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© 2026 The Art of Film Funding
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Discover the secrets to funding and creating successful indie films with The Art of Film Funding Podcast. Join Carole Dean, President of From the Heart Productions and author of The Art of Film Funding, and Heather Lenz, director of the award-winning documentary Kusama-Infinity, as they chat with top film industry pros. Get practical insider tips on crowdfunding, pitching, saving on budgets, marketing, hybrid distribution, and the latest in A.I. filmmaking. Whether you’re funding your first project or navigating new trends, this podcast has everything you need to succeed. Subscribe and let’s get your film funded!
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Danielle Guilbot is an Austin-based actress and film-tech entrepreneur. She is the founder of TexasFilmScene.com: the Texas Movie Operating System. TFS is a clearinghouse connecting producers, crews, and talent with everything they need to bring productions to Texas — from firsthand producer insights and crew resources to a full breakdown of the state's film incentive programs.
AI is no longer something on the horizon. It’s already here, quietly reshaping how films are developed, produced, edited, and even distributed. But with that power comes critical questions—about ethics, authorship, and the future of creative work itself. In this episode, we’re not just talking about what AI can do—we’re exploring what it should do, and how filmmakers can stay aligned with their creative voice while navigating a rapidly evolving industry.
In this episode, we’re diving into one of the most powerful opportunities emerging right now—branded content. What if your film could be funded not by waiting for a studio or investor… but by aligning your story with a brand that shares your message and your audience? What if branding wasn’t a compromise—but a creative partnership? Our guest, Johann Garcia, founder of BrandedStreams, is at the forefront of this movement. He works with filmmakers and creators to help them understand how to pos...
Jonathon Smith is a writer, director, and producer whose work spans independent film development and forward-looking conversations about the evolving film industry. Known for his thoughtful approach to storytelling and production, Jonathon has been actively exploring how emerging technologies, shifting studio structures, and new distribution models are reshaping opportunities for filmmakers. As both a creative and a strategist, he brings a valuable perspective on how filmmakers can adapt to i...
Anabelle Munro is an award-winning writer, producer, director, and singer and owner of Blue Boots Productions whose creative work spans film and music with a deep commitment to socially conscious storytelling. She is the creator and manager of the Ethos Film Festival, a festival designed to celebrate films that embody integrity, purpose, and artistic excellence. Through Ethos, Anabelle has built a space where independent filmmakers can showcase their work in an environment that values meaning...
Kinema is a technology-driven global screening and streaming platform designed to democratize film distribution and empower independent filmmakers. Before launching Kinema, Rish was a Principal at Human Ventures, where he supported and invested in early-stage startups across a range of industries. Prior to that, he worked in fintech, leading strategic projects at Transactis ahead of its 2019 acquisition by Mastercard. At Kinema, he champions community-led screenings, virtual events, direct au...
Mark Elias is a Los Angeles-based writer, actor, and independent filmmaker focused on grounded, commercial indie films with bold concepts and strong character work. He is the producer of We Could Be Heroes, a comedy-crime heist rooted in gaming culture. Mark is currently raising the film through WeFunder, allowing the public to invest and follow the project’s real-time journey from campaign to production. His work blends entrepreneurial execution with story-driven filmmaking, with a mission t...
Christopher Riley is a screenwriter, director, and author with a career spanning award-winning international cinema and major studio assignments. His groundbreaking 1999 German-language courtroom thriller After the Truth earned multiple awards, and his screenwriting work includes projects for Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Sean Connery’s Fountainbridge Films, Mandalay Television Pictures, and the Fox television network. Chris is also the author of The Hollywood Standard, th...
THE CROWDFUNDING QUEEN™ is a fundraising expert and innovator, as well as a multi-award-winning European-American film and theater director and producer. She has garnered over 37 awards and accolades and was once an Oscar contender in the “Best Documentary” category for her acclaimed feature-length film, Torn from the Flag. She is also known for her Cannes-award-winning short Brown Paper Bag. THE CROWDFUNDING QUEEN™ is recognized worldwide as acrowdfunding consultant. She engineered the...
Helen Hall is an award-winning producer, director, and composer whose work explores the intersection of art, science, and energy. With more than 30 years of experience, she creates films that combine original research with cinematic storytelling to explore complex and unusual subjects She is currently completing the feature documentary Pictures of Infinity, based on more than two decades of research into Nikola Tesla’s long-hidden blueprint for a sustainable energy future. The film has receiv...
Christine La Monte, producer/director/writer and former film marketing executive at Universal, Disney, and Orion is the founder/president of La Monte Productions where current projects include VIVA VERDI! the feature documentary Shortlisted for Best Song, where she serves as producer, writer and executive producer. Also on the awards circuit, AI WEIWEI’S TURANDOT, a co-production with Italy’s Incipit Film and La Monte Productions
Scott Billups is an award-winning cinematographer and visual effects creator who has worked on over fifty motion pictures. As a world leader in the creation of virtual characters for movies and games, Scott went back to school in his forties to study AI as a way to breathe life into his inanimate creations. Armed with an entirely new tool set, Scott was Apple’s first evangelist to Hollywood, co-founder of the AFI Media Lab, CTO of the game industry’s leading supplier of AI (Rival Theory, whic...
Our special guest this week is the award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner. Timoner founded Interloper Films and is known for movies about visionaries challenging the status quo and personal documentaries that reveal the bittersweet side of facing seemingly impossible challenges. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and the Television Academy and chairs the Nonfiction Subcommittee for Special Projects at the DGA. Timoner is the only director to win Sundance's Grand Jury Prize twice—...
Spade Robinson is an award- winning screenwriter and director, with experience that spans feature film, documentary, television, commercial and theater. Spade is the owner of full service production company, Spade Ink Media, producing and developing a slate of film, television and podcast projects. Spade is also the owner of Atlanta Film Project, a screenplay and documentary consulting firm, helping storytellers and companies to tell the most compelling version of their stories.
Description: We’re joined by Bri Castellini, one of the top crowdfunding experts in the indie film world. While at Seed&Spark, Bri helped filmmakers raise over $25 million—achieving an incredible 85% success rate. Bri is an independent film and screenwriting consultant and a subject matter expert in arts crowdfunding, indie filmmaking, film festivals, podcasting, romance novels, and the USA television show Burn Notice. As a filmmaker herself she's known for her short film Ace and An...
A master storyteller shares decades of lessons and his newest book. Description - : Paul Chitlik has written for all the major networks and studios in English and in Spanish. He was story editor for MGM/UA'S "The New Twilight Zone," and staff writer for Showtime's sitcom "Brothers." He directed episodes and was coordinating producer for “Real Stories of the Highway Patrol” and “U.S. Customs Classified.” He wrote and produced “Alien Abduction” for UPN. He wrote, produce...
Our special guest this week is the award-winning documentary filmmaker Jeremy Workman, whose work has been Emmy Nominated and Oscar short-listed. His films include LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD (Discovery), DECIDING VOTE (The New Yorker), THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET (Greenwich Entertainment / Kino Lorber), MAGICAL UNIVERSE (IFC Films), and most recently SECRET MALL APARTMENT. Secret Mall Apartment premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival and went on to win 9 major film festival awards. It was release...
Today our special guests are Elliot Kirschner and Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse. Elliot Kirschner is a New York Times best-selling author and an Emmy Award-winning news and documentary producer. Elliot began his career at CBS News, reporting and producing for 60 Minutes, Sunday Morning, and The Evening News. Elliot now authors the Through the Fog newsletter. Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse is the Executive Director of Inequality Media and Inequality Media Civic Action and the founder of CoffeeKlatch Prod...
Carole Dean is Founder and President of From the Heart Productions Inc, a 501(c)3 Non-Profit. From the Heart’s mission is to help indie filmmakers and creatives, with unique projects that contribute to society, get funding. From the Heart accomplishes this through five Roy W. Dean Film Grants a year, fiscal sponsorship, education, mentorship, and free resources. Since 1993, From the Heart has assisted thousands of documentaries, features, short films, and web series in getting the...
Mark is currently directing The Baristas vs The Billionaire and Executive Producing, Exiled From Hollywood, Orson Welles’ Lost Masterpiece. His first film, Building Bombs, was an Academy Award nominee, Best Documentary Feature some of his other notable projects include: Kent State, The Day the War Came Home, Emmy Award, News and Current Affairs; Blood Ties the Life and Work of Sally Mann, Academy Award nominee, Best Documentary Short Film; The Fire This Time, Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury...
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