Episodes

  • 639. 4Qs with Aaron Bennett
    Jan 19 2026
    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. Aaron Bennett brought his film “Jokers Wild” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in December, 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Director of a Horror Short as well as the Grand Jury Award for Best Sound Design, Short Film for his sound designer Matt Broadfoot. Aaron and I had a fantastic chat and I had a strong feeling I was going to really enjoy the follow up 4 Questions. Follow Aaron on Instagram at @aaronwritesstuff Follow Jokers Wild on Instagram at @jokerswildmovie Follow Jokers Wild on TikTok at @jokerswildmovie _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    34 mins
  • 638. Aaron Bennett “Jokers Wild”
    Jan 16 2026
    Happy Friday, Friends! Aaron Bennett brought his film “Jokers Wild” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in December, 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Director of a Horror Short as well as the Grand Jury Award for Best Sound Design, Short Film for his sound designer Matt Broadfoot. I’m happy to say that this is Aaron’s second appearance on the Discover Indie Film podcast, though this time he flew solo. Back in 2023 Aaron was part of the podcast for “Good Counsel,” a short film that he wrote for producer & actor Chandra Bond that was directed by David J. Levine and starred Chandra along with Janelle Jones and Matthew Keefe. Amusingly I had no idea that Aaron had been on before! I’m going to guess that my poor memory is not just due to my advancing age but also that it was a five person Zoom. If Aaron had been on the mic in person back in 2023 as he did for this podcast, I swear that I would have remembered. Follow Aaron on Instagram at @aaronwritesstuff Follow Jokers Wild on Instagram at @jokerswildmovie Follow Jokers Wild on TikTok at @jokerswildmovie _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    2 hrs and 9 mins
  • 637. 4Qs with John Schlag
    Jan 14 2026
    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. John Schlag brought his film “Panes Taking” to Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film - Dance. If you listened to our chat on Monday you learned John has had a long, distinguished career in visual effects that began with Terminator 2: Judgment Day and continued through films like Forrest Gump, The Matrix Reloaded and Watchmen AND has a deep love and study of dance under his belt. I had even more respect and admiration for the unique perspective John has cultivated after our conversation and couldn't wait to hear what types of film he was going to mention in the 4 Questions. Infinovation Film Instagram @infinovationFilm Infinovation Film Website John Schlag on IMDB John Schlag on Instagram @johnschlag Panes Taking on IMDB Panes Taking Trailer _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    23 mins
  • 636. John Schlag “Panes Taking”
    Jan 12 2026
    A Marvelous Monday to all you Listeners! John Schlag brought his film “Panes Taking” to Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025 and took home the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film - Dance. Little did I know that this beautifully artistic piece brings together the diverse interests of a throughly creative and technically proficient person. John has a long, distinguished career in visual effect that began with Terminator 2: Judgment Day and continued through films like Forrest Gump, The Matrix Reloaded and Watchmen. John also learned a love for dance while studying at Carnegie Mellon University that continues to this day, and that love inspires him to sit on the board of the Smuin Contemporary Ballet in San Francisco (https://www.smuinballet.org/) and to combine his artistic pursuits by making dance films. I do not have words for how much I respect a person such as John, who has accomplished much in his careers and yet never stops seeking to create new and original works. Even the name of his production company, Infinovation Film, clearly states his personal desire to be infinitely innovative. Many do not know this, but I adore dance and dance films and even sit on the jury of a EDIFF, the Exeter Dance International Film Festival in the UK. Between us, I am always envious of the beautiful dance films that EDIFF receives and John Schlag’s “Panes Taking” is the rare Official Selection at SOFF or FI-LA that eases my jealousy of EDIFF. There are many ways to follow John and his work and I highly recommend that you do so! Infinovation Film Instagram @infinovationFilm Infinovation Film Website John Schlag on IMDB John Schlag on Instagram @johnschlag Panes Taking on IMDB Panes Taking Trailer _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • 635. 4Qs with Derry Shillitto
    Jan 9 2026
    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. UK based filmmaker Derry Shillitto wrote and directed the indie feature “The Correction Unit,” a sci-fi thriller that you can watch right now on most streaming services! (Visit https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the- correction-unit to see where.) This is almost never the case, but Derry's film did not play at either Sherman Oaks Film Festival or Film Invasion Los Angeles which means there was never a Q & A which means I was extra excited to fast track my discovery of his cinematic taste with the 4 Questions! Follow Derry on Instagram - @DerryShillitto Follow his production company Instagram - @FoyleRiverFilms _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    28 mins
  • 634. Derry Shillitto “The Correction Unit”
    Jan 7 2026
    Welcome back, Listeners! I'm finally accepting the holidays are over and slowly crawling back to "the real world." Luckily, my real world is largely talking about movies. UK based filmmaker Derry Shillitto wrote and directed the indie feature “The Correction Unit,” a sci-fi thriller that you can watch right now on most streaming services! (Visit https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the- correction-unit to see where.) Derry is the rare filmmaker on this podcast whose film did not play at either Sherman Oaks Film Festival or Film Invasion Los Angeles. The film looks great and we had a tiny gap in the schedule, and rules were meant to be broken, no? Derry rewarded us with a fantastic interview. He’s a super nice person and it was a great conversation! Follow Derry on Instagram - @DerryShillitto Follow his production company Instagram - @FoyleRiverFilms _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • 633. 4Qs with Kevin O’Brien
    Jan 5 2026
    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 Kevin O’Brien brought his outstandingly creative short film “Hey HeLP-O! Let’s Go!” to both Sherman Oaks Film Festival and FIlm Invasion Los Angeles in 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality, SciFi at each festival! Follow the film on Instagram and make sure to catch a screening if you can! @heyhelpoletsgo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    18 mins
  • 632. Kevin O’Brien “Hey HeLP-O! Let’s Go!”
    Jan 2 2026
    Happy New Year, Listeners! Filmmaker Kevin O’Brien brought his outstandingly creative short film “Hey HeLP-O! Let’s Go!” to Sherman Oaks Film Festival in December 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality, SciFi. But there’s more... in June the film was an Official Selection at FIlm Invasion Los Angeles. We were unable to screen it due to scheduling conflicts, but it took home the same award! “Hey HeLP-O! Let’s Go!” is a two-time winner of the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality, SciFi! Follow the film on Instagram and make sure to catch a screening if you can! @heyhelpoletsgo _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website - DIF Instagram - DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles
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    58 mins