PODCASTS

Today’s Podcast: EP. 1555: Screenwriter Barry Lindstrom (NATURALAWE)

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Watch the screenplay reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyAJad2rPlg

Based on,
Concepts from the novel
Considering SomeplacElse
By Barry B.L. Lindstrom

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?

The Galactic Council has seen enough and has voted 8 to 1 to eliminate all humanoid Earthlings. Padrin, the lone dissenter, an expert extra-terrestrial world saver, must now save humanity using only the positive actions and interactions of individual humans as evidence. In this, the pilot episode, Padrin’s android, Facto, unexpectedly connects with the plight of suddenly, violently, orphaned 18 year old Charlene and her 12 year old sister, Jennifer who, apparently, are being forced into a polygamist cult run by their only next of kin. Padrin, sensing that Facto’s discovery is something far beyond coincidence contemplates invoking Galactic Assertion 5: There MUST be something that moves a system from its current state to one that is better for the planet and its population, in defiance of all probabilities, patterns and past behaviors.

We Earthlings call it Fate, Destiny, Faith, Luck and Random Chance, but the rest of the galaxy calls it: NaturalAwe.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Consider, if you will, “the twilight zone” as genre.

Half hour serialized Character driven episodes centered around the idea that: The Galactic Council has been monitoring the behavior of planet populations for eons.
Whenever a planet’s ecosystem is threatened or a planet’s population threatens other planets, the council, after following due process can directly intervene without warning, Unless, of course, there is significant evidence of NaturalAwe.

Why should this screenplay be made into a TV show?

Sometimes it seems like things have never been worse, That we are incapable of fixing that which is broken, That those who blame everything on those not-like-us are in control, That the doom and gloom dystopian vision of our entertainment depicts our destiny. As one who was raised on lessons gathered from Good-triumphs-over-Evil 50s and 60s Broadcast Television, (Occasionally impacted by exemplary public education), built a highly successful Information Systems career based on Richard Feynman’s “Perspective is worth 80 IQ points”, and has extensive experiential evidence that there is no such thing as coincidence, I feel we need to deliver SOMETHING that might just move us to ways that are better for the planet and its population, in defiance of all probabilities, patterns and past behaviors.

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Today’s Podcast: EP. 1553: Filmmaker/Performer Josh Holliday (HAMMERSTONE MEETS WOOFSTOCK)

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Hammerstone Meets Woofstock, 20min., Canada
Directed by Josh Holliday
A film that straddles the line between narrative and documentary, landing squarely on comedy. Steve Hammerstone is a small town radio host and big time buffoon, who’s sent to explore Woofstock: North America’s largest festival for dogs.

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?
My friend and Lisa and I had done these small town radio host characters “Steve and Tawny” on CBC radio and through podcast for many years. Just before the pandemic, we were judges for Woofstock, and had so much fun doing it. Afterwards I had great regret that we had no record of that live event, so I set my sights on the next Woofstock. Unfortunately, COVID-19 came along and threw a wrench in the plan until 2024. I had stayed in touch with one of the founders and organizers over the years, and as soon as I knew a new version was coming, I made sure I was a part of it. I’ve always loved buffoon comedy. After many years working in radio and audio, I finally got around to fulfilling my high school mantra: “I want to write, act and direct for television and film.”

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Well, outside of the ideation and desire to do this project, pre-pandemic, the time started ticking as soon as I knew there was going to be a new Woodstock event. So that was probably in February or March of 2024. That set a very specific deadline for the actual shoot day. Woofstock generally happens over 2 days of a weekend. The day I was selected to judge was the Sunday. After the shoot, I worked with an editor to chop it down to under 20. Once that was done did some titles, post audio, and some audio cleanup. Had a friends and family screening on August 28th, so about 7 months in total from pre-production to final cut.

How would you describe your film in two words!?
Buffoon comedy.

What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Ha! This is a tough one, there are a few. The old wig I’d been using for this character for years had gotten really unruly, so I ordered a new one from this company in BC and what they sent was nothing like what was pictured on their website. They did not answer any emails, or calls, and eventually I had to initiate a chargeback process with my credit card company. I had to make do with the old wig, and put a baseball hat on. I have really bad eyesight, and the glasses I’d used in the past for the character were a pair of my dad’s from the 80s with no lenses. When I did the Woofstock years ago I remember spending most of the day in character in a literal blur. I hunted online for a pair of glasses that were similar that I could get real lenses put in. I did that – and because of my prescription it took awhile. Well, the joke was on me, because the optometrist screwed up, and the lenses were essentially reading glass lenses – super-blurry except reading. It also detracted from the character, because so much of comedy is in the eyes, and the lenses had a real distorting effect. It was too late to get them changed before the event. The new glasses also just didn’t have the same look as my Dad’s old pair. (I’ve since put real lenses in my Dad’s vintage frames.)This was all before the shoot!
Shoot day was a whole new challenge.

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Today’s Podcast: EP. 1552: Filmmaker Peter Schackl-Horn & Anthony Graf (sustAIn)

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sustain, 5min., Austria
Directed by Peter Schakl
sustAIn is the Idea to combine sustainibility and artificial intelligence. Openess is to show generally ideas of sustainibility.

https://www.instagram.com/peter.shackl.horn

www.instagram.com/clementineclmtn

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

First in 1994 I was awarded with this multifunctional furniture at a competition of 500 Architecture students named „Openess“ – called by the famous Architect and Designer Mark Mack from Los Angeles, USA!
In 2024 I was awarded by the jury of the Vienna Design Week and the furniture was presented at the exhibition! There occured the idea to show the multifunctionality and the idea of „Openess“ also as open minded, cradle to cradle, upcycling, so sustainability in general… with a short movie!

And then all together to show a senseful usage of AI!

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

It took from the first Design in 1994, the exhibition at the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK in 2024 finally to the realized Short Film, the finished product, in 2025.

How would you describe your film in two words!?

Sustainability & AI

What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

There haven`t been any obstacles at all!

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Completely overwhelming and really touching!

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Today’s Podcast: EP. 1551: Filmmaker/Musician Justin Gray (IMMERSED – A Cinematic Immersive Album by Justin Gray)

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Immersed – A Cinematic Immersive Album by Justin Gray, 60min,. Canada

Directed by Justin Gray, Michael Fisher

Justin Gray’s Immersed is a groundbreaking cinematic album that transforms how audiences experience music. Composed, recorded, and produced as an immersive audio experience, the album features 38 artists from Toronto and around the globe, placing listeners at the center of a three-dimensional global orchestra.

https://www.instagram.com/justingraysound/

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Today’s Podcast: EP. 1550: Screenwriter Noah Zayn Mortier (BLUE IDAHO)

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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDHl6jdZ3M4

Blue (formerly Logan) is a gifted transgender surgical nurse whose life spirals after a violent romance exposes her truth. Surviving a suicide attempt, she’s sent to an off-grid trauma retreat, where healing begins amid a web of broken souls, betrayal, and revelation. Returning home to confront family and memory, Logan reclaims his identity—detransitioning not in retreat, but in power. Blue Idaho is a raw, redemptive journey of self-forgiveness, queer identity, and the quiet strength it takes to choose yourself.


What is your screenplay about?

This screenplay is a bold, soul-stirring exploration of identity, redemption, and the courage to love one’s true self. At its heart is Blue (also known as Logan) — a precise, compassionate, and quietly suffering OR nurse who identifies as a trans woman. Behind her composed exterior lies a turbulent past: a childhood marred by neglect, abuse, and rejection. She inflicts harm on herself not for attention, but as a tragic ritual — a conversation with the inner child who was never allowed to speak.

Based on real memories, true events, and lived characters, this story is an emotional autopsy of shame, survival, and transformation. When Blue opens her heart to Connor, a young doctor who genuinely sees her, it shatters the rule she swore to live by: never mix vulnerability with proximity. When Connor uncovers her truth, the rejection that follows is brutal — familiar — and almost final.

Blue’s near-death suicide attempt leads her to an unconventional retreat, where healing unfolds in messy, unexpected ways. There, she finds not only herself, but also her voice — as Logan.

This story is not about being trans. It’s about being human in the aftermath of trauma. It’s about reclaiming dignity when the world has tried to erase it. It’s about survival — and the raw, beautiful work of learning to live again.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Drama and Coming-of-Age, with powerful psychological and emotional undercurrents that resonate universally.

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Because it tells a story that has rarely — if ever — been told with such honesty, depth, and compassion.

Blue/Logan is a protagonist we haven’t seen before: a trans woman, a detransitioner, a medical caregiver, a wounded survivor, a human being whose experiences speak across lines of gender, politics, or identity. This is not a culture-war film. It’s a human story, and that is its power.

The screenplay holds a mirror up to all of us who have felt unworthy of love, who carry an injured inner child, who have learned to survive by shrinking. It dares to say: you are still here — and that matters. It is intimate yet universal, deeply personal yet painfully relatable.

This is not just an LGBTQIA+ story. It’s a redemptive character journey that speaks the emotional language of anyone who’s felt voiceless, invisible, or broken — and longs to heal.

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Today’s Podcast: EP. 1549: Actor/Writer/Filmmaker Madison Hubler (A PRINCESS’S PLEA)

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A Princess’s Plea, 8min., USA
Directed by Brooke Thornton, Madison Hubler
Princess Circe awaits in her tower when Vince Davenport, crown prince of a rich kingdom, comes to claim her as his wife. But with the beast left unslain and the princess left unimpressed, Vince’s quest takes a dark and unexpected turn.

https://www.instagram.com/aprincesssplea

Get to know filmmaker Madison Hubler:

What motivated you to make this film?

I have always loved dragons since I was a little girl. That is what originally drew me to the realm of fantasy, and when I discovered Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, my world shifted. It was the equivalent of a comic book kid seeing his favorite superhero come to life on screen. I had an epiphany: That is the kind of character I want to play. Being a ‘dragon queen’ became a self-proclaimed part of my identity, and it shifted the way I moved through the world. It gave me confidence and strength- to put myself out there and claim my place. I felt this creative fire inside me, pushing me to write a story that would bring that dream to life. When the idea came to flip a well-known trope on its head, nothing could stop me. All this to say, the story came from deep within my soul. I created it for myself, and everything that comes after is just the cherry on top to one of the best things I’ve done in my life.

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

The film took about one year to make. The writing and filming process went by pretty quickly. I had a very clear vision going in and knew exactly what story I wanted to tell. The bulk of the time was spent with the editor, watching over his shoulder, nit-picking each second, and then working up the courage to actually show it to people when it was finished.

How would you describe your film in two words!?

Fun and unexpected!

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Today’s Podcast: EP. 1548: Interview with Screenwriter Jesse Speer (BITTER)

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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GncsGI4_L3o

Get to know the screenwriter:

What is your screenplay about?
Bitter is a belated coming of age story for anyone that feels like the paradigm of success has shifted. It takes the traditional geek vs bully high school sub-genre and basically turns it on its ass, focusing on WILLOW, a once-hopeful two-time valedictorian, slated for success. Now, 10 years later, she’s a bitter waitress, struggling with resentment and unmet potential, all while PARKER, her high school bully, lives the good life as a prominent influencer.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Bitter is definitely a comedy. When developing this story, it felt necessary to look through a humorous lens. The plot tackles a lot of socially-relevant themes and issues we all deal with on a daily basis: comparison culture, scam-influencers, toxic personalities—things that can absolutely consume a person. So, I thought it was important to craft the story and its characters from a place of comedy. I wanted to avoid the perception of whining or lecturing, and write a story that has something to say, but also has audience wanting to listen because they’re getting to laugh along the way.

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Movies have changed drastically over the last decade—some changes good, some bad, but I think a gap has been created for some of the sillier, more light-hearted comedies that can still pack a punch—that have something to say, but do it in a way to invites, not divides. I think Bitter recaptures this approach, in line with early-2000’s movies like Mean Girls, Bruce Almighty, Miss Congeniality. The themes are there. The lessons are there. But so is the fun.

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Today’s Podcast: EP. 1547: Interview with Screenwriter Nan Schmid (THE LANGUAGE OF THE WOLVES)

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After being embedded with the U.S. military in Afghanistan, which ends in tragedy, a journalist heads to rural Maine to fully recover and finds herself on the frontlines of another battle, between a family of wolves and the ruthless land developer who wants them hunted down.

After a comrade dies in a horrific incident on the frontlines in Afghanistan, a war correspondent, forced to take time off, travels to Maine, only to stumble upon a exotic-animal hunting resort that threatens the local wolf population. When two wolf pups come under her care, she risks everything to stop the corruption and return the wolves to their pack.

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?

This script is about a war reporter experiences the death of a close friend, she thinks she never known a tougher battle until she inherits his dog and they witnesses the murder of a wolf, then a brutal land developer set his sights on them when she informs his his land
belongs to the Penobscot Tribe, now with the two wolf pups they’ve rescued as she wages the biggest battle of her life to save them and absolve herself of her friends death.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?

My screenplay is an action/ adventure/thriller with a kick-ass female lead.

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

This screenplay is about a woman stepping outside of herself to do something for the greater good in a world she knows nothing about. We have become so detached from nature and what the true meaning of what balance is and how important it is, I know this- you won’t find any true meaning to life buried in your phone. This movie will remind everyone who sees it what it feels like to be connected to something bigger than your
little world when you experience nature through the eyes and hearts of animals.

How would you describe this script in two words?

Redemption. Love.

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Today’s Podcast: Screenwriter Brad Havens (JUSTICE AND THE MACHINE)

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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnOurfvF21E

Sci-Fi/Political/Action – A popular President’s re-election campaign is beset by a relentless, brutal Assassin with whom he shares a dark, shocking history.

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?

The fundamental story of Justice and the Machine is about one of the most popular presidents in US History, William B. Justice, becoming the target of a brutal assassin during his run for re-election. Calling himself “the Machine”, the assassin unpredictably succeeds in killing the President’s innermost cabinet. His loyal wife gets kidnapped by the Machine, and he soon reveals that he has a secret history with her husband that goes beyond anything she understood to be reality.

Much to her disbelief, she comes to accept the truth that her husband, the President of the United States, is an alien from another planet with murderous intentions to conquer the planet. The Machine is, in fact, his sworn enemy, and whenever they meet, they are obligated to duel to the death.

So, on its surface, there’s a lot of fun action and sci-fi sort of genre bending elements, but at its core is a story of deception and betrayal and the discovery that completely changes one woman’s world view.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?

I used to enjoy calling it: My Sci-Fi/Political/Action/Thriller – so, depending on which page you turn, it’s one or more of those.

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Are you freaking kidding me!? This is a franchise starter baby, come on! I’ve got the sequel and a follow up if they wanna go for three – I know how to meet a deadline, let’s write up that deal!

How would you describe this script in two words?

Crazy Politics

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Today’s Podcast: Screenwriter Ed Vela (THE MORTALITY GAME)

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Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLrcCUBi10A

Facing death due to different illnesses, three patients find themselves playing a made up game called The Mortality Game to experience life one last time risking it all.

www.instagram.com/thevelamonster

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?
It’s about 116 pages! Sorry, I just had to get one “Dad Joke” in, even though I’m NOT a Dad (that I know of). “The Mortality Game’ is in essence a story of life as seen through the lens of impending death. It’s about how we as humans face the “final act” of the stage play of our lives. In the case of my three headed lead: Schubert, Halada and Tugger face it in their own differing, yet quirky ways. Ultimately deciding to take a final road trip across the country while playing a game where they do dangerous things to challenge and defy death, since they have nothing to lose.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Character Driven Dramedy for the most part, as it has elements of Comedy and Drama, with a bit of Coming of Age mixed in for good measure.

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Because the characters are as diverse in age and attitude as they are strong in development and memorability. Because the story, about how we face death is an important one to tell, since that is a situation that none of us can avoid. Because it explores letting go as well as fighting back, finding the joy in the dreaded, and allowing yourself to feel what you feel facing the end, whether it’s understandable or not, expected or not, appropriate or not.

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