indie spunk Izzy Stevens

This isn't the end... It's just a new beginning!



Things will be changing for the pod next year, so we compiled the BEST of the best highlights of Season 1 so all your film tips could land in one place!



Keep an eye out for more episodes in 2024, and join us on January 12th at 2pm for the Momentum Retreat to kickstart your 2024 with High-Level Support & Your Unique Action Plan!

Snag tickets here!



Let's take a moment to look back at all of the beautiful learning experiences/conversations over the past year (yes, the first season is coming to a close, how crazy is that!)



You’ll hear a highlight reel for film related tips that came out of this year from our guests about:


Tips & tricks for submitting to festivals


Networking and building lasting relationships 


Growing your trust in yourself and the process





Thank you to all of our listeners over this past year! We’ve loved the opportunity to support all of you lovely filmmakers in your journey through this industry. 



Check out the full episodes more potent and impactful conversations (linked in order of appearance below):


How to Make a Festival Splash with Oscar Qualifying HollyShorts Co-Director Theo Dumont


Film Producing & Building Your Career with Producer & Sundance Managing Director of Producing, Lauren Lukow


The Power of Trusting Your Passion with Comedian + The Simpson's Writer, Julia Prescott


How to Build a Powerful Social Media Following Authentically & Attract Dream Creative Opportunities, with Sarah Pribis.


Cinematography for Actors (& Filmmakers Too!): Next-Level Your Creative Process, Projects & Collaborations


Trust Yourself + Don't Wait For The Phone To Ring, with My Best Mates Karina & Raechelle Banno (+ their film The Party Job).


From First-Time Filmmaker to Fully Funded: How My Client Renu Razdan Went From Script-to-Screen in 6 months. 


How to Build Your Network & Career Momentum, with Emmy-Nominated Director Sonja O’Hara

In this episode, Izzy has a vulnerable, honest and empowering convo with Katy Chen Mazzara about financial wellness as a freelancer.



Katy Chen Mazzara is a certified trauma-informed financial wellness coach and graduate of UC Berkeley’s Personal Financial Planning program. As a former TV producer and award-winning documentary filmmaker, Katy understands the balance between dreaming and doing. Through her six step Financial Freedom Formula, Katy helps creative freelancers and entrepreneurs make more, worry less, and achieve true financial freedom, so they can create the life of their dreams.



She talks about how your current belief systems around money can hinder you, and what some typical mental blocks are around money, and why Katy doesn’t believe in budgeting. 



Stand-Outs from this stellar convo:


Your emotional life is a direct reflection of your financial life. The more you can start to clean up the emotions behind the money, then the money stuff becomes easier and starts to flow. Very similar to your creative flow.


Money as energy.


Without understanding where we came from, we can’t go to where we want to go.


You get to decide what value you put on [money].


What money represents for me is freedom of choice… The more money I have, the more choices I get to make, and the more freedom I get to create in my life.





P.S. Katy is offering a FREE workshop on Dec 5th, 7th, and 9th!



In this Financial Freedom Formula workshop, Katy will guide you through a series of powerful steps designed to help you make more, worry less, and still pursue your passions. 



Here's a sneak peek of what's in store 👀:

✅ Attract more money so that you’re no longer limited by your bank balance.

✅ Break free from financial constraints by releasing money blocks, enabling you to thrive in your entrepreneurial endeavors

✅ Build a foundation for the future so that you can have peace of mind, security and stability.



Don’t miss out on this opportunity to take the first step toward a financially empowered and creatively liberated life through Katy’s Financial Freedom Formula Workshop!



Sign up here!



Resources:

BTS of the Bachelor

Profit First: Transform Your Business from a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine

Katy’s Instagram

Katy’s Website

This is an exclusive recording of a Q&A Workshop inside the All-Access membership of indie spunk club.



BLACK FRIDAY OFFERS expire on Friday 11/24 at 8 pm PST! Get in on it here.



In this episode, Izzy speaks with close friend and Sundance director Chloé Aktas. They discuss capitalizing on beginner’s luck, making pitching personal, and Chloe’s process for writing. By the end of this episode, you’ll find that if you’re curious, resourceful, tenacious, and open, you will figure it out. 



Chloé Aktas is an American and Turkish writer/actor/director from North Carolina. In 2020 her short film “Lance (in a Neck Brace)” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was featured in IndieWire’s “Top Ten Must See Shorts at Sundance,” as well as recognized by NPR, No Film School Podcast, and Vimeo Staff Pick. Chloé was one of twenty-five directors personally invited to the Canada Goose and IndieWire Female Filmmaker Dinner at Sundance, celebrating “trailblazing women in the industry.” Her acting credits include “The Walking Dead." In 2016 her short film "Mutt" was a finalist for the 43rd Student Academy Awards.



This episode will empower you to:


Seek out people who can help you.


Nurture your creativity by paying attention to what artistically turns you on. 


Pitch in a connected, personable way that creates contagious excitement.


Embrace the fact that the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.


Give yourself the grace to find your authenticity through the process of filmmaking.


Release the self-judgment that could be limiting your creativity. 





P.S. Chloé’s short “Lance (in a Neck Brace)” is one of ten films nominated for the Cards Against Humanity Short Film Festival!

Click here to watch her short and vote for her film to win the $100,000 cash prize!



Resources mentioned in this episode:

Chloé’s Instagram

Chloé’s IMDB

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

In this episode, Izzy and Sonja explore Sonja’s journey of self-made success, forged through hard work, relationship-building, and creating her own opportunities. 



Sonja O'Hara, an Emmy-nominated queer writer/director/actor, represented by The Gotham Group and WME, has been recognized as one of the "10 Filmmakers To Watch" by Independent Magazine. She's known for her Shudder series DOOMSDAY, which earned a Daytime Emmy nomination, and recently directed two feature films, including Lionsgate's MID-CENTURY with Academy Award nominee Bruce Dern and ROOT LETTER, praised by FilmThreat as an indie gem.



In this episode, Izzy and Sonja talk about:

— Directing in a way that emboldens your actor to make strong choices 

— Trusting that even if it’s a no right now, that doesn't mean it’s a no forever.

— Building the skills, the capability, and the team with your first project, so that it can become a stepping stone to something bigger

— Strategically approaching your career

— Diligently nurturing your network, thereby creating momentum



P.S. At 41:36, Sonja describes an uber sexy way to pitch yourself to agents as multi-hyphenate. It’ll get ya revved up. 



Resources mentioned:

FREE Film Budget Training

Sonja’s Facebook

Sonja’s Instagram

In this episode, Izzy dives deep with TV & Film Writer Tawnya Benavides Bhattacharya. They discuss how betting on herself led Tawnya on a journey toward writing and to the creation of her business, Script Anatomy. 



As Izzy and Tawnya discover similarities in their life paths, Tawnya shares how building her platform coincided with her career taking off.



Tawnya and her writing partner, Ali Laventhol, are currently Co-Executive Producers on Peacock’s hit show Bel Air and Netflix’s My Life With The Walter Boys. They are currently co-writing a movie with Peter Landesman (Concussion, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), as well as The Girl In The Attic for Stacy Mandelberg. The writing team is currently in the 2023 Showrunner Training Program. They have written on multiple shows: A Million Little Things (ABC), Famous in Love (Freeform), The Night Shift (NBC), Ginny & Georgia (Netflix), Perception (TNT), The Client List (Lifetime) and Fairly Legal (USA), as well as Amazon’s Shelter, based on a Harlan Coben trilogy, and Salsa for Apple.



In this episode, Izzy and Tawnya talk about:

— overnight success happens over fifteen years

— trusting your co-creators and the delicate chemistry of a writers' room

— actionable tips on how to combat toxic environments

— finding balance, even in times of imbalance 

— honing your craft by making your own work

— most importantly, fave places for wine and pasta in Silverlake



Come for the food & drink recs, stay for the industry insight and wealth of knowledge that this amazing badass has to share! 



Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

Script Anatomy

Tawnya's Twitter

Tawnya's Instagram

"Burn It Down" by Maureen Ryan

Sneak a peek inside one of Izzy’s coaching calls in this episode...



THE DOORS TO SCRIPT TO SCREEN CLOSE TOMORROW OCT 10!

Get your booty in here: https://indiespunk.com/script-to-screen 



In this ep, Izzy also discusses how she’s built her career over the past decade, through failures and setbacks, from hiding her first short film, to landing premieres at prestigious film festivals and getting featured in magazines. Since then, Izzy has helped her clients raise over 100k in film funds, and over 45+ creators get their films finished and festival-celebrated.



Izzy chats how to —


Create a situation where success is inevitable 


Reimagine your approach to imposter syndrome


Capitalize on the effort you put into your short so your career can have IMPACT.





Most of all, Izzy shares actionable advice on how to get the most out of your crowdfunding campaign (which is included in S2S. Details below, doors close tomorrow! ⬇️)



Script to Screen Accelerator