485. John Gray – Too Many Films to List!

Greetings, Film Fans, and a happy Tuesday to you! This may actually be the last Tuesday we post for awhile because we have so may great interviews coming your way, we are going to try on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule release to get those out!

The first time I saw one of John Gray’s short films was during Covid lockdown. In fact I saw two of John’s films, “Household Demons” and “Exit Package.”
Both took home awards that year; thanks to lockdown we could include both instead of following our rule, “if someone submits two short films, only make one official selection.”
But John is a very prolific filmmaker and to date I have seen no fewer than eight of his short films, including The Unquiet Dead, Extra Innings, The Third Defector, The Desecrated, The Little Drummer Boy, and The Overlook.
Most year’s it’s a challenge to pick which John Gray film we show in the theater!
In addition to being a prolific filmmaker, John is simply a good person.
Most of the time we have zoomed for his Q&A’s, as so far he has not been able to make the trip from New York to Los Angeles. Maybe someday!
In the meantime, our Zoom Q&A’s have allowed us to have longer talks and I always look forward to them.

I knew that John would be an excellent podcast guest and he did not disappoint.
In this great chat you get to learn about how he went from a Brooklyn kid who could have taken the wrong path to a screenwriter, a director, a network showrunner, and more.
I hope that you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed recording it.

You can learn more about John Gray at these links:
Official Website: https://www.johngrayofficial.com
Instagram: @bayrdge – https://www.instagram.com/bayrdge/
Twitter/X: @jthomasgray – https://x.com/jthomasgray
Bluesky: johntgray – https://bsky.app/profile/johntgray.bsky.social

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484. 4Qs with Jake Macpherson

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.

Wishing everyone a good and safe Thursday.

As I hope you heard onTuesday, Writer-Director Jake Macpherson brought his impressive feature length horror film “Terror Firma” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2024 and the film brought home awards for Best Performer in a Lead Role – Horror,
for Faye Tamasa and Best Performer in a Supporting Role – Horror for Burt Thakur.

Complete our fantastic conversation with Jakes’s 4 Questions!

You can check out where to watch Terror Firma here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/terror-firma.
You can see more from Jake, as well as the Terror Firma trailer, here: https://vimeo.com/jakemacpherson

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483. Jake Macpherson “Terror Firma”

Hello to my beloved Discover Indie Film Community.

When we had scheduled last week’s episodes, we had know idea what tragedy and horrors Los Angeles was about to endure.
If you are in LA, I truly hope you are safe and taking care of yourself. And if you’re listening I’m guessing you’re like me, and connecting with art is a comfort and inspiration in difficult times. I hope this following interview offers that.

Writer-Director Jake Macpherson brought his feature length horror film “Terror Firma” to Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2024 and the film brought home awards for Best Performer in a Lead Role – Horror,
for Faye Tamasa and Best Performer in a Supporting Role – Horror for Burt Thakur.
This impressive, innovative film was one of my favorites; I love an indie film that focuses on great ideas and innovative visuals.
This film looks great, probably because Jake is as talented as cinematographeras he is a writer and director. Add those skills to a tight story and great performances and you’ve got a winner.
I highly recommend that you watch Terror Firma. And if you’re one of those, “I’m not a big horror fan,” people then you should know that this film is much more arthouse than horror.
At least that is my opinion!

You can check out where to watch Terror Firma here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/terror-firma.
You can see more from Jake, as well as the Terror Firma trailer, here: https://vimeo.com/jakemacpherson

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482. 4Qs with Alina Krasnianska

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.

Happy 4Qs Thursday, Folks!

Did everybody listen to my interview with the extraordinary Alina Krasnianska on Tuesday? I truly hope so.
Like I said before, Alina’s documentary “Culture vs war. Liberov” is easily one of the most important films we’ve had the privilege of showing at either Film Invasion or The Sherman Oaks Film Festival.
It took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Featurette, Documentary at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2024 and is one documentary of six in the “Culture vs. War” series with a feature length adaptation of the series is on the way.
Alina generously included the links to watch the entire series, so check out Tuesday’s interview post for those links.

Facebook page of Alina Krasnianska – https://www.facebook.com/alina.krasnianska
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481. Alina Krasnianska “Culture vs war. Liberov”

Welcome back, Everybody! I hope 2025 is treating you well so far.

My guest on today’s podcast is Alina Krasnianska, the Executive Producer of “Culture vs war. Liberov,” a documentary that took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Featurette, Documentary at Film Invasion Los Angeles 2024.
In this case “home” is Kyiv, Ukraine.
The logline for the film is, “A deeply touching story of the war by the eyes of the couple of photographers Kostyantyn and Vlada Liberov.”
I sincerely do not have words for how powerful and important this film is. In fact, I wish that every person in the USA would watch it right now. No, I want everyone in the world to see it.

And you can… right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgVN6HHIW3k

This film is one documentary of six in the “Culture vs. War” series and a feature length adaptation of the series is on the way.
I do not feel that I am exaggerating when I say that this film is one of the most important films that has ever played at either Film Invasion Los Angeles or Sherman Oaks film festival.
Honestly, I cannot believe how lucky I am that I had the opportunity to talk to Alina for two hours about this film, about the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and about life in the country that my great grandparents fled in the 1890’s.
But even if you have no tie to Ukraine surely any person who believes in human rights, freedom, democracy, and the right to not be murdered in your home by a fascist neighbor will appreciate Alina’s films and hopefully this podcast interview with her.
What is truly inspiring is that Alina and her creative partners reacted to the invasion by highlighting the power of Culture to overcome War.
There is so much I want to say about this film and Alina, but I will instead just ask you to listen to the interview and WATCH THE FILMS.
Alina has shared links with us for the films as well as other important videos, news sources, and Facebook pages.

Here come the links for the documentaries Culture vs war:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YALSyd3ohuU&t=32s Antytila band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ewnkyz1uxw&t=16s cinematographer Serhii Mykhalchuk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR3Q2LiRTXg&t=1100s film director Akhtem Seitablaiev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGKVyHliwsk&t=82s poet Serhiy Zhadan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYn7r-Be7kc&t=9s kobzar Taras Kompanichenko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgVN6HHIW3k&t=43s photographers Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov

To check the videos of the Association Watch Ukrainian
https://www.youtube.com/@watchukrainian

To check the news of the Association Watch
Ukrainian https://www.facebook.com/dyvysukrainske

Facebook page of Alina Krasnianska – executive producer Culture vs war project

https://www.facebook.com/alina.krasnianska

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