Making Media Now

Director Josh Seftel and the ”Stranger at The Gate”

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back director Josh Seftel. Josh and his team at Smarty Pants films have received an Oscar nomination in the category of best documentary short for their film "Stranger at the Gate," (for which Filmmakers Collaborative was the fiscal sponsor) a riveting story of redemption about Richard “Mac” McKinney, a former U.S. Marine, suffering from PTSD, who had fought in Afghanistan after 9/11.

Following his discharge from the military, McKinney returned home to Muncie, IN where he began to construct a plot to blow up the local mosque. "Stranger at the Gate" tells the remarkable story of what happened when McKinney set out to put his plan into motion.

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

The State of Podcasting with Molly Beck & The Return of Roberto Mighty

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Molly Beck the founder and CEO of Messy. fm, whose business software empowers organizations to create podcasts in minutes. Leaders and teams from top enterprise, government, and university sectors, plus thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs, trust Messy.fm to power their podcasting content. 

 

Molly Beck was recently profiled by Forbes magazine and I reached out to her to ask if she’d share her thoughts with me on the current podcasting landscape and what she sees in podcasting’s immediate future. 

 

Molly is also the author of Reach Out (McGraw-Hill), a member of the National Small Business Association’s Leadership Council, and a 2022 Tory Burch Fellow.

 

And as an added bonus to this episode, we check in with friend-of-the podcast and friend of FC, Roberto Mighty. Season two of Roberto’s public television series, "World’s Greatest Cemeteries" premieres on February 19. 

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Director Sky Bergman Presents Stories of ”Lives Well Lived”

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by director Sky Bergman to talk about her film, "Lives Well Lived." 

 

“Be endlessly engaged in whatever your passion is.” “Work a little less, spend a little less, enjoy life a little more.” “Sit loosely in the saddle of life as you go down the long trail.” These are among the many words of advice imparted by the 40 interview subjects in Sky Bergman’s documentary examining the lives of people ages 75 to 100.

Sky Bergman was inspired to make the film by her grandmother Evelyn, whom she started filming at age 99. Evelyn lived to be 103, long enough to see herself projected on the big screen at a film festival just three weeks before she passed away. Evelyn and the documentary’s 39 other subjects, represent some 3,000 years of collective life experience.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

”Brainstorm The Film”: Setting Out to Explore Life on the Bipolar Spectrum

On this episode of Making Media Now, we are proud to introduce to the world a new filmmaking and multi-platform initiative for which Filmmakers Collaborative is the fiscal sponsor. The initiative is called Brainstorm The Film and host Michael Azevedo is joined by Bonnie Waltch and Sara Schley, the producing team behind this comprehensive and far-reaching project. 

 

Currently in the development phase, Brainstorm The Film is an unprecedented initiative that combines inspiring stories of people with lived experience of being on the bipolar spectrum, cutting-edge science, and breakthrough treatments in one coherent narrative. To learn more: https://brainstormthefilm.com/

 

On Wednesday, Feb 8, 2023—from 8 to 9pm ET—Filmmakers Collaborative will be hosting a FREE Zoom event featuring members of the producing team along with key advisors and participants. This event will serve as a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the goals of the film and its outreach efforts, while also giving attendees an opportunity to pose questions about the project and about life on the bipolar spectrum. And, as importantly, the event will serve an invitation to attendees contribute what they can to ensure the project’s success. For more information about the Feb 8 Zoom event, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-the-team-brainstorm-the-film-tickets-523070968347?fbclid=IwAR1aa8PM7IXedyPXtaGUIM3fACezRAp0m6c3Zx8s5vp2_ry9xbTNpPCCBhs

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Lise Pearlman, Huey Newton, and ”American Justice”

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Lise Pearlman, producer of the 2023 Oscar short-listed documentary: American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton which tells the story of the death penalty case that put racism on trial in a U.S. courtroom in the fall of 1968. Huey P. Newton, Black Panther Party co-founder, was accused of killing a white policeman and wounding another after a pre-dawn car stop in Oakland.

 

At his trial, Newton and his maverick defense team led by Charles Garry and his then rare female co-counsel Fay Stender, defended the Panthers as a response to 400 years of racism and accused the policemen of racial profiling, insisting Newton had only acted in self-defense. Their unprecedented challenges to structural racism in the jury selection process were revolutionary and risky.

 

A retired judge, Lise Pearlman wrote three prize-winning books related to the documentary: The Sky’s The Limit: People v. Newton; the 2016 companion book for the film that incorporates the perspectives of key film interviewees, American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton; and a 2018 biography of Newton’s pioneering woman lawyer, Call Me Phaedra: The Life and Times of Movement Lawyer Fay Stender. LISA is also the President of Arc of Justice Productions, Inc., the nonprofit that initiated this film project.

 

The final list of 2023 Oscar nominated documentaries will be announced on January 24.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, FC supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Taking on PTSD Come ”Hell or High Seas”

A talented trio join host Michael Azevedo on this episode of Making Media Now.

Nick Hudson, the Executive Director of E2AC, and Chayne Gregg and Glenn Holsten, the producer and director of "Hell or High Seas," a powerful and personal documentary that tells the true story of life-long friends embarking on the adventure of a lifetime, as they brave the treacherous waters around Cape Horn, Chile. One of them is US Navy veteran who uses the expedition to share his own story, begin healing from his trauma and raise awareness about the millions of other veterans who need support returning to civilian life and battling PTSD.

Entertainment 2 Affect Change (E2AC) connects award-winning content creators, mission-based organizations, and passionate funders who want to share their impact through the power of story. 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, FC supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Dan Kennedy Takes Measure of the 2022 Media Landscape

On this episode we welcome back Dan Kennedy, long-time Boston area journalist and professor of journalism at Northeastern University. Dan’t  blog, Media Nation, is a nationally recognized source of news and commentary. And he co-hosts, along with Ellen Clegg, a podcast called What Works: The Future of Local News.

 

Dan and Making Media Now host, Michael Azevedo, had a wide ranging chat about the media landscape as 2022 comes to a close.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, FC supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

 

 

Meet Boston Globe Film Critic Odie Henderson

Boston Globe film critic Odie Henderson loves, as he puts it, "...film noir, musicals, Blaxploitation, bad art, and good trash.” We had fun chatting about his journey writing film reviews, his 2022 Best Movies list, what he'd do if he ran the Oscars, and his 30+ years writing computer code! 

 

A longtime critic for rogerebert.com, Odie got his start writing movie reviews for the legendary and much loved film critic Roger Ebert himself.

 

In addition to being a member of the National Society of Film Critics Odie has written about film for Slate, Vulture, the Village Voice, Slant magazine, and the Criterion Collection and has appeared on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. 

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, FC supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

 

Mark Cronin: Reality Television Powerhouse

Joining host Michael Azevedo  is Mark Cronin, one of Hollywood’s most successful and prolific reality television producers. He is widely credited with co-creating the celeb-reality sub-genre with the breakout hit of “The Surreal Life” (The WB) in 2003.

As one of the most innovative creators and producers of reality television, Mark has founded three successful production companies, and served as show-runner on 44 separate TV series on 13 different networks. He created or co-created 46 series more than half of which went to multiple seasons and 23 of which were spin-offs due to the successes of their original flagship series.

 

After co-founding the reality production company, Mindless Entertainment, Cronin joined forces with 51 Pictures, to form the reality powerhouse 51 Minds Entertainment in 2004. Under that banner, Cronin created and co-created some of the most popular content in reality television serving as show-runner on such hits as “Flavor of Love,” “Rock of Love,” and “Charm School.” 

 

Cronin continued to develop new programming, including Bravo’s highest rated series premiere, “Below Deck,” now in post-production for it’s ninth season as well as the successful spin-offs “Below Deck Mediterranean” currently airing its sixth season, “Below Deck Down Under” which just wrapped production in Australia, and “Below Deck Adventure” now in production in Norway.

 

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, FC supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Former Marine Captain Dale Dye Brings Realism and Insight to War Stories

In recognition of Veterans Day, host Michael Azevedo chats with retired Marine Captain Dale Dye about his two-decade long military career and his pivot to helping add realism and accuracy to Hollywood war movies such as Platoon, Saving Private Ryan, Courage Under Fire, Thin Red Line, Forrest Gump, and Band of Brothers. 

A veteran of three tours in Vietnam, Dale Dye was a Marine correspondent awarded the Bronze Star for heroism in action. He’s equal parts storyteller, military historian and psychologist, and his performance prep goes where others fail to tread: into actors’ heads.

Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, FC supports creatives at every step in their journey.

 

About the host: www.mrazvo.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/

 

Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead