Filmmaking Conversations Podcast with Damien Swaby

About Filmmaking Conversations Podcast with Damien Swaby

Step into the world of independent film with Filmmaking Conversations with Damien SwabyFrom established industry voices to the filmmakers of tomorrow, Damien Swaby opens up conversations that spark ideas, share experiences, and celebrate creativity in all its forms. Each episode offers listeners both inspiration and practical takeaways, leaving them better equipped to bring their own stories to life.With a loyal and growing audience of passionate filmmakers and film lovers, Filmmaking Conversations has become a trusted space for authentic dialogue and fresh perspectives on the art of storytelling. Join us—and discover why this podcast is resonating with the community shaping the future of film. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network  (https://indiefilmhustle.com/podcasts/)

Publisher

Damien Swaby

Category

tv & film · tv & film · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

17 Jul 2017

Latest episode

18 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

305 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Sept 2026

   Ep 295: Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker Luchina Fisher: The Stories We Carry

   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 (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) https://givebutter.com/Hiding (https://givebutter.com/Hiding)

2. 

   7 Sept 2026

   Ep 294: Katie Cokinos: From Slacker to I Dream Too Much

   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 (https://www.idreamtoomuch.com/katie-cokinos)Follow Katie Cokinos on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiecokinos/ (https://www.instagram.com/katiecokinos/)Connect with Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-cokinos-99180a9/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-cokinos-99180a9/)I Dream Too Much — official website: https://www.idreamtoomuch.com/ (https://www.idreamtoomuch.com/)Watch I Dream Too Much on Amazon Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Too-Much-Katie-Cokinos/dp/B0CGQJ3ZQB (https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Too-Much-Katie-Cokinos/dp/B0CGQJ3ZQB)Katie Cokinos on FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/KatieCokinos (https://filmfreeway.com/KatieCokinos)Upstate Films: https://www.upstatefilms.org/ (https://www.upstatefilms.org/)Slacker with Katie Cokinos — Upstate Films: <a...

3. 

   2 Sept 2026

   Ep 293: From Paramount to Independent Filmmaking: Rob Hollocks on Getting Films into Cinemas

   Rob Hollocks has spent more than two decades on both sides of the film business — helping major studios sell some of the biggest films in the world, while ultimately pursuing his ambition to write, direct and produce films of his own. In this episode of Filmmaking Conversations, Damien Swaby sits down with the British-born, Los Angeles-based filmmaker, writer, producer and former studio executive for a wide-ranging conversation about the realities of building a sustainable career in film.Rob takes us inside his years at Paramount Pictures, where his work in international marketing brought him into campaigns connected with films and franchises including Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones, Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. He explains how studios adapt campaigns for different territories, why an actor who dominates a poster in one country might be secondary in another, how contractual billing affects key art, and who ultimately decides what audiences are being sold. But Rob argues that understanding marketing shouldn't be something filmmakers leave until their film is finished. For independent filmmakers, he believes thinking seriously about audience, positioning and distribution should begin while a project is still being developed — without allowing those commercial considerations to dictate the story itself. The conversation also explores Rob's work in animation and production finance, including his involvement with Riot Games and Netflix's acclaimed series Arcane. Rob explains what managing production finance on a project of that scale actually involves and how huge creative ambitions can coexist with financial discipline.That philosophy carries into his own filmmaking. Through his independent work, Rob has developed an approach he describes as making films that are low-budget, high-quality and commercially responsible — putting as much of the available money as possible onto the screen while paying crews, treating people properly and avoiding unnecessary expenditure.Damien and Rob then examine the journey of Rob's psychological horror thriller The Observance, starring Kate Dailey, Ted Raimi and Alec James. After an international festival run and multiple awards, Rob and his team took an unusually hands-on approach to distribution, retaining control of the film's marketing and securing a limited theatrical release through AMC cinemas in the United States.Rob explains what he discovered about getting an independent film into cinemas, why theatrical distribution may be more accessible than many filmmakers assume, and why filmmakers need to remain the strongest advocates for their work throughout its entire life cycle. That experience also led him to write The Indie Theatrical Playbook, a practical guide containing the templates, checklists and planning tools he developed while navigating his own theatrical campaign.The conversation becomes more personal as Rob reflects on leaving the security and salary of the executive world to become an independent filmmaker. He talks candidly about earning less money, the constant hustle of financing the next project, and wishing he'd had the confidence to pursue directing much earlier. Rob also shares the childhood experiences behind his love of cinema: his mother vividly retelling the Hammer horror films he wasn't allowed to watch, Sunday afternoon Westerns with his father, discovering the 1933 King Kong at school, and sitting through Raiders of the Lost Ark three times in the cinema — years before he would find himself working with the Indiana Jones franchise at Paramount.It's a conversation about something filmmakers sometimes prefer not to discuss: making the film is only part of the job. Original theatrical trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nov3gaDj_Mg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nov3gaDj_Mg)<br...

Who has been a guest on Filmmaking Conversations Podcast with Damien Swaby

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Christian Mahne
• Suha Araj
• Don Worley
• Olivia Deitch
• Moses Ssebandeke

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

19 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

92

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

85

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Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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