On Air Off Set podcast

The Tarantinos, the Spike Lees and the Wes Andersons of the world get all the credit. They are after all, the creative force behind their respective films. Yet with all that they have on their plate how is it possible for one person to direct an entire cast and crew which can consist of up to hundreds of personnel? The answer is they don’t.

Enter the First Assistant Director. They are quite possibly the true eye of the storm on a film shoot, not known to the public eye, but certainly to everyone on set. How does a film production with all it’s moving parts stay on schedule and on budget? A solid 1st A.D will make it happen.

Josh Williams and Joe Ciccarella have been that proverbial eye of the storm for many projects over many years. All guts and no glory, this job ain’t for everyone and they’re here to tell you why.

Stunt performers are there to take all risks and absorb all the hits to make an action scene come to life in a film or tv show. They make it all seem easy…..until something goes wrong and in this world of stunts there’s always that danger. One miscue, one false move, one unsecured rig can end a person’s career or even their life, but they know that going in to this job. As much as their roles have evolved over the decades, what also has changed is the push for more safety regulations and more recognition from Hollywood.

Continuing from episode 15, Stephen Koepfer and Rose Sias shed more light on the most dangerous department on set.

Films and tv shows have become more and more action oriented as time goes on. There is a demand for more eye-popping thrills but with a healthy dose of scrutiny as to the authenticity of a fight scene or a car chase or a fall from a building. A director can dream up all the death-defying sequences they want but without a dedicated stunt department to coordinate it all, they will remain a dream.

Stephen Koepfer and Rose Sias give us a break down of the tight-knit community that are the stunt performers, the stunt doubles and the stunt coordinators of film and television.

There is no one size fits all linear path to making your first feature film on an independent level. You’re an unknown filmmaker with no track record, but you might just be sitting on an amazing script, a script that’s also completely doable with a small budget.

Maxing out your credit cards, fundraising, asking for favors, bartering, stealing shots, filming only on weekends or after hours, losing sleep…..it’s the nature of the beast. 

Two aspiring directors, Diana Rodriguez and Brian Finn, join me to talk about their experiences making their first indie feature films.

The client is always right.....right?

As a creative, working with the corporate world can be a challenge albeit a lucrative one. They may not fully understand or appreciate what you bring to the table in making that industrial/promo/commercial that they hired you for.

Returning from season one is Alan Ginsberg of LIXI Studios to chat about corporate gigs and his most recent commercial shoot in Iceland.

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Possibly in no other art form do we celebrate what's brilliant along with what's trash, then in the world of cinema. What is it about bad movies that bring us together as an audience? Dedicated cinephiles, Jason Levy and Joe Hernandez, return from episode 2 to shed some light.

The road to joining the union can be a battle working in the world of film and television. My colleagues, Nick (sound mixer) and Kevin (grip and electric), share some war stories from non-union productions and the realities of freelancing.

Continuity errors, dialogue errors, oh my! One person on set has the duty to try and ensure that these mistakes are avoided. To explain the role of Script Supervisor we talk with Tressa Giardina and her mentor, the legendary Martha Pinson.

Let's get real about the world of disposable social media content and "clickbait" headlines. On the cusp of launching their new web series "The Daily Realness" on Snapchat, filmmakers Skyler Fulton and Nick Massey talk about their experiences with content creating in this day and age of social media blitz.

Venezuelan film producers Leo Zelig and Lolo Bello of "333 Experience" talk about the challenges they faced trying to adapt to the “Hollywood” system, while also learning about distribution in South America and beyond.

Production sets can take their toll physically and mentally after many years. What can we do to ensure longevity? Let's mine this topic with Liz Cash, a specialized physical trainer, and one of her clients, Lisa Sene, a Steadicam and Camera op.

The acting bug is forever. I chat with two actor friends of mine, Sal Rendino and Renata Hinrichs, to talk about acting school, agents, film vs theater and general sustainability as an actor.

Anyone can make a documentary right? Find an interesting subject, follow them around with a camera and let the story unfold? Let's find out with a couple of documentarians, Phil and Joshua.

Should film appreciation and history be taught at an early age? Is film school really worth it? I sit down with a high school Film/English teacher and one of his former students to broach these topics as well as film fandom, social media and generation gaps.

To give a film its visual style any Cinematographer a.k.a. Director of Photography (DP) needs a reliable Gaffer. I chat with both to find out what makes this relationship on set so important.

Imagine showing up to a film shoot to dress up as a homeless person wandering in the background one day. The following day you to play a masked protester in a riot scene. The day after that you get called in to dance your ass off as one of many club-goers in a high-end commercial. By the end of that of week you've literally worn many hats.

Give it up for the unsung heroes of the acting world, the background actors aka the extras. They also can make or break a scene. What is a day in the life like for them?

In my very first episode I talk with Samantha and Alan of Lixi Studios about content creating in the modern era and....are film festivals still viable?