Category: Podcasts

Talking Branded Entertainment with Filmmaker Amy French (Podcast)

There are a lot theories and a lot of experimentation with regard to independent filmmaking, the digital age, and the prospects for redefining the ways in which filmed entertainment can be funded by sponsors and distributed over the web.  I thought it would be interesting to talk to Amy French, an old friend who is a writer, filmmaker, and actress who has experience in the world of traditional TV commercials, in independent feature filmmaking, and is now working in the world of branded entertainment. Amy and her colleagues just released her first project in this format — a humorous mockumentary style  series for California brand Umami Burger. You can watch Episode 1 of “The Fifth Feeling” below and watch the rest of the series at funnyordie.com.

I spoke to Amy in Los Angeles via Skype.  See podcast player below.

For more information about Amy and her work, visit www.ameliafrench.net.

A Conversation with Will Buckley, Founder of FarePlay (Podcast)

Beneath the roil of arguments about illegal downloading of digital media, there is an unmistakable social, dare I say ethical, implication to the idea that the next generation is growing up believing that it is normal to enjoy entertainment media without paying for it.  Perhaps the most counter-intuitive phenomenon is the fact that college students currently paying a premium to study and train for careers in the arts are among those using torrent sites and other means of file sharing to download movies and music in ways that never compensate the creators but do line the pockets of the site owners, ad servers, and advertisers.   All the while, the PR messages coming from the industries which benefit from this exploitation support the activities of these kids, who just may be selling out their own future careers.

The dialogue has to change, working artists are beginning to speak out again, and Will Buckley hopes to give creators of all size and type a means to share ideas and ultimately reach their fans on a peer-to-peer basis. The hope is to have intelligent dialogue about how the work really gets done, who really suffers from illegal downloading, and who gains.  In 2011, Buckley founded FarePlay, which has most recently joined forces with The Trichordist, co-founded by musician David Lowery, who has become very outspoken on these issues.

I spoke to Will Buckley via Skype at his home in Florida.

Talking Digital Cinema with Steven Poster (Podcast)

While it’s true that affordable digital cameras and editing software have put impressive means of production into the hands any boot-strapping filmmaker with a dream, digital filmmaking at the highest end of TV and motion pictures is actually more complex and more expensive than the days of celluloid-only production.  As part of my focus on digital cinema, I interviewed cinematographer Steven Poster (ASC) via Skype in Los Angeles.

Steven has more than 50 credits as a Director of Photography. He has served as president of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and is currently the National President of the International Cinematographer’s Guild (Local600/IATSE). Steven has also been on the forefront of technical and creative examination into the use of digital cinema technologies.