The Short Film Pod

In this exclusive episode celebrating the 20th year of Tribeca Film Festival we speak with industry veteran Sharon Badal about the 2021 program, the launch of Tribeca At Home and the 2020 program which will screen concurrently this year. Sharon has been with the festival since its inception in 2001 and, as Vice President of Filmmaker Relations and Shorts Programming, shares how she curates a program that reflects and inspires the audience, especially during these pandemic times. Prior to Tribeca Sharon spent ten years in distribution and marketing for three major studios and has authored a book called “Swimming Upstream – A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution" published by Focal Press. She has completed both a B.F.A. in Film and Television Production and a M.A. in Cinema Studies and Business at NYU.

Sky Davies is a very warm and considered cinematographer working across a slate of projects in Australia and internationally. Featured in Screen Australia's International Women’s Day Spotlight on 20 Talented Women in Screen 2021, she is passionate about gender equality in her camera crews and is very nurturing towards emerging talent; never ruling out working with a first time director if it's a match. We discuss her career trajectory - including lots of twists and turns, the importance of mental health, her 3 Pillars of Health and how she feels about short form projects now. 

In this episode we have a fascinating chat with Guy Nattiv. Guy is an Academy Award® winning writer/director from Israel. His first American short film, SKIN, won the 2019 Oscar for Best Live Action Short, along with 350 festivals around the world and was acquired by FOX Searchlight. The feature version, also entitled SKIN, stars Jamie Bell, Vera Farmiga, Aussie Danielle Macdonald and premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival to significant acclaim. The intriguing thing is; Guy actually wrote the short AFTER shooting the feature! 

Before coming to the USA, Nattiv was a lauded filmmaker in Israel, where his first feature, STRANGERS, was in competition at the Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals in 2008. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife/producing partner Jaime Ray Newmand, where they run New Native Pictures. In this chat we cover their big Oscar win, financing his feature, the short film festival circuit, strategy for your career and how to stay sane in Hollywood. 

In this very special follow up episode (listen to Megan Riakos in Ep 3 first) we are thrilled to broadcast a live panel event created by Megan to celebrate the release of Dark Whispers Vol 1. 

WHISPERING LOUDLY: FEMALE VOICES IN CONTEMPORARY GENRE FILMMAKING, SYDNEY MARCH 2021

Short of the Week is a brilliant digital platform showcasing a wide curation of short films from around the world. It is the industry’s number one scouting ground for industry execs, producers, agents and distributors, and having your film selected can often lead to connections facilitated between filmmakers and the industry professionals who can take your career to the next level (think Netflix, Sundance, Fox, Warner, Warner, Disney, Hulu, WME, CAA, NY Times and more). In this episode we chat to two of the key selectors at Short of the Week, Celine Roustan (also a programmer for the Palm Springs ShortFest and the Dublin International Film Festival and Associate Programmer at SXSW) and Ivan Kander (freelance filmmaker, motion designer, and writer based out of Washington, DC). This is a must listen for all the behind the scenes intel from one of the biggest short film platforms in the world. 

For our season finale actor turned writer/director TJ Power shows us the value in surrounding yourself with a strong team. Originally graduating from the drama degree at WAAPA, TJ has since appeared in TV shows such as 'Offspring' and 'Major Crimes' and on the big screen in films like 'Eat, Pray, Love' with Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem and 'The Sapphires' with Debra Mailman and Chris O’Dowd. He received an ACCTA nomination for his performance in Josh Lawson’s comedy, 'The Little Death'. Turning his hand to writing and directing, TJ’s first short film, 'Your Call Is Important To Us', stars Andy Lee and premiered at Flickerfest in 2017. He is currently in post on his second short film, 'The Bus to Birra Birra'. 

Shideh Faramand and Kirsty Stark are a dynamic writer/director and producer team who decided to collaborate when Shideh’s charming short film ‘A Reluctant Bride’ proved an irresistible proof of concept for a feature length exploration of the same story. The interview is a fascinating account of their experience navigating Australian funding bodies and the development process as well as their individual thoughts on filmmaking. It’s a bird’s eye look at how a short can serve a filmmaker’s career, accelerate them into long form and give them the opportunity to forge powerful partnerships in the process. 

Gareth Davies is an artist. He’s also a production designer, a director, a writer, a muser and a talker. In this episode he breaks down what production design actually is, what it means for a short film and how it adds to the audience’s experience. Gareth initially began his career in graphic design before transitioning into film as a tech advisor on Superman Returns. He’s since worked professionally in the industry for over ten years designing both features and shorts, including collaborating with Jacobie and Leonie on their last two films (The Aquarium and The Beehive). His artistic eye and contribution to both were invaluable in making them the visually feast that they are.  

Brooke Goldfinch is a name you will all soon recognise. A journalist turned writer/director, Brooke created one of the first ‘crowdfunding campaigns’ - well before anyone had heard of Kickstarter – to fund her way through cinema studies at NYU’s prestigious School of the Arts, Tisch. Under the tutelage of legendary filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Todd Solondz and others, Brooke honed her craft and returned to her homeland of Australia with Red Rover – her critically acclaimed short film exploring the world’s end through the eyes of two teenagers. Now working on her debut feature, Brooke has several exciting projects in development whilst advocating for gender equality in the local screen industry. This is a great chat with lots of helpful info and laughs.  

Andy Carbone is a boy from the bush. Before training to be an actor at QUT he began his working life mustering and droving cattle. Those experiences inspired him to put pen to paper and write a short story set in the outback. That story eventually turned into Waiting for Rain, his directorial debut produced by Aquarius Films. In this episode, Andy is thoughtful and truthful; about taking your time, about creating projects that mean something to you, and about how important it is to listen to your gut. 

Shelly Lauman is a prolific short filmmaker. Actor turned writer/director, Shelly attended the prestigious American Film Institute Conservatory which allowed her to explore her unique gift for storytelling. She rarely if ever uses music in her short films and is not afraid to push the art form. Now back in her hometown of Sydney Australia, Shelly is enjoying the success of her highly acclaimed ADG Metro Screen Fellowship short film Birdie and turning her attention to her debut feature. 

If you haven’t heard of Freshflix Film Festival then where have you been?! Today we talk through the back-end of a short film festival with Freshflix co-founder Claudia Pickering. We pick her brains on selection criteria, how they program and what to do when you get a rejection letter. A must listen for all short filmmakers.  

In our very first episode, Jacobie and Leonie sit down with their award-winning editor Danielle Boesenberg to chat through the ideal working relationship between the director and editor. Danielle has cut over 30 shorts, so look out for all her nuggets of wisdom - she really knows her stuff!  

Kevin Lim (writer/director) and Aaron McLisky (cinematographer) truly know the definition of collaboration. They talks us through how they began making shorts together during their advertising days which ultimately led to their collective, Soda Honey Films.