Interviews Archives - Awesome Friday!

29 June 202230 June 2022

Interview: Director Dan Mirvish on his latest film, the 70s set Watergate thriller-comedy ’18 1/2′

Greetings programs! Dan Mirvish is an award-winning filmmaker known for films like Omaha: The Musical! and Bernard & Huey, as well as co-founding the Slamdance Film Festival. His latest film is a genre mashup, part thriller and part dark comedy, set in the 1970s and adjacent to the watergate scandal 18 1/2 tells the story of a young transcriptionist who hears the infamous missing time from the Nixon Watergate tapes and the idealistic journalist she brings the story to.

I sat down with Dan on Zoom a few weeks ago and had a great conversation. You can listen to it here on this page or anywhere you listen to podcasts. I hope you enjoy it!

2 June 20222 June 2022

Interview: Mark O’Brien on his film ‘The Righteous’

Greetings programs! Canadian actor Mark O’Brien has been working steadily since the mid-2000s with roles in CBC’s The Republic of Doyle and AMC’s Halt & Catch Fire, and movie appearances in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s Ready or Not, and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.

This week sees his feature film writing and directorial debut, The Righteous, arrive in cinemas nearly a year after its premiere at least year Fantasia Festival. Grappling with themes of faith and guilt, The Righteous stars a who’s who of Canadian talent including O’Brien himself, Henry Czerny, Mimi Kuzyk, and Nygel Bennet. It also picked up three Canadian Screen Award nominations this year including best original screenplay and best supporting actor for O’Brien himself.

I sat down with Mark this week on Zoom to talk about the film. You can listen to it right here on the page after the jump, or wherever you listen to podcasts. I hope you enjoy it!

14 May 202214 May 2022

Interview: Director Emerson Moore on his film ‘Escape the Field’

Greetings programs! Writer and director Emerson Moore’s first feature, Escape the Field, a story about six strangers stranded in an endless cornfield, is on-demand now. I had the chance to sit down with him via zoom to talk about the film, his experiences making it, and more!

There are streaming links for the film below, and you can listen to this interview on the Awesome Friday Podcast wherever you listen to Podcasts.

19 April 202219 April 2022

Interview: Reel Canada Executive Director Jack Blum on National Canadian Film Day

The third Wednesday of every year is National Canadian Film Day, a nationwide event that celebrates the best in Canadian cinema. This year is no different, and tomorrow’s event promises to be one of the best yet, with screening events in every province and territory and around the world. This morning I sat down with Jack Blum, executive director of Reel Canada (the organisation that puts National Canadian Film Day on), to speak about this year’s event, the tribute to the late Jean-Mac Vallée, and the focus on indigenous filmmaking.

To learn more about National Canadian Film Day and find a screening event near you, head to their website, CanFilmDay.ca (or their Twitter, @CanFilmDay).

There is an embedded player for this episode after the jump, and it is now live wherever you listen to podcasts. Join us!

14 April 202214 April 2022

CFF Interview: Actor, Writer, and Producer Jonas Chernick on his film Ashgrove

Greetings programs! Welcome to another Awesome Friday interview! Joining me this time is Jonas Chernick, who produced, co-wrote, and stars in the film Ashgrove. Ashgrove is the story of a scientist played by Amanda Brugel, who may be the key to solving a worldwide pandemic and is forced to take a few days for herself and her family. Chernick plays her husband, and we sat down to talk about the film, what it’s like shooting a movie during a pandemic, and more.

There are streaming links for the movie on this page, and the episode is live wherever you listen to podcasts (including an embedded player also on this page). Join us!!

3 April 20223 April 2022

CFF Interview: Shawn Doyle on his film Ashgrove (and also Star Trek: Discovery)

Salutations applications, and welcome to an Awesome Friday Interview with actor Shawn Doyle! A native of Newfoundland, Shawn has been working steadily in film and television since the early 1990s, and in just the last few years has racked up an impressive filmography that includes recurring appearances in The Expanse, Hannibal, Cardinal (for which he won a Canadian Screen Award last year) and most recently Star Trek: Discovery.

This year he has two films in the Canadian Film Festival, Ashgrove and The Last Mark. It’s the former of these two that we sat down to talk about, and it was a genuine pleasure. And yes, because I am huge nerd, I also asked a few questions about his time on Star Trek Discovery.

There are streaming links for the movie on this page, and the episode is live wherever you listen to podcasts (including an embedded player also on this page). Join us!

23 March 202223 March 2022

Canadian Film Fest Interview: Katie Boland on her film ‘We’re All In This Together’

Katie Boland / We're All in This Together / CFF

Greetings programs! Katie Boland is a Canadian actor, writer, director, and producer. She is probably best known for her television appearances and the web series she created, Long Story Short. However, this year, Katie made her feature film directorial debut with We’re All In This Together, a story about a dysfunctional family brought together by absurd events. Not only is she the film’s director, though, but she also adapted it from the best selling book, produced it, and starred in it as estranged twins.

A few weeks ago, Katie and I sat down after the Whistler Film Festival –where the film premiered– to talk about the film, which is now playing as part of the Canadian Film Festival.

There are streaming links for the movie on this page, and the episode is live wherever you listen to podcasts (including an embedded player also on this page). Join us!

18 March 202218 March 2022

Interview: Seth A Smith on his Canadian Horror Film ‘Tin Can’

Greetings programs! Welcome to a special episode of the Awesome Friday Podcast in which I sit down with director Seth A Smith to talk about his film Tin Can. Tin Can played at both Fantasia Festival last year and the Vancouver International Film Festival, which is where I originally saw it. It is now getting a wide release from LevelFILM, and Seth and I sat down on Zoom to talk about it.

There are streaming links for the film and an embedded player for the episode after the jump. Join me!

6 February 20229 February 2022

Podcast: Slamdance Recap & Interview w/ director Avalon Fast

Greetings programs and welcome to a very special episode of the podcast. This week we’re joined by Avalon Fast, director of Honeycomb, a new indie feature playing as part of the Slamdance Film Festival. We talk with her at length about her film and the experience of making it, as well as a quick recap of some more favourites of the festival.

18 October 202119 October 2021

VIFF ’21 Interview: Lauren Grant on her directorial debut short film ‘Things We Feel But Do Not Say’

Lauren Grant is a prolific producer of Canadian film and television, having worked on the series Killjoys as well as the films Riot Girls, Sugar Daddy and The Retreat just in the last two years. This year she also makes her debut as a director with her original short film Things We Feel But Do Not Say, which premiered as part of the shorts program at VIFF 2021. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Lauren on zoom to talk about the film.

8 October 202128 October 2021

VIFF ’21 Interview: Danis Goulet on her film ‘Night Raiders’

Night Raiders is one of the biggest Canadian films to come through VIFF this year, at least in terms of buzz and word of mouth. I had the chance to see it last week (and you can read my review here), and this week I had the great privilege to speak with Danis Goulet, the film’s writer and director.

27 September 20218 October 2021

Fantastic Fest Interview: Junta Yamaguchi on his one-take time travel film ‘Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes’

One of my favourite films at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival, Junta Yamaguchi’s Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is now playing for US audiences as part of Fantastic Fest 2021. I had the opportunity to sit down with the director via zoom (and with a translator) to speak about the film.

25 August 202122 August 2021

Interview: Nicole Dorsey on her film ‘Black Conflux’

Black Conflux, the first feature film from director Nicole Dorsey, had its premiere at TIFF 2019, and then with the outbreak of COVID-19, the film has had a long journey to theatres and finally vide on-demand this summer. It’s a confident and engaging film (read my review here) and an affecting one.

I had the chance to sit down with Nicole via audio last week to discuss the film, transcribed here. I hope you enjoy it!

20 August 202127 October 2021

Fantasia ’21 Interview: Sera-Lys McArthur on her films ‘Kwêskosîw’ & ‘Don’t Say Its Name’

2021 is turning out to be a big year for Sera-Lys McArthur. The alum of series such as Arctic Air and Burden of Truth is starring in two films at Fantasia Fest this year, a short (which she also produced) called Kwêskosîw (She Whistles) and the feature film Don’t Say Its Name, a horror film which had its world premiere this week at the festival.

I sat down with Sera-Lys on zoom this week to discuss both films and the state of indigenous filmmaking in Canada. I hope you enjoy it.

19 August 202119 September 2021

Fantasia ’21 Interview: Thirza Cuthand on their film Kwêskosîw (She Whistles)

Earlier this week I was able to watch and review a number of short films, including Kwêskosîw (She Whistles), a story with a supernatural twist from Indigenous filmmaker Thirza Cuthand. I was able to speak with Thirza about the film as well, and here is the conversation I had with them. I hope you enjoy it!