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Tag Archive: andrew fromer

Episode 44: Director of My Own Journey with Rich Delia

SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 44: Director of My Own Journey with Rich Delia
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One of the first steps in the filmmaking process is the somewhat mysterious, often underappreciated art of casting. On the latest episode of Sidekickback Radio, I sit down with Casting Director extraordinaire Rich Delia.  You can see his fine work in such films as Dallas Buyers Club, Short Term 12 and currently in theaters, Lights Out. We chat about how he transitioned to casting director from acting, what it takes to find that perfect actor for the role in the casting process and some suggestions for actors strugglin to break through

Coming soon, Rich’s upcoming projects include:

Transpecos – with Clifton Collins Jr. and Gabriel Luna, directed by Greg Kwedar, 2016’s SXSW Audience Award winner tells the story of three border patrol agents that make an unnerving discovery revealing possible betrayal amongst their own unit.

Fist Fight starring Charlie Day and Ice Cube as two high school teachers who have a score to settle…in the parking lot, after school.

To the Bone – from previous guests of the podcast, Mockingbird Pictures, To the Bone stars Lily Collins as a young woman dealing with anorexia who meets an unconventional doctor (Keanu Reeves) that challenges her to face her condition and embrace life. Written and Directed by Marti Noxon.

The Masterpiece – directed by James Franco, the star-studded cast includes Seth Rogen, Josh Hutcherson, Bryan Cranston, Sharon Stone and Franco himself as they recreate the behind the scenes “magic” that led to the cult classic that is considered to be one of the worst movies ever made, Tommy Wiseau’s The Room.

Stay up to date with his IMDb here!

Episode 40: Keep Your Eyes Open with Jessica Howell

SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 40: Keep Your Eyes Open with Jessica Howell
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My guest on this weeks episode is the lovely actress, writer, producer Jessica Howell. She’s been a part of such great projects as Eleanora: The Forgotten Princess, the phenomenal stage production of Re-Animator: The Musical and Showtime’s Masters of Sex. Her latest short film, Susie Sunshine, will be premiering at the LA International Women’s Film Festival on March 25th. We chat about running a successful Indiegogo campaign, the quality of life in Los Angeles vs. New York, and how we have both always been old people.

Grab your tickets to Susie Sunshine at LAWIFF here!

Episode 39: See You at the Maccabi Games with Jessie Kahnweiler

SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 39: See You at the Maccabi Games with Jessie Kahnweiler
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This week’s episode of SideKickBack Radio features Jessie Kahnweiler, creator, writer, director and star of The Skinny. Her well-crafted, dark-comedy web series premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and it’ll take you places you might not expect.  Jessie and I chat about why listening is better than trying to change people, why being rejected as oneself is more important than being accepted as someone else, and man bun executives.

Check out The Skinny at Refinery29 here!

Episode 38: Band of Robbers with Adam Nee

SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 38: Band of Robbers with Adam Nee
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In the triumphant return of SideKickBack Radio, I sit down with half of the writer/director/editor team behind the superb and fascinating film known as Band of Robbers. Adam Nee…oh and he also stars in it too…and I chat about the odd yet ballsy process of financing this independent film, the nuggets of wisdom he would tell his younger self, and the food groups of model.

Rounding out the cast of Band of Robbers  is Kyle Gallner, Melissa Benoist, Hannibal Buress, Matthew Gray Gubler, Stephen Lang and Eric Christian Olsen.  This modern retelling of the adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn should not be missed! Available on VOD now 🙂

Highway to Havasu Trailer

Today is a very special day…so special that I decided to cancel my trip to the Sundance Film Festival so as to better serve this gem of a film that myself and countless others (mainly Jeff Janke and Amber Goetz) have poured thousands and thousands of pounds of heart, soul and radass humor into.  Not only do we release our trailer today, but it has been announced that we were awarded Best Comedy at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and it will screen February 18th at 10:45pm at LA Live. I can’t wait for you all to experience the film when the time comes and if you can’t make the festival, don’t you worry, it’ll come out somehow in a theater near you or direct to your streaming devices. But for now, thank you for your support friends new and old, family, podcast listeners, total strangers, hearing me go on and on about the innumerable stories and experiences that this film has brought into my life…and this is only the beginning. Please enjoy:

Episode 34: Red Bull, Sugar Free with Stan Zimmerman

stan zimmerman gilmore girls roseanne skirtchasers secs execs
SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 34: Red Bull, Sugar Free with Stan Zimmerman
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This week I get to chat with Stan Zimmerman, known for writing/producing on such television programs as Roseanne, Gilmore Girls, The Golden Girls, Rita Rocks, such feature films as The Brady Bunch Movie, A Very Brady Sequel and such plays as Meet and Greet and Suicide Notes: In Their Own Words. We talk about how being a writer in television has evolved, what it means to be a violet and solving toilet troubles with the high school theater department bathroom.

Stan’s upcoming projects include:

Gilmore Girls – that’s right! Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel return in Netflix’s revival of the popular series and what better way to keep the good times going by making sure some of the original writers and producers like Stan are around.

Suicide Notes – Stan isn’t necessarily all comedy. At last year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival, Stan presented this powerfully moving piece featuring the last words of celebrities and everyday people alike, encouraging the audience to take a good hard look at a tough to talk about topic. The play is still in development and continues to grow and shape as he reaches out to more venues to present the evolving piece.

Skirtchasers – starring Barry Bostwick and Elizabeth Keener, this web series (available at Tello Films) explores the difficulties a not-so-perfect father has with trying to mend his lesbian daughter’s broken heart.

Secs & Execs – currently in post-production (and to be also made available at Tello Films), this web series starring Sandra Bernhard features the differences (and not so differences) between the high-powered execs and those who serve under them.

Check out Stan’s website here!

Mind Blown: The Dirties

I’m not sure if this next installment is influenced by current events, perhaps its basic coincidence, but I guess that’s another way of saying it was simply meant to be. I recognize that when I watched The Dirties on Sunday night, the timing of seeing it was an important factor but perhaps that is the point.  Shot in a found-footage, documentary-like style (be prepared for some very shaky-cam) this festival darling follows two high school students making a home movie about taking down the bullies at their school, Quentin Tarantino style, guns a-blazin’.  As the film progresses, one of the young men takes the joke to uncomfortable heights.

I first heard about The Dirties during a Kevin Smith interview in which he also gave a shout-out to Blue is the Warmest Color. I mention this because while these two films are so different in so many ways, they have one very important thing in common that makes them fantastic: as Mr. Smith puts it, the feeling of watching a camera being dipped into real life. Two very different stories, two very different styles, one very overwhelming and sometimes physical response.

In The Dirties, writer/director/editor/producer Matt Johnson stars as Matt alongside his best friend Owen, played by Owen Williams; already reality has become a head-scratcher. The film opens with a purely accidental scene between Matt and two real life passerby kids asking about the movie that’s being filmed. There are scenes in which Matt sits down to edit the very movie we are watching.  There are the sudden moments of frighteningly real bullying, the kind that is psychological and paralyzing.  Going into watching the film, I knew there was a mixture of real people and actors partaking in the action and it is absolutely impossible to distinguish who or what is real or fake. Sometimes, catalyzing events happen that I felt like I missed because it wasn’t set up in a way that the camera could catch it perfectly, leaving me to wonder if it was staged or not.  There is a constant changing of mood and tone; one moment Matt is being his usual zany jokester self and the next he is reading Columbine by Dave Cullen; one of several incredibly brilliant and sobering ways Johnson reminds us of the anchor that holds this whole story in the real world.  The never-ending questioning and shifts lead me to feel perpetually unsettled by every person and everything they did, wondering if life is imitating art or vice versa.  Who is going to be the one that pushes this narrative over the edge?  I felt as though the story was going to betray me, that the harsh truths of bullies and school shooters would end up on my screen in a very unsettling way no matter how bad I wanted everyone to get along.  It was a unique feeling I don’t think a film has ever given me before.

The Dirties is a riveting, provocative and bold film made for very little by some very daring people and it brings to light just how bad we can be to each other at our most sensitive and volatile ages.  At a time when school shootings are the source of incredibly heart-breaking frustration, The Dirties offers a no-nonsense view on the matter that feels just too damn important.

 

Episode 33: Sometimes Magic Happens with Naomi Grossman

SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 33: Sometimes Magic Happens with Naomi Grossman
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The latest episode of SideKickBack Radio features the incomparable actress Naomi Grossman, whom you might recognize (with some difficulty) as Pepper from American Horror Story. We chat about her high school reunion, the difference between “making it” and “doing it,” and large Argentinian hats.

Check out Naomi’s website here!

Episode 32: Happy Birthday Mom!

SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 32: Happy Birthday Mom!
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This episode was recorded on September 9th, my wonderful, proud Jewish mama’s birthday!  My gift to her this year was an hour of questioning her cryptic and often times mumble-mouthed son on his life. Eye-rolling was kept to a minimum…Highlights include my experience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006, getting my acting career going as the Cowardly Lion, and what I really learned in high school.

Check out my momma’s own podcast here!

Episode 31: The Power of Belief and the Desire to Belong with Justin Kelly

SideKickBack Radio
SideKickBack Radio
Episode 31: The Power of Belief and the Desire to Belong with Justin Kelly
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This week’s episode features Justin Kelly, the writer and director of I Am Michael (starring James Franco and Zachary Quinto). We chat about the years of work it takes to climb the film-world ladder, Michael Glatze’s reaction to a film about his life, and the oddities of airplane gasoline.

Justin’s upcoming projects include King Cobra (also starring James Franco, Christian Slater, and Molly Ringwald), Welcome the Stranger (starring Riley Keough and Abbey Lee) and JT Leroy (starring Kristen Stewart).

Stay up-to-date on all of Justin’s projects by following his IMDb page here!