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PODCAST

First Time Go

Benjamin Duchek

A weekly podcast highlighting the creators of independent film and the business behind it. Hosted by Ben Duchek.

tv & film film interviews

All Episodes

2:04

Indie Film Highlight: RUNNING ON EMPTY (2024)

First Time Go ·

2025/08/24

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: RUNNING ON EMPTY (2024).Director: Daniel AndreScreenplay: Daniel AndreCast: Lucy Hale; Keir GilchristSYNOPSISMort discovers he has less than a year to live. After his fiancé leaves him, he meets Kate on a dating service that matches people by their death dates, all while being stalked by a crazy pimp.Subscribe to our YouTube channelFollow us on

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1:42

Indie Film Highlight: HELLO I MUST BE GOING (2012)

First Time Go ·

2025/08/17

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: HELLO I MUST BE GOING (2012).Director: Todd LouisoWriter: Sarah KoskoffCast: Melanie Lynskey; Christopher Abbott; Blythe DannerSYNOPSISA divorcee (Melanie Lynskey) moves back in with her parents and begins a clandestine affair with a 19-year-old suitor (Christopher Abbott).Subscribe to our YouTube channelFollow us on LetterboxdFollow us on

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38:45

Bonnie Timmermann

First Time Go ·

2025/08/15

Watch BONNIE (2022) NowThere’s so few people involved in the film industry that can be referred to by just their first name, but in the case of my guest, Bonnie Timmermann, she is one who achieved that honor. If I asked you to pick 20 films out of the last 25 years, I would bet around 5 would have been cast by Bonnie. The documentary, now available for streaming, BONNIE (2022), is a must-watch.We go beyond the doc to talk about what she wish was covered, representation in casting, how directors and

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1:22

Indie Film Highlight: I LIKE MOVIES (2022)

First Time Go ·

2025/07/20

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: I LIKE MOVIES (2022).Director: Chandler LevackScreenplay: Chandler LevackCast: Isaiah Lehtinen; Percy Hynes White; Veronika SlowikowskaSYNOPSISSocially awkward 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence Kweller takes a part-time job at Sequels video store, where he forms a complicated friendship with his older store manager, Alana. Lawrence hopes to earn enough money to achieve his dream

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1:31

Indie Film Highlight: NIGHT OWLS (2015)

First Time Go ·

2025/07/13

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: NIGHT OWLS (2015). Director: Charles HoodScreenplay: Charles Hood; Seth GoldsmithCast: Rosa Salazar; Adam Pally; Peter KrauseSYNOPSISKevin goes home with Madeline for a drunken one-night stand and is horrified to learn she is his boss's ex-mistress. After he catches her taking a box of sleeping pills, they slowly start to fall in love as he

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26:37

Christian Swegal

First Time Go ·

2025/07/12

Watch This Episode On YouTubeWatch SOVEREIGN NowSOVEREIGN (2025) is a filmmakers’ thriller and the story behind its director, my guest, Christian Swegal, is one of the best in independent film this year. The reason that so many investors are reluctant to back a new director for their first feature is one of skepticism — they think the director won’t be able to handle the responsibility. And when you add in powerhouse actors like Nick Offerman and Dennis Quaid, it’s fair to expect a watered-down mush

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1:31

Indie Film Highlight: MARJORIE PRIME (2017)

First Time Go ·

2025/07/06

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: MARJORIE PRIME (2017). Director: Michael AlmereydaWriters: Michael Almereyda; Jordan HarrisonCast: Geena Davis; Hannah Gross; Jon HammSYNOPSISEighty-six-year-old Marjorie spends her final, ailing days with a computerized version of her deceased husband. With the intent to recount their life together, Marjorie's Prime relies on the information from her and her kin to develop

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31:14

Nathaniel Lezra

First Time Go ·

2025/07/04

Happy 2nd anniversary to the pod, and I can’t think of a more vital filmmaker for our time and for this episode than Nathaniel Lezra. His film ROADS OF FIRE (2025), winner of the Best Feature Documentary at the 2025 ‪@officialSBIFF‬ interweaves the lives of a human smuggler navigating the treacherous Darién Gap (the only land bridge between North and South America), an asylum seeker rebuilding her life in New York City, and volunteers working on the frontlines of a growing humanitarian emergency.It

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1:50

Indie Film Highlight: YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (2000)

First Time Go ·

2025/06/29

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (2000).Director: Kenneth LonerganScreenplay: Kenneth LonerganCast: Laura Linney; Kenneth Lonergan; Mark Ruffalo; Matthew BroderickSYNOPSISSammy is a single mother who is extremely protective of her 8-year old son. She is satisfied with living in the small town she grew up in and working in a local bank. When her brother Terry visits he fits the void in the

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35:16

Antonio Harper & Abby Burton

First Time Go ·

2025/06/27

Watch FORWARD THINKING (2025) NowI’m not sure if the pod has ever gotten a bigger honor than what Antonio Harper & Abby Burton gave it in this episode — sure, they said, listeners can watch our short, currently on its festival run. FORWARD THINKING (2025) is a “surreal short film about a young black man who is attempting to trademark his likeness in the event that he's murdered by the police.” And to me, that sells it short. It’s a film about race that goes further than any other film I’ve

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1:25

Indie Film Highlight: HOW TO MAKE MILLIONS BEFORE...

First Time Go ·

2025/06/22

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: HOW TO MAKE MILLIONS BEFORE GRANDMA DIES (2024)Director: Pat BoonnitipatWriters: Pat Boonnitipat; Thodsapon ThiptinnakornCast: Putthipong Assaratanakul; Usha Seamkhum; Sanya KunakornSYNOPSISA man, driven by his desire for a multi-million dollar inheritance, begins to care for his terminally ill grandmother. However, winning her favor will not be an

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40:01

Max Morgan

First Time Go ·

2025/06/20

Watch This Episode On YouTubeJoining me today is…he is going to hate that I write it this way, as you’ll hear in the conversation…but the director with the most nominated film at Raindance, Max Morgan, talking about his film BREAKWATER (2025).The ability to make your first feature, your first film, carry the weight of, and I’ll quote Max here, “people never mean what they say, and there is a lot of that in BREAKWATER” is simply breathtaking. I’ve posted the trailer in the YouTube conversation, go

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1:44

Indie Film Highlight: 29,000 WISHES. 1 REGRET

First Time Go ·

2025/06/15

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: 29,000 WISHES. 1 REGRET (2012)Director: Oliver RobinsWriters: Oliver RobinsCast: Justus Zimmerman; Casey RuggieriSYNOPSISAfter losing their jobs, a husband (Justus Zimmerman) and wife (Casey Ruggieri) decide to max out their credit cards and have some fun, then commit suicide.Subscribe to our YouTube channelFollow us on LetterboxdFollow us on

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1:44

Indie Film Highlight: GOD'S POCKET (2014)

First Time Go ·

2025/06/08

Watch The Video On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: GOD'S POCKET (2014)Director: John SlatteryWriters: Peter Dexter; Alex Metcalf; John SlatteryCast: Philip Seymour Hoffman; Richad Jenkins; Christina Hendricks; John TurturroSYNOPSISA boozy lowlife (Philip Seymour Hoffman) tries to bury the truth about his crazy stepson's suspicious death, but a nosy newspaper columnist (Richard Jenkins) and the

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22:05

Huiju Park

First Time Go ·

2025/06/06

Go See WELCOME HOME FRECKLES at DC/DOX on June 14th, 12pmWatch This Episode On YouTubeWhat do you do when people question your style of filmmaking? If you know that the story is in your heart, as my guest Huiju Park did with her film WELCOME HOME FRECKLES (2025), you make your film your way. In a deeply personal tale about her return home to Korea for the first time in four years, that's what she did. We talk about that and so much more with this UK-based filmmaker, whose authenticity will

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26:00

Laura Valera & Andrew James Gonzales

First Time Go ·

2025/05/23

Watch This Episode On YouTubeAs we move further away from the conventional wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, colloquially known as the Global War on Terror, the need for films like AMERICAN SONS (2025) is greater; it informs us, through powerful filmmaking, what we've lost.AMERICAN SONS follows a brotherhood of Marines a decade after their deployment to Afghanistan, as they struggle to overcome the trauma of combat and the loss of their best friend, Corporal JV Villarreal.I am joined today by

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1:41

Indie Film Highlight: TO DUST (2018)

First Time Go ·

2025/05/11

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: TO DUST (2018).Director: Shawn SnyderWritten By: Shawn Snyder; Jason BegueCast: Matthew Broderick; Géza RöhrigSYNOPSISA Hasidic cantor in upstate New York, distraught by the untimely death of his wife, befriends a local community college biology professor and the two embark on an increasingly literal undertaking into the underworld.Watch This

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1:23

Indie Film Highlight: BROKEN FLOWERS (2005)

First Time Go ·

2025/05/04

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: BROKEN FLOWERS (2005).Director: Jim JarmuschWritten By: Jim Jarmusch; Bill Raden; Sara DriverCast: Bill Murray; Jessica Lange; Sharon StoneSYNOPSISWhen his latest girlfriend (Julie Delpy) leaves him, retired computer magnate Don Johnston (Bill Murray) has no greater ambition than to sit around the house. When he receives an anonymous letter from a

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1:30

Indie Film Highlight: 5 YEARS APART (2019)

First Time Go ·

2025/04/06

Watch This Episode On YouTubeEvery Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: FIVE YEARS APART (2019).Director: Joe Angelo MenconiWritten By: Joe Angelo Menconi; Zac KrauseCast: Chloe Bennet; Scott Michael Foster; Ally MakiSYNOPSISTwo estranged brothers born on the same day five years apart run into each other at their family vacation home with wildly different expectations for how their birthday weekend will play out.Watch

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1:46

Indie Film Highlight: CASHBACK (2006)

First Time Go ·

2025/03/09

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: CASHBACK (2006).Director: Sean EllisWritten By: Sean EllisCast: Sean Biggerstaff; Emilia Fox; Michelle RyanSYNOPSISSophia's comfortable life turns upside down the day she meets Sylvain, and she leaves everything for a new, burning passion.Watch This Episode On YouTubeSubscribe to our YouTube channelFollow us on LetterboxdFollow us on InstagramFollow us on XFollow us on

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72 results

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