Making Movies is HARD!!!: The Struggles of Indie Filmmaking

Updated: 15 May 2025 • 620 episodes
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Liz Manashil and Alrik Bursell discuss independent filmmaking, everything from writing, producing and directing to working as crew. But this is not just a podcast about "making it," it's also about struggling with rejection, self-doubt and everything else that comes with pursuing a career in film. Follow along as we forge our own way through the industry and talk to guests who are also making it happen. Episodes 238-299 are available at our patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/mmihpodcast

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On this Thursday bonus episode we are going to play the interview from episode 391 from October 2022 featuring wrtier/director Braden Duemmler! Alrik thought this was a good match for our episode with Felipe Vargas from Monday because Braden also went to USC and his first feature was funded at a pretty high budget, jus

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This week we welcome writer director Felipe Vargas on the show to talk about making his first feature film Rosario, how he got attached to the project and the short films he made that led him to get his first feature made at this level. Friend of the show and previous guest Clinton Cornwall came on to do the interview

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On this Thursday bonus episode we are going to play the interview from episode 412 from February 2023 featuring director Carter Smith! Alrik thought this was a good match for our episode with Timothy Scott Bogart from Monday because Carter also is making his films at different budget levels, going well over 10 million

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This week we welcome writer director Timothy Scott Bogart on the show to talk about making his latest feature film Juliet & Romeo, a pop-musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, shot on location in Italy, starring Rebel Wilson, Jason Issacs, Rupert Everett and Derek Jacobi among others, with all the songs being recorded

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On this Thursday bonus episode we are going to play the interview from episode 449 from November 2023 with director Mick Davis who talks about directing his latest feature Walden, starring Emile Hirsch. I thought this was a great match for Dito’s episode on Monday because they are both full time directors how have dire

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This week we welcome writer/director Dito Montiel on the show to talk about directing his latest feature Riff Raff, starring Jennifer Coolidge, Pete Davidson and Bill Murray, among others and Dito tells us about how he got such an incredible cast in this film. After that we play another round of THE GAME, enjoy! Don’t

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