‘Sulam’ – An Interview with Noam Argov

Noam Argov is an Israeli American filmmaker and MFA Writing/Directing Student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she is a Film Futures Scholar and BAFTA US Scholarship Program nominee. With a background in documentary filmmaking, Argov began her graduate film program to transition into original narrative film and television, and she now has a new short film, “Sulam,” which has two screenings coming up at this year’s Florida Film Festival. In this interview we talk about her own personal experiences informing this film, the casting of the film, and Noam’s first ever experience at the Enzian Theater.

Chris Crespo: The story presented in Sulam feels very specific, as it is based on a mix of your childhood memories growing up in Central Florida as an immigrant – was this a story you’ve been wanting to tell for a while, and do you plan to continue to explore the themes present in this film in your future work?Continue Reading …

#535 – Saturnalia Night Live

In episode 535, Chris and Drew do the thing and Chris reviews Air and they discuss The Mandalorian, The Quarry, Perry Mason, Jeremy Renner, Joaquin Phoenix, Lance Reddick, Keanu Reeves as Human BoJack, Len Wiseman’s Ballerina, the Minecraft movie, and more!
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‘Immediate Family’ – An Interview with Denny Tedesco

Denny Tedesco is a producer from Los Angeles, California, and in addition to working behind the scenes on many projects and productions around the world, he also produced and directed the excellent documentary “The Wrecking Crew,” about the musical geniuses behind the biggest hits of the 1960s and early 1970s. And his newest documentary, “Immediate Family” will be playing twice at the 2023 Florida Film Festival, and similarly covers another group of studio musicians who wrote the biggest hits of singer-songwriter era of the 1970s and 80s. In this interview I ask him about the long tail of “The Wrecking Crew,” and how he managed to secure so many big names for his new filmContinue Reading …

‘Animation is Cinema’ – An Interview with Signe Baumane

Signe Baumane is an independent artist, animator and filmmaker based out of Brooklyn, New York, and she has spent seven years working on bringing her new film “My Love Affair With Marriage” to life. And now with the film playing at the 2023 Florida Film Festival, I had an opportunity to ask a few questions about the process of making this film and how animation can be seen as a viable genre for adult storytelling.

Chris Crespo: In the seven years it took to make this movie, what were some of the biggest challenges in making sure this film got completed?

Signe Baumane: The first challenge is in the psychological realm – how do you continue work on the same film for 7 years and don’t lose motivation, inspiration and excitement? In that regard I am like a terrier who grabs a leg of a fox burrowed in a hole and keeps pulling it until the fox is pulled out of the hole. Every day I sat at my table and made 30 – 70 drawings until the film was done. The reason why I was able to do that – I felt that the film’s message was important, I felt I was serving a higher purpose, not just feeding my insatiable ego.Continue Reading …

‘Everything is Content’ – An Interview with Brian Lonano and Blake Myers

Brian Lonano is a filmmaker who has returned to the 2023 Florida Film Festival with his 8th short film to be featured in the Midnight Shorts block. This year he brings production designer and co-director Blake Myers with him as they screen “CONTENT: The Lo-Fi Man” to this year’s festival goers, and in this interview I asked them about the genesis of this wild short film, their concerns about “content” in the modern internet era, and their advice for aspiring filmmakers.Continue Reading …