A Podcast for Short Films

written by Leonie Marsh 

Vixen Founder Leonie Marsh reflects on the making of her podcast The Short Film Pod on the release of their second season. 

When my long-time collaborator, Jacobie Gray and I decided to create a podcast dedicated to the craft of short film-making back in 2019, we had no idea what we were doing. But it felt like a great premise and one that most film industry practitioners have an opinion on; whether it be positive or negative!

Our first season we learnt a huge amount; the practicalities of recording from multi-locations (I live in regional NSW, Jacobie was in LA and many of our guests were on location somewhere around the country), how to edit lengthy chats down to a palatable episode duration (as let's face it, filmmakers can talk) and working out topics that would be the most appealing to our fledgling audience.

Two years and one pandemic later and we are thrilled to be back for Season 2. The time between has allowed us a fresh perspective on all aspects of our project: now we only interview for half the time, we're using a professional recording platform that allows for internet dropouts and better audio quality, our post-production process is hugely simplified and our guest-list expanded across the globe in order to find as much helpful intel as possible for our audience, no matter what stage they are at in their career.

Our season lineup is tremendous even if we do say so ourselves; kicking off with the delightful Thomas Wilson-White who majored in queer theory at film school and is making beautifully meaningful films including his debut feature The Greenhouse (2021 Mardi Gras Film Festival Audience Choice Award).

We get behind the scenes of Short of the Week - the number one industry platform for showcasing shorts from around the world with two of their key selectors, Céline Roustan and Ivan Kander.

Filmmaker and Industry Advocacy Leader Megan Riakos gives us a candid insight into her latest project, Dark Whispers Vol 1 - a feature anthology of 10 horror shorts directed by women across Australia (now screening on SBS on demand and available on iTunes) and how she found and then curated these individual pieces of art into one cohesive anthology.

And our fourth episode is a very special broadcast of a recent live industry event that took place in Sydney in March 2021, celebrating Dark Whispers Vol 1 and female creatives in the industry, moderated by the uber talented Rosie Lourde. We have lots more in the lineup but don't want to give it all away at once!

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