Palindrome, the Nov/Dec 2019 winner for Best Art Direction and Best Hair & Makeup, is our subject of discussion today. This picturesque film, written and directed by Marcus Flemmings, stole our attention with its incredible & diverse imagery and visual storytelling. Mary Pattisson, the film’s Assistant Producer & Director, joined us to talk about the film and together we discuss the film’s themes, and the decisions taken to create it as a work of art. This is a true...

Today we speak to Teddy Tenenbaum & Minsun Park who are the writers behind our hilarious bi-monthly Nov/Dec 2019 winner for Best Comedy, Sidepiece, which Teddy also directed. This film was a joy to watch and was a new adventure for the duo who primarily work on horrors, thrillers & action projects. It is clear that passion is the driving force behind their creative choices and it is great to hear about their vast amounts of experience in the Hollywood system, with credits in...

Here we chat with power-couple Dan & Rodeo Strange who worked together on every aspect of their best Best Feature winning film, The Great Charade. This film, we were happy to hear, was a true team effort and we thoroughly enjoyed speaking about the excellent atmosphere that was created on this shoot. This directly allowed for the attached actors to feel comfortable with experimenting and leaving their stamp on the project. However, this open and comfortable set was coupled with hard work...

In this spooktacular interview, we talk to Andreas Avgousti who won our Nov/Dec 2019 Best Horror award for his film, Petra. It is made very clear to us that horror is an absolute passion for Andreas who watches at least one horror film per week. This joy exists from a very young age and it surprised us to learn that the principal location in Petra was a house that a seven-year-old Andreas knew and wished would be used in a horror film one day. Of course, he is very proud that his own film...

In this heartwarming discussion, we meet Amy Clarkson the writer and director of the Nov/Dec 2019 Best Drama-winning film, Life’s Rich Tapestry. We are guided through the film’s origins and learn that Amy used her own experiences in life to develop its narrative. We were curious to know if this was personally challenging and touched upon techniques that Amy used to avoid relieving negative memories.  An incredibly insightful element of our conversation pertains to the coordination of the pre...

Andrew Chen, director of our Nov/Dec 2019 Best Visual Effects winning film, Ghost in the Gun, is kind enough to join us for this Western-themed interview. It is clear that Andrew took great care to make every aspect of his film of the highest quality he possibly could, in pre-production, and throughout the shoot. This is emphasised by the mantra from his cinematographer to “put the money in front of the camera” which aligns with our own stance. It is important that, where possible,...

Today, we talk to our Nov/Dec 2019 Best Microshort bi-monthly winner, Charlie Dennis, about his film The Hug Deal. We quickly realise that Charlie is an experienced filmmaker, having undertaken many roles on numerous, and varied, sets. However, we were desperately curious to ask Charlie about how this film was made, having been informed that it was almost entirely improvised on-set. Through this discussion, we cover how leftover gear can be utilised intelligently and how strong themes can be...

Delving back in time to World War 1, we discuss the ambitious period film, Victories, directed by Thomas Pollock. With a win for Best Writing at the Nov/Dec 2019 bi-monthly awards, we explore Thomas’ experience of developing a writer/director partnership over multiple films. More specific to this entry, we learn about the team’s effort to tell both sides of the story in war and about creating compelling characters that may typically be an obvious villain. We also ask about Thomas’s efforts in...

In this fascinating interview, we meet Stephen Parkhurst; director of the Best Horror Winner (Sept./Oct. 2019), Near Sight. Stephen guides us through the production of his film, sharing his thoughts on the power of short runtimes and visual storytelling. He also touches on his awareness of audience analytics, specifically on YouTube, especially useful for indie filmmakers trying to grow an online profile. Related to this, Stephen explains the importance of having a strong, and relatable,...

In this episode, we speak to Jonathan Galland, the composer for 'The Ribbon' which won best soundtrack in our Sept/Oct 2019 season. We find out about the interesting history of the project and how he came to it. Jonathan also takes us through the importance of music in film and some of the pitfalls and challenges that can come with collaborating on a score for a film. Jonathan's talents are clear throughout the interview and he proves himself to be someone to look out for in the industry on...

Here we speak to Javier Dampierre, director of Fifty, which won the Best Thriller award in our September/October 2019 rounds. From the interview’s outset, it is clear that Javier has good experience of what it takes to work in the LA film industry. He takes us through the process of Fifty, discussing his decisions throughout, from how, and why, he chose certain crewmembers to how he explored a complex script. Javier speaks with honesty when he explains that his biggest fear was working within...

In this interview, we speak to Hendrik Harms who took on the lofty challenge of adapting a Stephen King story into a short film. His film ‘All that you love will be carried away’ captured our attention in the sheer diversity of its characters and how the actor’s portrayal of them earned the film the ‘Best Ensemble Cast’ award. In many ways, we come to understand that Hendrik is a creative mind, beyond just narrative decisions but throughout production. For example, we discover that he chose...

Long-time filmmaker, writer and director, Eoin Cleland, talks to us about his award-winning feature 'Ups and Downs'. The film won Best Feature in our 2019 Sept./Oct. Bi-Monthly awards. We discuss how Eoin earned his role as director of a BBC production after learning his craft on indie projects. We also cover how even on a "bigger" set there can still be moments reminiscent of the early days of a filmmaking career. The conversation culminates in showing Eoin's passion for telling authentic...

Emerging film director, Noémi d'Ursel, talks to us about her period film 'La chambre aux oiseaux', or 'The Bird Room' which won Best Art Direction in our 2019 Sept./Oct. Bi-Monthly awards. Early in the interview, we discover that she approached her film instinctually, with only a guideline script, from the outset. Delving further, we discuss her innovative approach to filmmaking with a keen focus on capturing beauty and sincerity as a priority. Echoing this penchant, we even uncover how some...

In this interview we meet Cat Watson, director of ‘Dance of the Porcelain Demons’ which won Best Hair and Makeup at our Sept./Oct. Bi-Monthly Awards. Cat provides a plethora of unique, yet relatable, experiences that occurred when making this film such as, language barriers between her and her performers, working in a spooky location with pesky radiators and also the necessity to make a non-cliche horror movie. We delve further into this desire and discuss the state of the horror genre...

Actress, Tatjana Anders - winner of White Deer IFF's 'Best Acting' and 'Best Short' Bi-Monthly awards for Sept./Oct. 2019 - discusses the creation of her recent film 'Your Reality'. During the Podcast, Tatjana guides us through the inspiration behind her film's principal message of gaslighting and discusses why she wanted to write a story & role that had a real purpose. As we delve further into her filmmaking process, we discover the difficulties of gaining investment and the struggles of...

In the third and final of our introductory episodes, we interview Actor Mark Wisdom and discuss how to make the most out of the resources you have and the value of collaboration. Follow us on social media - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/White-Deer-International-Film-Festival-102731137739744/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/whitedeerfest Submit via FilmFreeway - https://filmfreeway.com/whitedeerinternationalfilmfestival https://whitedeerfest.co.uk/

In the second of our introductory episodes, we interview Director Alastair Railton and discuss how to get started as a director and the value of collaboration. Follow us on social media - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/White-Deer-International-Film-Festival-102731137739744/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/whitedeerfest Submit via FilmFreeway - https://filmfreeway.com/whitedeerinternationalfilmfestival https://whitedeerfest.co.uk/

In the first of our introductory episodes, we interview our fellow festival director Adam Sandy and talk about how he got into narrative filmmaking. Follow us on social media - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/White-Deer-International-Film-Festival-102731137739744/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/whitedeerfest Submit via FilmFreeway - https://filmfreeway.com/whitedeerinternationalfilmfestival https://whitedeerfest.co.uk/

White Deer International Film Festival has already kicked off, in this trailer episode we introduce ourselves and our accompanying podcast The White Deer Filmmaking Podcast. We are all filmmakers wanting to learn more and build a community of local and global filmmakers. In future episodes of this podcast we will be interviewing and chatting with fellow filmmakers who have submitted to White Deer IFF to learn more about their projects. In this episode and the following three we bring you a...