553. Rob Neilson “The Word”

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 Award for Outstanding Short Film – Comedy.

You should watch this wickedly funny and cuttingly smart film right now!

Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/ZPQA-gmSS6g?si=D-W4Jxs9LQrN1g-N

If you want to learn more about Rob and his work, check out www.savagehenryfilms.com or www.robmneilson.com.

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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

2025 Awards – By Title

All of our 20245 Awards sorted by project title.  We know what you really want is to NOT search a huge list for a single title.

…post – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
1 in the Chamber – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Comedy –
American Import – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Series – Steven Shehori
Archaic – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Horror –
Archaic – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – Horror – Mark Perceval-Maxwell
Archaic – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – Horror – Benjamin Parry
As A Rake – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Horror –
Ashes and Grace – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Babushka – Grand Jury Award – Best Featurette – Horror –
Babushka – Grand Jury Award – Best Cinematography – Featurette – – Robin Webster
Babushka – Grand Jury Award – Best Production Design – Featurette – – O.J. Hansen
Baby Husband – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Comedy –
Becoming an Oyster – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Best Little Boy – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature LGBTQ+ (Unproduced) – – Daniel Hirsch
Broadway & Swan – Grand Jury Award – Best Director – Featurette – – Chris Fiore
Carter – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Chromatography – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – SciFi – Renée Veronica Freeman & Folami Williams
Crossroads – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Series – LGBTQ+ – Laura Katherine Winter
Curveball – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – LGBTQ+ – Nick Kilgore
Cut All Trees – Grand Jury Award – Best Cinematography – Short Film – – Red Jitar
Damned – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Dark Matter – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – Drama – Ptolemy Culvenor
Dark Matter – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Drama –
Death in The Desert – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Drama – Anna Kathryn Long
Diwata – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short Film – Shea Formanes
Double Trouble – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short (Unproduced) – – Lauren Holiday
Fearless – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature (Unproduced) – – Rich Van Tine
Franks In Hell – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Grillo – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Documentary –
Grillo – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – Documentary – Dima Puchkarev
Hey HeLP-O! Let’s Go! – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – SciFi –
Horizon – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short Film – Karen Campion
How Not To Write a Romance Novel – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – LGBTQ+ – Suzy Stein, Fernando Perez
I Am Duck – Grand Jury Award – Best Lead Performer – Animation – – Marianna Hersko
I am Duck – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Animation –
I am Duck – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Animation –
I Hate Birthdays! – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short Film – Haiba Khan
If the Shoe Fits – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
In Old Ranchos – Grand Jury Award – Best Sound Design – Short Film – – Sam Welchel
In Old Ranchos – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – SciFi –
In Old Ranchos – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – SciFi – Matthew Lucas & Patrick Flynn
In Old Ranchos – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – SciFi – Andrew Jeric
It’s Not For Me To Say – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Animation –
Jesus Loves Me – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Keeping Tabs – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Series – LGBTQ+ – Michael Montgomery
Kuchikame – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
La Esposa – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Matthew Benjamin Sheehan
Last Exit Gran Canaria – Grand Jury Award – Best Feature Film – Documentary
Lifted – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – Animation – Daniel Robichaud
Lollie – Grand Jury Award – Best Lead Performer – Short Film – – Monique Hortolani
Lollie – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Drama –
Lollie – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – Drama – Agnès Shinozaki
Lonesome Town – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse –
Lonesome Town – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – Experimental/Arthouse – Caleb Garrett
Lonesome Town – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Experimental/Arthouse – Caleb Garrett
Lonesome Town – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – Experimental/Arthouse – Caleb Garrett
Lorica – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Lost, Not Forgotten – Grand Jury Award – Best Featurette – Drama –
Love Song from Hiroshima – Grand Jury Award – Best Feature Film – Drama –
Love Song from Hiroshima – Grand Jury Award – Best Director – Feature Film – – Hideyuki Tokigawa
Love Song from Hiroshima – Grand Jury Award – Best Lead Performer – Feature Film – – Ryosuke Sota
Love Song from Hiroshima – Grand Jury Award – Best Performance by a Cast – Feature Film – –
Love Song from Hiroshima – Grand Jury Award – Best Sound Design – Feature Film – – (we can’t read Japanese!)
Making Megaforce – Best in Fest – Feature FIlm – –
Making Megaforce – Grand Jury Award – Best Supporting Performer – Feature Film – – Barry Bostwick
Making Megaforce Audience Award – Best Feature Film –
Max Q – Grand Jury Award – Best Immersive Short – AR/VR/MR/360 – –
Mondays at the Office – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Comedy –
Money Makers – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Series – LGBTQ+ – Alex Rubin
More Dead Than Living – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
My Broken Arm – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short Film – Matt Stone
Nancy – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot / Series (Unproduced) – – Mark Strauss
Obsession – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Horror –
Obsession – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Horror – Devon Kane
Obsession – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – Horror – Rachel Deutsch, Joe Chambrello, Amanda Fritz
Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Documentary –
Old Girl in a Tutu: Susan Rennie Disrupts Art History – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Documentary –
Once More, Like Rain Man – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Comedy –
Once More, Like Rain Man – Grand Jury Award – Best Performance by a Cast – Short Film – –
Once More, Like Rain Man – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – Comedy – Sue Ann Pien
Once More, Like Rain Man – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – Comedy –
Pace – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Drama –
Pace – Grand Jury Award – Best Director – Short Film – – Beck Williams
Paisano Overhang – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Documentary –
Paisano Overhang – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – Documentary – Catalina Guerra Hoffman
Papa’s Corner – Grand Jury Award – Best Supporting Performer – Short Film – – Val Victa
Paramedics: Emergency Response – Grand Jury Award – Best Series / Pilot – –
Parking – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short Film – LGBTQ+ – Andrew Klaus-Vineyard
paSSive poWer Audience Award – Best Immersive Short –
Pickle Vision – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Experimental/Arthouse –
Pickle Vision – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – Experimental/Arthouse –
Pickle Vision – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Experimental/Arthouse –
Pierre West – Grand Jury Award – Best Lead Performer – Featurette – – Tomas Hartwig
Pierre West – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Featurette – – Henrik Larsson & Jakob Arevärn
Please Kill Robinson Scott Thomas – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Frederick Jerome Taylor
Pool House – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Comedy –
Pride Night Out – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot / Series LGBTQ+ (Unproduced) – – Chanessa Richa’rd
Puppetland – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Series – Dominic Abeyta
Real Mother – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
Roughing It Audience Award – Best Short Film –
Roughing It – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Comedy – Michael D. Cohen
Roughing It – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – Comedy – Samuel Ott
Saint Lucifer – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – LGBTQ+ – Joseph DUrso
Scissor Sleepover – Grand Jury Award – Best Production Design – Short Film – – Margo Graff
Scissor Sleepover – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Horror –
Sentient – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – Thriller –
Sentient – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – Thriller – R. Scott McHenry
Sentient – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Thriller – R. Scott McHenry
Sentient – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Originality – Thriller –
Shepherd Moon – Grand Jury Award – Best Short Film – SciFi –
Shepherd Moon – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Direction – SciFi – Michaela Wadzinski
Sitting at the Edge of the World Staring at the Mice – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short LGBTQ+ (Unproduced) – – Guadalupe Birkbeck
Sometimes I Imagine Your Funeral – Best in Fest – Short FIlm – –
Suburban Nights – Grand Jury Award – Best Feature Film – Comedy –
Suburban Nights – Grand Jury Award – Best Performance by a Duo – – Ariel Barber & Zach Kanner
The Anatomy of Jane Doesn’t Exist – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Animation – Kai Brown
The Big Picture – Grand Jury Award – Best Music VIdeo – –
The Boy Who Earned His Magic: “Only You Can Save Her” – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Series – Lynn H. Elliott
The Erebus – Grand Jury Award – Best Featurette – SciFi –
The Experience – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Anna Kathryn Long & Olivia Haller
The Itch – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Horror –
The Last Light – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – Drama – Fiona Rene & Herman Gambhir
The Last Light – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – Drama – Wesley Quinn
The Mannequin – Grand Jury Award – Best Feature Film – Horror –
The Mannequin – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – – John Berardo
The Mannequin – Grand Jury Award – Best Cinematography – Feature Film – – Jonathan Pope
The Mannequin – Grand Jury Award – Best Production Design – Feature Film – – Emily Peters
Tomorrow’s Bandits – Programmer’s Prize – Exceptional Filmmaking – –
When The Clocks Stop – Best in Fest – Featurette – –
When The Clocks Stop – Grand Jury Award – Best Performance by a Cast – Featurette – –
When The Clocks Stop Audience Award – Best Featurette –
Where We Goin?: The Power of Place – Grand Jury Award – Best Featurette – Documentary –
Whispers – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Thriller –
Whispers – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cast Performance – Thriller –
Whispers – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Cinematography – Thriller – Giselle Gonzalez
Wicked Highway – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Feature Film – Christy Price, Daniel Vidal Perez
Wildflower of the Valley: Carnal Bloom – Finalist – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Pilot/Series – Hannah Rose Vernot
Winter Psalm – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Drama – Hao Yan
With Arms Raised – Grand Jury Award – Best Screenplay – Short Film – – Jon Cvack
With Arms Raised – Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Short Film – Drama –
You Can Only Blink Once – Grand Jury Award – Best Featurette – Thriller –
You Can Only Blink Once – Grand Jury Award – Best Supporting Performer – Featurette – – Gabriel Quintella
You Can Only Blink Once – Grand Jury Award – Best Sound Design – Featurette – – Yunus Balkanli & Efe Tuncay

Source: FILA

552. 4Qs with Nicholas Burns

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 – Nicholas Burns

Nicholas is not on social media so you’ll just have to go to his website nicholasburns.net or listen to our chat released on Wednesday or his 4 Questions here to find more about him!

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

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

551. Nicholas Burns “Intertitle”

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 ALSO brought it to Sherman Oaks Film Festival later that year and took home- Filmmakers Award – Outstanding Writing – Arthouse/Experimental – Nicholas Burns

This uniquely original film brings a lot more to the table than simply its use of silent film era intertitles.                                                                                                                                                                              In fact, it tells one of the most compelling, personal and authentic stories that I have seen in my decade of festival programming.

Nick hopped onto Zoom for this interview and I hope that you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed chatting with him.

Nick is NOT on social media, but you can visit his website nicholasburns.net

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

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

2025 Awards

Best In Fest

Feature Film – Making Megaforce
Featurette – When The Clocks Stop
Short Film – Sometimes I Imagine Your Funeral

Grand Jury Award Winners

A ton of awards will be announced shortly!

Audience Award Winners

A ton of awards will be announced shortly!

Filmmakers Awards

A ton of awards will be announced shortly!

Programmer’s Prize

A ton of awards will be announced shortly!

Prize Definitions/Explanations

Best In Fest – Determined by the festival’s official selection committee, this category was added because overall awards can help make us eligible to be an Oscar Qualifying festival.  (We learned that our idealistic belief that awards should be divided by genre was getting in the way of that and we’d really like to become an Oscar Qualifying festival.  If you know someone… hook us up!)
Grand Jury Awards – Determined by the festival’s official selection committee.
Filmmakers Awards – Determined by a panel of filmmakers whose films have been Official Selections previous years and given only to short films.
Audience Awards – Determined by highly scientific instruments to measure audience satisfaction.
Programmer’s Prize – Determined by festival programmer Jeff Howard as a reward for his hard work.  Importantly, having his own awards means he never has to put his finger on the scale for the other awards.

Source: FILA