Rebecca Stern: Snowy, The Thin Blue Line

Episode #32 - Meet Rebecca Stern, a director and producer of documentary films. She has absolutely soared in her career since one of her first jobs as a Production Coordinator on the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Cartel Land. Her directorial debut Well Groomed is now streaming on HBO. Rebecca, or Becky, is open, humble, and a delight to talk with.

Our appointed contributors for Feature & a short are asked to choose one short and one feature, and they have to have been involved with one of them but not the other. Rebecca brings the sleeper success Snowy. This documentary short about a pet turtle named Snowy whose owner embarks on a journey to find what would make him happy got into Sundance after a cold submission. We discuss what it’s like to get into Sundance, funding short films, and what Rebeca thinks needs to evolve in that process.

The feature is The Thin Blue Line, a film Becky had never seen — though she has worked on films about the legal system and incarceration in the US.

Learn more about Rebecca Stern and her work on her website.

And keep an eye on a Fourwind Films short-form documentary series coming soon: Marcellus Hall: An Artist in New York City.

Appointed contributor, Rebecca Stern.

Appointed contributor, Rebecca Stern.

Credits for podcast:

Production Company - Fourwind Films

Appointed Contributor - Rebecca Stern

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Sound Mixer & Additional Music - Brian Trahan

Line Producer - Laura Davi

The theme song of Season 5 is This Monster by Sun Nectar

The 1900's Fresh Air Award

Episode #30 - Welcome to the second Fresh Air Award! Four cinephiles continue a Fourwind Films tradition of awarding a film that pushed cinema forward the most as an art form during a particular decade. The film has to have changed movies in some way and made a lasting impression on the filmmakers. This episode goes way back in film history: 1900-1909.

Before getting into the nominations with the panelists, Justin Joseph Hall delves into what early motion picture making was like, from the origins of the term “movie magic” to describing early stop-motion animation, which included a story of cheese attacking people, because of course it did. They were all silent films. 

The four cinephiles in this panel are filmmakers Elizabeth Chatelain, Justin Joseph Hall, and Inga Moren Tapias, as well as actress and public speaking coach, Shirley Venard. If the piece has moving images and came out in the appropriate decade, it’s up for nomination. This group chooses an array of documentaries, shorts, animated films, and feature films, including one with the best-trained dog in cinema history.

Here is the link to all the nominations: 1900’s Fresh Air Award Nominees - Letterboxd list

There were several overlaps, but here are the main nominations made by each panelist:

Elizabeth Chatelain nominees

A Trip to the Moon (1902)

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1903)

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

Mary Jane’s Mishap (1903)

Fantasmagorie (1908)

Justin Joseph Hall nominees

The Enchanted Drawing (1900)

The Coronation of King Peter I of Serbia (1904)

Mary Jane’s Mishap (1903)

Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)

Fantasmagorie (1908)

Inga Moren Tapias nominees

The Flying Train (1902)

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1903)

The Man with the Rubber Head (1901)

La Glu (1907)

Fantasmagorie (1908)

Shirley Venard nominees

Mary Jane’s Mishap (1903)

The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ (1903)

Rescued by Rover (1905)

Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)

Fantasmagorie (1908)

To find the 1900’s Fresh Air Award winner click on this link!

Hope you enjoy this episode! Share with us your own lists, comments, arguments, and films that we left out via social media @fourwindfilms. We’re on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Thanks for listening, Season 5 to come shortly!

6962 Faas 030 The 1900's Fresh Air Award.jpg

Credits for podcast:

Production Company - Fourwind Films

Fresh Air Award Contributors for 1900s Decade - Elizabeth Chatelain, Justin Joseph Hall, Inga Moren, Shirley Venard

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Sound Mixer - Brian Trahan

Additional Sound Recordist - Dakota Anthony

The theme song of Season 4 is Loopster by Kevin MacLeod.

Megan Masur: We're All Alright, Short Term 12

Episode #29 - Meet Megan Masur, a Brooklyn-based Director of Photography and Steadicam operator. She’s an incredible utility person with a ton of technical experience having worked in animation, as a DIT, and as a camera assistant while building towards her career as a cinematographer. Fourwind Films has had the pleasure of hiring Megan for a number of projects, including as a Camera Op for Prologue.

Megan chose a short film she shot called We’re All Alright, which she fell in love with as soon as she finished reading the script. She talks about the film’s central themes of depression and female friendship, what it was like working with a majority female team, and the challenges of filming on a fire escape.

For the feature film, Megan stuck to the theme of mental health with Short Term 12, about young staff members working at a foster care facility. It’s an independent film that continues to find fans years after its release (2013) and is also known for its phenomenal ensemble of now critically acclaimed actors including Lakeith Stanfield, Brie Larson, Kaitlyn Dever, John Gallagher Jr., and Rami Malek.

Megan’s advocacy for films and open discussion about mental health is evident in her curation for this podcast. We appreciate her coming on for this episode during a time where so many people can benefit from viewing and discussing these kinds of stories. Follow Megan’s work on Instagram, and by watching Prologue at the IndieBOOM festival from Dec. 21 - Jan. 3, 2021.

Megan Masur at the fully-masked, limited capacity, Feature & a short podcast recording. If voices sound a tad muffled, now you know why!

Megan Masur at the fully-masked, limited capacity, Feature & a short podcast recording. If voices sound a tad muffled, now you know why!

Credits for podcast:

Production Company - Fourwind Films

Appointed Contributor - Megan Masur

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Sound Mixer & Additional Music - Brian Trahan

The theme song of Season 4 is Loopster by Kevin MacLeod.

Justin Joseph Hall: Prologue, The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Episode #28 - There’s a connection between 70’s cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and Justin Joseph Hall’s directorial debut, “Prologue,” which he gets into this episode of Feature & a short. After watching the two films, Justin answers audience questions. He shares what it was like collaborating with writer Piper Werle on Prologue’s script, how locations are characters in themselves, the casting process, and horror movies that explore the fear of having children.

Prologue is a multiple award-winning short film charged with secrets and terrible communication skills. It follows Julie, a young Italian immigrant living in Northern California who is perfectly happy in her marriage until she stops being able to go along with what her husband wants. With the unexpected help of an elderly stranger who thinks Julie is someone she is not, the young newlywed navigates how to live her truth.

Starring - Claudia de Candia, Shawn Thomas Diefenbach, Shirley Venard, Ariel Woodiwiss

Screenwriter - Piper Werle

Assistant Director - Kate Branom

Assistant Producer, Set Photographer - Daria Huxley

Producer - Ricky Rosario

Cinematographer - Gary Jaquez

Director, Editor, Colorist - Justin Joseph Hall

Justin Joseph Hall is an award-winning, multilingual Director and founder of Fourwind Films and Quatre-Vents.  His work has been acquired by major television networks such as HBO and he’s worked as a lead creative on projects that received awards at The Emmys, TriBeCa Film Festival, Brooklyn Film Festival, and more.

His many years in the industry allowed him to guide audiences through unforgettable thought and emotional experiences working primarily as a Director and Editor.  He has held positions as Editor for networks such as HBO, NBCUniversal, and PBS.  At Downtown Community Television he helped pitch and develop the show Axios (2018-2021), the Emmy-winning documentary series.  Abuela’s Luck (2018) was picked up by all HBO’s streaming platforms and slated to be adapted into a full-length feature movie.   His mastery of post-production and the visual arts has awarded him opportunities to work with Major League Baseball, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, National Geographic, Discovery, and BMW, to name a few.

Justin’s work as a Director has procured awards.  Prologue (2020) is a superb, surreal exploration of relationships and miscommunication winning Best of Awards at Manhattan Film Festival and Worldfest Houston International Film Festival.  His docu-series on creative careers, Artist & the City (2021) won 6 awards including the Audience Award for Best Series at YoFiFest.

Justin believes in two things: diverse perspectives help solve complex problems and that first rate execution of an idea matters more than the idea itself.  That’s why since he hit the ground running into his career in 2008 and he has directed and managed a talented workforce from New York to Paris to Tokyo.  

Since 2014 under Justin’s direction, Fourwind Films creates high fidelity media exploring statistically underrepresented perspectives.  It’s sister company, Quatre-Vents was created in 2022 to help create a greater Post-Production industry in his home state of Minnesota.  He disrupts the redundant motion picture industry with relevant, fresh perspectives, including his own.

Justin Joseph Hall, owner of Fourwind Films and this episode’s contributor, dressed for a viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Justin Joseph Hall, owner of Fourwind Films and this episode’s contributor, dressed for a viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Host - Laura Davi

Sound - Brian Trahan

Theme song of Season 4 is Loopster by Kevin MacLeod.

Black Media Matters

Episode #24 - Welcome to another COVID film list Feature & a short Black Media Matters which focuses on the importance of black voices within the film industry and how diversity within the cinema space benefits the art form. For so long black talent has been suppressed within the industry but when a diamond shines so bright, one can’t help but notice it in the rough; Paul Robeson who began making films in 1925 with Body and Soul. Josephine Baker who was the first black woman to star in a film in 1934 with Zouzou. And perhaps one of the most influential black filmmakers, Spike Lee who made his mark as a staple director with his first feature film, She’s Gotta Have It.

With so many gifted black filmmakers & actors, it can be hard to narrow it down to a mere listicle; but in this episode Justin Joseph Hall and Laura Davi hone-in on some of their favorite films which also happen to focus on stories that revolve around black lives, experiences, and issues. (Spoiler alert: Spike Lee is mentioned more than once on the feature films list and throughout the podcast.)

Short films discussed include Hair Love, Child of Resistance, 3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd, Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No, and Halfway Home: A Father’s Story.

To donate to the Connecticut Children with Incarcerated Parents, please check out their website here.

Feature films include The Butler, 13th, If Beale Street Could Talk, Malcolm X, Pursuit of Happyness, and Do the Right Thing.

And perhaps just as important as the filmmakers themselves are the actors & actresses that help bring the craft to life. These artists, plus additional filmmakers mentioned by Brian Trahan during this episode, are as follows:

Charles Burnett (Director) - Nothing but a Man

Viola Davis (Actress) - Fences

Jordan Peele (Writer/Director) - Get Out

Oprah Winfrey (Actress) - The Color Purple

Thandie Newton (Actress) - Crash

Melvin van Peebles (Writer & Actor) - Classified X

Debbie Morgan (Actress) - Eve’s Bayou

Thanks for tuning-in! Stay safe.

6536 Faas 024 Black Media Matters.jpg

Credits for podcast:

Produced by Fourwind Films

Host: Justin Joseph Hall

Contributor: Laura Davi

Brian Trahan - Sound Mixer, Additional Music

Theme song of Season 4 is Loopster by Kevin MacLeod.

Ace Allgood: Chromium Hook, Network

Episode #16 - Ace Allgood is a producer based in Minnesota who is always down to give advice to up-and-coming filmmakers. He actually advised Fourwind Films' owner Justin Hall to move to NYC!  We went all the way to the Land of 10,000 Lakes to record our first episode outside of Brooklyn, NY, and to learn more about Ace's multi-decade career.

Ace brought The Chromium Hook, a film he produced that “breaks all the rules of short films.” He shares how the film was able to cast a very famous actress, why Minnesota is an amazing place to make film, and what he considers the elements of successful collaboration.

The feature film is the classic 1976 film, Network, which features Faye Dunaway. It won best screenplay in 1976, and Ace believes that it speaks to social issues that are also relevant today.

To learn more about Ace’s work, check out his former production company Channel Z here. You can also visit Channel Z's social media pages: Facebook | Twitter 

Episode hosted by Justin Joseph Hall.

Ace Allgood - Producer

Ace Allgood - Producer

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Sound - Brian Trahan
Location - Dakota Hall’s apartment

Andi Obarski: Overslept, Thelma

Episode #13 - Andi Obarski is a cinematographer who brings a great mixture of lightheartedness and practical insight to us not only on this podcast, but also on set. She is a hard worker and a team player more knowledgeable than most.

For her short film Andi chose “Overslept” which is part of an internet series called “Countdown.” The unifying element between each short in Countdown is a character dealing with a serious time constraint. Andi describes the series as “scrappy, Brooklyn indie filmmaking at its finest.” She chose this 4 ½ minute short because there is no dialogue which created a welcome challenge for her as the film's cinematographer. The audience talk with Andi about the type of lighting used, bystanders who didn’t know they were on a film set, Andi’s feelings about what ended up on the cutting room floor, and more.

The feature film is Thelma, an LGBTQ supernatural thriller directed by Joachim Trier. Andi chose the film for its stunning cinematography, and also because “it’s kinda gay. I like that. I like gay things.” We do too, Andi. We do too.

RSVP or inquire at info@fourwindfilms.com about hosting Feature & a short or attending one of our podcast viewing parties. 

Episode hosted by Justin Joseph Hall.

Andi Obarski - Cinematographer

Andi Obarski - Cinematographer

Credits:

Host - Justin Joseph Hall

Production Company & Location - Fourwind Films

Elizabeth Chatelain: Sundogs, Certain Women

The beginning of our show

Feature & a short is a cinema & cuisine event screening hosted by Fourwind Films where an appointed contributor presents their chosen feature motion picture and a short movie. There is only one condition for screening selection: the presenter must have been directly involved with one picture, but not the other.

Featuring Elizabeth Chatelain as our appointed contributor.

Read More