NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW

For filmmakers, musicians, & creative people who do amazing things and want to make the world better in some way.

SXSW 2019: Notable Films, Music, & Experiences

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Recently I had the opportunity to do podcast coverage at SXSW 2019, my third time doing coverage at Austin’s preeminent film and music festival. (Before, I did coverage there as The nsavides Podcast. I changed the name to NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW for clarity and because nicksav.show is easier to remember then podcast.nsavides.com.)

SXSW 2019 podcast coverage

Part I of my coverage includes some general observations about the festival, what captured my attention and why, and some of my favorite film and music experiences

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Related Episode

Producer Sam Claitor from Fable House helped me put together my coverage of SXSW 2019. Back in 2018, I did this live episode of the show as an official event of SXSW 2018:

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Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. This music video I directed got mentioned by Houston’s leading morning talk show, Great Day Houston:

More of my videos are here.
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Related Things

Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Films & Shows Mentioned

  • Autonomy
  • Game of Thrones
  • Good Omens 
  • The Highwaymen
  • Isle of Dogs 
  • The Peanut Butter Falcon
  • A Quiet Place
  • Running with Beto 

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Bands & Musicians Mentioned

  • Amanda Palmer
  • Bad Books
  • Linying
  • Willie Nelson
  • Wyclef Jean

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If You Liked the Show

  • Subscribe or leave an honest review:

Apple Podcasts

 

nsavides podcast on Spotify

Spotify

 

Overcast

Thank you for visiting!

Last Bison: Southern Folk Rock Returns to SXSW

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Years ago, I came to SXSW to see The Last Bison perform. Now with a few new hits and a refined sound, they’re back, playing at Austin’s esteemed film and music festival once more.

Last Bison nicksav film and music show interviewFrontman Ben Hardesty came on the show to discuss

  • The story behind their evolving sound
  • What went into making their latest music video
  • How they create a unified experience for their fans across the country
  • What getting signed by a label has meant to the band
  • Staying true to one’s values while building an audience

Make fans that are friends.” – Ben Hardesty

After the interview, you can hear Last Bison’s song “Dark Am I.”

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Related Episode

Want to hear more music-interviews from SXSW? Check out this interview I did with the singer from Gothic Tropic from SXSW 2018.

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Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. This music video I directed got mentioned by Houston’s leading morning talk show, Great Day Houston:

More of my videos are here.
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Related Things

Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Bands & Musicians Mentioned

  • The Decemberists
  • Last Bison
  • Mumford & Sons
  • Peter Gabriel
  • Simple Minds

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If You Liked the Show

  • Subscribe or leave an honest review:

Apple Podcasts

 

nsavides podcast on Spotify

Spotify

 

Overcast

Thank you for visiting!

Louisiana International Film Festival Recap #LIFF2018

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This year, I had the chance to interview several filmmakers screening films at the Louisiana International Film Festival.  On this episode, I recap some of those interviews and share some of my experiences and takeaways from LIFF2018.

Louisiana International Film Festival 2018 podcast recapHere are my prior interviews from #LIFF2018. On the recap below, I share some of the highlights from each interview, what it was like getting to screen my short at the festival, and some of the new discoveries and filmmaking observations, and life lessons I learned while attending.

Films from LIFF2018 that I discuss on this episode include

  • 1000 Year Flood
  • And Then I Go 
  • Blaze 
  • Brimstone & Glory 
  • Cut Off 
  • Do U Want It 
  • Gabriel & the Mountain 
  • Hearts Beat Loud
  • Larger Than Life: The Kevin Aucoin Story
  • Mixed Signals (short)
  • Mr. United States (short)
  • Stay Woke (short)
  • Stuck
  • Tinker
  • Through the Banks of the Red Cedar
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Want to learn more about one of the bands that played at the festival? Then check out this interview I did with Peter Simon, the lead singer of Minos the Saint, which was one of the bands that played at LIFF’s Filmmaker Lounge this year.

 

Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. My new video portfolio is here!
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My short film Mixed Signals premiered at LIFF 2018 on April 21.
Mixed Signals directed by Nick Savides at LIFF 2018#

Say hello: podcast@nsavides.com

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Related Things

Louisiana International Film Festival headquarters

LIFF headquarters at Perkins Rowe during the festival

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  • LIFF 2018
  • Festival winners (everything except the Dan Ireland award was selected by the audience)
    • Dan Ireland New Voices/New Visions Award – Stealing Rodin
    • Best Narrative Feature – Streaker
    • Best Documentary Feature – Sammy Davis, Jr.: I Gotta Be Me 
    • Best Louisiana Narrative Feature – Blaze 
    • Best Louisiana Documentary Feature – Larger Than Life: The Kevin Aucoin Story
    • Best International Short Film – Newborn
    • Best Louisiana Short Film – Headless Swans
    • Best Mature Animated Short –  Your Black Friend 
  • Past #LIFF2018 interviews, arranged by film
  • My first visit to SXSW
  • My recap of SXSW 2018
  • Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show

Music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Other Films & Shows Mentioned

  • Breaking Bad
  • Gunslinger
  • Godfather
  • Home Remedy (web series)
  • Lost

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Bands & Musicians Mentioned

  • Minos the Saint
  • Pappa Grows Funk
  • Ryan Harris

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If You Liked the Show

  • Subscribe or leave an honest review:

Apple Podcasts

 

nsavides podcast on Spotify

Spotify

Thank you for visiting!

 

How $100,000 Kickstarter Campaign Became Crowd-Pleasing Sci-Fi #LIFF2018

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My coverage of LIFF2018 continues with Tinker producer Tom Bhramayana.  Tinker is a sci-fi film that started as Kickstarter campaign which brought in over $100,000. A few year later, it has won 19 best-of awards at festivals around the country, and all three screenings at this year’s Louisiana International Film Festival have sold out.

Tom Bhramayana producer of sci-fi-film Tinker podcast interviewThe term producer has many connotations, but Tom wasn’t just in charge of getting the money. He was also one of the writers, did a voice-over for one of the character, and his other on-screen credits include unit production manager, line producer, travel coordinator, assistant editor, props, locations, and cast.  All that to say, Tom has been intimately involved with Tinker from pre-production to post and foreign sales, and he offered lots of helpful filmmaking insights when we spoke a few days ago.

It doesn’t matter what your belief is, it doesn’t matter how you were raised, who you are, if you help people, anybody can do the smallest things and make a big difference in someone’s life.” – Tom Bhramayana

My coverage of #LIFF2018 continues with this interview I did with Tom Bhramayana. Some of the things that we discuss include

  • How the filmmakers behind Tinker were able to raise over $100,000 in their first Kickstarter campaign
  • The way the filmmaking team shot the film in spurts that were months apart
  • How feedback from festivals helped them to refine their film and increase their festival acceptance rate
  • What the visual-effects process was like
  • What goes into developing a DCP that can be screened in theaters
  • How the film was budgeted and how Tom anticipates they will make a profit from VOD and foreign sales
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Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. My new video portfolio is here!
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My short film Mixed Signals premieres at LIFF 2018 on April 21.
Mixed Signals directed by Nick Savides at LIFF 2018#

Say hello: podcast@nsavides.com

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Related Things

Music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Films Mentioned

  • Dallas Buyers Club
  • Mixed Signals (short)
  • A River Runs Through It
  • Sling Blade
  • Tinker 
  • Trent’s War (short)

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If You Liked the Show

  • Subscribe or leave an honest review:

Apple Podcasts

 

nsavides podcast on Spotify

Spotify

Thank you for visiting!

 

Louisiana Live-Action Shorts #LIFF2018

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My coverage of this year’s Louisiana International Film Festival continues as I talk to some of the filmmakers showing work at the Louisiana Live Action Shorts block on Saturday April 21, at 9:30 AM.

Louisiana Life-Action Shorts podcast coverageThis episode includes interviews with

  • Steve Herold, the director of Death of an Umbrella Salesman, a character-driven comedy that pays homage to the comedies of an earlier era
  • Jency Griffin Hogan, the director of the film Seed of the Free, which tells the story of a critical moment in the life of Sojourner Truth, an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist from the 1800s.
  • Paul Catalanotto, director of the short doc Mr. United States, which profiles Avery D. Wilson who was selected to be Mr. Louisiana and then Mr. United States in 2016
  • Shanna Forrestall, the actress, producer, writer of Breath, a dialogue-free short film about someone trying to overcome a sense of loss while creating art amidst a stirring mountain vista.
  • Alexander Jeffery, the filmmaker behind An Aria for Albrights, a short film about a young girl who tries to rediscover her musical voice after the death of her grandfather

My short film Mixed Signals is also in the film block, so I also discuss some the lessons I learned in making it.

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Once again, the Louisiana Live-Action Shorts block will be playing at #LIFF2018 on Saturday, April 20 at 9:30 AM. Tickets are available through LIFF’s website.

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Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. My new video portfolio is here!
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My short film Mixed Signals premieres at LIFF 2018 on April 21.

Say hello: podcast@nsavides.com

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Related Things

Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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If You Liked the Show

  • Subscribe or leave an honest review:

Apple Podcasts

 

nsavides podcast on Spotify

Spotify

Thank you for visiting!

 

Brimstone & Glory: Doc on Fireworks & Danger! #LIFF2018

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Brimstone & Glory is a documentary produced by the Department of Motion Pictures that tells the story of Tultepec, a town in Mexico dedicated to the making and celebration of fireworks. It’s a poetic, visually stunning film that the National Board of Review recognized as one of the top five documentaries of 2017, and it is screening at this year’s Louisiana International Film Festival.

filmmaker Viktor Jakovleski on directing Brimstone & Glory, a podcast interviewDirector Viktor Jakovleski initially conceived of the film as something that he would produce and his friend and colleague Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild) would direct. As the concept developed though, Benh decided to come onboard as producer and composer so that Viktor could direct it. My coverage of #LIFF2018 continues with this interview I did with Viktor.

The two places in the world that I’ve seen where people love to celebrate the most are in  New Orleans and Mexico.” – Viktor Jakovleski

Some of the things that we discuss include

  • How the film came about because of a coincidental or serendipitous encounter at a party
  • The distinct shooting style and challenges that arise when shooting with a Phantom camera that can shoot at 1500 frames per second
  • What it was like collaborating with Benh, who was both a producer and composer on the  project, an unusual combination
  • Why the documentary is a sort of like a musical and the unique way that the music was developed during post-production
  • How to approach dangerous things with reverence

I continue my coverage of #LIFF2018 with director Viktor Jakovleski:

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Brimstone & Glory will be playing at #LIFF2018 on Friday, April 20 at 7:00 PM. Tickets are available through LIFF’s website.

Want to hear another conversation with someone who makes a living out of living dangerously? Then you might appreciate this podcast interview with Jay Caputo, a stuntman who has worked on projects like Planet of the Apes, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Amazing Spider-Man.

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Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. My new video portfolio is here!
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My short film Mixed Signals premieres at LIFF 2018 on April 21.
Mixed Signals directed by Nick Savides at LIFF 2018#

Say hello: podcast@nsavides.com

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Related Things

Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Films Mentioned

  • The Amazing Spider-Man
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Brimstone & Glory
  • Glory at Sea (short) 
  • Only Lovers Left Alive
  • Mixed Signals (short) 
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Planet of the Apes

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Book Mentioned

  • The Labyrinth of Solitude

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If You Liked the Show

  • Subscribe or leave an honest review:

Apple Podcasts

 

nsavides podcast on Spotify

Spotify

Thank you for visiting!