Updated: Apr 22, 2022
Actor Dean Shortland (Best Laid Plans, The Vanished, Nashville) lets us see behind the curtain into the layers of insecurities all actors must feel. Dean reminds us to trust ourselves, trust that the Casting Director wants us in the role, and to bring what makes us unique to every audition.
About Dean Shortland
Dean Shortland is a film, television and stage actor, originally from Melbourne, Australia. He got his start in the Melbourne theatre community where he performed in various stage productions such as As You Like It and You're A Good Man Charlie Brown. Recent television work includes Dolly Parton's Heartstrings (Netflix), Dynasty (The CW), Callie Khouri's Nashville (ABC) and SIX (History Channel). Recent film work includes supporting roles in Hour of Lead, The Violent Heart and My Best Friend Depression.
About the MAKE IT Podcast The MAKE IT podcast is a platform for the voice of independent filmmaker. We offer a variety of educational, aspirational, and entertaining content that promotes the success of creatives across the filmmaking community and the film industry. Our Conversations with filmmaking professionals are dedicated to sharing the advice, knowledge, and insights of experienced filmmakers while exploring what it truly means to be an independent creative in the highly competitive world of filmmaking. Each filmmaker conversation is backed by thoughtful research that allows us to uncover the raw, authentic truths behind each filmmaker's journey. Through our Indie Talks, we share our thoughts and perspectives on navigating independent film from the perspective of Advisory and Executive Producers. We discuss topics that are relevant to filmmakers across a wide spectrum of filmmaking perspectives, and we do our best to uncover hidden truths and new developments in the film industry. Our goal is to help filmmakers avoid the pitfalls and obstacles on the business side of film so that their filmmaking creativity can thrive. Our Industry Insights provide bite-sized actionable advice that filmmaking professionals and creatives of all kinds can use to keep their heads up as they continue their filmmaking journeys. With advice sourced from the filmmaking community, we build upon the wisdom of our filmmaking guests to provide our audience with truly aspirational and inspirational content. The Mistakes in the Making series gives our filmmaking friends an opportunity to speak directly to our filmmaking audience to share a specific lesson they've learned through a mistake they've made. We are firm believers that mistakes can be the gateway to success when we open our hearts and minds to learning from them, sharing them, and using them to Be Better. The Film Investment series is a conversational series of 52 episodes geared towards the would-be film investor. Each episode, facilitated via a friendly conversation between hosts and friends Christopher Barkley and Jason McConnell, highlights a unique aspect of the film investment process. In addition to being a great resource for film investors, it serves as a reference for filmmakers regarding the many considerations that must be made when seeking film investment.
We have a conversation with Filmmaker and Executive Director of the Bend Film Festival, Todd Looby.
We talk about the advantages of submitting and attending the Bend Film Festival, why Bend, Oregon is America’s best-kept secret, Improv as a catalyst to the creative life, the cross-section of engineering and artistry, and his feature films ‘Lefty,’ ‘Son of None,’ and ‘Be Good.’
We also cover the power of acceptance and why festival acknowledgment is so critical to filmmakers and the conflation of innovation and integration. Enjoy!
More on Todd Looby
Todd has led the BendFilm organization since 2014. In that time, BendFilm's budget tripled, the festival became Academy qualified and was named one of “Top 25 Coolest Festivals in the World”, and the organization acquired a daily-operating cinema, the Tin Pan Theater. Prior to working at BendFilm, Todd was a business manager for Chicago’s largest general construction firm and the director of a non-profit that runs a boarding school in Liberia, West Africa. Todd is also a self-taught filmmaker—his films screened at festivals across the country, winning awards at Slamdance and receiving rave reviews from the likes of Chicago Tribune and Variety.
About the MAKE IT Podcast
The MAKE IT podcast is a platform for the voice of independent filmmaker. We offer a variety of educational, aspirational, and entertaining content that promotes the success of creatives across the filmmaking community and the film industry.
Our Conversations with filmmaking professionals are dedicated to sharing the advice, knowledge, and insights of experienced filmmakers while exploring what it truly means to be an independent creative in the highly competitive world of filmmaking. Each filmmaker conversation is backed by thoughtful research that allows us to uncover the raw, authentic truths behind each filmmaker's journey.
Through our Indie Talks, we share our thoughts and perspectives on navigating independent film from the perspective of Advisory and Executive Producers. We discuss topics that are relevant to filmmakers across a wide spectrum of filmmaking perspectives, and we do our best to uncover hidden truths and new developments in the film industry. Our goal is to help filmmakers avoid the pitfalls and obstacles on the business side of film so that their filmmaking creativity can thrive.
Our Industry Insights provide bite-sized actionable advice that filmmaking professionals and creatives of all kinds can use to keep their heads up as they continue their filmmaking journeys. With advice sourced from the filmmaking community, we build upon the wisdom of our filmmaking guests to provide our audience with truly aspirational and inspirational content.
The Mistakes in the Making series gives our filmmaking friends an opportunity to speak directly to our filmmaking audience to share a specific lesson they've learned through a mistake they've made. We are firm believers that mistakes can be the gateway to success when we open our hearts and minds to learning from them, sharing them, and using them to Be Better.
Updated: Apr 12, 2022
Nick deconstructs the following piece of wisdom from Director and Writer Motke Dapp:
“Part of what we have to do as Independent Filmmakers is to find ways to support each other.”
About Motke Dapp
Motke Dapp is an American writer and director whose great grandmother killed a bear with a knife. He’s handcrafted, along with other amazing filmmakers, a plethora of whimsical, award-winning short films and a couple of feature films including his most recent, Another Version of You.
Another Version of You premiered at the Nashville Film Festival in 2018, winning the Audience Award. The film was the third most screened film in the festival’s 49 year history. It also won Best Feature Film and Motke won Best Director at the 2018 Cindependent Film Festival as well as The Daniel Chapp Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Lake County Film Festival. The film is now available to be purchased on most platforms (Amazon, Target, iTunes, etc.) and is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Motke got his start in filmmaking through the 48 Hour Film Project, winning Best Film 5 of the 10 times he’s competed.
“Sorry About Tomorrow,” a short film created in the summer of 2013, was selected by some of the largest film festivals in the country including Seattle International Film Festival, Cinequest, the PBS Film Festival, and the Nashville Film Festival (where it was runner up best Tennessee short). His films, “Contrary to Likeness” and “Everyday Yeti” won numerous awards and were both in the top 10 internationally at Filmapalooza - where all of the city winners of the 48 Hour Film Project go to compete against one another. Both films were invited to screen at the Cannes Short Film Corner in France by the 48 Hour Film Project.
Motke makes a living directing commercials and is busy working on plans for the next feature film.
About the MAKE IT Podcast
The MAKE IT podcast is a platform for the voice of independent filmmaker. We offer a variety of educational, aspirational, and entertaining content that promotes the success of creatives across the filmmaking community and the film industry.
Our Conversations with filmmaking professionals are dedicated to sharing the advice, knowledge, and insights of experienced filmmakers while exploring what it truly means to be an independent creative in the highly competitive world of filmmaking. Each filmmaker conversation is backed by thoughtful research that allows us to uncover the raw, authentic truths behind each filmmaker's journey.
Through our Indie Talks, we share our thoughts and perspectives on navigating independent film from the perspective of Advisory and Executive Producers. We discuss topics that are relevant to filmmakers across a wide spectrum of filmmaking perspectives, and we do our best to uncover hidden truths and new developments in the film industry. Our goal is to help filmmakers avoid the pitfalls and obstacles on the business side of film so that their filmmaking creativity can thrive.
Our Industry Insights provide bite-sized actionable advice that filmmaking professionals and creatives of all kinds can use to keep their heads up as they continue their filmmaking journeys. With advice sourced from the filmmaking community, we build upon the wisdom of our filmmaking guests to provide our audience with truly aspirational and inspirational content.
The Mistakes in the Making series gives our filmmaking friends an opportunity to speak directly to our filmmaking audience to share a specific lesson they've learned through a mistake they've made. We are firm believers that mistakes can be the gateway to success when we open our hearts and minds to learning from them, sharing them, and using them to Be Better.