HELLBOUND FUGITIVE, 5min., USA
Directed by Christopher Patrick Vallone
In a desperate bid for freedom, a convict seeks refuge in a decaying fortress within the mountains. He inadvertently enters a nightmarish arena where ancient demons punish the wicked, and survival means fighting hell itself.

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?
SO this film is just a piece of a feature length script I wrote 18 years ago when I was just getting out of indie filmmaking after 10 years. AI came into my life almost 2 years ago, and so I started to dabble in it. I started to make a film trailer to that feature I wrote, and then started to see some AI horror, thriller contests online, and decided to make a short “Hellbound Fugitive” as a piece off of the trailer I was producing. I figured I had some scenes made already from the trailer, why not make a short from some of the clips? So that’s what I did.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
Very cool, so glad everyone enjoyed it, and the constructive criticism was great too, great advice to help me improve next time.

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EP. 1415: Filmmaker Christopher Patrick Vallone (HELLBOUND FUGITIVE)

Matthew Toffolo

CLOSER THAN YESTERDAY, documentary feature film

Two young San Francisco Ballet dancers compete on the world stage at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition.

http://closerthanyesterday.com/

Review of the film: https://festivalreviews.org/2025/01/27/feature-film-review-closer-than-yesterday-directed-by-lisa-le-lievre/

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EP. 1414: Filmmaker Lisa Le Lievre (CLOSER THAN YESTERDAY)

Matthew Toffolo

BAD BLOOD, 19min., Argentina
Directed by Guillermo Ronco
Abandoned by the state and with his daughter’s life at stake, police officer Rafael chooses to break his deepest convictions and commit a crime to resolve his situation. But when what was supposed to be a robbery turns into a kidnapping, he discovers that there are limits he cannot cross.

https://www.instagram.com/lucero_audiovisual/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?
In 2018/19, I began developing my first feature film, “Saints of Buenaventura”, but it was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. So, my next move to push forward this project was to shoot a short film with similar characteristics in terms of tone and artistic style. So, I took the structure of the third act of the first draft of that script and turned it into a story with a beginning and end in less than 20 minutes.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was awesome! The way they got engaged and moved by the story, and their comments about the right pacing and the sound score building suspense and anticipation. I work so consciously on those topics that it makes me very proud that I got them right. Feedback is priceless for us filmmakers. Thanks so much for that!

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EP. 1413: Filmmaker Guillermo Ronco (BAD BLOOD)

Matthew Toffolo

Hannah Ehman chats with actor Benjamin Eio on the making of the short film TAINTED.

TAINTED, 11min,. Singapore

Directed by Ian Wee

In a world driven by corporate greed and unethical genetic experimentation, Darien, the pioneering human clone, finds himself obsolete against a superior 2nd Generation Clone, leading to his and his mentor’s targeting. Following his mentor’s death, Darien’s hidden hybrid nature—combining human and vampire DNA—surfaces during a critical confrontation, granting him unexpected survival. Marked as a “Tainted” failure yet possessing newfound powers, Darien faces an ambiguous future, embodying the narrative’s critique of ambition’s perils and the poignant fallout of manipulative sciences.

http://www.brightvoxelstudios.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551387412655

https://www.instagram.com/film_tainted/

Follow Interviewer Hannah Ehman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ehmanhannah/

Watch Hannah’s commercial spots: https://www.ispot.tv/topic/actor-actress/bP8/hannah-ehman

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EP. 1412: (Actors Podcast #8) Benjamin Eio (Tainted)

Matthew Toffolo

The Second City – A Documentary, 34min., USA
Directed by Samson Ziegelman
My goal with this documentary is to share the magic of The Second City and the art of improvisation with actor and writer Bob Odenkirk and Second City Vice President Kelly Leonard. We discuss their Second City experiences, the stars they have worked with, how improv shaped their careers, and advice for the younger generation.

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I spent four summers at The Second City, learning and performing improv, and it left an indelible impression on me. With this documentary, I wanted to give back to The Second City and hopefully inspire people interested in comedy to give improv a try.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I am so pleased and grateful that people responded so positively. I am very glad people learned more about The Second City!

When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

For as long as I can remember, I have loved being creative. I have always been interested in movies and my passion sparked after I watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The way John Hughes highlighted Chicago, the city I grew up in, was deeply inspiring to me, and I hope to one day highlight the city in a similar way through my films.

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EP. 1411: Filmmaker Samson Ziegelman (THE SECOND CITY – A Documentary)

Matthew Toffolo

Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6neBm5HFRE

After spending their tenth wedding anniversary at the Mackinac Island, Jackson and Rebecca are in a tragic car accident which leaves her in a coma for 6 months and Jackson dead. After she wakes up, she has to grieve the loss and this takes a toll on her. She meets Patrick when he comes to the school to unblock a toilet one of her students filled with sand. He feels familiar to her but she brushes it off until she goes to a church to attend grief counseling, the same church he is attending AA meetings at. They become close until she realises that Patrick was the reason for the accident.

Get to know the writer:

1.. What is your screenplay about?
Collateral Hearts is about how one navigates the complexities of grief, forgiveness, and healing after experiencing profound loss and trauma.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Drama, Romance, Family

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I feel like in a world seeking empathy, forgiveness, and resilience, Collateral Hearts offers a timely exploration of the power of second chances and healing after unimaginable loss. As audiences resonate with universal themes of grief, addiction, and hope, this story speaks to the struggles and redemption many face today, making it both poignant and relevant.

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EP. 1410: Screenwriter Stephanie Neroes (COLLATERAL HEARTS)

Matthew Toffolo

RISING TIDES, 103min,. USA
Directed by Charlie Spickler
Rising Tides is the story of how climate change is affecting the fishing communities on the East Coast, the Coral in the Keys and the domino effect it has on the various regions. We are looking at the Science of Climate change and the politics of what is and what is not being done in Congress.

http://www.risingtidesfilm.com/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I read an article in the New York Times about the Peconic Bay Scallops dying before they could be harvested. I grew up out on Long Island, so this became personal for me. That led me to looking at the Blue Crabs down in Maryland and the bleaching coral down in Miami and the Keys and next thing you know, – Climate Change doc.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I was overwhelmed. Especially some of the comments that were made that literally mimicked my reasons for making the film, I wanted this film to be accessible and understandable for people with no experience with climate change and or the science of global warming. I wanted to present this information in a way that was understandable, Based on the comments I think I succeeded in doing that.

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EP. 1409: Filmmaker Charlie Spickler (RISING TIDES)

Matthew Toffolo

Hannah Ehman chats with actors Darlene Popovic & Cynthia Gatlin on the making of the short film GIN RUMMY.

“Three best friends have been playing Gin Rummy every week for over 50 years. On this Gin Rummy night they have made other plans as a final bonding of the trio.”

Follow Interviewer Hannah Ehman on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ehmanhannah/

Watch Hannah’s commercial spots: https://www.ispot.tv/topic/actor-actress/bP8/hannah-ehman

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EP. 1408: (Actors Podcast #7) Darlene Popovic & Cynthia Gatlin (GIN RUMMY)

Matthew Toffolo

SERPENTINE PINK, 78min., USA
Directed by Vivian Sorenson
A dark surreal experience. A first of its kind, vortex of a lesbian?? John Waters film meets Yellow Rose meets early Almodóvar on a Lynchian induced trip??in the Mojave desert.??Serious Lost Highway vibes!

https://hardknockprod.com/serpentine-pink/
https://www.facebook.com/serpentinepinkfilm
https://twitter.com/HardKnockProdCo
https://www.instagram.com/serpentinepinkfilm

https://www.instagram.com/megzeppelinn/

Get to know the screenwriter:

Serpentine Pink started out as a play and was given a sublimely wild life as a visceral immersive festival production in Los Angeles in 2013. It was an incredibly special experience to put on such an emotional story about broken hearts trying to heal in the weirdness of the California desert, everybody involved in the production bonded through the uniquely rigorous catharsis that occurred after conjuring such rawness in every performance. I can’t remember who it was but it was either Kristin Condon, who co-leads the film as Henrietta and is a co-producer, or O-Lan Jones who plays Andra, who expressed that Serpentine Pink and the expansive possibilities within its surreal visual vocabulary, as well as the vibrational intimacy of the wounded characters, would make a rad indie movie. I was super moved and excited by the focus on the female-led filmmaking of an underheard LGBTQ+ story, as well as the idea of transforming the theatrical depiction of pain and the characters’ wayward navigational attempts towards healing into an ambitiously poetic cinematic experience – at once personal and epic, highly stylized and on location on the spiritual vortices of the Joshua Tree desert. 

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EP. 1407: Screenwriter Megan Breen (SERPENTINE PINK)

Matthew Toffolo

SERPENTINE PINK, 78min., USA
Directed by Vivian Sorenson
A dark surreal experience. A first of its kind, vortex of a lesbian?? John Waters film meets Yellow Rose meets early Almodóvar on a Lynchian induced trip??in the Mojave desert.??Serious Lost Highway vibes!

https://hardknockprod.com/serpentine-pink/
https://www.facebook.com/serpentinepinkfilm
https://twitter.com/HardKnockProdCo
https://www.instagram.com/serpentinepinkfilm

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?
What motivated me to make this movie was the beauty and raw emotion embedded in Megan Breen’s words (Screenplay writer and playwright). The pain these characters endure is both devastating and strangely beautiful, and I felt compelled to bring their experiences to life. I love the desert and the visuals you can capture there. I wanted dance to be a part of the film and the strangeness, hostility of the desert to be a character as well. I knew it would require a unique approach—boxing gloves to tackle the challenging, brutal scenes, and soft mittens to smooth, coax, and nurture the words, scenes, guiding them into a compelling narrative flow. I also always love a good driving scene!

I’m drawn to horror, the starkness of wilderness and desert landscapes, and the emotional complexity they evoke. I also love working with actors as sensitive and talented as this cast. This project offered the unique challenge of transforming a piece that began as a play and evolved into a film script into a cohesive and captivating narrative that offered a perspective not usually seen in cinema.

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EP. 1406: Filmmaker Vivian Sorenson (SERPENTINE PINK)

Matthew Toffolo

MEROPE, 8min., USA
Directed by Juan Carlos Zaldivar
The short film, Merope, follows a personification of the hidden star on a journey towards emancipation from the ties that historically have bound her and her six sisters, the Pleiades constellation, in a narrative about captivity and victimization, towards a new story where she claims visibility and a more authentic place in the universe for her and her sisters.

http://sedonaballet.org/merope-epk

What motivated you to make this film?

Juan Carlos: Winifred and Christel had the revolutionary idea of creating a multi-disciplinary art festival that would result in a collaboration. Merope was born from our group which included a composer, a filmmaker/animator, a collage artist, a photographer, a dancer, a poet, and a choreographer —with a wardrobe person and a camera person. Winnie and Christel acted as producers.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

The audience’s reaction was truly exhilarating! Watching people connect so deeply with our film and hearing their insights in the feedback video was both humbling and inspiring. Hearing the audience describe the film as wonderful, meditative, peaceful, harmonious, and touching was profoundly gratifying—it affirmed that our vision resonated deeply with viewers. Their heartfelt appreciation for the music and the emotions it evoked validated the passion and dedication poured into every aspect of the project.

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EP. 1405: Director Juan Carlos Zaldivar, & Composer Christel Veraart (MEROPE)

Matthew Toffolo

TURN IT OFF, 7min., USA

Directed by Senda Maud Bonnet

A woman races through the woods, hiding from an unseen threat. After injuring her leg, she finds refuge in a house, but we see a girl curled up on her couch, safe at home watching the same film we are. As the woman hides, the girl realizes the events on-screen are linked to her world. Terrified, she turns off the TV but hears a cry from upstairs. Drawn by fear, she approaches her closet...

https://www.instagram.com/senda.bo/

https://www.instagram.com/rebeccaberrih/

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EP. 1404: Filmmakers Senda Maud Bonnet & Rebecca Berrih (TURN IT OFF)

Matthew Toffolo

THREEDOM, 7min,. USA
Directed by Garrett Hopkins
A young couple finds themselves lost in their own relationship. Brought to frustration and confusion one of them shares the idea of an open relationship. Reluctantly the partner agrees and actually travels a new road learning about themself. Perhaps they just needed to find each other, in someone new.

https://www.youtube.com/@GarrettHopkinsMedia
https://www.instagram.com/garretthopkinsmedia/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

This film was produced for the 2024 CFC (Collaboration Filmmakers Challenge). A two week filmmaking competition with a quote from Hunter S. Thompson as the only prompt “Freedom is something that dies if it isn’t used” With every project I do, I want there to be something new for me. I’ve never written a RomCom before, so I decided I’d take that quote and see how I might be able to find its relevance in the complex world of interpersonal relationships.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I think you know when you’ve written a very believable and relatable script when someone reviewing your film eventually stops reviewing it and more so stumbles down the rabbit hole of the story. And opens up about their own understanding and experience with the film’s plot.

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EP. 1403 - Filmmaker Garrett Hopkins & Actor Melia Lisette (THREEDOM)

Matthew Toffolo

THE MULTIDIMENSIONALS, 90min., USA
Directed by Ewa Pirog-Rojas
“The Multidimensionals” tells the beginnings of STAR ENVOY, an unacknowledged Defense Intelligence Agency Operations Group assigned to protect US interests among the galactic community via specialized “ambassadors” whom are alien hybrids. It follows Ulrin, a lifetime government grey man, and alien hybrid, as he recruits the specialized ambassadors from different walks of life (Anuba, Karson, and Phoebe). It also goes into their encounters with different galactic species (Annunaki, Arcturian, Grey, Reptilians, and others). In a parallel timeline, he is his Native American self seeing the recruits and sometimes providing commentary from his POV to Ulrin, the government employee. The work stands alone as a feature film or can be the pilot episode. Work is 90 minutes along with an additional 10 minutes of bloopers and credits. Shot on 35 mm Department of Defense camera – digitized and a BlackMagic 6K Pro.

https://www.instagram.com/fallen11series

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

Grew up watching science fiction and loved the genre. If it had a star in its name I’ve watched it! Today’s science fiction genre could benefit from a female’s perspective.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Very informative, positive, helpful, and appreciative for the opportunity.

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EP. 1402: Filmmaker Ewa Pirog-Rojas (THE MULTIDIMENSIONALS)

Matthew Toffolo

HOME, 30min,. USA
Directed by Sue Schroeder, Adam Larsen
Filmed in France and Poland, Larsen and Schroeder, alongside an international community of gifted artists – from Columbia, France, Germany, Israel, Poland and the US- seek to create connection, impact, and meaning through a visually rich and poetic experience of beauty and loss, tenderness and urgency, action and recognition, mirroring and magnifying light. The work is gentle and steadfast, sharing and protecting life and in its surest moments, revealing the “we”, instead of the “I”.

Get to know filmmaker Sue A. Schroeder:

What motivated you to make this film?

Adam Larsen and I have collaborated on a number of projects with one or the other of us taking the lead. For HOME, we chose to start with a “shared” idea, tied to our kindred artistic vision – beauty and nature. An urgency developed as the climate crisis raged on. Activating empathy in our viewers, a “felt” sense became all the more important – hence the personal stories and human figure within the film.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Curiosity and amazement – how each viewer has their individual experience of the film and yet all are true.

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EP. 1401: Filmmaker Sue A. Schroeder (HOME)

Matthew Toffolo

Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbYF3iAqTGE

A newlywed couple takes on a one time gig to make ends meet and wind up creating America’s very first sitcom in the process… based on a true story.

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?

This is easily the hardest question – there’s so much to say about this!

This screenplay is a based on the true story of Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns, a couple of Broadway-bound newlyweds living in New York City during the dawn of the small screen. It’s an interesting time to be sure – post WWII, there are less TV sets in the U.S. than residents in all of of Manhattan. There’s more dead air than actual programming, and anything that does make it to air is done live. The pair manage to get their hands on 15 minutes of precious air-time, and are given carte blanch to make something great with it. They have no idea what they’re doing… but, then again, neither does anyone else! What they come up with is a show about their lives, featuring them as, well, themselves. In doing so, they accidentally create America’s very first sitcom, breaking barriers that would soon be too taboo to show on screen, from sharing a bed, to sharing a child years before I Love Lucy and The Munsters.

… And yet, nobody knows about it!

The reason for this is multifold. Some seasons weren’t recorded at all, or were recorded with lackluster equipment. Years later, company takeovers resulted in entire reels being thrown out. Of 300 episodes, only one remains.

What I’m proposing is a show about the making of this show. This screwball dramedy miniseries would follows the three season timeline of the original, and be in the vein of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but with the self-awareness of Kevin Can Fuck Himself.

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EP. 1400: Screenwriter Amanda Minchin (MARY KAY & JOHNNY)

Matthew Toffolo

Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX7enK7_XQU

Amidst holiday chaos, Gaby and Fitz embark on a road trip to a spiritualist commune to confront Gaby’s estranged Aunt Tibby, leading to family revelations, spiritual meltdowns awakenings, and unexpected bonding.

https://www.instagram.com/cristencoppen

https://www.instagram.com/jamielattaluv

Get to know the writers:

What is your screenplay about? Truth Falls is a holiday film about a family secret slowly and hilariously coming to light during the most wonderful time of the year. When Gaby loses her parents in an accident, she learns that her new-age, enlightened Aunt Tibby has been made the executor of her estate. Gaby and her best friend Fitz are forced to leave their swanky Chicago lifestyle for a spiritualist camp, Truth Falls, in Oklahoma to confront Tibby and demand her inheritance.Gaby gets more than she bargained for when she learns there’s way more to her family story than she was told. Like, WAY more… We learn that Tibby is Gaby’s birth mother. This secret has been buried for decades. This is a Film about what happens when a family secret slowly, painfully, and hilariously comes to light causing spiritual meltdowns and epic holiday awakenings.

. What genres does your screenplay fall under? Christmas Comedy

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie? We wanted to write a movie that dug into what the holidays are really about – Family DRAMA. All great stories are about family. The inspiration for Truth Falls was to have a comedy that stems from your deepest secrets and wounds because those are the best stories people can see themselves in. We love a frothy, fun holiday movie and we thought – hey let’s do both. It can be fun, sad, tragic, and hilarious. Most holiday movies don’t look anything like what people experience. We all have family secrets – what better time to unwrap them than at Christmas? Truth Falls is an anti Hallmark Movie.

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EP. 1399: Screenwriters Jamie Latta & Cristen Coppen (TRUTH FALLS)

Matthew Toffolo

PLASTIC TOURISM, 18min., Indonesia

Directed by Ira Setiawati

“Plastic Tourism” is more than a documentary; it challenges viewers to confront uncomfortable truths. It is a call to action and testament of the delicate balance between human leisure and environmental responsibility.

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

There are many plastic trashes on beaches & we have tried hard to solve it by many ways but not effective enough to solve it. So we hope this movie can open eyes of many tourists, business people on beaches, government & local people to be aware more about these plastic trashes & together solve it well.

What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

I was so touched & happy that other people in other part of earth appreciate this movie well & pay attention to the earth’s critical condition at this moment.

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EP. 1398: Filmmaker Ira Setiawati (PLASTIC TOURISM)

Matthew Toffolo

GROCERY SHOPPING, 38min., USA
Directed by Harry Roseman
I am at the grocery store three to five times a week. It has become a ritual, picking out the items, going over the shopping list, interacting with the same people year after year. It seems to me, an important aspect of my and many other people’s lives. Something utterly familiar. Though filmed it becomes somewhat mysterious, seen anew, to be rethought about.

Harry Roseman is a sculptor, photographer, draftsman, practitioner of web based works, and professor of art at Vassar College where he currently chairs the Department of Art. In addition to having had many solo exhibitions, Roseman has produced a number of major commissioned public sculptures.

For more info, go to his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Roseman

https://www.instagram.com/harryroseman/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

My work takes many forms. An aspect of some of my work in photography, installation, and film centers on my interactions with people in my community as I go about doing errands. I had done some shorter film focused on checking out at the register with my purchases. These interactions are important to me because of the frequent interactions I have with the same people over months and years. They are specific kinds of relationships, These exchanges have an aspect of friendship, though bracketed by the relatively brief interchanges but enlarged by time and repetition. This film stems from those interactions, but also a way of showing a frequent and mundane activity as being worthy and possibly interesting as art. Possibly giving the viewer a new take on their own regular day to day activities, In addition I found aspects of the visual possibilities rather beautiful, as still lives, such as piles of fruits and vegetables. The added addition of bits of conversation that either I had with people or overheard was also interesting to me.

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EP. 1397 - Filmmaker Harry Roseman (GROCERY SHOPPING)

Matthew Toffolo

AFTERMATH, 10min., USA
Directed by Nevin Bolla
In a post-apocalyptic world, two survivors are caught in a tense struggle within a decaying building. As they confront their harsh reality, a siren signals the end of a critical survival round, forcing them to grapple with their fears and fleeting hopes.

http://www.nevinbolla.com/
https://www.instagram.com/nevinbolla/

Get to know the filmmaker:

What motivated you to make this film?

I’ve always been fascinated by post-apocalyptic worlds where humans are forced into these intense fight-or-flight situations. When I started writing Aftermath, I wanted to bring that vibe to life while still keeping it character-driven. The idea was to make the world feel bigger than what’s shown in the short, like a teaser for something larger. With limited time and budget, I couldn’t dive into elaborate effects or massive world-building, but I could hint at it.

The goal was to test the waters for a story that could expand, maybe even into a series someday. I drew inspiration from I Am Legend, Hunger Games, and Squid Game, mixing the best elements to create a mysterious world that leaves the audience with questions, not about what’s happening to the characters in the moment, but about the world itself. That’s the kind of storytelling I love, where curiosity keeps people hooked.

How did it feel to watch the audience feedback on your film?

It made me smile. My goal is always to create something magical, and hearing people talk about the creativity in the shots or the direction was so rewarding. No film shoot goes perfectly, we had our share of issues, like reworking shots or cutting things in post. But seeing the audience still connect with the world we created and appreciate its originality was incredible. It’s moments like that that make all the effort worth it.

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EP. 1396: Filmmaker Nevin Bolla (AFTERMATH)

Matthew Toffolo