Film Riot

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Writing & Directing your First Feature

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Ricky Staub

How do you get your first feature made? It’s the question every aspiring filmmaker wants answered. Today Ryan speaks with Ricky Staub — writer, director, and entrepreneur. After coming off the success of his first narrative project, The Cage (developed in collaboration with Film Supply) Ricky connected with the producers that would help make his first feature a reality.

He and Ryan cover everything from his years working under the prolific producer Sam Mercer (on films like THE LAST AIRBENDER, DEVIL, and SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMEN), to starting his own commercial company to hone his technical craft. They explore and dive deep into a discussion about the path and experiences of writing and directing his first feature film, starring IDRIS ELBA no less! You don’t want to miss this!

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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.

 

 

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

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 31 – Alison James

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Alison James is an incredibly talented writer/director on the rise and headed toward her first feature film. After winning Best Narrative Short at the Austin Film Festival for her short film, Judas Collar, Alison was able to land reps at WME and has since been developing what will be her first feature film.

TODAY’S SPONSOR

RODE is The Australian pro audio powerhouse making incredible gear for podcasters, vloggers, filmmakers, musicians and audio engineers.

We recorded this latest episode on the RØDECaster Pro, the world’s first fully-integrated podcast production console. With four mic channels, eight sound pads for triggering effects and music, the ability to bring in phone and Skype calls, and powerful onboard audio processing, it’s the perfect solution whether you’re just getting into podcasting, or you’re a seasoned pro.

 

Connect with Alison:
Alison on Twitter
Alison on Instagram
Judas Collar Website

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

 

Watch Judas Collar

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PODCAST: EPISODE 25 – DALLAS TAYLOR

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Today on the show, Ryan talks with Dallas Taylor about all things sound! Dallas is the owner and lead over at Defacto Sound. He and his team have worked on some of the biggest ads from Nike, Ford, Puma, and Audi, to documentaries that have gone to Sundance and Tribeca. They have also done amazing work on network promos for HBO, NatGeo, AMC and Netflix, and massive trailers like Game of Thrones, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and tons more
Dallas also Hosts a podcast about sound called Twenty Thousand Hertz that around 100,000 people listen to every other Monday. It’s “a lovingly crafted podcast that tells the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds”. They take 150-200 hours to make and are crafted with love and care, so definitely check that out and subscribe!

 

 

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 Dallas:
Dallas on Twitter
Dallas’ Podcast
Dallas’ Website
Defacto Sound

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

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 20 – SETH WORLEY

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Seth Worley is back to talk about making his latest short film and his continued path to making his first feature.

Stay updated with Seth’s new film here: darkercolors.com

Check out Seth’s other Red Giant shorts here: youtube.com/redgiant

Seth also sells amazing products for Filmmakers! Find those goodies here: plotdevices.co

 

Episode Sponsor: 

The next time you need some gear, jump over to Lensprotogo.com and save 20% by using the code FILMRIOTPODCAST!

MARK DUPLASS: The Cavalry Isn’t Coming

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 19 – HANNAH WARD

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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: 

Soundiron is a premium developer of virtual instruments and sample libraries for songwriters, composers and sound designers. Whether you’re new to music production or a seasoned pro in the film, television, advertising, video game, or music recording industries, They’ve got you covered. Soundiron serves the best and brightest composers and artists in film & media today.

Click here to check out more of their stuff!

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 18 – GRAHAM POWELL

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Graham Powell is a writer, director, and actor from New York working to get his first independent feature off the ground. Today the guys talk about the ups and downs of independent 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

PODCAST: EPISODE 17 – JOSH TANNER

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Josh Tanner is a writer/director from Australia with some amazing short films like The Landing, The Rizzle, and Reverse. Today Ryan and Josh talk about directing horror, the transition between low budget shorts and larger productions, and getting their films seen by the right people.

 

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

PODCAST: EPISODE 16 – Josh Connolly

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Listen to the podcast:

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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

PODCAST: EPISODE 15 – AVI YOUABIAN

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Listen to the podcast:

Other Places to Listen/Subscribe
ITUNES – GOOGLE PLAY – STITCHER – OVERCAST – YOUTUBE – SOUNDCLOUD – PODBEAN – SPOTIFY
Avi Youabian is an editor with credits like The Walking Dead, Constantine, Frequency, The Brave, and a director with credits in The Walking Dead, Zoo, and Tainted Love.  Today, Ryan talks to Avi about directing, editing, and the difference between television and film with editor/director.

Episode Sponsor:

Soundly is a fully featured sound effects platform for Mac & PC. Find your perfect sound effect in their massive cloud library, index local sounds, and share files in the Soundly Collaboration Cloud. With a wealth of features and a friendly interface, Soundly makes you a better and happier editor!

I’ve been using soundly for months now and it is a serious time saver! The organization and agility as a designer that it gives you, is worth its weight in gold! Get 10 DAYS FREE by downloading soundly at getsoundly.com and use the code filmriot.

And our second sponsor:

Our friends at Musicbed just launched their subscription option, Membership! For the first time, get unlimited access to hundreds of emerging indie artists and leading composers in a subscription format — all cleared for YouTube.

And with a Membership for every type of filmmaker, using great music in your films has never been easier or simpler.

Learn more at musicbed.com/membership

We also collaborated with Musicbed on an upcoming video to celebrate the launch of Membership. Let’s just say there are tanks, grenades, and teddy bears involved. Check it out later this week on the Film Riot YouTube channel!

Connect with Avi Youabian

Avi on IMDB
Avi on Twitter
Avi on Instagram
Avi’s Website

Connect with Ryan:

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

GEAR USED

RODE Procaster
RODE Boom Arm
Scarlett 2i2
DBX 286s

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