On The Neutral Ground

During this episode of “On the Neutral Ground”, Victoria and Jason chat about The Cool Cooperative with Felicia Stallard, Chair of the Board and Kirby Voss, Executive Director.  The Cool Cooperative, a 501(c) non-profit founded in 2014, is an after school program for New Orleans inner-city students from 7th grade through high school graduation. The program offers food, fun and education as these students gain experience and knowledge in all aspects of filmmaking, both in front of and behind the camera.   “By the time our Cool Creators graduate high school, The Cool Cooperative will have offered them not only practical support like tutoring and individualized SAT lessons, but more specifically, they will have the confidence, skills, and connections connections necessary to secure well-paying jobs in the film industry.”   The Cool Cooperative along with Felicia and Kirby are very active in the Louisiana film industry having produced several short and feature films with numerous awards to boot.   Additional information about this incredible organization may be found at https://www.thecoolcooperative.org and you can follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

During this episode of “On the Neutral Ground”, Victoria and Jason chat with Katie Prior, Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Film Commission and Isaac Pletcher, Assistant Professor of Film and Television at LSU (Louisiana State University).  We discuss the exciting opportunities and economics of the film industry in the Baton Rouge area along with the upcoming “Take Six Film Festival”.     The Sixth Annual Take Film Festival, sponsored by LSU is held at the historic Shaver Theatre on May 3, 2020 at 7:00 PM. Submissions are now open through mid-April and are free to LSU students, alumni and to those who attend or have graduated from any other Louisiana university. The film must have been completed in 2019 or 2020 and between 30 seconds and 15 minutes in length. Katie and her office are very much involved with this event.  She tells us to “come prepared, to be inspired, entertained and wowed at the next up and coming generation of filmmakers.”   Additional information can be found at www.LSU,edu/cmda/theatre or http://filmbatonrouge.com.

Victoria and Jason chat with the filmmaking team of the award-winning film, ‘EASY DOES IT”. This 70s road trip, buddy movie about friendship and chasing the American Dream premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival in October, 2019 and has since screened from coast to coast throughout North America.  With a geeky hostage in tow, our co-stars travel across the US getting into trouble wherever they go. Writer/director/producer Will Addison, writer/producer/actor Ben Methany and producer Lizzie Guitreau share their experiences from the story’s conception, working with well-known actors such as Linda Hamilton, to talking about the challenges of producing an independent film. This is a podcast not to be missed!   Be sure to follow Easy Does It on social media (@EasyDoesItFilm) for screening dates, locations, etc

During this episode of On the Neutral Ground, Victoria and Jason chat with award winning social justice documentary filmmaker, Alex Glustrom.  Alex is the writer, director and editor of the powerful documentary film, Mossville:  When Great Trees Fall, currently on the film festival circuit and winning awards nearly at nearly every festival screening.  Alex discusses how he became a documentary filmmaker, the challenges and also his past projects including Big Charity: The Death of America’s oldest hospital. Mossville:  When Great Trees Fall is about environmental injustice and how just one man stands in the way of a petrochemical plant expansion, refusing to give up or leave his Louisiana community.  Stacey Ryan Stay’s home in Mossville, a town founded by free slaves is no longer in a neighborhood but within a busy construction site, as a South African company expands their compound of petrochemical plants. They’ve bought out every other resident and cut off his utilities but, even faced with the risk of illness and death from chemical exposure that chased many of his neighbors away, Ryan doesn’t waver in refusing their offers. With an empathetic but rigorous documentary approach, director Alexander Glustrom exposes environmental racism threatening a community founded on resistance. For more information about Alex and his films, please refer to the following links: http://www.mossvilleproject.com https://www.facebook.com/MossvilleProject/ http://www.bigcharityfilm.com    

Jason and Victoria discuss the legal side of the film industry with entertainment attorneys Max Hass and Murray Roth.  We cover a variety of legal and business topics for independent filmmakers, with a focus on copyrighting, contracts, release agreements, and much more.  Max Hass is an entertainment attorney, musician and the founder of Action Potential Entertainment LLC.  He has worked with dozens of musicians as well as entrepreneurs, record labels, publishing companies, film productions, and visual artists. In law school, Max was an editor of the Tulane Law Review, president of the Tulane Entertainment & Art Law Society, and student attorney with the Tulane Civil Litigation Clinic. Max has developed and presented copyright workshops for musicians and visual artists and spoken on intellectual property and contract matters at the New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC), Propeller, and the Where Y'Art Gallery. Max can be reached as follows: @Action Potential Entertainment LLC www.actionpotentialent.com    Murray Roth is a licensed attorney in Louisiana with over 20 years experience as a counselor, trial attorney and litigator.  Born and raised in the New Orleans area he obtained his Juris Doctor Law Degree from Loyola University in New Orleans, and since 2002, Murray has dedicated his law practice mainly to the areas of Business Law and Entertainment Law involving motion picture and television production. For his Entertainment Law practice, Murray provides legal services to individuals and companies operating in all areas of the motion picture industry in Louisiana.  He is well versed in the areas of intellectual property and 'chain of title,' production contracts, and is very familiar with the Louisiana Motion Picture Tax Credit Program. in addition to providing legal services, Murray is also an independent film producer who has served as a Producer, Executive Producer or at some other producer level on over 10 feature films and made-for-television movies produced in Louisiana.  Murray’s website: www.murrayroth.com

Victoria and Jason sit down with the award-winning husband and wife filmmaking team of LOST BAYOU, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and was just awarded Best Cinematography at the New Orleans Film Festival. The film tells the story of a struggling addict who ventures into the Louisiana swamps to reconnect with her estranged faith healer father, only to discover he is hiding a troubling secret aboard his houseboat. Director Brian Richard and Cinematographer Natalie Kingston share their experiences in the industry while giving us the backstory and some insight into their award winning film. LOST BAYOU is currently on the film festival circuit, and is screening from coast to coast. Be sure to follow their journey on social media (@LostBayouFilm) for screening dates and locations.  

During this episode of On The Neutral Ground, we chat with Fallon Young, the Executive Director of the New Orleans Film Festival. Moviemaker Magazine named NOFF one of "the 25 coolest film festivals in the world". With over 230 films being screened, there is something for everyone!

Victoria sits down with the filmmaking team of the feature film THE TRUE DON QUIXOTE, including writer/director Chris Poche and producers Beth Burvant and Jason Waggenspack - who is also our co-host!    They chat about their film from its conception and New Orleans screening to their New York sneak peak and ultimate distribution.   Chris, Beth and Jason are as charming and delightful as the film itself, which stars Tim Blake Nelson, Jacob Batalon, and a slew of talented Louisiana actors.   THE TRUE DON QUIXOTE will screen in New York at the Metrograph theater On September 28th, 2019, and will be available on iTunes, Amazon, and many other streaming platforms on October 1st. 

During this episode of On the Neutral Ground, Jason and Victoria sit down with Lisa Arnold - an award winning writer, director and producer. Lisa has a slew of successful films under her belt, including One Nation Under God (2019), Caged No More (2016), Camp Cool Kids (2017), God's Not Dead (2014), and many more. With over twenty-five years of experience in the industry, Lisa shares her advice about directing, writing, distribution, and following your dreams. After finding your sweet spot and working hard, you can achieve anything you want.

During this episode of On The Neutral Ground, Victoria and Jason continue chatting with Rebekah Louisa Smith, “The Film Festival Doctor”, who began her career as a producer of a top horror film festival in Whales.     Now, Rebekah consults with filmmakers from all over the world, strategizing their film festival run.   We talk about the steps involved in achieving success with film festivals, as well as securing distribution through sales agents or by the filmmakers themselves.   Enjoy our conversation with "The Film Festival Doctor", and stay tuned!  Thanks for listening!

During this episode of On the Neutral Ground, Victoria and Jason chat with Rebekah Louisa Smith, “The Film Festival Doctor”.   Dr. Smith - who began her film career as producer of a top horror film festival in Whales - discusses the importance of strategizing, networking, and public relations as it relates to getting your film screened at festivals. There's so much to talk about that we split our conversation into two episodes!  Enjoy, and Stay Tuned!

During this episode of On the Neutral Ground, Victoria and Jason sit down with Lizzie Guitreau (Easy Does It / On Va Continuer) and Daneeta Loretta Jackson (Nicabob / Locked).   They discuss everything from how they came to be filmmakers, the challenges of being independent producers and directors, the all important skill of networking, funding a project, and much more.

In the latest episode of On The Neutral Ground, we welcome our new co-host Victoria Greene. Victoria is an actor, writer, director, producer, and documentarian - and we are so excited to have her on board! The guests for this episode are screenwriters Steven Esteb (Hate Crime, Baller Blockin') and Mari Kornhauser (Treme).

In this episode of On The Neutral Ground, Jason and Jabari host David Tatman and Trey Burvant. They discuss the film and television industry in Louisiana, the effect of the Motion Picture Tax Credit program on the economy of Louisiana, and the role of the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association (LFEA) in helping to create a strong film industry in the state.

In this episode of On The Neutral Ground, Jason and Jabari discuss the first steps that people should take when trying to get a job in the film and television industry. The guests in Episode 2 are Cory Parker (Business Agent for IATSE Local 478) and Darcy McKinnon (Executive Director of NOVAC).

In the first episode of "On The Neutral Ground", Jason and Jabari host casting director Ryan Glorioso (Now You See Me, Daddy's Home, 13 Reasons Why, and Preacher) and actor Billy Slaughter (The First, The Purge, and The Magnificent Seven).