Shirley Venard: The Railroad Lady, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

October 17, 2022

Episode #36 - Shirley Venard is an incredible Minneapolis-based actress who uses her life experiences to embody a character. She’s kind, thoughtful, and a teacher. She loves to tell stories which is why we love her.

Shirley brought Oscar-winning short movie The Railroad Lady (La Femme et la TGV). The first tale of a lonely woman in this pairing. Shirley looked at the great actresses of the 1900’s to find her short and her and Justin talk of Jane’s fake orgasm that made her famous.

The feature Shirley chose is the Zellner Brother’s Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. The Japanese, Texas made movie that was largely shot in Minnesota. It was a Sundance Film Festival favorite, making Minnesota & Japan look beautiful on the silver screen.

See Shirley Venard’s work in our short movie Prologue. In the forecast to look forward to please check out the award-winning series Marcellus Hall an Artist in New York City which is playing around the world in 2022.

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Editor - Billie Joe Laitenin

Sound Mixer - Brian Trahan

Sound Mixing Assistant - Hans Bilger

Lead Marketing Agent - Isabel Restrepo

Event Space - The Woman’s Club in Minneapolis

Photographers - Dakota & Dorie Hall

The theme song of Season 6 is Getting It Done by Kevin MacLeod.

Shonali Bhowmik: The Hike, Valley Girl

March 8, 2019

Episode #11 - In this episode, Nashville native Shonali Bhowmik graces us with her humor and interesting stories. Shonali is one of the most charismatic people you will ever meet and is always working on a bunch of artistic endeavors. An incredibly thoughtful person of many talents, she has a network of friends and collaborators that surround her at all times. She's a frequent collaborator with us for the live podcast she hosts with Christian Felix called We Don’t Even Know, and is the director, lead actor, writer, and producer of Sardines Out Of A Can, a film Fourwind helped make before Fourwind was even a company. You can check out her band Tigers and Monkeys, who recently released a new music video. Shonali is also well known in the internet comedy world for the group Variety SHAC which began as a comedic quartet consisting of Shonali, Heather Lawless, Andrea Rosen, and Chelsea Peretti. During the discussion Shonali celebrates women in film, and sheds light on Variety SHAC’s influences on various comedians in the industry.

For the feature, Shonali brings the Martha Coolidge film Valley Girl. She discusses the casting process for the film that lead to Nicolas Cage playing the lead male. For her short film, she chooses the SHAC’s latest release, The Hike. The episode is a laugh riot and full of references to movie inspired snacks.

Episode hosted by Justin Joseph Hall.

Shonali Bhowmik - Actress/Director/Producer

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Location & Production Company - Fourwind Films

Soundtrack - Salitros Ridin’ Rainbow

Claudia de Candia: New York City Smells, Nights of Cabiria

December 28, 2018

Episode #10 - Italian born actress, Claudia de Candia, presents New York City Smells, an experimental short shot with an international cast and crew. She shares her experience changing roles the day of the shoot and working with a director who does not speak her language. Then Claudia shares The Nights of Cabiria, a film by Federico Fellini, Italy’s most famous director and one of Claudia’s biggest influences. We discuss the work of Fellini and Italian actress Giulietta Masina, who married Fellini after starring in some of his radio plays, and continued to act in his films throughout her life.

Claudia is a theatre and film actress who will star in the upcoming short film, Prologue. She works in Milan and New York. Follow her life and stories on instagram.

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Location & Production Company - Fourwind Films