577. Jesseca Ynez Simmons “Heaven in a Wild Flower”

A Wonderful Wednesday to everyone listening!

Jesseca Ynez Simmons brought her film “Heaven in a Wild Flower” to Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Cinematography – Arthouse/Experimental.
Jesseca wasn’t able to attend the festival, but thanks to this podcast I finally got to “meet” Jesseca on Zoom and confirm that all the amazing cinematography in the film was Jesseca’s own work.                       In fact, she shot nearly all of it at home with this setup!

Microscope Cinematography for The WIN!

I could not have enjoyed this conversation more. My only regret is that Jesseca does not live in SoCal and cannot come to all our festival-centric mixers.                                                                                           I hope that you enjoy listening to our chat as much as I enjoyed having it!

Become as fascinated by Jesseca’s work as I am at these links:

Website: https://www.jessecaysimmons.com/
Parts Per Million: https://www.jessecaysimmons.com/#/parts-per-million/

Personal Instagram: @jessecaynezsimmons
Microscope Instagram: @micro_landscapes

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Discover Indie Film Podcast Links
DIF Podcast WebsiteDIF InstagramDIF BlueSky

Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Links
DIF FoundationSherman Oaks Film FestivalFilm Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film

576. 4Qs with Graham High

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.

Graham High directed “The Housesitters,” a smart and hilarious film that played at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2022 and took home Best Lead Actress – Short Film – The Housesitters – Erin Pineda and Best Lead Actor – Short Film – The Housesitters – Matt McConkey.

I had such a fantastic time chatting with Graham that I was thankful for the excuse to keep it going with the 4 Questions!

Link to Housesitters: https://youtu.be/FmLgR1lXsak

@instagrahamhigh

https://www.youtube.com/@Grahamihigh

http://grahamhigh.me

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

Source: Discover Film

575. Graham High “The Housesitters”

TGIFF! (Film Friday)

Graham High directed a film that will forever live in my heart, “The Housesitters,” because not enough people make wonderfully acerbic comedies. Written by lead actors Erin Pineda & Matt McConkey,
who co-produced with Graham and his sister Brittany High, “The Housesitters” is smart and hilarious, and it makes me love its two lead characters even if they show close to zero redeeming qualities.          Graham took that wonderful script and directed it perfectly, taking home several awards at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2022 including Best Lead Actress – Short Film – The Housesitters – Erin Pineda and
Best Lead Actor – Short Film – The Housesitters – Matt McConkey.

Thankfully Graham kept in touch over the years and thanks to a little prodding from Karina, this podcast’s producer, we managed to finally record this interview. Yay!

Link to Housesitters: https://youtu.be/FmLgR1lXsak

@instagrahamhigh

https://www.youtube.com/@Grahamihigh

http://grahamhigh.me

Bloody Bites (https://tubitv.com/series/300009135/bloody-bites)

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Discover Indie Film Podcast Links
DIF Podcast WebsiteDIF InstagramDIF BlueSky

Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Links
DIF FoundationSherman Oaks Film FestivalFilm Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film

574. 4Qs with Lindsay Nyman

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.

Filmmaker Lindsay Nyman returns to the podcast to chat about her new film, “They Call Me The Tattoo Witch.”                                                                                                                                                         This remarkable documentary,  directed and produced by Lindsay, screened at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2024 and took home the Grand Jury Awards for Best Short Film – Documentary and Best Cinematography – Short Film for Katie Eleneke and the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Direction – Documentary!

Lindsay is an outstanding filmmaker and citizen of the world and I was very excited to hear what films she had up her 4 Questions Sleeves!

Learn more about Lindsay and Leading Woman Films at https://www.leadingwomanfilms.com/
and on Instagram @ leadingwomanfilms

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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

Source: Discover Film

573. Lindsay Nyman “They Call Me The Tattoo Witch”

It’s a great day today because Filmmaker Lindsay Nyman returns to the podcast! And she was zooming in from Berlin!

Back in April, 2018, Lindsay appeared on Episode 57 to talk about her pilot, “The Blind Center.”                                                                                                                                                                                  That wonderful film played at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2017 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short Film.

Thanks to Instagram I was able to keep up with Lindsay over the years and then she returned with a new film in 2024, “They Call Me The Tattoo Witch.”                                                                                       This remarkable documentary,  directed by Lindsay, screened at Sherman Oaks Film Festival and took home the Grand Jury Awards for Best Short Film – Documentary and Best Cinematography – Short Film for Katie Eleneke.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Lindsay’s peers on the Filmmakers Board also awarded her with the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Direction – Documentary!

Lindsay directed and produced the film, working side by-side with cinematographer Katie Eleneke and assembling an all-female crew local to Hanoi.                                                                                            Lindsay always credits the heart and authenticity of the film to this extraordinary Vietnamese team, who brought their talent, care, and cultural insight to the process and became like family.

Learn more about Lindsay and Leading Woman Films at https://www.leadingwomanfilms.com/
and on Instagram @ leadingwomanfilms

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Discover Indie Film Podcast Links
DIF Podcast WebsiteDIF InstagramDIF BlueSky

Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Links
DIF FoundationSherman Oaks Film FestivalFilm Invasion Los Angeles

Source: Discover Film