Filmmaking Conversations Podcast with Damien Swaby

How do you bring someone’s most painful memories to the screen with honesty and care?Damien Swaby speaks with writer and director Saila Kariat about Jesus Land, her adaptation of Julia Scheeres’s memoir exploring racism, religious extremism and the bond between siblings Julia and David. Saila shares her journey from engineering to filmmaking and the five-year process of bringing her second feature to the screen. She discusses directing Juliette Lewis, Ella Anderson and Xavier Jones, supporting actors through emotionally demanding scenes, and recreating different locations and decades on an independent budget.

From a lightning storm that disrupted the first day to financial pressures near the end of production, this is a candid conversation about completing an ambitious film in just 25 shooting days—and the love, grief and compassion behind it.In this episode:
Adapting a memoir and deciding what to preserve, reshape or leave out.
How Saila’s own experiences of racism informed her approach.
Casting, rehearsals and working with Juliette Lewis.
Production design, colour grading and the importance of sound.
Keeping a cast and crew supported under pressure.
Film festivals, sales agents and navigating distribution.
Why the sibling relationship remains the heart of Jesus Land.
https://sailakariat.com/

When someone helps rewrite your script, who owns the finished story? And what happens when the person financing your film wants to change it?

Entertainment lawyer Joshua Lastine joins Damien Swaby on Filmmaking Conversations to explore the agreements behind creative work—and the disputes that can arise when expectations are left unwritten.

Drawing on his experience across independent film, animation and talent deals, Joshua discusses when to involve a lawyer, what to look for beyond the headline fee, and how ownership disagreements can follow a project all the way into production. We also explore his cautious approach to fair use, the distinction between fair use and public domain, and the questions AI raises around authorship and copyright. Joshua shares his journey from Iowa to Hollywood, including work at Marvel Studios and time in the CAA mailroom.In this episode:
Defining ownership, credit and responsibilities with creative collaborators.
Understanding payment schedules, milestones and contract details.
Securing rights and organising production paperwork.
Negotiating creative control when someone else provides the money.
Discussing clearance, fair use and the risks of relying on supposed shortcuts.
Navigating AI tools and questions of human authorship.
Building a career through relationships, adaptability and a love of film.
https://lastineentertainmentlaw.com/

Mike Gallant and Seled Calderon join Damien Swaby to discuss BACKPAY, an independent neo-noir crime thriller about financial desperation, family and the consequences of believing one bad decision can fix everything.Written, directed and produced by Gallant, who also stars, the film follows Steve, a desperate father fighting to save his marriage. Alongside Murphy, a cop caught up in life as an informant, he attempts to extort a corrupt politician and crack a safe—with increasingly dangerous consequences.

Mike discusses how the frustration of chasing payments, rising living costs and providing for a family gave him a personal connection to the story. Seled reflects on bringing her experience as a mother to her performance and how a supportive crew helped her take emotional risks.

Their conversation offers a candid look at independent filmmaking, from developing a short proof of concept into a feature to overcoming self-doubt and creating opportunities for yourself.In this episode:
Mike’s beginnings in filmmaking and Seled’s move from modelling into acting.
Expanding BACKPAY from a short film into a feature.
Financial pressure, wage theft and the responsibilities of parenthood.
Casting and building a team of trusted collaborators.
Balancing acting with responsibilities behind the camera.
Creating a set where performers feel safe to explore.
The influence of Michael Mann and Penélope Cruz.
Moving beyond perfectionism and getting the film made.
BACKPAY stars Mike Gallant, Dwain Murphy, Seled Calderon, Golden Madison and Jason Pennell.Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q12ypJOEb3g

Documentary filmmaker Luchina Fisher joins Damien Swaby to discuss the people and experiences that shaped her work.Growing up in a military family took Luchina from Texas to Germany and North Carolina. She reflects on how moving between places taught her to observe, adapt and connect with people.

An early love of cinema led her towards storytelling, though her first professional path was journalism. While working as a reporter, she studied film and television at the University of Bristol and began making films alongside her day job. Luchina speaks about losing her mother when she was 19 and how her brother Gary encouraged her to use her skills to tell stories about Black people affected by AIDS. That encouragement led to her first short documentary, The Black Faces of AIDS. She also discusses Gary’s writing, his continuing influence, and the family history that helped inspire The Dads.

The conversation turns to the fathers of transgender children at the heart of The Dads, and to Locked Out, which follows Black women confronting housing injustice in Detroit. Luchina explains how she makes large social issues personal, builds relationships with contributors, and looks for the strength of community within difficult stories. Finally, she reflects on reaching a long held filmmaking goal in her 50s, what she hopes her children take from her life, and a question documentary makers rarely ask themselves: when you hold space for other people, who holds space for you?In this episode
Growing up in Texas, Germany and North Carolina
Moving from journalism towards filmmaking
Making The Black Faces of AIDS after her brother’s encouragement
Family, grief and the origins of The Dads
Building trust while making Locked Out
Finding a filmmaking path later in life
Storytelling, love and healing
Chapter times (approximate, based on the transcript)
01:35 Growing up across different places
09:15 Journalism, Bristol and learning to make films
16:00 Giving herself permission to be a filmmaker
17:35 Gary’s encouragement and The Black Faces of AIDS
20:30 Her mother’s story and the power of being heard
30:30 Family history and The Dads
37:00 Gary’s writing and its continuing influence
40:40 Making Locked Out personal
45:00 Building relationships with documentary contributors
51:45 Why dreams don’t expire
54:40 Holding space for others, and finding healing
https://www.luchinafisher.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Luchina’s latest documentary, Hiding in Plain Sight, has won Black Public Media’s PitchBLACK twice, including this year. The team is finishing production and moving into post-production, and is raising funds for completion and licensing. Learn more about the film below

https://givebutter.com/Hiding

Filmmaker Katie Cokinos joins Damien Swaby to reflect on a career shaped by independent cinema, personal vision and the determination required to get unconventional films made. Katie recounts beginning her career at the Southwest Alternate Media Project—better known as SWAMP—in Houston.

It was there that she first encountered Richard Linklater and helped his groundbreaking film Slacker secure completion funding, reach international festivals and ultimately find distribution.
She discusses the film’s initially difficult reception, including a sparsely attended screening at the Berlin International Film Festival market, and the small but decisive encounters that helped it connect with the right audience.

The conversation also explores Katie’s transition from supporting other filmmakers to finding her own voice as a writer and director.

She reflects on the influence of the French New Wave, the difficulties historically faced by women filmmakers and the experience of being overlooked on the festival circuit while pregnant.

Katie takes us behind the making of Portrait of a Girl as a Young Cat and I Dream Too Much, her coming-of-age feature starring Eden Brolin, Danielle Brooks and Diane Ladd, with Richard Linklater serving as executive producer. She reveals how motherhood changed her writing practice, how the film emerged after a 15-year gap between features and how an extremely low-budget production created convincing performances without conventional rehearsal time.

Damien and Katie also discuss:
• Why a filmmaker’s personal vision matters
• Helping Slacker find its audience after an early Sundance rejection
• Learning the language of cinema outside film school
• The influence of Agnès Varda and the French New Wave
• Writing in the margins while raising children
• The Jane Austen inspiration behind I Dream Too Much
• Creating chemistry between actors on a limited schedule
• Shooting through three weeks of heavy snow
• Using slow motion to expand emotional time
• Filming on an iPhone in New York without attracting attention
• Richard Linklater’s support across more than three decades
• The challenge of bringing audiences back to cinemas after COVID
• Why Katie prefers the economy of feature films to television series
• Programming films for Upstate Films
• Developing The Do Right, a period mystery set in 1973 Beaumont, TexasThis is a warm and candid conversation about artistic survival, creative identity and the unpredictable journey between imagining a film and finally bringing it to the screen.

LINKS

Learn more about Katie Cokinos:
https://www.idreamtoomuch.com/katie-cokinos Follow Katie Cokinos on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/katiecokinos/Connect with Katie on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-cokinos-99180a9/I Dream Too Much — official website:
https://www.idreamtoomuch.com/ Watch I Dream Too Much on Amazon Prime Video:
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Too-Much-Katie-Cokinos/dp/B0CGQJ3ZQB Katie Cokinos on FilmFreeway:
https://filmfreeway.com/KatieCokinosUpstate Films:
https://www.upstatefilms.org/Slacker with Katie Cokinos — Upstate Films:
https://www.upstatefilms.org/slackerAustin Film Society:
https://www.austinfilm.org/Southwest Alternate Media Project (SWAMP):
https://www.swamp.org/

Richard Linklater / Detour Filmproduction:
https://www.detourfilm.com/

Former Filmmaking Conversations guest and entertainment attorney Reena Sehgal is the founder of Thoolie, a platform offering independent filmmakers accessible, professionally drafted contracts and practical legal resources: https://thoolie.com/?fbclid=PAdGRleAUMIhRwZG9mAmZkaWQWUN_VLZ5O00wAG5VJwcYKLJR7IDzX22V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzEyNDAyNDU3NDI4NzQxNAABp8YqORNw4HfUrakr47-VQNHxfRIZjdKym2B6azcV1UcQ8_XZ-K3QtetIdYci_aem_tFWU2agJYHfjePj36n5zqA