The Break Breakdown: A Podcast from Queens Bird Films

The big goal for many indie filmmakers is a theatrical release. But when you are self-distributing your own feature film, is a theatrical release possible? For director, actor, and executive producer Scott Monahan, it was. With an acting resume and a background in devised theatrical work, Scott's debut feature film Anchorage came together one intuitive step at a time. Benjy and Courtney speak with Scott about the big obstacles he faced in getting the feature film produced and distributed, how he approached the project as a first time feature director, and the intuitive, creative methods he used to theatrically release this epic debut film. MORE ABOUT ANCHORAGE: Buy or Rent Anchorage https://geni.us/Anchorage Anchorage Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmuGZz_lKwo Follow Anchorage on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anchoragemovie/ Follow Scott Monahan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chipsahoyjunkie/?hl=en Follow Dakota Loesch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dakotaloesch/?hl=en When you're ready to start your own web series or indie film, start here with: HOW TO MAKE A WEB SERIES | PLAYBOOK: https://www.artists-strategy.com/queens-bird-web-series-playbook SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: ⁠⁠⁠bit.ly/kinsleyvs⁠⁠⁠ ---------- Host & Producer: Courtney Romano Host & Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films. ---------- Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG ---- ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS: Queens Bird Films is a production company telling stories to make life fun. With irreverence, depth, and a bit of whimsy, we make things for people who want to fall back in love with life. See the films, series, and podcasts we made for you here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠queensbirdfilms.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the NEWSLETTER: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/QBlist⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow on INSTAGRAM: ⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/queensbirdfilms⁠⁠

Can you really launch a film career with a microbudget feature? The short answer is yes, and Joshua Caldwell has done it. Joshua shares his insights on winning the MTV Movie Award, the jobs he took in LA to make connections in the industry, his writing process, how he approached his self-produced $6k microbudget feature The Layover by flipping the traditional approach, and how it all led to his latest film: Mending the Line, starring Brian Cox. And now, as he continues to build his own career, Joshua has taken his experience with The Layover and put it into his 6K Filmmaker Course, teaching aspiring filmmakers how to make microbudget feature films and launch their own careers. Watch Mending the Line here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSkv_sEyPSc Watch The Layover here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tNXYvA6ahQ Read more about Joshua here: https://www.meyd-ent.com/ Check out the 6k Filmmaker course here: https://www.meyd-ent.com/6kfilmmaker When you're ready to start your own web series or indie film, start here with this FREE GUIDE TO PITCHING: ⁠⁠https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64e37261c7567cef7b9f6cd9⁠⁠ SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: ⁠⁠bit.ly/kinsleyvs⁠⁠ ---------- Host & Producer: Courtney Romano Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films. ---------- Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG ---- ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS: Queens Bird Films is a production company telling stories to make life fun. With irreverence, depth, and a bit of whimsy, we make things for people who want to fall back in love with life. See the films, series, and podcasts we made for you here: ⁠⁠⁠queensbirdfilms.com⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the NEWSLETTER: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/QBlist⁠⁠⁠ Follow on INSTAGRAM: ⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/queensbirdfilms⁠⁠

Web series production is not one size fits all. Some indie filmmakers may start with web series distribution. Others could start with a web series script they are itching to write. And then some might start on a whim while traveling, and spin one simple idea into an epic documentary series made up of 70 short films, shot across 3 continents, over the course of one decade. That's what filmmaker Kevin Longa did. In today's episode, producer Benjamin Shaw talks with Kevin about TASTE, his indie web series cataloguing the stories of food entrepreneurs — from pastry chefs to foragers — from around the world. Starting on this journey with a DSLR camera he got off Craig's List, Kevin has made a prolific body of work by bringing a sense of experimentation, grit, and resilience to this massive 10 year project. Watch Kevin Longa's indie web series here: TASTE And! Kevin is looking for collaborators. DM him on Instagram for more info. When you're ready to start your own web series or indie film, start here with this FREE GUIDE TO PITCHING: ⁠https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64e37261c7567cef7b9f6cd9⁠ SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: ⁠bit.ly/kinsleyvs⁠ ---------- Host & Producer: Courtney Romano Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films. ---------- Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG ---- ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS: Queens Bird Films is a production company telling stories to make life fun. With irreverence, depth, and a bit of whimsy, we make things for people who want to fall back in love with life. See the films, series, and podcasts we made for you here: ⁠⁠queensbirdfilms.com⁠⁠ Subscribe to the NEWSLETTER: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/QBlist⁠⁠ Follow on INSTAGRAM: ⁠⁠instagram.com/queensbirdfilms⁠⁠

[BONUS EPISODE] Hot take: you don't need piles of cash and limitless free time to make a feature film. You can make a feature film with no crew, write as you go, edit you as you go, shoot on weekends, and in less than a year, have a feature film in the can and ready for distribution. This is exactly what filmmaker Noam Kroll did with his film Disappearing Boy. Noam is a vertiable fount of wisdom when it comes to micro-budget filmmaking. He has made a living as a working indie filmmaker, hosts the successful filmmaking podcast Show Don't Tell, and created a feature film incubator called The Backlot for indie filmmakers. Noam knows how to make something from nothing, and he's done it again and again and again. We were thrilled to have him on this bonus episode of TBB! SHOW NOTES 7:28 Defining micro-budget filmmaking 10:42 The Rick Rubin / Def Jam ethos of filmmaking 12:07 Is the micro-budget filmmaking practice a strategy or necessity? 15:14 Be the best or be the only 20:20 How Noam started crafting the narrative of his micro-budget film 29:40 The production schedule for Disappearing Boy 33:47 How narrative directors can approach the technical aspect of a no-crew feature 40:20 Noam’s advice for making a big film 41:54 The one thing Noam wish he knew about filmmaking earlier 44:08 The strong foundation to launch your career from 47:09 Inspiration vs. Luck Sign up for Noam's newsletter here: noamkroll.com/newsletter Follow Noam on social here: @noamkroll You might not need a lot of money for a no-crew feature film, but when you do need to raise money, start here with this FREE GUIDE TO PITCHING: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64e37261c7567cef7b9f6cd9 SUBSCRIBE & STREAM KINSLEY VS. on YouTube now: bit.ly/kinsleyvs ---------- Host & Producer: Courtney Romano Executive Producer: Benjamin Shaw Musical Theme: Match Zimmerman The Break Breakdown is a production of Queens Bird Films. ---------- Follow @thebreakbreakdown on IG Follow @kinsleyvs.series on TikTok and IG Follow @queensbirdfilms on TikTok and IG ---- ABOUT QUEENS BIRD FILMS: We’re an independent film company based in New York City. Our mission is to make films, episodics, and theatrical events that tell the whole, and sometimes overlooked, story. We believe how we make things is just as important as what we make. We strive to unearth the surprising and inevitable. Practical & philosophical tips for your indie filmmaking journey, as well as QBF production news, casting calls, episode releases, and more: http://bit.ly/QBlist