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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

1:41

Indie Film Highlight: THE END OF THE TOUR (2015)

First Time Go ·

2026/01/11

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: THE END OF THE TOUR (2015)Director: James PonsoldtScreenplay: Donald MarguliesCast: Jason Segal; Jesse EisenbergSYNOPSISDavid Lipsky, a reporter with the Rolling Stone magazine, interviews acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace for five days, during which they form a unique bond.Subscribe to our YouTube channelFollow us on LetterboxdFollow us on InstagramFollow us on XFollow

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60:51

Joecar Hanna

First Time Go ·

2026/01/06

It's hard for me to conjure up another word for Joecar Hanna's award-winning short films, DELIVER ME (2003) and TALK ME (2025), other than: masterpiece. They push the boundaries of cost, intimacy, and what the medium itself can deliver. If you're able to see them -- maybe reach out to Joecar on social media and be nice, it might work -- do so. Near the end of the episode, he gets to an important point: intimacy content still hasn't been taken over by AI.What a unique filmmaker here

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1:34

Indie Film Highlight: BUNNY (2025)

First Time Go ·

2026/01/04

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: BUNNY (2025)Director: Ben JacobsonWriters: Mo Stark; Ben Jacobson; Stefan MarolachakisCast: Mo Stark; Ben Jacobson; Liza ColbySYNOPSISOver one wild summer day and night in their East Village tenement, streetwise hustler Bunny and his friend Dino scheme with a crew of eccentric neighbors to cover up a dead body. Chaos reigns as the clock ticks and

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1:22

Indie Film Highlight: GRAND TOUR (2024)

First Time Go ·

2025/12/28

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: GRAND TOUR (2024)Director: Miguel GomesWriters: Telmo Churro; Maureen Fazendeiro; Miguel GomesCast: Gonçalo Waddington; Crista Alfaiate; Cláudio da SilvaSYNOPSISEdward, civil servant, flees fiancée Molly on their wedding day in Rangoon, 1917. His travels replace panic with melancholy. Molly, set on marriage, amused by his escape, trails him across

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28:48

Charles Poekel

First Time Go ·

2025/12/23

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the new classic (if that's a thing) CHRISTMAS, AGAIN (2014) and director Charles Poekel. He's hosting screenings ten years on for the film, saying it's found a new audience, and it's easy to see why. The film captures Christmas in New York City -- or at least what it looks like in reality versus postcards -- and starred talent that exploded in the indie film scene in the last decade.It's the perfect time to catch up with its director.In

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1:33

Indie Film Highlight: CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER'S POINT

First Time Go ·

2025/12/21

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: CHRISTMAS EVE IN MILLER'S POINT (2024)Director: Tyler TaorminaWriters: Eric Berger; Tyler Taormina; Kevin AntonCast: Matilda Fleming; Francesca Scorsese; Maria DizziaSYNOPSISA family gathers on Christmas Eve for what could be the last holiday in their ancestral home. As the night wears on and tensions arise, one of the teenagers sneaks out with

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36:30

Jeremy Musher

First Time Go ·

2025/12/16

I'm so happy to return to the roots of the podcast by talking REQUIEM FOR A SOLDIER with filmmaker Jeremy Musher, currently crowdfunding on Seed & Spark. It is the story of a "Vietnam veteran who in his last weeks of service, found a Vietnamese soldier's diary, and 56 years later returned it to the soldier's family." We talk war films, fatherhood and filmmaking, and his sweeping vision for a topic that doesn't get as much love as it should: Vietnam veterans. And this film

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29:21

Jonathon Yormak

First Time Go ·

2025/12/09

There's no hyperbole in this statement: my guest, native New Yorker and founder and managing principal at East End Capital, Jonathon Yormak, influences independent filmmaking more than any other guest I've had on the podcast. East End will have over 2.5 million square feet of studio space under management at the opening of his fifth studio in Los Angeles.So not only does that space support a number of studio-level productions, the talent that works there is your next audio engineer, gaffer,

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40:14

Conor McCormick

First Time Go ·

2025/12/02

I don't know if I've met a more accomplished yet depreciatively humble filmmaker than my guest, Conor McCormick. Here are the facts, though: he was admitted as one of the few to the Square Peg Social, a program set up by Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen "break down the walls and barriers that too often exist within the film industry." (There's a bunch of Reddit threads that speak to how hard this was). His films, most recently BUNKER BABY (2024) and FOR THE CURE (2025), speak to the

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35:50

Conor McCormick

First Time Go ·

2025/12/02

I don't know if I've met a more accomplished yet depreciatively humble filmmaker than my guest, Conor McCormick. Here are the facts, though: he was admitted as one of the few to the Square Peg Social, a program set up by Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen "break down the walls and barriers that too often exist within the film industry." (There's a bunch of Reddit threads that speak to how hard this was). His films, most recently BUNKER BABY (2024) and FOR THE CURE (2025), speak to the

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1:47

Indie Film Highlight: THE FEATHERWEIGHT (2023)

First Time Go ·

2025/11/30

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: THE FEATHERWEIGHT (2023)Director: Robert KolodnyWriters: Tyler Taormina; Eric BergerCast: James Madio; Ruby Wolf; Keir GilchristSYNOPSISIn 1964, a camera crew follows retired featherweight boxing champion Willie Pep. Down and out in Hartford, Conn., married to a woman half his age and facing mounting debts, Pep decides to return to the

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1:22

Thank You

First Time Go ·

2025/11/27

The pod's annual thank you edition episode.Thank you to the guests. There wouldn't be a show without you. I am grateful you are willing to take the time to talk about your career. I hope through my preparation I show my appreciation for you.Thank you to the listeners. The podcast started as a way to get a documentary made and has grown almost every month. I spend a lot of time editing so every second is hopefully something worthwhile for you. Let me know how I can improve.Thank you to my

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35:17

Hedda Mjøen

First Time Go ·

2025/11/25

I am very much aware of the fact that I make the occasional podcast about films that listeners can't just stream, even though I wish so badly you could. The short film, MERCY, by my guest, director Hedda Mjøen, is a film like that -- it shows the moral dilemma of a woman who has to choose whether she stands by a friend accused of rape. I endeavor that the essence of the film comes through on the podcast, so if I can't show it to you, I can paint a picture about what you're seeing.But

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39:56

Taylor Lee

First Time Go ·

2025/11/19

By the standards of twenty years ago, it is easy to have a film look "gorgeous." So indie filmmakers can't rely on equipment alone to set their films apart. It takes the work of true craftspeople, one of which is my guest, filmmaker Taylor Lee. In October, Taylor was the recipient of the NYU 2025 Grad Film Volker Bahnemann Award for Outstanding Cinematography.His story is an extraordinary one -- majoring in computer science at UCLA in 2020 to some of the most prestigious student awards

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35:20

Brett Story

First Time Go ·

2025/11/14

If your documentary films were entered into the Criterion Collection, you barely need an introduction, but let me give one to my guest, filmmaker Brett Story, by saying this: her films expand what's possible through visual styling and extensive preparation work. What I mean by that is if you take a look at her work, the story that she is telling can only be said through film. So Brett gives us both something to appreciate and something to strive for. What a thrill it was to talk with her for the

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50:18

Geoff Ryan

First Time Go ·

2025/11/11

Happy Veterans Day! For this special episode, I talk with filmmaker Geoff Ryan about his 2012 film, FRAY. For me, FRAY is one of the more authentic "return from war" stories in a usually bad genre of overwrought films. I wanted to find out more about the making of the film, how the lead actor was cast, and what made Geoff the best person -- a non-veteran -- to tell this story.I'm looking to support more veteran actors, producers, directors...filmmakers. And we need more filmmakers like

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2:11

Indie Film Highlight: THE HOTTEST AUGUST (2019)

First Time Go ·

2025/11/09

Every Sunday, I'll post a quick video -- and podcast -- about an indie film from at least a year ago. Today's film: THE HOTTEST AUGUST (2019)Director: Brett StorySYNOPSISA complex portrait of a city and its inhabitants dealing with climate change, disguised as a portrait of collective anxiety.Subscribe to our YouTube channelFollow us on LetterboxdFollow us on InstagramFollow us on XFollow us on FacebookFollow us on TikTokFollow us on LinkedInSupport this podcast at —

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32:56

Louise Zenker & Daood Alabdulaa

First Time Go ·

2025/11/07

In so many films like WALUD (2025), which depicts the life of an ISIS fighter and his relationship with his two wives, the women are given very little agency. They have things happen to them and deal with the consequences rather than decide their own story. WALUD isn't that type of film.It's the work of co-directors Louise Zenker and Daood Alabdulaa, film students who made a visually stunning and culturally relevant film about unexplored lives. If there's justice in the world, we'll

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30:21

Pierre Saint-Martin

First Time Go ·

2025/11/04

What's it like being accepted into Mexican film school and later direct a film that the country chooses to represent its filmmaking at the Academy Awards? My guest, Pierre Saint-Martin, can speak to that as well as a love for sound design and film noir cinematography.The podcast begins its highlighting of international films nominated for the 98th Academy Awards with WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED (2024), Mexico's selection. The film was directed by an artist who is by turns thoughtful and proud of

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35:39

Contessa Gayles

First Time Go ·

2025/10/28

Occasionally, I'll watch a film so stunning -- visually, musically -- and so important, in terms of cultural relevancy and the issues that it raises, I'll know within a few minutes that I'd love for the director to be on the podcast. It's a blessing that my guest today, filmmaker Contessa Gayles, is here to talk about her journey from CNN to making groundbreaking documentaries.It's not to say that the topics are easy. Making a documentary visual album about an incarcerated

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224 results

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