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Twisted Oak Music Festival 2015 Recap

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Joel Willson, founder of the Twisted Oak Music Festival, was a recent guest on The nsavides Podcast. After hearing Joel describe the caliber of musicians at the event and why it might be a life-changing experience, my curiosity was piqued. I decided to attend and do some additional coverage to recap the experience.

Longleaf

From Longleaf’s Instagram account

Below are the people I interviewed at the festival.

  • Jackson Pierce, a performer with CYT Baton Rouge
  • Alex V. Cook, a writer, music critic, and a singer/guitarist for The Rakers
  • David Fuller, Laura Smith, & Carrie Stephens, the musicians who make up the newgrassical band Longleaf, one of the bands that played at Twisted Oak

twisted oak

After the interviews, I share my take on the festival. I also expand on my ongoing efforts to navigate through the faith vs. reason dilemma, which continues the discussion from Joel’s episode.

Listen to the Episode

To learn more about the Twisted Oak Music Festival click here for my interview with Joel.
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Related Things

  • The Twisted Oak Music Festival website
  • Alex V. Cook’s site
  • Longleaf’s Facebook page
  • Music and films I mentioned:
    • Sondre Lerche’s album Two Way Monologue
    • My Dinner with Andre, a rare film that can sustain drama almost entirely with its extended philosophical discussion
    • The Martian
    • Interstellar 
  • Norman Mailer’s interview with EW. I mentioned this one last time too, but it does relate to the ongoing discussion, and I’m still a little unsettled by the matching date.

Sponsor for this episode

nsavides productions – This is the “Alone in Space” music video I mentioned in the show:
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Let’s talk about what we can do together. Email me: podcast@nsavides.com.
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New Orleans Film Festival 2015 Recap Part II

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Part II of my coverage of the New Orleans Film Festival. At the end of this part I share details and reflections on my own personal festival experience.

New Orleans Film Festival 2015

Below are the interviews included in this part.

Part II

2015-10-21 16.29.58

My leisurely lunch at St. James Cheese Company

 

  • Kevin Hughes, director on Louisiana short Tough Love, sound mixer on Louisiana feature Mourning Hills, a film which won the Apex Post Award for Best Sound in a Louisiana Film
  • Kenny Lass and Alex Wiltz co-directors of Louisiana short Hut
  • Ian Midgley, director of documentary Reversing the Mississippi, which had a world premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival
  • Pedro Lucero, transportation coordinator for festival, filmmaker
  • Greg Tilton, sound mixer on Louisiana feature Love Me True, InDepth Media partner
  • Kirby Voss, director of Louisiana feature Love Me True, which had a world premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival
  • Elise Berggreen, festival volunteer and actress
  • Allen Frederic, director; Brian Friedman, writer; Laurent Dupepe, editor of The King of New Orleans, Special Jury Award for Louisiana Feature
  • This part also features my reflections on my festival experience.

In case you missed it, below are the interviews in Part I.

Part I

2015-10-17 19.59.54

This is me with Jane by her art installation.

  • Jennifer Medvin, director of Little Hero, Special Jury Award for Documentary Short
  • Jordan Shiele, director of Turtle, Jury Winner for Narrative Short
  • Kevin Prockup, film composer of Lousiana short, Does God Hear Robots Pray
  • Erica Anderson, head of crowdfunding & education at Seed & Spark, festival panelist
  • Conway Solomon, actor from Louisiana short Us Against the World, which won the Apex Post Special Mention for Best Sound in a Louisiana Film
  • Russell Blanchard, director; Benjamin Gouldthorpe, writer of Louisiana short The Lot, featured in the festival’s Cinema Classroom program
  • Victoria Greene, festival volunteer, filmmaker for upcoming documentary Forgotten Bayou 
  • Morgan Roberts, director of Louisiana short, Rite, Jury Winner for Louisiana Short
  • Brian Richard, director; Hunter Burke, co-writer and actor; Natalie Kingston, director of photography; Chris Haney, producer of Louisiana short Atchafalaya
  • Jane Cassidy, artist with a featured installation at the festival, experimental shorts juror
  • Justin Ditch, from Professional Sound Services, sponsor and audio work

Quvenzhané Wallis

A photo I took of Quvenzhane Wallis, the actress from Beasts of the Southern Wild, on the opening night of the festival. You can see more of my festival photos here.

 

A special thank you to Jolene Pinder and Emily Reimsnyder for giving me media access to cover the event.

Listen to the Interviews

This is Part II:

Click here for Part I.
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Related Things

Sponsor for this episode

nsavides productions – I aim for sincerity and excellence with my work. This music video I directed for the band Long Division was nominated for an award by Veer Magazine:
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Let’s talk about what we can do together.
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New Orleans Film Festival 2015 Recap Part I

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I had the chance to do several interviews with various filmmakers, artists, industry leaders and festival guests at this year’s New Orleans Film Festival. I’ve compiled all the interviews into one episode. At the end of Part II, I share details and reflections on my own personal festival experience.

New Orleans Film Festival 2015

The interview came in at over 2 hours, so I broke up into two parts. Below is the breakdown of who I interviewed in each part.

2015-10-17 22.52.23

The festival bus that took us to the Reflektor Party where Win Butler from Arcade Fire was the DJ

 

Part I

  • Jennifer Medvin, director of Little Hero, Special Jury Award for Documentary Short
  • Jordan Shiele, director of Turtle, Jury Winner for Narrative Short
  • Kevin Prockup, film composer of Lousiana short, Does God Hear Robots Pray
  • Erica Anderson, head of crowdfunding & education at Seed & Spark, festival panelist
  • Conway Solomon, actor from Louisiana short Us Against the World, which won the Apex Post Special Mention for Best Sound in a Louisiana Film
  • Russell Blanchard, director; Benjamin Gouldthorpe, writer of Louisiana short The Lot, featured in the festival’s Cinema Classroom program
  • Victoria Greene, festival volunteer, filmmaker for upcoming documentary Forgotten Bayou 
  • Morgan Roberts, director of Louisiana short, Rite, Jury Winner for Louisiana Short
  • Brian Richard, director; Hunter Burke, co-writer and actor; Natalie Kingston, director of photography; Chris Haney, producer of Louisiana short Atchafalaya 
  • Jane Cassidy, artist with a featured installation at the festival, experimental shorts juror
  • Justin Ditch, from Professional Sound Services, sponsor and audio work

2015-10-17 19.59.54

This is me with Jane by her art installation.

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Part II

  • Kevin Hughes, director on Louisiana short Tough Love, sound mixer on Louisiana feature Mourning Hills, a film which won the Apex Post Award for Best Sound in a Louisiana Film
  • Kenny Lass and Alex Wiltz co-directors of Louisiana short Hut
  • Ian Midgley, director of documentary Reversing the Mississippi, which had a world premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival
  • Pedro Lucero, transportation coordinator for festival, filmmaker
  • Greg Tilton, sound mixer on Louisiana feature Love Me True, InDepth Media partner
  • Kirby Voss, director of Louisiana feature Love Me True, which had a world premiere at the New Orleans Film Festival
  • Elise Berggreen, festival volunteer and actress
  • Allen Frederic, director; Brian Friedman, writer; Laurent Dupepe, editor of The King of New Orleans, Special Jury Award for Louisiana Feature
  • This part also features my reflections on my festival experience.

Quvenzhané Wallis

A photo I took of Quvenzhane Wallis, the actress from Beasts of the Southern Wild, on the opening night of the festival. You can see more of my festival photos here.

 

A special thank you to Jolene Pinder and Emily Reimsnyder for giving me media access to cover the event.

Listen to the Interviews:

This is Part I:

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Related Things

Sponsor for this episode

nsavides productions – I aim for sincerity and excellence with my work. This music video I directed for the band Long Division was nominated for an award by Veer Magazine:
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Let’s talk about what we can do together.
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  • Subscribe or comment:

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New Orleans Film Festival 2015: Advance Look with Jolene Pinder

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The 2015 New Orleans Film Festival takes place on October 14-22, and from the preliminary details the festival looks to be a strong one. NOFF is the flagship event of the New Orleans Film Society, and their executive director, Jolene Pinder, came on The nsavides Podcast to tell us more about the festival.

born to be blue

Born to Be Blue, the film opening the New Orleans Film Festival

 

Now an Oscar-qualifying festival, NOFF opens with Born to Be Blue, the biopic of jazz legend Chet Baker, starring Ethan Hawke. That’s a fitting start to the largest film festival in Louisiana: not only does the film pay tribute to a genre of music born in New Orleans, but it is produced by Louisiana-based Plantation Village Studios, and it will be screening in the Orpheum Theater, the city’s newly renovated landmark.

Other film highlights include Brooklyn, the historical period drama starring Saoirse Ronan that was well received at its Sundance premiere, and I Saw the Light, the Hank Williams biopic starring Tom Hiddleston that was shot in Shreveport, Louisiana. This is also the first year that the festival will include the #CreateLouisiana grant, a $50,000 grant provided to an eligible filmmaker team for shooting a short film in Louisiana.

Jolene goes over the festival highlights in more detail and offers some fundraising and submission tips to filmmakers. As a bonus, Jolene also shares a special Matthew McConaughey memory, and I reflect on some of my past film-festival experiences.

Listen to the Podcast

Related Things

As some of you may know, I recently put together an actor challenge with Laura Cayouette called #KnowMonologues. We had close to 90 submissions, and many of them came from Louisiana actors. Some of the best actors in the area submitted to us, so it is not surprising that a couple of them have films in the New Orleans Film Festival.

To support our actors and encourage a sense of community, I’m including the actors, details about their films at the festival, and their monologue submissions. This isn’t a comprehensive list, just the ones some actors mentioned to me.

If you or someone you know has a film in the festival, whether connected to our #KnowMonologues challenge or not, mention the details in the comments section, I’ll include a shout out to you here, and I’ll make an effort to see your film.

The names are arranged alphabetically by first name.

Anastasiya Rul: Rite, short film (Anastasiya produced/edited) –  October 21 at 6:30 PM, Prytania Theatre. Anastasiya also produced Us Against the World, which is also showing in the same film block.

 

Conway Solomon: Us Against the World, short film –  October 21 at 6:30 PM, Prytania Theatre

 

Jenn Forman: Tough Love, short film – October 20 at 6:00 PM Prytania Theatre

 

Russell Giacontiere: Us Against the World, short film –  October 21 at 6:30 PM, Prytania Theatre

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The #KnowMonologues Challenge!

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Hello friends of The nsavides Podcast. Good news, bad news for you. Bad news is that the show is on short hiatus. Look for more episodes after Labor Day. The good news is that it is so that I can focus on putting together the #KnowMonologues challenge with Laura Cayouette, an actress with over 20 years of experience whose credits include Django Unchained, Treme, and Friends.

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Listen to Learn More!

For more information and details on how to submit, visit the link below:

 

Sponsor for this episode

  • LA Film Prize, a short-film festival in Shreveport, Louisiana. Home of the $50,000 film prize. Viva La Film Prize!

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Actress Laura Cayouette on Working with Tarantino, Developing as an Actor, and Being Part of a Community

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Laura Cayouette has over 20 years of experience and has appeared in some well-regarded recent shows like Treme, True Detective, and Now You See Me, but she is best known for playing Laura Lee in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. She has also written Know Small Parts: An Actor’s Guide to Turning Minutes into Moments and Moments into a Career, a practical guide for how to grow as an actor and survive the industry. It’s a book that has received glowing recommendations from the likes of Kevin Costner and Richard Dreyfuss, and is a helpful resource not just to actors but also to filmmakers who want to get better at working with actors.

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Photo credit: Louis Sahuc

In the interview Laura discusses some of her acting experiences, her transition from Los Angeles to Louisiana, and the importance of connecting and contributing to our communities. After the interview ends, I share some things on my heart and discuss some of Tarantino’s films in context of certain current events.

Listen to the Podcast

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Related Things

We discuss some challenging topics in this episode, and we encourage discussion, but we ask that you approach with a respectful tone, whether or not you agree with my perspectives or Laura’s.

Actors and friends, check back here on July 22nd. We’ll have a special announcement to make! Update: the #KnowMonologues Challenge is live! Hooray! Click here to get started.

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Sponsor for this episode

LA Film Prize, a short-film festival in Shreveport, Louisiana. Home of the $50,000 film prize. Viva La Film Prize!
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