Haven't Made It Yet

Advice and guidance are an undeniable part of success but you can't take every bit of advice. Haley Johnson talks about fostering intuition, the writer-director dynamic, and some crazy ways she's landed directing gigs. 

If you want to support us please like and review our podcast on YouTube and Spotify. Thank you for listening.  

Haley's Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/haleynjohnson?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Haley's YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@haleynjohnson?si=zEi7OfuElvaNCbwn

Check out the full interview on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46I8GIwNK7s

In an act of unwavering persistence, your three HAVEN'T MADE IT YET hosts have gathered to give you a special kickoff episode. Look forward to an assessment of last season's viewership stats, updates about our professional lives, and a surprise message from both our listeners.

But in all seriousness, thank you for listening to our podcast. Your support means the world to us. If you enjoyed the show please give us a like and subscribe to the channel to catch future episodes!

Want more episode? Our youtube has the full video version and more! --->

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O91gyq4AhKY

Indieknot present this never before heard season 2 finale lost episode. On this episode, we're going meta! We talk about our thoughts of the podcast from how it started to where we want to go with it. We also do a Q/A with Hayden and Jannik sharing a bit about their relationship with film. We're glad to put this out after months of it collecting dust on one of our hard drives. But don't worry, it didn't effect our content. Trust me. We make good content. Very funny stuff. Or not. Sometimes it's not funny but it's meant to be not funny. Okay!!? It's worth listening to. Our mom's give it a 9 out of 10 (they don't like when we say bad words). Please listen to it! Please. Tax season is coming up and this is our last chance to make it big before the IRS finds out we used all those bank loans on our Indieknot celebration budget. Kidding. Just kidding, but listen to it regardless... 

We got a lot of new stuff coming in soon. See you all in Season 3! :)

And if you're from the IRS, those were proper business expenses and you know it!!!

Danielle tells all about the pre-production of making her latest short film, Bush, a story that embraces the beauty and anxieties about a women's connection with her pubic hair. She also shares what it's like to work in a writer's room and gives some good pointers on how excel at being a celebrity personal assistant.
 
Follow Danielle on Instagram for more info on Bush:

@mothercannoli

Jordan is a fellow University of Oregon alumni and joined us for an informative conversation about nerdy camera stuff. We talk about the intricacies of IATSE local 600 (camera union) and Jordan's personal experiences grinding through the ranks of the camera department here in Hollywood. 

@jordaniousmaximus

Addie Weyrich is a multifaceted performer. She lives in Los Angeles, California where she works as an actor. Her monthly live show "The Addie Show: Featuring You" (Elysian Theater in Echo Park, CA) is part improvised comedy part experimental performance that builds on audience participation. Listen in to see what went into the creation of the show and why Addie thinks art is the shit. 

Addie's Instagram: @addieyomind

Julia Kennelly returns with a quick segment on how to truly embrace the scrappiness when making an indipendent film. We discuss differences in the LA and New York film scene, share our stories on what we've done to embrace the scrappy, and Julia gives good insight on what it means to have a good relationship with her film colleagues.

Mike has followed the wind. Listen to his riveting story; a Filipino surfer turned big time art director. Mike has worked with companies such as National Geographic, Discovery, BBC, and other travel related shows that have filmed near the Philippines. Always a proponent of hands on work, Mike spends his free time designing bird houses in his jungle wood shop and building schools for the Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation. 
 
For more on Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation visit:
yellowboat.org

Mike Tan's Instagram for his woodworking projects:
@kraftwerks76

Our first Oscar winner guest! Woo! Julia is a producer, director, and writer. She has experience working in New York and LA and has primarily worked on independent films.

juliakennelly.com

@jmkennelly

Coming to Hollywood from Armenia, Arax is determined to bring her creatures to life in anything from feature films to video games. Forever fascinated by creatures both fictional and real, Arax has been designing monsters all her life. During this episode, she talks about her creative process which includes a vigorous research stage, drawing concepts, and problem-solving during the physical creation of the final product. For example, her Xenomorph recreation uses a range of household items you'd probably never think of when looking at the final product. For example...pantyhose (mixed with different glues to make the smooth part of the head).

One burning question we had for Arax specifically was her stance on artificial intelligence. Listen in for an interesting discussion on A.I. and how it affects our relationship with art. Hope you enjoy! 

Check out our Instagram for photos of the stuff we mention in the episode: @indieknot_films

And for even more Arax content: @araxsargsyan

We're really on a roll with our international guests! 

Pinar is a Turkish-American film producer. In this episode, we try to define the role of a film producer and talk about what she learned during her time at the Film Independent Producing Fellowship. Pinar also talks about her time working in NYC, how her cultural past has shaped her, and her fascination with history. As a natural leader, Pinar sees producing as her way to facilitate a more authentic retelling of the past by highlighting minority perspectives. We hope you enjoy the conversation. 

Pinar's social: https://www.instagram.com/binaypinar/

Katy Bentz shares her successes as a voice actor, full body motion capture artist, and Twitch streamer as she pursues to become an award winning actress. Katy is greatly known in her role as Steph in the award winning video game, Life is Strange: True Colors. As Steph, she does both voice acting and full body motion capture. From doing video game voice acting, she has grown her fan base through twitch live streaming along with her work as an actress. We should honestly have voice actors on this podcast more often cuz Katy's voice sure is worth hearing. Enjoy!

For More Katy Bentz, follow her on:

Instagram: @katybentzofficial

Twitch: https://m.twitch.tv/katybentz

Our guest today has made great waves through the world of reality television. He's worked as a Senior Producer for Fox's Season 1 of Farmer Wants a Wife as well as helped create shows such as Holely Moley and The Real Love Boat. Jannik had the pleasure to work side by side with Nick on Farmer Wants a Wife and found out just how much creativity pours out of this man. We knew that we needed to get Nick on the podcast to share his origin and his progress as he gets himself closer in making an Emmy Award Winning tv show. Even though Nick technically is Jannik and Hayden’s boss's boss, he is a great friend to have a chat with and is full of mentor worthy words of wisdom. Enjoy!

Makhas dives into her South African upbringing, reconnecting with her Zulu roots and how she found acting,  which she describes as a “refuge for misfits”. After being a casting assitant in NYC and an LA actor with some close calls (Star Trek missed out) Makha shares what she learned auditions are really all about. Now, she spends her professional life performing on stage and on the screen as well as coaching acting. Listen in to find out how the law of large numbers is working in your favor and why Makha is banned from certain IHOPs.

Makha’s IMDB:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8743713/?ref_=hm_rvi_nm_i_1

Makha’s website & coaching info:

https://makhamthembu.wixsite.com/my-site-1

Robert Mai creates musical scores for films, video games and commercials. Having experience in a variety of creative positions on and off set has allowed Robert to look at the role of music in visual media holistically. Afterall, the music should accentuate something this is already present not tell the audience how to feel. At least Robert and I think so. He describes taking on the role of an actor when he communicates with the directors he is composing for. An approach that I certainly appriciated when Robert scored one of my short films. During the interview we talk about nebulous and mysterious nature of music and how Robert has learned to wield it's power through trial and error. 

Robert's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/robertmai107/

Most filmmakers who Havn't Made It Yet are NOT naturally good at marketing themselves. Sam, a long time friend of mine, has always been good at the social (or networking) side of film. During this episode we break down what it really means to network before getting into Sam's pesonal journey of finding his creative confidence.

Sam's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samgostnell/

They say working in management is one of the best ways to start a career in film because of all the exposure you get to the inner workings of the industry. On this episode, Sam Hong enlightens us about the mysterious and unseen processes that decide which movies get made and which don't. For someone who has one of the most stressful jobs imaginable, Sam holds a surprisingly calm outlook about a positive future. Take it from her, because it seems like the managemnt / agency world is clued in on what tomorrow looks like. At least for us film folk. Listen in to see which NDA breaking dirty little hollywood secrets I forgot to cut out. 

I met Joe on a commercial shoot after overhearing him talk about his D&D based passion project. He showed me the trailer for "The Dice Decide" and I instantly knew I wanted to interview him. Joe is one of those people that just seem to have the freelancer-in-hollywood thing all figured out. He would probably humbly disagree, but the guy gets free camera gear from name brands. For free! For free is having it figured out. His bread and butter is BTS videography but he also works in the camera department in other capacities. Listen in to hear how Joe leveraged his social media and networking skills to get where he is today. 

The Decide Decide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeoSFx38DnA

Joe's social media: https://www.instagram.com/adamsjoe330/

If you think filmmaking is hard, try doing it well dangling off a cliff. Our guest today does just that and more. As an adventure photographer, Max goes above and beyond to get the beauty shot. On this episode, hear the ins and outs of Max's life as a camera operator as he shares what it's like to live life on the edge. The. Mountain's Edge. Because he climbs. He's a climbing filmmaker, I don't know if I made myself clear on that.

Here's a link to Max's latest film, Legacy of the Muir: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cP8GMVoEpsA&t=6s

Max's website: 

https://www.maxbuschinimedia.com/

Instagram:

@maxbuschini

In this addendum to the Francisco Lederman episode we talk about different fundraising strategies for independent short and feature length projects.