Box (also known as Ghost Brigade, Ghost Brigade: The Killing Box, Grey Knight, and Grey Night), Motion Picture Corporation of America, 1993
Peace and Quiet, 1994
Lisa-Marie Chandler, The Tie That Binds, Buena Vista/Hollywood Pictures, 1995
Diane, The Sweeper, PM Entertainment Group, 1995
Gidell Ryan, Condition Red (also known as Condition Red--Haelytystila and Draussen lauert der Tod), Oak Islands Films/Overseas FilmGroup, 1996
Georgia Freeman, Black Rose of Harlem (also known as Machine Gun Blues and Pistol Blues), New Horizon, 1996
Davida Urked, "Wet," Tales of Erotica (also known as Erotic Tales), Trimark Pictures, 1996
Arabella, Spirit Lost, Live Entertainment, 1996
Vanessa Dietrich/Trish, Caught Up, Live Film & Mediaworks, 1998
Sarina Classer, Relax ... It's Just Sex, A-Pix Entertainment, 1998
The Last Call (also known as Stingers), Leo Films, 1998
Alicia, MacArthur Park, Sundance Channel Home Entertainment, 2001
Angela Walsh, March, Kanan/Hammerschlag, 2001
With or without You, 2003
Grace, When Do We Eat?, 2004
Television Appearances
Miniseries
D'orothea/Dorothy Wilson, Tales of the City (also known as Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City), PBS, 1993
Liz Coles Otis, The Wedding (also known as Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding), ABC, 1998
Movies
Anita Bayard, Gang in Blue, Showtime, 1996
Vivian Dandridge, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, HBO, 1999
Cecelia Delille, The Courage to Love, Lifetime, 2000
Brandy Taylor, Hidden Blessings, Black Entertainment Television, 2000
Rita Washington, Violation, Showtime, 2003
Episodic
Deletha, "Fearless," Fallen Angels, Showtime, 1994
Erica Rockler, "Hubris," New York Undercover, Fox, 1997
Appeared as Pamela Austin in an episode of Marker, UPN.
Specials
Host, Miss Collegiate African American Pageant, syndicated, 1993
Stage Appearances
Appeared in productions of A Chorus Line, A Raisin in the Sun, Two by Two, and West Side Story.
Podcast
P.P.C. Podcast with Cynda Williams
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p-p-c-podcast-with-cynda-williams/id1514233449
THE GROWN FOLKS RADIO
https://www.thegrownefolksradio.com/
IG: a href="https://www.instagram.com/cyndawill/?hl=en"... -
Ep 99: The Importance of Indigenous Films - Filmmaker Loretta S. Todd
Loretta Sarah Todd | Bio
Loretta Sarah Todd is a visionary leader in Indigenous media, considered a true artist with entrepreneurial energy and deep cultural knowledge. Her first dramatic feature, Monkey Beach, based on the iconic novel by Eden Robinson, recently launched to strong audience and critical response, screening at TIFF (Industry Selects), opening the Vancouver International Film Festival and sweeping the Drama awards at the American Indian and Red Nation Film Festivals in the USA, including Best Film and Best Director. With international awards adding up (Venice Film Awards, 7th Art International Film Festival), Monkey Beach was the #1 Canadian film for 4 weeks at Cineplex and Landmark Theatres.
Ms. Todd has directed over 100 projects including award-winning documentaries (Forgotten Warriors, Remembering Chief Dan George, People Go On), digital media and games (My Cree App, Coyote Quest) animation (25 short animations) and TV. Ms. Todd created, produced, wrote and directed children's series (Tansi! Nehiyawetan 1-3, Coyote’s Crazy Smart Science 1-3), sci-fi (Skye and Chang) and interactive media (Fierce Girls). She is in development with a new animated children's series called Nitanis & Skylar.
Her media work encompasses contributions to the development of Indigenous media, providing opportunities for Indigenous cast, crew and creative, building new spaces for Indigenous production and expression and writing influential scholarly essays on issues of appropriation, representation and Indigenous futurism. Ms. Todd created the Aboriginal Media Lab with the Chief Dan George Centre and Simon Fraser University and was instrumental in the formation of the Aboriginal Arts Centre at the Banff Centre.
Recently, she created the IM4 Media Lab, an Indigenous VR/AR/XR Lab, in collaboration with Emily Carr University of Art and Design, where she is the Creative Director.
Trailblazing in the development of immersive technologies, Ms. Todd is currently a Fellow to the Inaugural Indigenous Delegation to the Co-Creation Lab at MIT, sponsored by the Indigenous Screen Office. And she is on the Advisory Board to the ONX Studio, a NYC based immersive technology art lab sponsored by the Onassis Foundation and the NEW MUSEUM, plus she was recently invited to be on the board of the Kalediascope Immersive Fund. A respected speaker, she's presented at VIFFImmersed, The Global AR/VR Summit, Kidscreen, Museum of Modern Art – as well the Aboriginal International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, at the United Nations – to name a few.
Ms. Todd is an original. She ran away at 13, was homeless and became a teen mother – which changed her life. She went back to school and worked in bakeries, construction, restaurants – to stay off welfare and away from social workers who might take her daughter. Still she managed to become a writer, activist, entrepreneur and an award-winning filmmaker. She is a devotee of world cinema, sci-fi, obscure music, elegant fashion, forests, gardens and Paris – and is an instigator of fusion Indigenous cultural expression. She is also knowledgeable about her culture – creating and producing an award-winning children’s series that teaches kids to speak Cree, her father’s first language, as well as creating the first Cree language app.
Her films have screened at the Sundance Festival, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco), Yamagata Film Festival, ImagineNative, and the Museum of Modern Art, to name just a few. She has received many prestigious honours and awards, including a Rockefeller Fellowship to New York University, attendance to the Sundance Scriptwriter’s Lab, Special Jury Citation (TIFF), Mayor's Award for Media Arts (City of Vancouver) and the recent Women of Excellence Award, from the United Nation's WEF Women's Economic For -
Ep 98: Vimeo Staff Picks, TIME, and Huffington Post! Award-winner Julie Sokolow
Julie Sokolow is an award-winning film director, musician, and writer. She directed the feature documentaries Woman on Fire (2017) and Aspie Seeks Love (2015). Woman on Fire follows Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender firefighter in NY. The film received praise in IndieWire and the Village Voice and first aired on Starz in November 2017. Her film Aspie Seeks Love chronicles David V. Matthews, an offbeat writer on a quest to find love after a late-in-life Aspergers diagnosis. The award-winning film has played festivals worldwide and gained acclaim in Vice, Salon, and the Huffington Post.
Sokolow’s short films have been featured by TIME, Vimeo Staff Picks, BuzzFeed, Gawker, Upworthy, and Huffington Post. In 2014, The New York Times profiled Sokolow and the documentary series she created: Healthy Artists. The series highlights the lives, talents, and struggles of over 40 uninsured artists in America. That same year, her short film Street Doctor went viral and received over one million views. Street Doctor follows Jim Withers, the legendary doctor who hits the streets at night to provide medical care to the homeless. Sometimes Sokolow's writing appears in Salon or Huffington Post. You can listen to her music album Something About Violins on iTunes and read about it in Pitchfork.
T: https://twitter.com/juliesokolow
IG: https://www.instagram.com/julie.sokolow/
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6322959/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Like to have a ASC cinematographer as a mentor?
Have you thought of upgrading your cinematography game?
Would you like to have an ASC Cinematographer mentor you for free?
Join veteran cinematographer Suki Medencevic, A.S.C. (Disney, Pixar, FX Networks, Netflix, American Horror Story). He teaches you how to create beautiful images using three lighting techniques he has mastered on film sets over his 30+ years in the film industry.
Each technique uses basic, low-cost lighting equipment so that anyone can achieve beautiful visuals no matter your projects's budget.
Learn film lighting from an ASC cinematographer. If you want to take your cinematography to the next level, this free training will get you there. These videos are available for a limited time, so sign up for instant access.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
https://www.ifhacademy.com/a/28632/aLFBXkpN
If you liked this podcast, shoot me an e-mail at filmmakingconversations@mail.com
Also, you can check out my documentary The People of Brixton, on Kwelitv here: https://www.kweli.tv/programs/the-people-of-brixton
Damien Swaby Social Media Links:
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/filmmaker_damien_swaby/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/DamienSwaby?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Website
http://filmmakingconversations.com/
If you enjoy listening to Filmmaking Conversations with Damien Swaby, I would love a coffee. Podcasting is thirsty work https://ko-fi.com/damienswaby
Customer Reviews
What a filmmaking podcast!
I listened to this on YouTube and just had to come on here to listen too more episodes.
I’m making a short film and this podcast is extremely helpful!
Excellent and insightful filmmaking podcast
I listened to the first one of these podcasts as I was a fan of the series “Last Chance U” but am now hooked. The presenter has a very good interviewing technique picking up on the interesting points the guest made in their previous
answer and expanding on these further with more in depth follow up questions. Highly recommend for any interested in film and tv and the people behind the camera.
Amazing
Love watching these...and always looking forward to the next one!! Keep them coming