film school

POD 009: Jesse Tendler – Producer and Actor

Posted on by Vitaly Bokser

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DP Vitaly Bokser interviews Jesse Tendler about his past as a child actor, leading to his present as a Producer for Independent films.

Jesse started as kid acting in broadcast tv shows back in the 80’s such as “The Ellen Burstyn Show”. Eventually he decided to leave the business and pursue a degree… yes he actually went to college and studied business and engineering. During his time at school, his love for cinema got rekindled, and he came back both as an Actor and Producer on indie films.

One of those films, “Leaving Circadia” (that we both worked on), is making the festival circuit currently and gathering a lot of praise. If you actually want to see it, get some tickets its playing at the SOHO International Film Festival in NY May 2015. Heres a trailer below.

Another film we both worked on was “Other Plans” starring Jamie Kennedy. That film is currently planning a release this year in the states. Here is a trailer for that film.

“OTHER PLANS” – Trailer from Rock On! Films on Vimeo.

POD 005: John Scholl – Story Producer

Posted on by Vitaly Bokser

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I Interview John Michael Scholl about his long career in the TV biz.

John got into the business in the classic Hollywood style we read about in stories. He made his way from a small town to LA with only his car – a 66 Mustang, some clothes, and $500 bucks in cash. After living in his car for a week and showering at Santa Monica beach he decided to get in touch with his Aunt. She got him on a set for a day where she worked and the rest as they say is history. A chance encounter with Kevin Spacey trying to kick him off the lot led to Kevin getting a job for John with Ian McKellen. Yes the Ian McKellen. Gandalf!

John has worked on a multitude of reality and TV documentaries, ranging from The Bachelorette to Nat Geo’s “Border Wars” to CNN’s “The Hunt with John Walsh”.

So check out the episode to hear more and below you can find some links to John’s work that we discuss.

1) CNN’s “The Hunt with John Walsh”

2) Nat Geo’s “Border Wars” (note: I couldnt find the promo but here is what an episode looks like)

3) Travel Channels “Hotel Impossible”

4) ABC’s “The Bachelorette”

POD 004: Evan Mathew Weinstein – Director

Posted on by Vitaly Bokser

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I chat with Evan Mathew Weinstein, Writer/Director of “Leaving Circadia”. A Feature film that has been making the rounds at festival circuits and garnering strong praise and recognition for its easily lovable story. The FIlm stars Evan Mathew Weinstein, Drew Seltzer, Reginald Huc, Zack Griffiths, Larisa Polonsky, Michael Cerveris (Fringe, Tony Winner), Ashley C. Williams (The Human Centipede), Christian Coulson (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ), Joseph R. Gannascoli (The Sopranos), Stoya (Adult Film Star)

Evan and I go into detail on the process of making the movie, what lesson he’s learned from shooting his first film, the pitfalls of having a long post production process, and then hitting the festival circuit – to now finally being in discussions with distributors to sell the film.

Its hard making movies – and one thing is clear from my chat with Evan that he will make more films. And I for one want to work with Evan again as his Cinematographer as he is a talented writer/actor/director that clearly has a strong vision for his films.

Watch the Trailer below. And then head on over to the films facebook page to learn more about how you can support and watch the film.