The Viewfinder Podcast with Chris Hadley

Chris Hadley
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  • EVERY TWO WEEKS

On the Viewfinder Podcast, you'll hear fascinating in-depth interviews with some of today's most talented indie filmmakers and actors as they take you inside the creative process behind their latest productions.

  1. Episode 120 - ALMOST FORGOT HOW TO SWIM Star Jahmiu Yakubu

    3 DAYS AGO

    Episode 120 - ALMOST FORGOT HOW TO SWIM Star Jahmiu Yakubu

    On the last show, you heard my conversation with Casey Shaw, the writer/director of Almost Forgot How To Swim, which was recently shown at the first annual Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival as part of a block of Louisiana short films.  Now, I'm honored to be joined by the star of that movie, multi-talented actor and musician Jahmiu Yakubu, who plays an emotionally struggling but successful rapper trying to get himself and his career on the right track following a painful breakup. It's a role based on similar events in Yakubu’s own life, which makes his performance in the movie all the more authentic.  Almost Forgot How To Swim is not just the name of Shaw and Yakubu’s short film, but it's also the name of Yakubu’s album, with songs from that album heard throughout its movie counterpart.  Yakubu and I discuss that interesting connection, as well as his preparation for playing his true-to-life character and his partnership with Casey Shaw on the film, here on The Viewfinder Podcast. Connect with Jahmiu on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sayjahmiu/ Check out Jahmiu's album Almost Forgot How To Swim here: https://open.spotify.com/album/5NA2HBGpl6yCIvSojREqtd Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    30 min
  2. Episode 119 - ALMOST FORGOT HOW TO SWIM Writer/Director Casey Shaw

    26 SEPT

    Episode 119 - ALMOST FORGOT HOW TO SWIM Writer/Director Casey Shaw

    My series of conversations with some of the outstanding Louisiana-based filmmakers  whose shorts were recently seen at the inaugural Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival continues on this week's Viewfinder Podcast. My guest on the show is Casey Shaw, the writer/director of a fascinating and reflective character drama called Almost Forgot How To Swim.  The movie, shot on 35mm analog film in Atlanta and produced by Casey's New Orleans-based studio Shawscope, stars actor/singer/songwriter Jahmiu Yakubu as a man trying to not only recover from the heartache of a failed romantic relationship, but also to rediscover his creativity and his purpose in a world that demands everything of him. Almost Forgot How To Swim is also the name of an album written and performed by Yakubu, and some of his songs from that album are heard in Almost Forgot How To Swim, the movie.  On our next show you'll hear more from Yakubu about his role in it, and how his own attempts to move on from a breakup influenced the character he plays and the experience he has in the film.  Now, though, Casey Shaw joins me to discuss how this unique project jumped from script to screen, and how his production company is making celluloid cool in a digital world here on the Viewfinder Podcast. For more information on Shawscope, visit the studio's web site: https://shawscope.com/ Shawscope's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/shawscope Casey's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/liminal_case/ Hear Jahmiu's album Almost Forgot How To Swim on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5NA2HBGpl6yCIvSojREqtd Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    58 min
  3. Episode 118 - ADA AND THE DOC Writer/Director Matison LeBlanc

    18 SEPT

    Episode 118 - ADA AND THE DOC Writer/Director Matison LeBlanc

    Held for the first time this past August, the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival presented an eclectic and entertaining selection of shorts and feature films made in the unmistakable indie spirit, with a significant number of them produced by and starring Louisiana-based talent. For the next few weeks on this podcast, you'll hear from several of those extraordinary filmmakers and actors who brought the Pelican State to the big screen while telling unforgettable stories in the process. My first guest in this special series is writer/director and Morgan City native Matison LeBlanc, whose compelling historical thriller Ada and The Doc takes a look at a nearly forgotten scandal that enthralled her hometown in 1927: the controversial murder trial of housewife Ada LeBeouf and her alleged accomplice Dr. Thomas Dreher, who allegedly helped Ada kill her abusive husband, Jim, while also being suspected of having an affair with her. The trial concluded with a hastily decided yet historic verdict, albeit one rendered without a shred of physical evidence: Ada would be the first Louisiana woman sentenced to death for murder, while Dr. Dreher would also be executed for the same crime.  Decades after the trial, LeBlanc prepared a full-length screenplay based on the extraordinary story of both Ada and Dr. Dreher as part of a class filmmaking project at the Georgia-based Savannah College of Art and Design. Returning to Morgan City, LeBlanc and a team of actors and artists filmed a proof-of-concept short version of the screenplay, which premiered to high praise at this year's Cannes Film Festival and was recently seen at the inaugural Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival.  As LeBlanc seeks funding to shoot Ada and The Doc in its complete form, the short subject will next be seen twice this coming weekend - Saturday, September 20th and Sunday, September 21st - in a special “double feature” program.  The Saturday screening and post-film Q and A session will be held at the Teche Theatre for The Performing Arts in Franklin, Louisiana from 7-8:30 PM, while the Sunday showing will take place at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge from 4-5:30 PM alongside other great Louisiana short films as part of the “Her Lens: Louisiana Women In Film” event. Ticket and location information for both screenings is available on Ada and The Doc’s social media pages, which you can find in the notes for this week's podcast.  Ada and The Doc will also be shown at the Oscar-qualifying New Orleans Film Festival next month. UPDATE: Ada and The Doc's screening at the New Orleans Film Festival will take place on Sunday, October 26th at 5:15 PM at the Prytania Theatre in Uptown New Orleans. For more info on the film, visit its official web site: https://www.adaandthedocfilm.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adaandthedoc/ On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adaandthedoc/ Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    32 min
  4. Episode 117 - Creighton Hobbs, Christian Fiorella and Brent Peek - A WAY OUT

    21 MAR

    Episode 117 - Creighton Hobbs, Christian Fiorella and Brent Peek - A WAY OUT

    The last time I had writer/director Creighton Hobbs join me on this show, he discussed his riveting drama Binded By Tragedy - a film about an ex-con’s desperate fight to escape from his dangerous criminal past. Now with his latest feature, the chilling thriller A Way Out, he looks at a crisis that continues to threaten lives and marriages - domestic violence - in the story of a brave woman who’s determined to flee from her abusive and emotionally broken husband.  Alexis Baca plays the tormented wife, Megan, while Christian Fiorella portrays her menacing spouse John. Also part of the film’s cast is Brent Peek (a.k.a. Alabama and Mississippi professional wrestler “Brym Stone” and the stunt coordinator for A Way Out). Brent plays John’s boss Liam, whose concerns for Megan’s safety increase as John’s rage towards the woman he supposedly loves reaches a calamitous zenith. Rounding out the cast is Sandy Hoffman as Megan’s equally worried friend Sarah, who, like Liam, offers her not just an opportunity to free herself from John’s wrath but to begin a new, loving and happier life - a life without fear. A Way Out will premiere soon on various streaming platforms, and it’s my honor to welcome Creighton, Christian and Brent to the show to discuss this important and potentially life-saving film.  For updates on A Way Out, visit the film’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561741027380 Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    42 min
  5. Episode 116 - CLUTCH Writer/Star Bryan G. Thompson

    26/12/2024

    Episode 116 - CLUTCH Writer/Star Bryan G. Thompson

    This week, the amazing and talented actor/filmmaker Bryan G. Thompson is my guest on the show. I'm honored to have him join me to talk about his new action drama CLUTCH, in which he stars as an ex-police investigator - named Clutch - who's driven to solve a complicated unsolved case that's troubled him for years: the kidnapping of several young women by wealthy and dangerous human traffickers. Reluctantly teaming up with a new partner in detective Angel (played by Jamiah Dancil), Clutch and Angel search for the missing victims of those traffickers - including Angel's niece - while Clutch's search for redemption puts both himself and the success of his and Angel's case at incredible risk. Bryan wrote and co-produced the movie, which is now streaming on Tubi and Amazon Video, and it is a sequel to his earlier film, DIRT, which introduced the Clutch character. CLUTCH on Amazon Video (for rent or purchase): https://www.amazon.com/CLUTCH-Bryan-G-Thompson/dp/B0DDV2DWHP CLUTCH on Tubi (free with ads): https://tubitv.com/movies/100027663/clutch Follow CLUTCH on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutchthemovie/ Follow Bryan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bryangthompson/ Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    43 min
  6. Episode 115 - SEX DATE Writer/Director Mike Nicholas

    19/12/2024

    Episode 115 - SEX DATE Writer/Director Mike Nicholas

    This week, The Viewfinder Podcast welcomes writer/director Mike Nicholas, whose romantic comedy short film SEX DATE recently won both Best Film and a cash prize of $50,000 at the 2024 Louisiana Film Prize in Shreveport. Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X: @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    35 min
  7. Episode 114 - CARRIAGE RETURN Composer Elena Maro

    13/12/2024

    Episode 114 - CARRIAGE RETURN Composer Elena Maro

    Composer Elena Maro's unsettling avant-garde/jazz hybrid soundtrack for director Ferguson Sauvé-Rogan's 1950's-set drama Carriage Return powerfully surrounds the on-screen conflict between a lazy, writer's block-afflicted playwright Lane Williams (played by Jeremy Parr) and his outraged ex-writing partner Charlie Marlow (played by Carlos Sanchez), who accuses his former collaborator of stealing his creative ideas and using them for his most recent theatrical success in an angry confrontation that challenges the emotions - and the futures - of both men.  As unpredictable as the film's storyline is, Maro's score for it is even more so, and its fusion of brass section and saxophone with non-big band jazz percussion and experimental sounds - including those that mimic the typewriter itself - brilliantly and hauntingly accompanies a movie where neither its characters nor the unusual situation they're stuck in are what they seem to be.  Directed by Ferguson and written and produced by his brother Daniel - who also played bass guitar on Maro's score - Carriage Return premiered this past July at the LA Shorts International Film Festival in Los Angeles, and Maro's music from the movie is now streaming on various platforms. (By the way, the movie is named after the “carriage return” key on a typewriter that allows you to go back to the far end of a page and begin typing new words.) Find out more about CARRIAGE RETURN on its official web site: https://www.carriagereturnmovie.com/ Visit Elena's official web page to find out more about her score for CARRIAGE RETURN and her other past/upcoming projects: https://www.elenamaro.com/ Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X: @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    30 min
  8. Episode 113 - RED Writer/Producer/Director Ashley Rae Harper

    26/07/2024

    Episode 113 - RED Writer/Producer/Director Ashley Rae Harper

    Peer pressure. Bullying. Family troubles. The need to overachieve. Depressed and overwhelmed by these problems, many teenagers try to solve them not through therapy and medication but through illicit narcotics, alcohol, criminal recklessness, self-harm and, sadly, suicide. However, numerous organizations, parents, teen survivors of suicide attempts and mental health experts are combating the suicide crisis.  So too are amazing filmmakers like our guest on this week’s Viewfinder Podcast, Ashley Rae Harper. Her award-winning short film RED, which she wrote, produced and directed, portrays the ordeal of an embattled adolescent - Billie, played by Chloe Hulgan - who’s hospitalized after her distraught mother and father find that she’s tried to end her life. While in treatment, Billie learns not just about the value of living but also about the value of seeking help for her problems - no matter how impossible they may be to solve. RED is available to stream on Harper’s YouTube channel, and you can find the link to it in the notes for this week’s show. Before you watch it, though, please remember that it may be too triggering for certain audiences, and if you or someone you love is at risk of suicide, please call or text the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline immediately at 9-8-8. That’s 9-8-8. They can help save your life and the lives of those you care about. I’m honored to welcome Ashley Rae Harper to the Viewfinder Podcast to discuss this important project and how it will help both teens and their families. Follow Ashley Rae Harper on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyraeproductionsllc/ Follow Ashley Rae Productions on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyraeproductionsllc/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyraeproductionsllc/ Follow The Viewfinder Podcast on X @ViewfinderPod On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast Music by Audionautix.com

    16 min
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On the Viewfinder Podcast, you'll hear fascinating in-depth interviews with some of today's most talented indie filmmakers and actors as they take you inside the creative process behind their latest productions.

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