Film Festival Friends
The queer stories behind our queer stories!Film Festival Friends is an interview podcast hosted by filmmaker Brandon Nick, featuring conversations with indie filmmakers celebrating queer cinema, craft, and community. Brandon has intimate, process-driven conversations with filmmakers he's met during his festival circuit run and explores the work behind the work: the triumphs, the tragedies, the tricks, and everything in between.This isn’t press. It’s dialogue.Video Podcast available on YouTube and Spotify.
From DIY Web Series to Studio-Supported Cinema | "Them That's Not" (Mekhai Lee) | Film Festival Friends
Description
In this episode of Film Festival Friends, Brandon Nick sits down with filmmaker Mekhai Lee to talk about his short film Them That’s Not and the leap from DIY web series to studio-supported filmmaking. Mekhai shares how grief and spiritual guidance shaped the film’s origin about a grieving queer woman, which he made for $20k film after winning NewFest x Concord Sound and Scene grant. The conversation also explores the differences between making "popular" work vs "reputable" work and what it means to grow as a Black queer filmmaker in the festival circuit.
And of c...
The Emergence of Ballroom’s New Generation of Filmmakers | Make Some Room
Brandon Nick sits down with first-time filmmaker Trey Sherman to chat about how his film Make Some Room, about the kiki house of Marciano, made some room for him both as a member of Ballroom and as a filmmaker. Trey relives the trauma of losing his hard drive (in the most chaotic way, mind you) as they discuss that moment’s beautiful aftermath, including winning an award! Trey opens up about the responsibilities of documenting a culture you love while still earning your place in it, and the responsibility of keeping Ballroom’s magic and sacredness intact even as the...
A Drag Queen Survived a Hate Crime. Then Made a Film About It | After What Happened At the Library
Filmmaker and drag artist Kyle Casey Chu joins host Brandon Nick to pull back the curtain on After What Happened at the Library, his autofictional short about surviving a viral hate crime and the raw, disorienting aftermath of public trauma. Kyle shares how he grant-funded the film, why he reluctantly stepped in as the lead, and what it means to reclaim your own story when the internet tries to write it for you. Plus, Kyle pitches a horror film about a broken vibrator, starring Hiroyuki Sanada and John Cho. Yes, really.
Film Festival Friends is a podcast...
From Poem to the BAFTAs Nomination: Two Black Boys In Paradise
In this episode of Film Festival Friends, host Brandon Nick connects with Dean Atta and Baz Sells to talk about their BAFTA-nominated animated short, Two Black Boys in Paradise. They reflect on the five-year journey to bring the evocative stop-motion film to life, and the trust and grace that made their collaboration possible. The conversation digs into Black queer representation, the impact of Moonlight, and the film’s glowing festival reception, before Dean and Baz “announce” their next collab starring Teyana Taylor and Morgan Freeman.
Film Festival Friends is a podcast celebrating queer cinema, craft, and culture. Hosted...
This Indie Director Uses AI in her Filmmaking | DENIM
Brandon Nick sits down with Tedra Wilson aka TT the Artist to talk DENIM, her genre-bending, SXSW award-winning doc celebrating LGBTQIA+ creativity. TT lifts the curtain behind the films’ journey, which includes a thieving, sabotaging producer. Then it’s DIY grit vs. mainstream polish, a riveting kiki on the intersection AI and art, festival stories, and a lesbian love-story starring Queen Latifah and Vivica A. Fox.
DENIM is available to watch on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/1076532222
Festival Mentions: SXSW, Best Director at SeriesFest, NewFest 37, Bushwick Film Festival
Film Festival Friends is a podcast cele...
Film Festival Friends - Trailer
FILM FESTIVAL FRIENDS 🎙️
A podcast rooted in queer cinema, community, and craft. Not press. Just real conversations with indie LGBTQ+ filmmakers I’ve met on the festival circuit. Launching soon. Follow for the first drop.
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