Thank Goodness It’s (DIF) Friday!

Caleb Garrett brought his film “Lonesome Town” to FIlm Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film, Experimental/Arthouse.                                                                     I have yet to meet someone, audience or jury member, who did not love this film.                                                                                                                                                                                                        Caleb also took home awards from our Filmmakers Board, a jury of alumni filmmakers, including Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Writing, and Outstanding Cinematography.                                               Quite literally… WooHoo!

I hope you enjoy listening to this podcast as much as we did recording.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 In fact, we went long and Caleb literally had to run out the door to a production meeting!

Follow Caleb on Instagram at @cmgcine
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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film

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.

Maxwell Hamilton produced and starred in “The Mannequin,” a feature length horror film that came to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Horror,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Best Screenplay – Feature Film for John Berardo, Best Cinematography – Feature Film for Jonathan Pope, and Best Production Design – Feature Film for Emily Peters!

I hope you already enjoyed our conversation from Monday and here because you are as excited as I was to hear Maxwell’s answers to the 4 Questions.

I also urge you to watch, review and support The Mannequin! How?

Letterboxd – https://letterboxd.com/film/the-mannequin-2025/

JustWatch – https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-mannequin-2025

Watch it. Review it. Support it!

Social Media Handles
Instagram @maxwellhamilton
Facebook @MaxwellHamilton
X @maxxhamm

Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film

Happy Monday, Film Folks!

Maxwell Hamilton produced and starred in “The Mannequin,” a feature length horror film that came to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home a little award that we like to call the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Horror.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 But you can add a few more to the list, including Best Screenplay – Feature Film for John Berardo, Best Cinematography – Feature Film for Jonathan Pope, and Best Production Design – Feature Film for Emily Peters.

I was excited to get to have an extended chat with Maxwell and that was BEFORE he helped me put it together that his onscreen role is one of my favorites in the film.                                                                     In fact, I feel safe saying that Maxwell delivers an absolutely crucial performance during the film’s climax.

I hope you enjoy our conversation and I urge you to watch, review and support The Mannequin! How?

Letterboxd – https://letterboxd.com/film/the-mannequin-2025/

JustWatch – https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-mannequin-2025

Watch it. Review it. Support it!

Social Media Handles
Instagram @maxwellhamilton
Facebook @MaxwellHamilton
X @maxxhamm

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Discover Indie Film Podcast Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky

Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Links
DIF Foundation – Sherman Oaks Film Festival – Film Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film

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.

Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film

A Wonderful Wednesday to You All!

Chloe Schieldhause won me over pretty quickly.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             The first time I saw the short film “Pool House” as a member of the Film Invasion Los Angeles jury, I thought, “This HAS to be the film that launches the festival.” And it worked out!
The first film in the first block of 2025 was Chloe Schieldhause’s “Pool House,” a surreal, original, imaginatively dark comedy that took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality, Comedy.

As you might imagine, I was pretty eager to learn more about Chloe.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                It’s not every day that you meet someone who writes, produces and stars in a completely unique comedy that blows your mind.                                                                                                                                Here’s the blogline, “A horror novelist, with the help of a ghost hunter, brings back the spirit of a ghost who is hell bent on staying on Earth for socialization.”                                                                                         That description doesn’t even scratch the surface, to be honest.

It was a ton of fun to record this podcast. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Follow Chloe on Instagram at @chloish
Or at the website https://www.schildhause.com

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Discover Indie Film Podcast Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky

Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Links
DIF Foundation – Sherman Oaks Film Festival – Film Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film