This is Part II of my SXSW 2017 podcast coverage. Part I includes the film-related interviews I did while attending the festival. On this episode I share my interactive and music-related interviews. Then I share my takeaways from the music, interactive, and film aspects of the festival that I experienced.

The episode concludes with my own personal SXSW story. In it, I explore some of the big questions that the festival evoked, meet Tim Ferriss and a few other luminaries for the first time, and share my struggles in attempting to navigate the festival without a drop of alcohol. Some complications ensue.

The interviews and my concluding thoughts are interconnected, which is why I kept them together in one episode, but we cover a lot of ground so you might want to reference the start times below if you have a particular area of interest.

Note: The length of the episode seems to affect how the web player displays the time. If you are trying to get to a certain section and aren’t hearing it, try going back a few minutes, up to 10 minutes or so as you get towards the end of the episode.

Guests in this Episode

• Gregory Kallenberg, founder of the Louisiana Film Prize  – starts at 6:15. He has been attending SXSW since year one and has been on the board for the interactive side of the festival for 20+ years. We discuss some of the changes that the festival has undergone throughout the years, notable aspects of the interactive portion of the festival, and some of the Louisiana Music Prize alumni who have gone on to play at SXSW.
• Merisa Torneo & Josh Volkov, the friendly husband and wife duo behind the country-rock band Lovella – starts at 17:57. Merisa and Josh played daily at the SXSW Registrant Lounge right across from the Austin Convention Center. They also played a showcase at Cooper’s BBQ towards the end of the festival. We discuss the origins of the band, their experiences at the festival, and what they consider to be a successful show.

I interviewed Merisa and Josh on this balcony at the Austin Convention Center.

• Michael Bonfiglio, co-director of May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers – starts at 32:40. His music doc (and/or the musicians and the filmmakers) got three standing ovations when it premiered at SXSW 2017. It went on to win 24 Beats Per Second audience award at the festival. Mike explains how they captured vulnerable moments from the band and what it was like to collaborate with co-director Judd Apatow.
• Mark Falgout, owner of Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette, Louisiana – starts at 45:20. He put together a showcase at Antone’s, a storied music venue in Austin, to help close out the music portion of the festival. Three of the bands in his Louisiana themed showcase have received Grammy nominations, one has appeared on NBC’s The Voice, and one has recorded music for HBO’s True Blood. He explains what he looks for in bands and shares some tips to musicians trying to make a living from their music.

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My Take on Things

• Music – starts at 1:00:25. Here I talk about some of the music shows and keynotes that caught my attention.
• Interactive – starts at 1:07:26. This includes some of the brands, panels, and keynotes dealing with technology and politics that I experienced.
• Film – starts at 1:32:38. Here I give some recommendations to filmmakers trying to navigate the festival and share some of the films, shows, and keynotes that I got to check out.
• My SXSW Story – starts at 1:57:55. Here I share some of the ups and downs that I experienced at the festival while doing podcast coverage and trying to figure out why I had a sense that I should attend the festival this year.

The profiterole I ordered at Chez Nous

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Listen to the Episode

• The Big Sick Q&A with Judd Apatow, Emily Gordon, Barry Mendel, & Kumail Nanjiani
• Cory Booker | Interactive Opening Speaker
• Film Keynote: Gareth Edwards
• Film Keynote: Lee Daniels
• Joe Biden on his Cancer Initiative
• Music Keynote: Nile Rodgers

This keynote from Joe Swanberg in 2016 is also worth a watch.

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If You Liked the Show

The post SXSW 2017 Podcast Coverage Part II – Music & Interactive Interviews and Concluding Thoughts appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.

This is Part III of my coverage of the Louisiana Film Prize 2016. It features some of the more thought-provoking interviews or ones that really connected with me for one reason or another. It also includes an interview with the winner of LA Film Prize 2016.

A couple of people in the episode say nice things about podcasting. Hence the subtitle!

Now in its fifth year, the LA Film Prize is a short-film festival in Shreveport, Louisiana that awards $50,000 to the festival’s top film as determined by audience votes and a panelist of judges. Taken as a whole the films this year represent a drastic leap forward in technical achievement and ambition, compared to the short films that the festival has screened in past years.

Chalk drawing by Matthew Yerby

The cast and crew involved in making this year’s slate of shorts have also worked on projects like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deepwater Horizon, The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Avengers, I Saw the Light, Godzilla, The Avengers,  Harry Potter, Salem, The Wire, Pride & Prejuidice, and All the King’s Men (2006).

Muffuletta pizza from the Red River Revel

I believe that good is inherent in everyone, and obviously sometimes that can get lost along the way, but I think everyone should strive to find it.“ – Jonnie Stepleton,  director of The Man from Mars, the winning film from LA Film Prize 2016 

Interviews in Part III:

• McGhee Monteith, director/writer/actor – He Could’ve Gone Pro
• Travis Champagne – director/writer – Native 
• Tommy G. Kendrick, actor/writer/producer & Keith Rushing, actor/writer/producer – Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
• Frank Spiro, director/writer/producer – Apocalypse Later 
• Paul Peterson, writer/actor/producer – Memoir 
• Robert Casiello, actor/writer – The Verses
• Austin Alward, director – Memorial Drive
• Corey Landis, actor – The Man from Mars
• Kyle Kleinecke, director/writer – The Root Cellar 
• Eva Contis, director/writer/editor – The Stand 
• Sabrina Adsit – producer of Louisiana Film Prize
• Jonnie Stepleton, director/writer/producer – The Man from Mars 

Part III also includes my concluding thoughts about the interviews and my experiences at LA Film Prize.

The Polyphonic Spree perform at Aura Ultra Lounge.

Listen to Part III

The post LA Film Prize 2016 All Access Coverage Part III: Hooray for Podcasting! appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.

The Louisiana Film Prize, now in its fifth year, is a short-film festival in Shreveport, Louisiana that awards $50,000 to the festival’s top film as determined by audience votes and a panelist of judges. Taken as a whole the films this year represent a drastic leap forward in technical achievement and ambition, compared to the short films that the festival has screened in past years.

Chalk drawing by Matthew Yerby

The cast and crew involved in making this year’s slate of shorts have also worked on projects like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deepwater Horizon, The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Avengers, I Saw the Light, Godzilla, The Avengers,  Harry Potter, Salem, The Wire, Pride & Prejuidice, and All the King’s Men (2006).

For The nsavides Podcast coverage, I interviewed many of the filmmakers, actors, and crew members who worked on some of the films at this year’s festival.

I did over 4 hours of interviews at the festival, a new record for the podcast. Each interview is interesting in its own way and is shorter than my typical interviews, which means you get to hear more ideas per hour.

In case you don’t have the time to go through all of my festival coverage though, I have broken them up into 3 parts.

Part I

It starts with last year’s winner and includes some of the people who have worked with him or who have worked on a number of other festival shorts.

Below is a list of people involved in this episode:

• Alexander Jeffery, director/producer – Memoir
• J.C. Doler, director/writer/producer & Taylor Bracewell, director of photography/writer/producer – Hangman
• Tamzin Merchant, director/writer/producer & Cam Owen, actor/writer/producer – American Pride
• Joel Froome, director of photography – Memoir, American Pride, The Verses
• Jency Griffin Hogan, director/actor/producer – The Verses
• Christine Chen, director/writer/producer & Diana Rose, actor – Ya Albi
• James Crawford, producer & Tyler Corie, producer – Native

Listen to Part I

Part II

This episode is focused on craftsmanship. We hear from some effects artists, a director of photography, a costumer, a production sound mixer, and more filmmakers. Plus we hear from the actors who won best actor and best actress for LA Film Prize 2016.

Interviews in Part II:

• Iddo Goldberg, director/writer/producer, Joe Doyle, actor, & Garrett Kruithof, actor – St. Jude’s Crossing
• Calvin O’Neal Jr., director/writer/actor/editor/producer – Cookie Jar
• James Going, visual effects supervisor/musician – The Importance of Sex Education
• Jeremy Spring, director of photography – The Fallen
• Nathaniel Caauwe, visual effects artist – Memoir, Native
• Kent Ohler, production sound mixer – Native
• Frances Watson, actor – The Importance of Sex Education
• Susan Davis, costume designer – The Verses
• Tanesha Morris, director/writer – Ruthless: A Hip Hopera
• Travis Bible, director/writer/producer & Kemerton Hargrove, actor/producer – The 30 Year Deal

You can listen to Part II by clicking here.

Part III

This episode features some of the more thought-provoking interviews or ones that really resonate with me for one reason or another. It also includes an interview with the winner of LA Film Prize 2016.

A couple of people in that episode say nice things about podcasting, so the subtitle for that episode  is, “Hooray for Podcasting!”

Interviews in Part III:

• McGhee Monteith, director/writer/actor – He Could’ve Gone Pro
• Travis Champagne – director/writer – Native
• Tommy G. Kendrick, actor/writer/producer & Keith Rushing, actor/writer/producer – Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell
• Frank Spiro, director/writer/producer – Apocalypse Later
• Paul Peterson, writer/actor/producer – Memoir
• Robert Casiello, actor/writer – The Verses
• Austin Alward, director – Memorial Drive
• Corey Landis, actor – The Man from Mars
• Kyle Kleinecke, director/writer – The Root Cellar
• Eva Contis, director/writer/editor – The Stand
• Sabrina Adsit – producer of Louisiana Film Prize
• Jonnie Stepleton, director/writer/producer – The Man from Mars

Part III also includes my concluding thoughts about the interviews and my experiences at LA Film Prize.

You can listen to Part III by clicking here.

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The post LA Film Prize 2016 All Access Coverage Part I appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.

Silo is a short that is not afraid to ask the big questions, and we discuss some of those questions on the show. We also talk about The Disposable Hero Project, Kyle’s outreach to wounded veterans, and how that led to Humid, his current production company.

Listen to the podcast here:

[powerpress]

Links From the Show

• The Facebook page for Kyle’s award-winning short, Silo.
• Kyle’s IMDb page
• The Disposable Hero Project 
• Nick’s blog post regarding Shakespeare

Upcoming screenings of Silo:

• Saturday, November 9th at 4:00 PM – Shreveport Common
• Friday,  November 15th at 8:30 PM – Columbia Theater in Hammond. Admission is free, but Kyle will be accepting donations to help fund an upcoming project.

(Eli, no. Please redirect your creative impulses toward winning more games for the NY Giants.)

If You Liked the Show

• Sign up for The nsavides Newsletter. (Look left, Pilgrim.)
• Subscribe!  
• Check out Support the Show! for more ideas. (Beware: The ideas might be too unconventional for some. Proceed with caution.)

Thank you for visiting!

The post Louisiana Film Prize Winning Director & Ender’s Game Actor, Kyle Clements appeared first on NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW.