On this edition of the show I’m honored to be joined by two of the brilliant talents behind the spooky audio drama The Demonic Detective: its creator, Jason Brasier, and co-star Jonathan W. Robbins. The eight episode first season of the series is now streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and various other platforms.
Set in New Salem - or an alternate universe of Salem, Massachusetts in the 1940’s - and combining hard-boiled detective drama with supernatural chills in a retro old-time radio style, The Demonic Detective features Robbins as Jack Faust, a downtrodden detective who is, as Brasier describes him, “a detective who’s seen more than he'd like to and who drowns his sorrows in bourbon.”
His next case becomes a battle for both justice and his own survival when a childhood pal-turned nun - Madame Zola, played by Jillian Clare - seeks his assistance. Unfortunately for Jack, his soul and body will take on a ghoulish perversion when an evil spirit - Lilith, played by Shelley Waggener - consumes the normally grizzled detective.
Doomed to co-exist with that demon by a wicked group of witches dubbed The Coven, and with his reputation destroyed after a brutal split from his former partner, Detective Emmanuel Lawson (played by A Martinez), an emotionally wounded and demonically possessed Jack investigates a world of voodoo, corruption and curses in a town that may never overcome its own historical misfortune as the place where witches died and suspicion lived.
Completing the show’s incredible cast are Vanessa Leinani as the powerful coven leader Morogon Allistair, Jenique English as the high voodoo priestess Lady Boleyn, Chris English as her loyal assistant/protege Ezekiel Pendragon, Ryan Smith as the tortured ex-cop Giles Corey (among many other voices he performs on the show), and Ed Robinson as the crusading witch hunter Archibald Huxley.
Find out more about The Demonic Detective on the show's web site:
https://www.demonicdetective.com/
Listen to the show on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-demonic-detective/id1843186163
On Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/27XmA8xqppTdhBaviPs9eC?si=e7ea3f0990a54055
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Music by Audionautix.com
The Viewfinder Podcast logo designed by Matison LeBlanc
Next week is Halloween, and fitting with the spooky nature of this show these past few weeks I now turn your attention to another chiller that's in the spotlight on this pre-All Hallow's Eve edition of the Viewfinder Podcast: writer/director Chris Maes’ suspenseful, scary and sometimes silly horror/thriller mash-up, Air Shift.
The movie stars Ashlee Lawhorn as Lisa Richmond, a lonely, struggling overnight DJ at a failing community radio station managed by her overbearing jerk of a boss, Dwight Abbottson (played by Alex Diehl).
Lisa’s enthusiasm for indie rock and her love of radio keeps her going on the air while her romantic and job problems escalate off of it, but one night, she suddenly detours from spinning records to venting about her troubles, earning the attention of a new and ultimately dangerous listener in handsome John Bowen (played by Patrick Andrew Jones).
Little does Lisa know that John is also a suspected serial killer, and when he sweet-talks his way into the station and onto the airwaves, he suddenly holds Lisa and her otherwise free-wheeling show hostage.
As the night progresses, Lisa tries to escape from her captor, but she and John discover that they are both targeted by a flesh-hungry, manic group of formerly normal nuclear waste excavators-turned zombies! Oh...did I mention that the station they’re trapped in was also built on top of an underground nuclear storage facility?
Even as Lisa and John fight for their own survival, sleazy record promoter Lonnie Rappalopoulis (played by Donald Imm, who also worked as one of the film’s art directors) unexpectedly demands a live on-air concert for his young pop star client, Sophie Severeid (played by Margarita Gamarnik).
Will her dulcet tones be enough to keep the zombies at bay? Will John’s reign of terror end with his well-deserved arrest? Will Lisa’s fortunes improve? Most of all…will these trapped characters survive the night?
I’m honored to welcome Chris Maes and Ashlee Lawhorn to talk about this incredible film on this week’s Viewfinder Podcast.
Buy or rent Air Shift on Amazon Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0FQ2LFRDG/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
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Show logo designed by Matison LeBlanc
Music by Audionautix.com
Written and directed by Wesley Boone, the terrifying short film Donor puts audiences in the throes of a mother's worst nightmare: the loss of a child immediately after birth.
Yet, as two different yet unexpectedly connected parents played by Gordy Cassel and Lucy Faust discover, a baby's death - and inexplicable rebirth - is just the start of a chilling odyssey that makes them risk everything for the love and joy of motherhood.
In August, Donor played at the inaugural Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival, and now, I'm honored to welcome Wesley, Gordy and Lucy to the show to talk about this extraordinary film.
Written and directed by Zandashé Brown, and co-starring Idella Johnson, Rhonda Johnson Dents, and Lance Nichols, the haunting and spiritually evocative supernatural thriller Benediction turns a desperate and grieving woman's search for emotional healing at a Black Baptist church service into an incredibly surreal experience that tests both her faith and her willingness to take her life in a challenging direction that she never imagined before.
Johnson plays the troubled visitor, Rosalee, while Nichols plays the church's charismatic pastor and Dents portrays the mysterious churchgoer who lures Rosalee into an extraordinary opportunity to release her agony for good.
Originally produced in 2022, and developed two years earlier at the Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program, Benediction was shown this past August at the first-ever Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival, and on this week's show I'm honored to welcome Zandashé to talk about how this remarkable movie was created.
Find out more about Zandashé Brown and her films at her official web site:
Follow Zandashé on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zandashe/
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Music by Audionautix.com
On the last show, you heard my conversation with Casey Shaw, the writer/director of Almost Forgot How To Swim, which was recently shown at the first annual Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival as part of a block of Louisiana short films.
Now, I'm honored to be joined by the star of that movie, multi-talented actor and musician Jahmiu Yakubu, who plays an emotionally struggling but successful rapper trying to get himself and his career on the right track following a painful breakup. It's a role based on similar events in Yakubu’s own life, which makes his performance in the movie all the more authentic.
Almost Forgot How To Swim is not just the name of Shaw and Yakubu’s short film, but it's also the name of Yakubu’s album, with songs from that album heard throughout its movie counterpart.
Yakubu and I discuss that interesting connection, as well as his preparation for playing his true-to-life character and his partnership with Casey Shaw on the film, here on The Viewfinder Podcast.
Connect with Jahmiu on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sayjahmiu/
Check out Jahmiu's album Almost Forgot How To Swim here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5NA2HBGpl6yCIvSojREqtd
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Music by Audionautix.com
My series of conversations with some of the outstanding Louisiana-based filmmakers whose shorts were recently seen at the inaugural Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival continues on this week's Viewfinder Podcast. My guest on the show is Casey Shaw, the writer/director of a fascinating and reflective character drama called Almost Forgot How To Swim.
The movie, shot on 35mm analog film in Atlanta and produced by Casey's New Orleans-based studio Shawscope, stars actor/singer/songwriter Jahmiu Yakubu as a man trying to not only recover from the heartache of a failed romantic relationship, but also to rediscover his creativity and his purpose in a world that demands everything of him.
Almost Forgot How To Swim is also the name of an album written and performed by Yakubu, and some of his songs from that album are heard in Almost Forgot How To Swim, the movie.
On our next show you'll hear more from Yakubu about his role in it, and how his own attempts to move on from a breakup influenced the character he plays and the experience he has in the film.
Now, though, Casey Shaw joins me to discuss how this unique project jumped from script to screen, and how his production company is making celluloid cool in a digital world here on the Viewfinder Podcast.
For more information on Shawscope, visit the studio's web site:
Shawscope's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/shawscope
Casey's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/liminal_case/
Hear Jahmiu's album Almost Forgot How To Swim on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/5NA2HBGpl6yCIvSojREqtd
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On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast
Music by Audionautix.com
Held for the first time this past August, the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival presented an eclectic and entertaining selection of shorts and feature films made in the unmistakable indie spirit, with a significant number of them produced by and starring Louisiana-based talent.
For the next few weeks on this podcast, you'll hear from several of those extraordinary filmmakers and actors who brought the Pelican State to the big screen while telling unforgettable stories in the process.
My first guest in this special series is writer/director and Morgan City native Matison LeBlanc, whose compelling historical thriller Ada and The Doc takes a look at a nearly forgotten scandal that enthralled her hometown in 1927: the controversial murder trial of housewife Ada LeBeouf and her alleged accomplice Dr. Thomas Dreher, who allegedly helped Ada kill her abusive husband, Jim, while also being suspected of having an affair with her.
The trial concluded with a hastily decided yet historic verdict, albeit one rendered without a shred of physical evidence: Ada would be the first Louisiana woman sentenced to death for murder, while Dr. Dreher would also be executed for the same crime.
Decades after the trial, LeBlanc prepared a full-length screenplay based on the extraordinary story of both Ada and Dr. Dreher as part of a class filmmaking project at the Georgia-based Savannah College of Art and Design.
Returning to Morgan City, LeBlanc and a team of actors and artists filmed a proof-of-concept short version of the screenplay, which premiered to high praise at this year's Cannes Film Festival and was recently seen at the inaugural Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival.
As LeBlanc seeks funding to shoot Ada and The Doc in its complete form, the short subject will next be seen twice this coming weekend - Saturday, September 20th and Sunday, September 21st - in a special “double feature” program.
The Saturday screening and post-film Q and A session will be held at the Teche Theatre for The Performing Arts in Franklin, Louisiana from 7-8:30 PM, while the Sunday showing will take place at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge from 4-5:30 PM alongside other great Louisiana short films as part of the “Her Lens: Louisiana Women In Film” event.
Ticket and location information for both screenings is available on Ada and The Doc’s social media pages, which you can find in the notes for this week's podcast.
Ada and The Doc will also be shown at the Oscar-qualifying New Orleans Film Festival next month. Details on when and where it will appear at that festival are to be announced.
For more info on the film, visit its official web site:
https://www.adaandthedocfilm.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adaandthedoc/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adaandthedoc/
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On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast
Music by Audionautix.com
The last time I had writer/director Creighton Hobbs join me on this show, he discussed his riveting drama Binded By Tragedy - a film about an ex-con’s desperate fight to escape from his dangerous criminal past.
Now with his latest feature, the chilling thriller A Way Out, he looks at a crisis that continues to threaten lives and marriages - domestic violence - in the story of a brave woman who’s determined to flee from her abusive and emotionally broken husband. Alexis Baca plays the tormented wife, Megan, while Christian Fiorella portrays her menacing spouse John.
Also part of the film’s cast is Brent Peek (a.k.a. Alabama and Mississippi professional wrestler “Brym Stone” and the stunt coordinator for A Way Out). Brent plays John’s boss Liam, whose concerns for Megan’s safety increase as John’s rage towards the woman he supposedly loves reaches a calamitous zenith.
Rounding out the cast is Sandy Hoffman as Megan’s equally worried friend Sarah, who, like Liam, offers her not just an opportunity to free herself from John’s wrath but to begin a new, loving and happier life - a life without fear.
A Way Out will premiere soon on various streaming platforms, and it’s my honor to welcome Creighton, Christian and Brent to the show to discuss this important and potentially life-saving film.
For updates on A Way Out, visit the film’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561741027380
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On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast
Music by Audionautix.com
This week, The Viewfinder Podcast welcomes writer/director Mike Nicholas, whose romantic comedy short film SEX DATE recently won both Best Film and a cash prize of $50,000 at the 2024 Louisiana Film Prize in Shreveport.
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Music by Audionautix.com
Composer Elena Maro's unsettling avant-garde/jazz hybrid soundtrack for director Ferguson Sauvé-Rogan's 1950's-set drama Carriage Return powerfully surrounds the on-screen conflict between a lazy, writer's block-afflicted playwright Lane Williams (played by Jeremy Parr) and his outraged ex-writing partner Charlie Marlow (played by Carlos Sanchez), who accuses his former collaborator of stealing his creative ideas and using them for his most recent theatrical success in an angry confrontation that challenges the emotions - and the futures - of both men.
As unpredictable as the film's storyline is, Maro's score for it is even more so, and its fusion of brass section and saxophone with non-big band jazz percussion and experimental sounds - including those that mimic the typewriter itself - brilliantly and hauntingly accompanies a movie where neither its characters nor the unusual situation they're stuck in are what they seem to be.
Directed by Ferguson and written and produced by his brother Daniel - who also played bass guitar on Maro's score - Carriage Return premiered this past July at the LA Shorts International Film Festival in Los Angeles, and Maro's music from the movie is now streaming on various platforms.
(By the way, the movie is named after the “carriage return” key on a typewriter that allows you to go back to the far end of a page and begin typing new words.)
Find out more about CARRIAGE RETURN on its official web site:
https://www.carriagereturnmovie.com/
Visit Elena's official web page to find out more about her score for CARRIAGE RETURN and her other past/upcoming projects:
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Music by Audionautix.com
Peer pressure. Bullying. Family troubles. The need to overachieve. Depressed and overwhelmed by these problems, many teenagers try to solve them not through therapy and medication but through illicit narcotics, alcohol, criminal recklessness, self-harm and, sadly, suicide. However, numerous organizations, parents, teen survivors of suicide attempts and mental health experts are combating the suicide crisis.
So too are amazing filmmakers like our guest on this week’s Viewfinder Podcast, Ashley Rae Harper. Her award-winning short film RED, which she wrote, produced and directed, portrays the ordeal of an embattled adolescent - Billie, played by Chloe Hulgan - who’s hospitalized after her distraught mother and father find that she’s tried to end her life. While in treatment, Billie learns not just about the value of living but also about the value of seeking help for her problems - no matter how impossible they may be to solve.
RED is available to stream on Harper’s YouTube channel, and you can find the link to it in the notes for this week’s show. Before you watch it, though, please remember that it may be too triggering for certain audiences, and if you or someone you love is at risk of suicide, please call or text the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline immediately at 9-8-8. That’s 9-8-8. They can help save your life and the lives of those you care about.
I’m honored to welcome Ashley Rae Harper to the Viewfinder Podcast to discuss this important project and how it will help both teens and their families.
Follow Ashley Rae Harper on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ashleyraeproductionsllc/
Follow Ashley Rae Productions on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ashleyraeproductionsllc/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashleyraeproductionsllc/
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Music by Audionautix.com
Currently seeking funds for its production on IndieGoGo, the chilling horror film SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT is in the viewfinder on this week's show. Our guests: director/co-writer/co-producer Todd Braley, co-star/co-producer and indie horror film legend Debra Lamb, and co-writer/co-producer Itai Guberman.
For more information on how you can contribute to the film's IndieGoGo campaign, visit:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/shadows-of-the-night-unhinged-paranormal-horror
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On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast
Music by Audionautix.com
Today I'm honored to welcome actor and filmmaker Anike Tourse - the writer, director and co-star of AMERICA'S FAMILY, a new movie that probes America's harsh immigration policy and its impact on the country's undocumented immigrant community through the struggles and resilience of the Diaz family: a family whose lives are suddenly altered when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities arrest mother Marisol (played by Tourse) and deport one of her three sons, Koke (played by Ricardo Cisneros).
Fearing deportation himself, Marisol’s husband and the family’s patriarch, Jorge (played by Mauricio Mendoza), turns to a local synagogue for shelter.
As Marisol, Jorge and Koke contemplate their futures, the Diazes’ second oldest son, lawyer Emiliano (played by Emmanuel Lopez Alonso) confronts both a cruel legal system and overwhelming bureaucracy as he fights to bring his mother, father and oldest brother home.
Once Koke is sent back to Mexico, the stage is soon set for his emotional reunion with his grandmother/Marisol’s mother (played by Dionicia Alvarado Hernandez).
Meanwhile the Diazes’ youngest sibling, Valentina (played by Jailine Arias) reaches out to the social media world for support and guidance as she and her family encounter the greatest crisis they've had to endure: one that proves both their emotional strength and their love for each other.
America’s Family is now available to stream on various digital and on-demand platforms, and is also available on DVD. For more information on the film, including ways you can share it with your community and use it to campaign for immigrants' rights, visit its official web site at:
https://www.americasfamilymovie.com
The film was produced in partnership with immigrant rights organization CHIRLA (the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights). For more info on how you can support CHIRLA's mission of advocating for the rights of immigrants, visit:
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On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast
Music by Audionautix.com
This week, I’m honored to welcome Sarah Beim, the creator of the new LGBTQ dystopian thriller cataclysm.begins.
Directed by Katherine Filiseta, the series is set in a world where a faceless but oppressive religious government called The Conclave mandates personal conformity and all but outlaws disagreement with its rule, the series - which is currently raising funds for its proof-of-concept pilot episode on Seed&Spark - co-stars Aria Martinez and Amiere A. Bell as queer teenage siblings Catalina and Xavien Maevery.
After the death of their wealthy politician father, Catalina and Xavien are now tended to by his longtime colleague Helena Knightengale (played by Ami Sheth), a de facto parental figure to the siblings, and given her ties to the Conclave, a possible threat to their lives after a recording of a supposedly private quarrel between Catalina and Xavien regarding their civil rights is suddenly exposed.
Affected by both their sexuality and social class, Catalina, Xavien, Catalina’s friend Lennon (played by Bug Johnson), Xavien’s boyfriend Noah Archwell (played by Sam Vukic) confront the daily repression of their freedoms and their loves while attempting to survive an anti-government uprising that could liberate them if it succeeds - or make their suffering worse if it fails.
Find out more about cataclysm.begins here:
https://www.cataclysmbegins.com/
Contribute to cataclysm.begins' Seed&Spark crowdfunding campaign:
https://seedandspark.com/fund/cataclysm-begins
Watch cataclysm.begins on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCANilHntmEShI_-lRo1OzIA/featured
Follow cataclysm.begins on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/cataclysm.beginswebseries
Follow cataclysm.begins on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/cataclysm.begins/
Follow catacylsm.begins on TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@cataclysm.begins
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On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheViewfinderPodcast
Music by Audionautix.com
Directed by Matthew Mishory, the emotional and picturesque documentary film Fioretta is both about a father and son’s incredible search for their family’s ancestry and about how that quest links both the generationally different men - and their heritage - in extraordinary ways.
Mishory's cameras accompany avid genealogist and acclaimed lawyer Randol Schoenberg, who in 2004 represented Austrian refugee Maria Altmann as she sued her homeland's government for ownership of 5 beloved Gustav Klimt paintings that the Nazis robbed from her family before World War II. That case was dramatized in the 2015 film Woman in Gold, with Ryan Reynolds playing Schoenberg and Helen Mirren in the role of Altmann.
Following Randy is his 18-year-old son Joey, a studying chef who prior to journeying with his father has little knowledge of or interest in investigating his family's 500 years-long history.
Their biggest objective: to learn about and discover the final resting place of their oldest relative, Fioretta - the wife of Rabbi Elijah Menachem Halfon, who in the 16th century was one of several rabbis consulted about the divorce between Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
Both descendants of famed classical composer Arnold Schoenberg, Randy and Joey discover some of the most revealing facts about their family's past plus incredible physical evidence of their ancestors’ existence in several centuries-old artifacts during the present-day Schoenbergs’ visits to museums, cemeteries and other landmarks throughout Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy.
Assisted by a knowledgeable and caring collection of local historians and family members, Randy and Joey learn not just about who they are and how their family's heritage has defined them but they also gain something equally valuable: a greater connection to themselves and their roots.
I'm honored to welcome Matthew and Randy to discuss Fioretta now on this week's Viewfinder Podcast.
Find out more about Fioretta here:
https://www.rubberringfilms.com/fioretta
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Music by Audionautix.com
