48 episodes
The Break Breakdown: A Podcast from Queens Bird Films Queens Bird Films
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- TV & Film
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5.0 • 11 Ratings
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How do you get your "big break"? In an ever increasingly gate-kept world, independent art is both impossible to make and more powerful than ever when it breaks through. Join Courtney Romano, a female film director and founder of Queens Bird Films, an indie film production company in New York City, for an exploration of how to break into film and design an indie career from the ground up, one step at a time.
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S3 E13 | Self-Distributing a Theatrically-Released Feature Film and Intuitive Filmmaking with Director Scott Monahan [BONUS Episode]
The big goal for many indie filmmakers is a theatrical release. But when you are self-distributing your own feature film, is a theatrical release possible? For director, actor, and executive producer Scott Monahan, it was. With an acting resume and a background in devised theatrical work, Scott's debut feature film Anchorage came together one intuitive step at a time.
Benjy and Courtney speak with Scott about the big obstacles he faced in getting the feature film produced and distributed, how he approached the project as a first time feature director, and the intuitive, creative methods he used to theatrically release this epic debut film.
MORE ABOUT ANCHORAGE:
Buy or Rent Anchorage
https://geni.us/Anchorage
Anchorage Official Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmuGZz_lKwo
Follow Anchorage on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/anchoragemovie/
Follow Scott Monahan on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/chipsahoyjunkie/?hl=en
Follow Dakota Loesch on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/dakotaloesch/?hl=en
When you're ready to start your own web series or indie film, start here with: HOW TO MAKE A WEB SERIES | PLAYBOOK: https://www.artists-strategy.com/queens-bird-web-series-playbook
SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: bit.ly/kinsleyvs
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Host & Producer: Courtney Romano
Host & Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw
Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman
The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films.
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Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG
Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG
Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG
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ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS:
Queens Bird Films is a production company telling stories to make life fun. With irreverence, depth, and a bit of whimsy, we make things for people who want to fall back in love with life.
See the films, series, and podcasts we made for you here: queensbirdfilms.com
Subscribe to the NEWSLETTER: https://bit.ly/QBlist
Follow on INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/queensbirdfilms
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebreakbreakdown/message -
S3 E12 | How a $6000 Feature Film Launched a Filmmaking Career with Director Joshua Caldwell [BONUS Episode]
Can you really launch a film career with a microbudget feature? The short answer is yes, and Joshua Caldwell has done it. Joshua shares his insights on winning the MTV Movie Award, the jobs he took in LA to make connections in the industry, his writing process, how he approached his self-produced $6k microbudget feature The Layover by flipping the traditional approach, and how it all led to his latest film: Mending the Line, starring Brian Cox. And now, as he continues to build his own career, Joshua has taken his experience with The Layover and put it into his 6K Filmmaker Course, teaching aspiring filmmakers how to make microbudget feature films and launch their own careers.
Watch Mending the Line here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSkv_sEyPSc
Watch The Layover here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tNXYvA6ahQ
Read more about Joshua here: https://www.meyd-ent.com/
Check out the 6k Filmmaker course here: https://www.meyd-ent.com/6kfilmmaker
When you're ready to start your own web series or indie film, start here with this FREE GUIDE TO PITCHING: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64e37261c7567cef7b9f6cd9
SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: bit.ly/kinsleyvs
----------
Host & Producer: Courtney Romano
Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw
Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman
The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films.
----------
Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG
Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG
Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG
----
ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS:
Queens Bird Films is a production company telling stories to make life fun. With irreverence, depth, and a bit of whimsy, we make things for people who want to fall back in love with life.
See the films, series, and podcasts we made for you here: queensbirdfilms.com
Subscribe to the NEWSLETTER: https://bit.ly/QBlist
Follow on INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/queensbirdfilms
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebreakbreakdown/message -
S3 E11 | The Grit and Resilience of a 10 Year Film Project with Documentary Filmmaker Kevin Longa [BONUS Episode]
Web series production is not one size fits all. Some indie filmmakers may start with web series distribution. Others could start with a web series script they are itching to write. And then some might start on a whim while traveling, and spin one simple idea into an epic documentary series made up of 70 short films, shot across 3 continents, over the course of one decade. That's what filmmaker Kevin Longa did.
In today's episode, producer Benjamin Shaw talks with Kevin about TASTE, his indie web series cataloguing the stories of food entrepreneurs — from pastry chefs to foragers — from around the world. Starting on this journey with a DSLR camera he got off Craig's List, Kevin has made a prolific body of work by bringing a sense of experimentation, grit, and resilience to this massive 10 year project.
Watch Kevin Longa's indie web series here: TASTE
And! Kevin is looking for collaborators. DM him on Instagram for more info.
When you're ready to start your own web series or indie film, start here with this FREE GUIDE TO PITCHING: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64e37261c7567cef7b9f6cd9
SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: bit.ly/kinsleyvs
----------
Host & Producer: Courtney Romano
Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw
Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman
The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films.
----------
Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG
Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG
Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG
----
ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS:
Queens Bird Films is a production company telling stories to make life fun. With irreverence, depth, and a bit of whimsy, we make things for people who want to fall back in love with life.
See the films, series, and podcasts we made for you here: queensbirdfilms.com
Subscribe to the NEWSLETTER: https://bit.ly/QBlist
Follow on INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/queensbirdfilms
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebreakbreakdown/message -
S3 E10 | Punk Rock Filmmaking and How to Make a No-Crew Feature Film with Filmmaker Noam Kroll [BONUS Episode]
[BONUS EPISODE] Hot take: you don't need piles of cash and limitless free time to make a feature film. You can make a feature film with no crew, write as you go, edit you as you go, shoot on weekends, and in less than a year, have a feature film in the can and ready for distribution.
This is exactly what filmmaker Noam Kroll did with his film Disappearing Boy. Noam is a vertiable fount of wisdom when it comes to micro-budget filmmaking. He has made a living as a working indie filmmaker, hosts the successful filmmaking podcast Show Don't Tell, and created a feature film incubator called The Backlot for indie filmmakers. Noam knows how to make something from nothing, and he's done it again and again and again. We were thrilled to have him on this bonus episode of TBB!
SHOW NOTES
7:28 Defining micro-budget filmmaking
10:42 The Rick Rubin / Def Jam ethos of filmmaking
12:07 Is the micro-budget filmmaking practice a strategy or necessity?
15:14 Be the best or be the only
20:20 How Noam started crafting the narrative of his micro-budget film
29:40 The production schedule for Disappearing Boy
33:47 How narrative directors can approach the technical aspect of a no-crew feature
40:20 Noam’s advice for making a big film
41:54 The one thing Noam wish he knew about filmmaking earlier
44:08 The strong foundation to launch your career from
47:09 Inspiration vs. Luck
Sign up for Noam's newsletter here: noamkroll.com/newsletterFollow Noam on social here: @noamkroll
You might not need a lot of money for a no-crew feature film, but when you do need to raise money, start here with this FREE GUIDE TO PITCHING: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64e37261c7567cef7b9f6cd9
SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: bit.ly/kinsleyvs
----------
Host & Producer: Courtney Romano
Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw
Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman
The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films.
----------
Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG
Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG
Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG
----
ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS:
We’re an independent film company based in New York City. Our mission is to make films, episodics, and theatrical events that tell the whole, and sometimes overlooked, story.
We believe how we make things is just as important as what we make.
We strive to unearth the surprising and inevitable.
Practical & philosophical tips for your indie filmmaking journey, as well as QBF production news, casting calls, episode releases, and more: http://bit.ly/QBlist
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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebreakbreakdown/message -
S3 E9 | Exposing the Unseen Moments of Making an Indie Web Series
Over the course of two years, we made a web series. And in that time, writer/director Courtney Romano recorded moments of the process — from self-reflection to directing actors to producer's meetings.
In today's episode, we piece together a two year process through those BTS audio clips and commentary. Hopefully they give you a feel for the process as a whole. And hopefully, their inherent nebulous, winding, hard-to-pin-down ethos reminds you that you can do this, it isn't a straight line, and the work you do that no one ever sees will indeed add up to something.
Today's Final Word is from creative producer Kara Griffin Cushman, who you can find here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kara-griffin-cushman
SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: bit.ly/kinsleyvs
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Host: Courtney Romano
Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw
Supervising Producer: Match Zimmerman
Producer: Sara States
Musical Theme: Match ZimmermanKinsley Vs. Theme: Shira Krasnow
Created by Courtney Romano
The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films.
----------
Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG
Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG
Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG
----
ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS:
We’re an independent film company based in New York City. Our mission is to make films, episodics, and theatrical events that tell the whole, and sometimes overlooked, story.
We believe how we make things is just as important as what we make.
We strive to unearth the surprising and inevitable.
Find out about our latest production news, casting calls, episode releases, and more by joining the QNS BRD List here: http://bit.ly/QBlist
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebreakbreakdown/message -
S3 E8 | How to Work with the Psychology of Color in Film
Color is emotional. And while you might not be consciously aware of the importance of color in film, once you start noticing color's effect on your feelings, you can't unsee it.In this week's episode, Kinsley Vs. colorist Marika Litz talks with Courtney and Benjy about the psychology of color in film, how a colorist and a director work together to find a common color language, they break down what a colorist's job is and isn't, and they dive into the pink effect of Episode 3: Spiral with Courtney. This episode will convince you of the importance of color in film and inspire you with practical tips on how to color grade your videos and films.
Today's guest was colorist Marika Litz, who you can follow here: https://www.marikalitz.com
Today's Final Word is from actor Angela Reed, whose work you can read about here: https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Angela-Reed
SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: bit.ly/kinsleyvs
----------
Host: Courtney Romano
Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw
Supervising Producer: Match Zimmerman
Producer: Sara States
Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman
Created by Courtney Romano
The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films.
----------
Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG
Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG
Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG
----
ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS:
We’re an independent film company based in New York City. Our mission is to make films, episodics, and theatrical events that tell the whole, and sometimes overlooked, story.
We believe how we make things is just as important as what we make.
We strive to unearth the surprising and inevitable.
Find out about our latest production news, casting calls, episode releases, and more by joining the QNS BRD List here: http://bit.ly/queensbirdfilms
---
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thebreakbreakdown/message
Customer Reviews
Listening to Candor and Courage with Courtney
Courtney continues to find the most fascinating stories from endlessly interesting people! During a pandemic when artists, especially, have faced months and months of fear, frustration and uncertainty, Courtney has given them a platform for their voices to be heard. Bravo to your interview skills and also to everyone who told their stories with such candor and courage.
Not just for artists
I look forward to each new episode of The Break Breakdown because I know that I will learn something, I will meet the most interesting people, and I will come away from it enriched and encouraged. You do not have to be an artist to benefit from listening. The stories are real and touching and will resonate will your soul, no matter what your life journey is. It is definitely time well-spent.
THE podcast for creatives!
Courtney’s perspective challenges the conventional way of doing things and it’s a breath of fresh air. Extremely thoughtful conversations that are both informative and soul-nourishing!
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