Film Riot

Behind the scenes

Writing & Directing Story Driven Horror

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natalie erika james

There’s perhaps no greater excitement for an aspiring filmmaker than to have their directorial debut receive mass acclaim and distribution. Relic is the directorial debut of Japanese-Australian writer/director filmmaker, Natalie Erika James. It’s a horror film anchored by its deeply emotional and honest themes, and masterfully co-written and directed by James.

Released theatrically in drive-ins, and now available across most major streaming platforms, you’d never guess that Relic is Natalie’s first outing as a feature writer/director. In the episode of the Film Riot podcast, fresh off the experience of making the film, Natalie meets with Ryan to discuss her experience as a first-time writer/director, working with actors, and why she leaned into the horror genre to tell this specific and personal story. 

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PRODUced by ron dawson

Edited by Emily Connolly

Doc Filmmaker for Quibi, Lucas Harger

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Yesterday marked the launch of Quibi, a 2-billion dollar bet by Hollywood and tech giants Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman to change the face of content consumption on the go. There have been lots of opinions about Quibi’s viability, potential for success, and its mobile-only platform. Well, today we give you an inside peek with a filmmaker who has worked directly with one of its productions.

Lucas Harger is an Emmy award-winning editor with several docs under his belt. He was Ryan’s collaborator on both BALLiSTIC and There Comes a Knocking. Today Ryan and Lucas talk about his latest project Prodigy, a doc series for the Quibi brand. Along with discussing the ins and outs of post for this new mobile platform, the guys dive into what makes a story work and the cross over between doc and narrative.

 

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Musicbed

Musicbed is packed with excellent music that you can license for your project. Now they have a subscription for less than $10 a month to get all the music you want and a free 30-day trial. Check it out here: MUSICBED

 

MORE FROM LUCAS

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Connect with Lucas:
Lucas’ IMDB
Lucas’ on Twitter
Lucas’ Instagram
Lucas’ Website

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

 

CREDITS

 

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 28 – JOE PENNA

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Joe Penna is a writer/director that got his start on YouTube. You may know him as Mystery Guitar Man, but today he is directing feature films starring massive talents like Mads Mikkelsen, Anna Kendrick, and Toni Collette.  In this episode, Ryan chats with Joe about directing his first film with a major start attached and his overall path to feature films.

YouTube video

Musicbed

Musicbed is packed with excellent music that you can license for your project. Now they have a subscription for less than $10 a month to get all the music you want and a free 30-day trial. Check it out here: MUSICBED

 

Connect with Joe:
Joe on Instagram
Joe on Twitter
Joe on YouTube
Joe’s Website

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

MORE FROM JOE

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YouTube video

YouTube video

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 19 – HANNAH WARD

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Listen to the podcast:

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Hannah Ward is an excellent actor with tons of insight. Ryan and Hannah chat about the actor/director relationship, bad experiences, and finding your voice.

 

Episode Sponsor: 

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PODCAST: EPISODE 16 – Josh Connolly

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Listen to the podcast:

Other Places to Listen/Subscribe
ITUNES – GOOGLE PLAY – STITCHER – OVERCAST – YOUTUBE – SOUNDCLOUD – PODBEAN – SPOTIFY

Josh Connolly joins the podcast today to talk about Film Riot and how he found his way into filmmaking.

 

Episode Sponsor: 

The folks at Westcott are the originators of the Flexible LED system and the Ice Light2, which are two pieces of gear I always find myself reaching for. Check out our full review of the two lights on Film Riot: FLEX LIGHT REVIEW

Cinematography Tips from Bradford Young

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I’ve been a big fan of Bradford Young for a while now. His work on films like ‘Selma’, ‘Ain’t Them Bodies Saints’ and ‘A Most Violent Year’ are all standouts and absolutely gorgeous.

Then there is my personal favorite, ‘Arrival’. That film blew me away on every level, especially Young’s visuals…

So, you can imagine my excitement when I found these short interviews with Bradford from CookOpticsTV. In them, Bradford gives tips on using practicals, negative fill, and bounce. He also briefly goes into staying flexible while working on a production that has huge changes, like replacing directors in Solo.

YouTube video

YouTube video

YouTube video

Find more from CookOpticTV on their YouTube channel.

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