Making Movies is HARD!!!: The Struggles of Indie Filmmaking

This week we welcome Tate Hanyok on the show to talk about the transition from acting to writing and now to directing and what it was like to make her first two feature films as a writer. A big shout out to the wonderful people at the Austin film festival for connecting us with Tate to make this happen and don’t go anywhere because after the interview we play another round of THE GAME and we read a new itunes review, enjoy! Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1 For 20% off your Jambox subscription use code MMIH @ jambox.io Check out the ISA at: www.networkisa.org

On this Thursday bonus episode we are going to play the interview from episode 168 back from August 5th 2018 with filmmaker Jean-Luc Julien who talks about moving to Berlin and how he managed to make his first feature on a very low budget while living in Berlin. I felt like this was a good pairing for our episode with Jae because they are both documentary filmmakers who pushed the genre in different directions, but one working in Los Angeles and the other working in Europe. But don't got away because Liz and Alrik also play another round of the game! Enjoy!

This week we welcome editor, writer and director Jae Shim on the show to talk about making his first feature film Opus Cope about composer and author David Cope who spent his life teaching computers how to make music. Jae talks about how he discovered David and his work and how he formed his first feature blending documentary and fiction together through the film. After that we play another round of You’re the Expert, enjoy! Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1 For 20% off your Jambox subscription use code MMIH @ jambox.io Check out the ISA at: www.networkisa.org

On this Thursday throwback episode we are going to play our interview with Rebecca Weaver back from episode 103 that aired on May 22nd 2017. I thought this was a good pairing for Dawn’s episode because Rebecca actually made her first feature with a tiny two person crew on a very tiny budget of $11k. I think this is a bit smaller than what Dawn was thinking of but I think it’ll make a good contrast to hear how a filmmaker made their feature with far less resources and a really small team. After that we play another round of You’re the expert, enjoy! If you like these throwback episodes give us a shout at podcast@makingmoviesishard.com and thanks for listening! Check out our patreon at www.patreon.com/mmihpodcast Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1

This week we welcome writer and director Dawn Jones Redstone to talk about making her first feature film Mother of Color, how she came up for the idea for the film and how she raised the funds in an untraditional way. We also play another round of the Game, enjoy! Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1 For 20% off your Jambox subscription use code MMIH @ jambox.io Check out the ISA at: www.networkisa.org

Here's a throwback episode from our 100th episode way back on May 8th of 2017 at the end of the 2nd year of the show! Jared Hess is the director of Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and many others. For those who don't know Napoleon Dynamite basically became the most successful indie film ever and I don't think anything that low budget as achieved that level of success since (maybe paranormal activity). He's a working writer and a director, spending most of his time on TV and films. But the reason we wanted to talk to him was because he lived the dream we all have: making it into Sundance with our first film, winning a bunch of awards and getting whisked off to Hollywood to start a career. This conversation is a good match for Thom Harp, not because of the Sundance win but because he always works with the funniest of people in all of his movies, which is also true for Thom at the very start of his career! Enjoy! If you like these throwback episodes give us a shout at podcast@makingmoviesishard.com and thanks for listening! Check out our patreon at www.patreon.com/mmihpodcast Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1

This week, Alrik and Liz welcome filmmaker Thom Harp on the show to talk about making his move to LA, getting reps, and then after many years, making his two first features back to back during the pandemic. We focus the conversation mainly on The Donor Party starring Malin Ackerman. Enjoy! Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1 For 20% off your Jambox subscription use code MMIH @ jambox.io Check out the ISA at: www.networkisa.org

Here's a throwback episode from way back in the vault from episode 157 with writer/director J.D. Dillard who was famously attached to a Star Wars feature and a Superman feature and was in development on a remake of The Fly for many years. In this conversation we talk about making his first feature Sleight which ended up premiering at Sundance and being released in theaters and made over $1 million dollars in theaters alone before going to streaming/DVD on a $250k budget. This was a really fun conversation then and I think it remains a great one now! If you like these throwback episodes give us a shout at podcast@makingmoviesishard.com and thanks for listening! Check out our patreon at www.patreon.com/mmihpodcast Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1

This week Alrik and Liz welcome writer/director Yoko Okumura on the show to talk about the making of her first feature film Unseen, as part of a Blumhouse/MGM deal, how she landed the director role and what her experience was like directing her first feature at that scale. After that we play another round of THE GAME. Enjoy Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1 For 20% off your Jambox subscription use code MMIH @ jambox.io Check out the ISA at: www.networkisa.org

This week Liz and Alrik talk with indie filmmaker Aleem Hossain about the process of making his first feature film, After We Leave, which he shot across over eight years and made it on a budget under $50k. Aleem talks about his decision to make his film over a long period of time, not rush the process and make sure he got each frame just the way he wanted. If you like these throwback episodes give us a shout at podcast@makingmoviesishard.com and thanks for listening! Check out our patreon at www.patreon.com/mmihpodcast Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1