I hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

I know I am because Nickolas Gilbert has returned! Nick was on the Discover Indie Film podcast to discuss his film “Nailed” back in March 2022 on episodes 239.
Nick is back to talk about his follow-up project, “La Petite Mortimer,” an Official Selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025 where it took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Originality, Short Film – Comedy.

We’ve only had these two conversations, but I can sincerely say that Nick is one my favorites.
His films are always a breath of fresh air and he’s always been a welcome presence when he comes to a film festival party or screening.

You can learn more about Nick’s work both at Distortion Field and on
Instagram at @nickolasgilbert

Although, like yours truly Nick generally shuns social media!

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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

Robb Padgett brought his feature film “Merry Heistmas” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025 and brought home the Grand Jury Awards for Best Feature Film- Comedy and Best Performance by a Cast in a Feature Film.

I’m a bit of a self-proclaimed Scrooge when it comes to Christmas so I knew I had to chat to anyone who could make me love a Christmas Movie and do the follow up 4 Questions to see what types of film influenced them!

Learn more about Merry Heistmas on Instagram at @heistmas
Follow Robb at @robbpadgett or at robbpadgett.com

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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

Welcome back for another great filmmaker chat!

Robb Padgett brought his feature film “Merry Heistmas” to the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025 and brought home the Grand Jury Awards for Best Feature Film- Comedy and Best Performance by a Cast in a Feature Film.
Robb’s film is an audience favorite and poor Robb has had to listen to me share not once but twice that, personally, I just do not like Christmas and that for me to thoroughly enjoy a film that features not just a Christmas-time setting but actual Christmas caroling is a gigantic accomplishment.

It was a ton of fun to meet Robb at Sherman Oaks Film Festival and even more fun to have him on the podcast. You can watch “Merry Heistmas” right now and I recommend using Just Watch to watch it. Enjoy!

Or… I’ll all-caps this… SUPPORT INDIE FILM AND CATCH ROBB’S FILM AT A FILM FESTIVAL ON April 23. If I knew more I’d give you a link, I swear!

Learn more about Merry Heistmas on Instagram at @heistmas
Follow Robb at @robbpadgett or at robbpadgett.com

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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

Kathy Meng wrote and directed the short film “Willow and Wu,” a fantastic drama that had its Los Angeles Premiere at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025. “Willow and Wu” earned Kathy and her co-writer Harry Bacon the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Screenplay -Drama, as well as the Grand Jury Award for Best Cinematography – Short Film.

Kathy lives in Berlin and was not able to attend SOFF 2025, so I extra excited to chat with her and find out what types of films inspire her with the 4 Questions.

Follow the film on Instagram at @willowandwu_film

Follow Kathy on Instagram at @kathy_meng

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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

Happy Friday (and Oscars weekend to all who celebrate!)

Kathy Meng wrote and directed the short film “Willow and Wu,” a fantastic drama that had its Los Angeles Premiere at the Sherman Oaks Film Festival in 2025. “Willow and Wu” earned Kathy and her co-writer Harry Bacon the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Screenplay -Drama, as well as the Grand Jury Award for Best Cinematography – Short Film.

Kathy lives in Berlin and was not able to attend SOFF 2025, which made getting to know her through this interview very welcome.

Follow the film on Instagram at @willowandwu_film
Follow Kathy on Instagram at @kathy_meng

And now for a fun tidbit! Guess what? Part of my job is pulling names out of the credits of a film when an individual who worked on it wins an award. When I looked up the
cinematographer for “Willow and Wu” I was delighted to discover that SOFF alumni Sancheev Ravichandran was Kathy’s cinematographer! Sancheev’s comedic short film “Well-Rounded” took home the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Creativity in Comedy at SOFF 2024!

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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

What are the 4Qs? (1) Three favorite films. (2) An underrated film. (3) An overrated film. (4) A lesser-known film people should seek out.

Kristina Sullivan wrote, produced, and starred inthe short film “What If … You Had The Perfect Person,” a SciFi short that was an official selection at Sherman Oaks FIlm Festival in 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Awards for Outstanding Cast Performance – Short Film – SciFi and Outstanding Screenplay – Short Film – SciFi for screenwriter Kristina Sullivan!

I already knew Kristina was an avid film lover before we chatted because she the way she attended and supported so many screenings at the festival, so I was extra excited to follow up with her 4 Questions!

You can follow Kristina on Instagram at @misskristina617

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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

Happy Monday, Listerners!

Kristina Sullivan wrote, produced, and starred inthe short film “What If … You Had The Perfect Person,” a SciFi short that was an official selection at Sherman Oaks FIlm Festival in 2025 and took home the Filmmakers Awards for Outstanding Cast Performance – Short Film – SciFi and Outstanding Screenplay – Short Film – SciFi for screenwriter Kristina Sullivan!

Not only did Kristina bring this excellent film to SOFF 2025, but she and her team were a wonderful presence at the festival. You know I love filmmakers who come to the festival, meet their peers and then hit screenings to see as many films as possible. Kristina was there throughout the festival, as was her co-stars Clifton J. Williams, Don Daniels Jr., Ivonnah Erskine, and director Brandon Fobbs.

You can follow Kristina on Instagram at @misskristina617
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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles

Time for another first on the Discover Indie Film podcast!

We have a SECOND episode for you today and instead of having a filmmaker whose work was at Sherman Oaks FIlm Festival or Film Invasion Los Angeles on, the guest for this podcast is Halfdan “H” Hussey. H, as he prefers to be called, is the CEO and CO-Founder of Cinequest (http://www.cinequest.org/).

Set in the Silicon Valley, Cinequest is one of the highest regarded film festivals in the USA.
Conquest fuses innovation with the filmed arts to empower great creations and to engage audiences, youth, artists, and innovators with these creations and with each other.

People should attend Cinequest! The festival launches on March 10 and runs through March 22 in two locations across Silicon Valley.

When I was asked to interview H for this podcast I had no doubt that two film festival founders would have lots to talk about, and we did! H is a fantastic guest and someone whom any indie filmmaker, or fan of independent film, should know about.

IG- @cinequestorg

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Discover Indie Film Links
DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky
Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website
Sherman Oaks Film Festival
Film Invasion Los Angeles