PODCAST

Discover Indie Film

Jeff Howard

Meet tomorrow’s filmmakers today.

tv & film film interviews

All Episodes

25:46

564. 4Qs with Matt Mazany

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/07/25

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.Matt Mazany wrote and directed the short film “Big Brothers,” taking home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Writing - Comedy at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024. After you listen to Matt's 4 Questions I highly recommend watching “Big Brothers” yourself!

1:05:03

559. Ren Olivieri “The Trade”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/07/14

Happy Monday, Film Friends!Ren Olivieri brought his film “The Trade” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024, coming down from Canada to represent the film he wrote, produced, and starred in. This smart, funny, wonderfully produced short also took home the Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking. I also have to mention that Ren is one of those most excellent people who makes the most of the festival, coming to the Gala and closing night mixer, as well as catching many screenings.

15:48

558. 4Qs with Tal Anderson

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/07/11

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.Tal Anderson is a talented actor, writer, director and producer, whose short film “Breaking Normal” took home a Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024. I was so glad for the chance to interview Tal and extremely curious to hear what she had in store for her 4 Questions. Tal’s Personal Links: Website:

29:33

557. Tal Anderson “Breaking Normal”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/07/09

Welcome back, Listeners!Tal Anderson is a talented actor, writer, director and producer, whose short film “Breaking Normal” took home a Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024. Tal acted in and produced the film, but a quick look at Tal’s IMDb page will show you what a genuine multi- hyphenate she is. Actually... I did this math before the interview and might as well share it. Tal has 30 actor credits, 19 editor credits, 9 producer credits,

18:27

556. 4Qs with Ethan Shaftel

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/07/07

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out. Ethan Shaftel brought his Immersive film “Ajax All Powerful” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024 and took one the Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Immersive Short. If you listened to Friday's full interview with Ethan its no secret that “Ajax All Powerful” simply blew my mind and I was very eager to hear about the type of films Ethan was drawn to with his

15:17

554. 4Qs with Rob Neilson

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/07/02

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.Rob Neilson’s film “The Word” was an official selection at both Film Invasion Los Angeles as well as Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024, which you might know is a rare feat. I should also mention that at FI- LA “The Word” took home the Grand Jury Awards for Best Short Film, Comedy and Best Cast Performance, while at SOFF it took home the Filmmakers Award for

55:56

553. Rob Neilson “The Word”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/06/30

Welcome back and thank you for starting your week with a new installment of Discover Indie Film!Rob Neilson’s film “The Word” was an official selection at both Film Invasion Los Angeles as well as Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024, which you might know is a rare feat. I should also mention that at FI- LA “The Word” took home the Grand Jury Awards for Best Short Film, Comedy and Best Cast Performance, while at SOFF it took home the Filmmakers

32:34

552. 4Qs with Nicholas Burns

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/06/27

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.Nicholas Burns wrote and directed the short film “Intertitle” that took home both the Grand Jury Award for Best Sound Design and the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality - Drama at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2024. He ALSO brought it to Sherman Oaks Film Festival later that year and took home- Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Arthouse/Experimental

1:21:37

551. Nicholas Burns “Intertitle”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/06/25

Welcome back listeners and a special thank you to anyone who came out to Film Invasion Los Angeles this past weekend! There are many things I love and adore about the two festivals I run, but one of them is having an exciting new crop of filmmakers to invite onto the podcast.Nicholas Burns wrote and directed the short film “Intertitle” that took home both the Grand Jury Award for Best Sound Design and the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality - Drama at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2024. He

2:19:56

549. Vernon Davidson “SEGAL”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/06/20

TGIFF (Filmmakers Friday!)Today is not just any Friday-- it's also opening night of Film Invasion Los Angeles, one of the two festivals I run! To browse the films & screenings just click here. But back to today's episode! Vernon Davidson brought the feature length documentary “SEGAL” for a World Premiere at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024 and took home the Grand Jury Award – Best Feature Film – Documentary. Vernon co-directed and co-produced the film with Ryan Krayser, and this wonderful

1:33:51

547. David Lazaro “V. – Freaky Friday”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/06/16

Happy Monday, Everyone!David Lazaro, or Kuya Quatro to some, showed his Immersive music video “V. - Freaky Friday” at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival’s VR Pavillion and took home the Grand Jury Award – Outstanding Immersive Short. If you need any of this explained, you’re not alone. The term “Immersive” basically means that instead of watching the music video on your TV oron a movie screen, you’re watching it on a virtual reality headset. Got it? Because I am too darn busy at the festival to

50:02

543. Donato De Luca “Grand Romantic Gestures”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/06/06

Happy Friday, Listeners!Donato De Luca and his team brought their short film “Grand Romantic Gestures” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Creativity - Drama. Amusingly, the young gentleman who I thought of as “Donato” for the entire run of the festival hopped onto this podcast and told me that he goes by Joe! I’m not sure if I called him Joe during this

24:10

540. 4Qs with Samantha Baugnon

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/30

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.On Wednesday's Episode of Discover Indie Film, Producer Samantha Baugnon hopped onto Zoom to talk about “Homeschooled,” a feature length documentary releasing to streaming VOD on June 1! You should visit their official website at https://homeschooledthemovie.com/ right now and find out where to see it! This wonderfully made documentary takes a fresh,

38:34

539. Samantha Baugnon “Homeschooled”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/28

Welcome Back, Listeners!Producer Samantha Baugnon hopped onto Zoom to talk about “Homeschooled,” a feature length documentary releasing to streaming VOD on June 1! You should visit their official website at https://homeschooledthemovie.com/ right now and find out where to see it! If you can watch the trailer on that website and not want to see the movie, then I’m just going to move you to the “dead inside” column. You might think that the title “Homeschooled” tells

1:04:03

537. Jacob Langsner “SUM: A Tale From the Afterlife”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/23

Happy Friday Folks. We have a terrific interview to kick off your weekend.This episode’s guest is Jacob Langsner, who I know as the filmmaker behind the award winning animated short, “SUM: A Tale From the Afterlife.” The film had its world premiere at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024, but I was in another theater moderating a Q&A and never got a chance to truly meet Jacob at the festival. That’s why

29:54

534. 4Qs with Jonathan Latona

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/16

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.Jonathan Latona has returned to DIF because last year his latest feature, “DESTINATION:HOLYWOOD” was an official selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival. We had another fantastic chat and follow up 4 Questions. After listening, I highly recommend check out his work at

30:03

532. 4Qs with Christopher Saint

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/12

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.Christopher Saint wrote, directed and produced the film “Śokasana,” a beautiful film that had its world premiere as an official selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024 and it took home a Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking. Christopher impressed me with his professionalism, artistic vision, and, of course, his 4 Questions! You can follow

1:26:07

531. Christopher Saint “Śokasana”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/09

Welcome back, DIF Listeners!Christopher Saint wrote, directed and produced the film “Śokasana,” a beautiful film that had its world premiere as an official selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024 and it took home a Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking. I don’t want to spoil what Chris reveals during this podcast; suffice to say that he completely surprised me with his professional and artistic background. It was a pleasure to learn the origins of “Śokasana.” If you listen to

28:59

530. 4Qs with Kevin Lee

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/07

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.Kevin Lee brought his Horror-Rom-Com short film “Aly” to the 2024 edition of the Sherman Oaks Film Festival and took home the Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking! I truly enjoyed my chat with this unique and talented filmmaker and was eager to get to his 4 Questions. Use these links to follow Kevin and his film and, importantly, check out Aly on

1:00:10

529. Kevin Lee “Aly”

Discover Indie Film ·

2025/05/05

Happy Cinco de Mayo to those who celebrate! Kevin Lee brought his short film “Aly” to the 2024 edition of the Sherman Oaks Film Festival and took home the Programmer’s Prize for Exceptional Filmmaking! I love this film for several reasons, but it truly comes down to the originality of its story and the authenticity of the characters he wrote in a genre that is best known for cheap thrills.

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