Telling stories through film and conversation.
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WILDsound's The Film Podcast

In each episode, the C.E.O. of WILDsound, Matthew Toffolo, chats about all things storytelling and film. Conversations with talented individual from all around the world.

Posts in Film of the Day
EP. 1156 - Filmmaker Luke Rex (BONDING)

BONDING, 13min., USA
Directed by Luke Rex
A solitary figure at an empty bar, CIA clinical and forensic psychologist, Dr. John Flemington, is planning to visit his girlfriend in Mexico when he is pressured by mysterious underground operatives to join them on a secret mission. He really doesn’t have a choice.

http://www.9livesentertainment.net/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086267809895
https://www.twitter.com/9LivesEntertain
https://www.instagram.com/9_lives_entertainment/

Get to know the filmmaker:

I took 3 months off after graduating with my doctorate in clinical psychology in the summer of 2022. I was wanting to be creative again and challenged myself to direct a short film and do this as thoroughly and professionally as possible (i.e.., form a production company, pay everyone involved, produce, direct, have great sound, compose the music). Having appeared in many shorts as an actor prior to becoming a psychologist I felt both confident and intimated by the process. As a writer, I thought I had a good idea and knew that the difference between backing myself and making the short versus keeping the idea in my head was simply courage – couraage to exercise the confidence to put my idea out there into the world. I also love the spy genre and James Bond, in addition to the spin off creative series we have been seeing with the Mandalorian, Boba Fett. Inspired by Jon Favreau’s passion for alternate universes, I thought it would be fun to explore an alternate Bond Universe, combined with an X-Files style genre. Bonding was born.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1153 - Filmmaker Xuepei Hou (THE ADULTS ARE TALKING)

THE ADULTS ARE TALKING, 9min., USA
Directed by Xuepei Hou
Alex is a young graduate who is struggling to balance her life. She pretends to have it all together and breaks down all of a sudden when her mom tells her the secret she has been hiding for a year.

Get to know the filmmaker:

This is a semi-autobiographical story that happened between me and my mom years ago. It is the first time facing the fear of losing someone that close and the fact that she held that secret from me set off a scary awareness in me that my mother, is also a human who gets sick, makes mistakes, gets scared, and eventually faces the inevitable death. It is silly to acknowledge or make a sane judgment call when it comes to your nearest and dearest. To explore this unsolvable dilemma is what drove me to make this film.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1152 - Filmmaker Naomi Silver-Vézina & Vincent Blain (SPACEBOY (A FILM IN SEVEN SONGS))

SPACEBOY (A FILM IN SEVEN SONGS), 27min., Canada
Directed by Naomi Silver-Vézina
Naomi Silver-Vézina weaves the Montreal artist’s L’INDICE seventh album through a short film. At the top of a church tower, a man wakes up weakened and disoriented. He must find the strength to cross this strange place in order to find an exit. SPACEBOY explores loss of autonomy, loneliness and isolation through a quest towards self-acceptance and grief.

https://lindice.ca/

Get to know the filmmaker:

I’ve known Vincent, the film’s composer and star, for a few years since filming a podcast in his studio. When the podcast ended, I approached him about recording music in his studio, and he mentioned he wanted to make a film featuring his latest music project (which became the film’s soundtrack). He told me a little about the music’s inspiration, but left me a lot of space to come back to him with my own impressions and ideas for a concept. I was excited to have the creative space to explore a storyline that wasn’t too closely based on the lyrics, and to integrate different visual concepts throughout the film. We wanted the whole to feel cohesive, but for each song to feel like a tableau, each with its own mood and aesthetic.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1151 - Sonja Grace (SPIRIT TRAVELER: Looking into the Past for a Better Future)

Mystic Sonja Grace looks at the breaking point of two ancient cultures on opposite sides of the world and how their history can help us today. Her ability to Spirit Travel back in time gives a new perspective on the Hopi Indians from Northern Arizona and the Celtic people of England, Ireland, and Scotland. She examines why circular chambers like kivas and stone circles such as Stonehenge were built, the portals that are marked by these sites and the Demi Gods and aliens who influenced them. From the ancient past Sonja brings back hope for the future.

https://sonjagrace.com/
https://www.facebook.com/spiritualpsychicsonjagrace
https://twitter.com/sonjagraceguide
https://instagram.com/therealsonjagrace

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1149 - Filmmaker Melissa Hubert (BEATINGS ARE IN THE BODY)

BEATINGS ARE IN THE BODY, 16min., Canada
Directed by Melissa Hubert
Beatings Are in the Body is an artful exploration of how memories, pain, and a spectrum of emotions are stored in and continue to be carried by our physical bodies. Borrowing the project’s name from a work by Canadian poet Meaghan McAneeley, Beatings Are in the Body is a bracingly beautiful music collaboration between Montreal’s Erika Angell (Thus Owls) on voice/electronics, Róisín Adams (Hildegard’s Ghost) on piano/wurlitzer/voice, and acclaimed Vancouver cellist Peggy Lee. Together with multimedia visual artist Melissa Hubert, they represent an abstract narrative through four selections from their debut album premiering in the Spring 2023. Melissa Hubert is often mixing a variety of analog and digital mediums and her work encompasses a strong emphasis on the visual connection in combination with music, exploring unconventional methods of digital animation using organic materials to create a feeling of ‘supernatural awe’ within a digital landscape.

https://linktr.ee/beatingsareinthebody
https://instagram.com/beatingsareinthebody

Get to know the filmmaker:
When I was approached by the group ‘Beatings Are in the Body’ to create the visuals to their new self titled album, I was thrilled to work with multiple tracks. I now had an abundance of screen time to work with and was inspired to expand upon an earlier concept established in our first collaboration for the music video “No Not This No” which was the beginning of this idea of an abstracted internal pill-cam experience. Having more time, I was able to add to the story of what came before the internal portrait, a more elaborate view of the emotional and mental reach of this imagined tech, and to then show it was all just a dream – I was driven to make a ‘Wizard of Oz’ dream like experience of traversing the inner body, and waking with a new perspective.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1148 - Filmmaker Matthew Ellis (PRIVILEGE)

PRIVILEGE, 13min., USA
Directed by Matthew Ellis
An amateur white male actor is finally given a shot at making it in Hollywood by an established Casting Director but in order to get the role he has to fulfill a deal made by his ancestors thousands of years ago.

https://www.instagram.com/matthewellisofficial/

Get to know the filmmaker:

I was doing a stand up comedy gig as one of my characters, Pistachio. I was presenting a PowerPoint on the true History of Thanksgiving and came up with this idea of the first white male making a deal with demons for more privilege. Once I heard the audience die over the “But white people had to give up the ability to dance or season their food properly” I knew I was onto something. From there ideas just kept coming to me until I knew I had to make this no matter what.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1147 - Filmmaker Mark Schoen (STIGMA)

STIGMA, 3min., USA
Directed by Mark Schoen
The three-minute film STIGMA demonstrates that no matter what your race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity all human beings ae basically the same.
The three-minute film STIGMA demonstrates that no matter what your race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity all human beings ae basically the same.



https://www.sexsmartfilms.com/company/

Get to know the filmmaker:

The motivation for this film came from a telephone conversation I had with Liana Zhou, Head of Collections at The Kinsey Institute. We were talking about discrimination and how so many people are stigmatized because of superficial factors when we both agreed that basically all people are the same!

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1146 - Filmmaker Kevin Hart (FIELD DAY)

FIELD DAY, 22min., USA
Directed by Kevin Hart
Tom is a lonely widower who awakens one day…

Get to know the filmmaker:
Several things motivated me. First, while driving across the country and loving the fields and pastures on either side of me. I was constantly wishing I could stop and walk in them – but I couldn’t because I had to get to Michigan to see my family. I was struck with the idea of how we live in lines and spaces. So, I wanted my character to finally get off the line and walk in the spaces he had always day-dreamed about. Also, I liked the idea of a loop-structure, which wound up taking the shape of a purgatorial cycle.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1145 - Filmmakers J Brooke & Beatrice Alda (ROOMMATES)

ROOMMATES, 9min., USA
Directed by J Brooke, Beatrice Alda
After completing lengthy prison terms (for murder and arson, respectively), two women forge a strong bond within a nursing home catering to the formerly incarcerated. Creating a positive present tense in the wake of complicated pasts, these survivors cling to simplicity, routine, and each other.

Get to know the filmmakers:

I (Beatrice) have a strong interest in prison reform. I had read a local CT article about this nursing home that serves the formerly incarcerated – and they are the only ones in the country doing so- filling an enormous whole in the realm of post-incarceration issues.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1144 - Filmmaker Greg Kase (VITAL INSTRUMENTS)

VITAL INSTRUMENTS, 17min., USA
Directed by Greg Kase
In this dark fever dream, a botched pawn shop robbery sends desperate brothers Walter and Pete, and their newly employed getaway driver Cutty, hobbling to a safe house that was supposed to be abandoned. Instead, they find shackled women in critical need of their help. Things complicate after their captor is mortally wounded in a shootout, and the predicament as to why they are prisoners in the first place becomes highly questionable—especially after the first one they reluctantly release immediately (and violently) kills herself, and the rest of them start chanting in ancient tongues.

https://vitalinstruments.wixsite.com/movie
https://www.facebook.com/Vital.Instruments.Movie/
https://www.instagram.com/vital_instruments_movie/

Get to know the filmmaking team:

The concept of the crooks vs occult was a marriage of two genres we all deeply enjoyed, Heist and Spooky Occult Horror. As a group of horror film fans, we had never seen a movie do this in the same way this concept was blossoming in our minds. The exploration of a clash between outcasts of society, a sort of stand off on the fringes. Like most filmmakers, we started describing scenes that we would like to see and dialogue we would want to hear until it culminated in the understanding that if we wanted to see it, we had to make it.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1142 - Filmmaker David Tessier (THE FLOOD)

THE FLOOD, 1min., France
Directed by David Tessier
A political debate, broadcast live on a 24-hour news channel. As the speakers are arguing about social issues, water invades the set and floods the whole room. Nobody seems to notice …

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqDHfO7O_AH/

Get to know the filmmaker:

I first received the script in 2017, 2 months before Macron’s first election. At the time, it was written for France Nature Environnement and they had 40K to produce it. We had to abandon the project because it was not enough, even with the whole team working for free. But I always kept the idea in mind and recontacted the agency five years later, a few months before Macron’s second election. It took six more months to raise the money to do it.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1141 - Actor/Writer/Producer Daniel Mitura (LAUNCH AT PARADISE)

LAUNCH AT PARADISE, 15min., USA
Directed by Carrie Ann Quinn
The lines between life and death become blurred for John as he takes the risk to live forever.

https://www.instagram.com/danieljmitura/

Get to know Actor/Writer/Producer Daniel Mitura:

The idea for this film came from meditations on mortality, endurance, and the persistence of the heart and soul of a person beyond all customary physical boundaries, coupled with the instinct that the sci-fi genre was best suited to this type of exploration. It allows for engagement with metaphysics and high concept moral debate, while also boasting an unmatched legacy of top notch unforgettable visuals— 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, Minority Report, the list goes on.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1140 - Filmmaker Bernardita Llanos (SPARK IN THE MEADOW)

SPARK IN THE MEADOW, 17min.,

Directed by Bernardita Llanos

Spark in the Prairie (La Chispa en la Pradera) focuses on law student Sofía Brito and her experience of sexual harassment by her professor, a renown attorney and member of the Supreme Tribunal of Chile. Sofia was his research assistant and was working with him on the three exceptions to legalize abortion in the country. Sofa was at a crossroad between women's reproductive rights and her own experience of gender and sexual discrimination by the very man who could move forward the decriminalization of abortion.

https://www.facebook.com/bernardita.llanos.52

https://www.instagram.com/talita1958

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1139 - Screenwriter Gary Porpora & John Fichera (AMERICAN BREAKDOWN)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rbzGDWo548

Logline: At the mercy of an accelerating dementia, Jonas Flemming, aka, America’s Coroner–the state’s lead witness in yet another high profile murder trial–melts down on the witness stand, setting a psychopath free.

When the L.A. detective on the case reopens his investigation, Jonas becomes the prime suspect.

Get to know the writer:

A world famous coroner, scientist and murder trial expert, think Cyril Wecht–experiencing a rapid deterioration of his mind due to Alzheimers–breaks down on the witness stand, setting a murderer free. When the LAPD reopens the investigation, America’s coroner becomes the main suspect…

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1138 - Filmmakers Michael J. Gonzales & Allan Wasserman (LOSING FAITH)

OSING FAITH, 19min., USA
Directed by Allan Wasserman
Gil, the detective who helped capture Richard Ramirez, now in his 70s, reflects on the events from the 80’s to his priest as he now questions his faith. “How could God let this happen?”. Michael J. Gonzales plays both Richard the Killer and Gil the detective.

Get to knowMichael J. Gonzales

The director Allan Wasserman had reached out to me about writing and acting in a short about the Night Stalker case. The twist was that he wanted me to play both the Killer and also the detective that helped bring him to justice.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1136 - Screenwriter Denis Crampton (NO 3 Hollythorne Cottage)

Watch the Horror Screenplay Best Scene Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik3-Lji9zPY

When a remote cottage is invaded by three young women and their psychopathic hostage takers, it’s malevolent spirit is unwittingly awakened with tragic consequences.

https://www.threeinonepictures.com/


You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1135 - Filmmaker Allen Cheng (WHAT A DAY)

WHAT A DAY, 5min., Thailand
Directed by Allen Cheng
Our world is busy, lonely, and exhausting. It is so common for us to go through a rough day, come home and lay on our bed with tears and sweats, then simply complain to ourselves, “ugh, what a day”.

https://www.instagram.com/allenuknowwhatimsaying/

Get to know the filmmaker:

The topic is something I can resonate with, and I’m sure most people do too. Just the idea of finding purpose(s) in a mundane life, because if everyday ends up being a “what a day”, then it eventually stacks up to “what a life”. I don’t like the sound of that, so I figured I would make something that portrays that.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1134 - Filmmaker Alex Alexander (BAPTISM)

BAPTISM, 8min, USA
Directed by Alex Alexander
The relief, the rest that comes from truth.

https://www.instagram.com/alexx.alexxander/

Get to know the filmmaker:

The inspiration and the motivation were very separate things.

The desire to be seen and known is intrinsic to the human experience, to be held in your truest most authentic form and understood in that moment, and I too am human. This is a self exploration, aided by the love and attendance and patience of a partner. The patience and gentleness of my partner, the way they often bathed me, the way they support whoever I am and guided me without ever forcing.

This was my first attempt at making a film, I wanted to do something close to my heart that I understood innately to iliminate any complications with foreign subject matter. This is actually a nugget of an idea for a much more complicated story.

The actual motivation was that the locations and team were going to become unavailable at the end of summer and I knew it was time to start moving on this idea!.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1131 - John-Carlos Estrada & Zak Zeh (BARBETTE + FONTAINE)

BARBETTE + FONTAINE, 14min., USA
Directed by John-Carlos Estrada, Zak Zeh
A century apart, two Texas icons unite through art, resilience, and a shared legacy of self-expression and freedom.

https://instagram.com/barbette.fontaine

Get to know filmmaker John-Carlos Estrada:
The idea for Barbette + Fontaine came from an award-winning TV news profile I reported on for CBS Austin. After the broadcast story aired in June 2022… I was Inspired by a dream where the legendary Texas drag icon Barbette urged me to tell their story. We’re honored to provide Barbette with their final performance and take pride in doing so. Here’s the link to the CBS Austin story: bit.ly/3CeAXTG

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1129 - Grace Samson (CATS AND HUSBANDS)

CATS AND HUSBANDS, 7min., USA
Directed by Grace Samson, Barry Samson
We enter the story where two close friends, Fern and Marcie get together at a local coffee shop to celebrate a birthday. Fern has been going through two years of cycles of In Vitro, desperately trying to get pregnant but with no success. Her husband, Nick’s coping mechanism has been dressing up with the family Cat and taking silly pictures. Marcie jokingly suggests that Fern just book a vacation for herself and leave hubby with the cat. All this to help soften the reality that the birthday Fern celebrates today is that of a child she miscarried two years before.

https://instagram.com/catsandhusbands

Get to know filmmaker Grace Samson:
Being a thirty two year old woman, I started to see ads for freezing your eggs. I thought, wow I’m not ready for that yet, but interesting what a pressure it is to have babies as a woman at my age. I wanted to include a woman’s story that others who are in the same position could commiserate with and feel like they are not alone.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.