584. Annie Girard & Diana Wright “1 in the Chamber”

Welcome back, Listeners! We have a great episode for you today.

Annie Girard and Diana Wright are officially one of my favorite creative teams.                                                                                                                                                                                                          They co-directed and co-wrote the short film “1 in the Chamber” that took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Short Film – Comedy at FIlm Invasion Los Angeles 2025.                                                     I was extra-happy when Diana and Annie scheduled their podcast, because only Diana was able to attend the screening.                                                                                                                                        We had a wonderful Q&A at the screening that went around 17 minutes, but for a film this good that’s just not enough. Plus… Annie wasn’t there!

You cannot watch the film yet, as “1 in the Chamber” is still on the festival circuit, but as soon as you can we will add a link here. In the meantime, you can follow this brilliant creative team at…

The Film @1intheChamberfilm

Diana @thatswright24

Annie @anniegirardyay
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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

583. 4Qs with A.J. Lising “Papa’s Corner”

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.

A.J. Lising wrote and directed “Papa’s Corner,” a film that was an official selection at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Supporting Performer in a Short Film, for Val Victa’s performance as Papa.

A.J. was not able to stay for the Q&A at FI-LA so I was thrilled for the chance to dive deeper with A.J. about his incredible work and get to the 4Qs to see what type of films helped him cultivate it.

Follow A.J. and his work at:

Website: http://filmbyaj.com/
Instagram: @ajlising
Instagram: @papascornerfilm

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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

582. A.J. Lising “Papa’s Corner”

A Marvelous Monday to You All!

A.J. Lising wrote and directed “Papa’s Corner,” a film that was an official selection at Film Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Supporting Performer in a Short Film, for Val Victa’s performance as Papa. I was in the theater for this screening and even though I had already seen it as a member of the jury, after the film’s beautiful ending I wept for nearly all of the credits.

We did hold a Q&A at the theater with Erik Luminarias (producer & lead actor) and Patricia Esguerra (editor & script supervisor), but A.J. was not able to stay for the Q&A.
Once again the Discover Indie Film podcasts gives me a chance to more than make up for a missed Q&A opportunity.

It was a pleasure to talk to A.J. and I hope to see a lot more work from him in the future.

Follow A.J. and his work at:

Website: http://filmbyaj.com/
Instagram: @ajlising
Instagram: @papascornerfilm

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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

581. Jessie Sparrow “RE.IMAGINE ATL”

Happy Friday!

Time for something different! The guest for this podcast is Jessie Sparrow, Executive Director of RE:IMAGINE ATL, a community-based nonprofit in Atlanta that’s reshaping access to film, media, and digital storytelling for the city’s youth. RE:IMAGINE ATL reached out to me about this and even though the main focus of this podcast is indie filmmakers and their work, in this case RE:IMAGINE ATL’s mission struck me as important enough for me to be a little more flexible than usual.

Because the closest I’ve come to visiting Atlanta is changing planes at their massive airport, I thought it would be a good idea to pull in frequent Discover Indie Film guest and Atlanta resident Fr3deR1cK Taylor as a co-host.

I think you’ll agree that RE:IMAGINE ATL is doing wonderful, necessary work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Visit these links to learn more:

RE:IMAGINE Website: https://reimagineatl.comDreamfest Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1141075771349?aff=oddtdtcreator
Liktree: https://linktr.ee/reimagineatl

RE:IMAGINE Socials
IG –@reimagineatl

Facebook –https://m.facebook.com/reimagineatl/?
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/re-imagine-atl/?viewAsMember=true

TikTok- https://www.tiktok.com/@reimagine.atl?_t=ZT-8yz6RUvqvLZ&_r=1
Youtube – https://youtube.com/@reimagineatl?si=JTlGpiPxfgvnFQoF

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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

580. 4Qs with Henrik Larsson

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.

Sweden-based Henrik Larsson co-directed, co- wrote and co-produced “Pierre West” with Jakob Arevärn, a drama about hope & darkness spanning 17 years. This remarkable film took home two awards at Film Invasion Los Angeles in June, 2025 (Grand Jury Award – Best Lead Performer – Featurette – Tomas Hartwig and Best Screenplay – Featurette – Henrik Larsson & Jakob Arevärn)

Henrik was unable to make it to the festival in person so I was not able to do a Q & A. Which made this interview all follow up 4 Questions that much more exciting. His excellent taste did not disappoint!

You can catch “Pierre West” on the big screen at the Silicon Beach Film Festival on Friday, Sept 5 in Block H. https://www.siliconbeachfilmfestival.com/tickets

Or you could also follow Henka on Instagram to catch other festival screenings near you! @fotohanke

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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