Episodes

This week’s show features a quartet of interviews: Brian Morrison, secretary of Free Blockbuster, talks about the idea of creating “little libraries” for people to exchange DVDs and VHS tapes. Click here to see the map of all locations (including 6 in Richmond). Lowrie Fawley, co-founder of The Magic of Horror, gives us the facts about this local film festival that features scary projects from around the world. Click here to visit the website. Lisa Giles, producer of Richmond’s 48 Hour Horro...

Ray Bentley started the legendary midnight movies in 1974. In those days, if you wanted to see an art film or an edgy indie or even something outrageous, the cinema was just about the only place (this was pre-VHS). Ray was also a co-owner of the famed Cha Chas during the height of the disco scene. Our fascinating discussion includes: – How he started by showing movies to the neighborhood kids. – Going from usher to manager to head of advertising for Neighborhood Theatres – His DJ brother and ...

TyRuben Ellingson was a conceptual designer on Avatar, Jurassic Park, Star Wars: A New Hope and numerous other impressive credits. Currently, he’s an Associate Professor in VCU’s Communition Arts and the Program Director of VCU’s Cinema program. Here are some of the things we discuss: – The origin of his unique first name – Discovering cinema and special effects – How he got his job at ILM – Designing for Avatar – A Pacific Rim disappointment – His early VR design, including his father’s p...

This week’s show is a double feature! First is a look at the American Civil War Museum’s new orientation film “A People’s Contest: America’s Civil War and Emancipation” with Dr. Rob Havers, the CEO of the Museum, and John Murphy, the writer/director behind the movie and Executive Creative Director of Solid Light. We discuss: – Why the Museum decided to create a new film – The unique double screen technique – Recording the actors and creating the graphics After that is a trip to the Maggie L...

Longtime local actor Bridget Gethins has a juicy part as the obnoxious neighbor on the new Freeve Covid comedy Sprung. We talk about: – How she transitioned from stage to screen – Her experience on Sprung – Being chosen by Robert Redford for A Walk in the Woods – Playing the court reporter on Loving – Improvising on Game Change & getting mentioned in 2 national reviews – The Theresa Pollak Project – Her husband’s Tour de France fame LINKS: Sprung on Freeve Bridget’s site Greg’s site

Grace Whiteside was a contestant on the 3rd season of Netflix’s hit glass blowing competition Blown Away. They were raised in Virginia and attended VCU before moving to New York. We discuss: – Their unique clothes on the show – Their mullet and what it means as a non-binary person – Their experience at VCU – The combo of glass production and performance art – The experience of making Blown Away – The reality show that their dad & brother were on LINKS: Grace’s website Sticky Glass (the p...

THE GOOD ROAD is getting ready for its 3rd season on PBS, so co-hosts Craig Martin and Earl Bridges came on Sifter to discuss: – Their childhood in Thailand – How the show came about – Why Greg calls their guests “Batman, not Superman” – Earl’s definition of a philanthropologist – How they find the people to highlight – What they learned from Season 1 & 2 that helped in Season 3 – Featuring the U.S. Space Force – Earl’s transformation into a punk rocker LINKS https://www.goodroad.tv/ P...

Bob Spencer has been working as a set lighting technician in this area for many years, with numerous TV shows, commercials and movies to his credit. This second installment in the on-set vocabulary series covers these: – Greens – C-47s – Film Loader vs DIT – A honeywagon – COVID protocols – Unions in our right to work state – The history of video assist – Script supervison – Continuity – Set decorators and lead man In case you missed Part One of this vocab lesson, here’s the link. In...

Bob Spencer has been working as a set lighting technican in this area for many years, having garned numerous TV shows, commercials and movies to his credit. Today he uses his own experiences and historical context to explain the jobs of numerous people on a set, including: – DP – Key Grip – Chief Lighting Technician or Gaffer – Best Boy – Different names different coasts (titles and gear) – Showrunner, Executive Producer, Line Producer – UPM (Unit Production Manager) and POC (Production C...

The Passing On is a documentary about an undertaker at one of the remaining Black funeral homes in the US. It was created by my RVA filmmakers Nathan Clarke & Tyler Trumbo. We’ll talk about: – The inspiration for the project – How they found the right undertaker – Shooting in Texas over 3 years – Working in an embalming room – Film festivals during Covid – The challenges of being Caucasian in the predominately Black setting LINKS Movie website Forth Line Films THE PASSING ON (on Tubi) M...

Damian King & Malorie Mackey King had their first kiss in a play at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, VA. Since then, they’ve had a successful career in LA making movies, TV shows and books. We cover lots: – Their first kiss in a high school play – His unique South American marriage proposal – The book she wrote about her experiences at Playboy – He produced and she acted in The Baby Pact – The judge with a dog puppet – Her Weird World Adventures – His Christmas cat book – Her prize f...

THE GREAT AMERICAN RECIPE is a new 8-part cooking competition that was produced in Ruther Glen, VA by our local public broadcast station, VPM. Steve Humble, Chief Content Officer at VPM, takes us behind the camera to learn about: – Steve’s background in advertising – What sets this cooking competition apart – How they found the cooks and judges – The shooting schedule for the crew and cooks – The cookbook LINKS: The Great American Recipe website VPM The cookbook and other merch My review ...

THIS IS GWAR is a documentary about Richmond-based notorious heavy-metal art-concept band GWAR. Texas-based filmmaker Scott Barber directed and we discuss: – How he first encountered GWAR – His inspiration for this doc – Gathering and reviewing so much footage – The comic book design for animation – Getting famous people on board, including: Weird Al Yankovich, Thomas Lennon, Alex Winter, Ethan Embry, Bam Magera – Issues with bitterness among band members The second interview features Tay...

Chris Leary is a Norfolk native who attended VCU Theatre before heading to NYC, where he is currently a dresser on Hamilton and Saturday Night Live. On this second part: – Chris gets deeper into SNL (including COVID) – His drag persona Tequila Mockingbird – The latest RuPaul’s Drag Race – His favorite creations for the show (below) LINKS Open casting call for speaking roles for several upcoming projects Extras casting for Swagger Flight Attendant (I watched the first season, but never like...

Chris Leary is a Norfolk native who attended VCU in theatre before heading to NYC, where he eventually landed a job as a dresser on Hamilton and now on Saturday Night Live. We talk about: – Getting from VCU to NYC – How he got on Hamilton – Behind the scenes at the Tony Awards – Working on Spielberg’s West Side Story – Dressing on SNL (including Bowen Yang) NOTE: Since Chris was so much fun and so informative, his interview will continue next week with Part 2 (more on SNL plus RuPaul’s Dra...

Rex Miller was the co-director of CITIZEN ASHE, a documentary that looks at Richmond native Arthur Ashe. Our discussion covers: – His first experience with Ashe at age 6 – The inspiration behind the title – Working with Ashe’s widow – Bringing on Sam Pollard as co-director – Shooting scenes in RVA – The coincidental release of King Richard LINKS: The movie on CNN Miller’s Althea Gibson doc on Amazon Prime Kevin Wilmott interview on SIFTER NOTE: The premiere at VMFA Jun 25, which features ...

Praheme was born and raised in Richmond, where he discovered his love for directing. His first feature, Troop 491: The Adventures of the Muddy Lions, was shot here using mostly local talent and ran at Movieland for 5 weeks. Since then, he’s moved to LA, where he’s planning for his next film. We talk about: – Where his name came from – How he got inspired to make movies – The success of Muddy Lions – The work he’s done since then – Managing a cannabis business in LA – His next feature proje...

Anne Chapman has been a Casting Director for film, TV and commercials for more than 30 years. Recent projects include Lincoln, Loving and Harriet, plus more than 100 student films. We cover so much in this interview, including: – The difference between a Casting Director and an Agent – Her first gig, which was a popular thriller – Audition suggestions for actors – What to expect as an extra – Her London connections – Considering an Oscar for Casting Directors – Her involvement with VCUart...

This is the 2nd SIFTER that features filmmakers showing at this year’s Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF). Mix Tape Trilogy director Kathleen Ermitage talks about: – How she came to direct this doc – How she found the 3 musician/fan relationships – The biggest challenges of this project – The COVID Coda The discussion of Oleg features Joan Borsten Vidov (Oleg’s widow and producer of the film) and Nadia Tass, the director: – How they got Brian Cox to narrate – The incredible lega...

This is the SIFTER for the Ear that revolves around the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF). It spotlights 2 of the narrative features that will be showing. Princess: Swiss director Peter Luisi talks about: – His education in the US – The inspiration for Princess – Shooting in Ukraine – The 4-year-old actor who plays Nina Esme, My Love: Director Cory Choy discusses: – His background in sound – The inspirations for the film, including the farm where it was shot – The all female c...

This year, the Virginia legislature will vote on extending the incentives that the state offers to lure film and TV productions. Steve Taylor, Chair of the Richmond chapter of the Virginia Production Alliance (VPA) & Matt Benedetti (government relations) discuss the issue from the production community’s POV. Then, Andy Edmunds (Director of the Virginia Film Office) explains how incentives fuel the local industry. LINKS: The Virginia Production Alliance The VPA’s Legislative Action page The Vir...

Sasha Waters Freyer produced Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable, a doc about the famed photographer, which won an special jury award at South By Southwest and aired on the PBS series American Masters. Michele Poulos produced A Late Style of Fire: Larry Levis, American Poet, which examines the life and work of this noted poet, who died while he was teaching at VCU. They talk about the challenges and rewards of creating their docs. LINKS: A Late Style of Fire: Larry Levis, American...

Tracy Smith is a set designer for movies and TV shows. His latest work was for the new Starz series Gaslit, which revists the 70s Watergate scandal from the POV of Margaret & John Mitchell (played by Julia Roberts and Sean Penn). We talk about: – How he started in LA working on shows like Rosanne, That 70s Show & 3rd Rock from the Sun – Creating the 70s for Gaslit – Getting praise for his Watergate set from Julia Roberts – Designing more than sets for S.W.A.T. and CSI – Working on other sho...

Local actor Irene Ziegler plays Lou Hoover, the wife of president Herbert Hoover, on the new Showtime series The First Lady. It stars Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt (in the scenes with Irene from Episode 2). We talk about: – Her experience on The First Lady – Working with Gillain Anderson – Getting yelled at by Anne Bancroft – Being on The Walking Dead – Being the voice of GPS before Siri LINKS: Irene’s website