Ilse Will Say

About Ilse Will Say

Welcome to My Brain. I'm Ilse, and every Wednesday I sit down with actors, filmmakers, comedians, and storycreators to talk about the stuff that doesn't make the press kit. How they actually got here, the project that almost didn't happen, the festival story they can't believe they're telling me, and whatever weird detour we end up on. Haunted sets, folklore they secretly believe in, the best taco in town. It's part industry real talk, part group chat, and I promise I'm more curious than qualified.

Publisher

Intrepida Entertainment

Category

comedy · society & culture · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

1 Jul 2025

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

58 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Sean Slimak: Don't get trigger happy with festival submissions

   Sean's one-take horror short Intruder premieres on The Longest Take YouTube channel this Halloween! Filmmaker and fellow podcast host Sean Slimak joins me to talk about his love of one-take films, making six shorts while working a full-time day job, and why joy is his secret weapon. Sean grew up in Lombard, Illinois, making movies on an Intel Play movie maker. He skipped film school, went into factory work, and is now an environmental health and safety specialist at a chemical facility, all w...

2. 

   30 Sept 2026

   Tommy Martin: He's harmless, we talk to him all the time

   Tommy Martin is a Chicago based actor, filmmaker, and musician who has basically worked every job on a set at some point, and honestly it kind of exhausted me just hearing about it. We start with an unreasonable amount of hair talk (his, not mine) before getting into how a random DIY filmmaker workshop years ago quietly kicked off both our careers, his very unexpected path from a music business degree to Second City to booking his first web series, and what it's like acting in a scene while also being the AD on the same movie (he did this on Haunt Season, insane). Then Hot Cakes happens, and things get weird fast. We're talking two genuinely unsettling ghost stories, a tarot reading that predicted an actual job loss, and a very serious conversation about whether Bigfoot is real (yes). Tommy also gives updates on Grilled Cheese, the horror comedy short he co-directed that's currently making the festival rounds. Follow Tommy at @actortommymartin. In this episode: 00:00 – An unreasonable amount of hair talk 02:45 – How we actually met (a DIY filmmaker workshop, years ago) 06:03 – Music business major to filmmaker, a whole journey 12:10 – Acting in a scene and being the AD on the same movie, at the same time 13:05 – Hot Cakes 15:06 – Ghost story #1, the haunted house by our high school 17:22 – Ghost story #2, the crouched thing in the corner 21:15 – The tarot reading that actually came true 23:29 – Bigfoot, aliens, and my skinwalker era 26:02 – What's next: Grilled Cheese, Morning Moon, Haunt Season, and The Knot Job Mentioned in this episode: Thank you to our sponsor, Joel Maisonet Photography: maisonetphotography.com

3. 

   8 Sept 2026

   John David Wolfe: The Hansel and Gretel origin of Candy House

   This week, Ilse sits down with John David Wolfe, a DGA member and Chicago based producer whose two decade career as a location scout and manager put him behind the scenes on Spider-Man 2, High Fidelity, Proof, and Rhythm + Flow before he made the leap to producing his own work. John talks through his path from West Des Moines, Iowa to Chicago, landing High Fidelity as his very first studio credit, and what he'd tell someone trying to break into the industry today. The conversation gets delightfully weird during Hot Cakes, including a real ghost sighting at the Uptown Theatre and a detour into Mandela effect conspiracy theories. Then John shares the real story behind Candy House Productions, the company he co-founded with Chloe Koegel, including the surprisingly literal Hansel and Gretel connection behind the name. He also gives an update on Big Spooky House, Candy House's upcoming feature from filmmaker Jerry S. Gonzalez, which is currently in pre-production with a crowdfunding campaign launching this fall. Time sensitive: Big Spooky House is heading into a GoFundMe style campaign launching in early fall 2026, so keep an eye on Candy House's Instagram for updates. In this episode: 03:02 From Iowa to Chicago 04:05 Landing High Fidelity as his first credit 06:06 Is the PA route still the way into the industry? 09:53 Getting your creative work seen today 13:34 Hot Cakes 17:35 The haunted Uptown Theatre 19:05 A Mandela effect rabbit hole 22:49 How Candy House Productions came together 26:36 Why "Candy House"? The Hansel and Gretel story 28:14 Big Spooky House and working with Jerry S. Gonzalez Follow Candy House Productions on Instagram: @candyhouseproductions @wolfejohndavid Hosted by Ilse Zacharias Rivera (https://ilsezachariasrivera.com/). Say hi / follow along here: @ilsezacharias (https://www.instagram.com/ilsezacharias/) Mentioned in this episode: Thank you to our sponsor, Joel Maisonet Photography: maisonetphotography.com

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

10 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

10 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 21 / 100

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

Quality

29

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32