Filmmaker Mixer

How do you make an independent feature that blends romantic comedy, crime, and a striking black-and-white visual style? On this episode of Filmmaker Mixer, we sit down with Australian filmmakers Lucy Green and DC Fairhurst to discuss Pickpockets, their feature film about a flirty rivalry between a lone-wolf pickpocket and a charming rookie that escalates into an all-out war.
Co-written, co-produced, and starring Lucy Green and DC Fairhurst, with DC directing, Pickpockets features Tim Minchin, Zoe Terakes, Darren Gilshenan, and Mia Morrissey. We explore the creative decisions behind the film's selective use of colour, the realities of wearing multiple hats on an independent production, collaborating as writer-performers, and bringing an Australian indie feature to an international festival audience.
Pickpockets screens at the Austin Film Festival on Saturday, October 31, at 9:20 PM at the State Theatre, and Monday, November 2, at 4:00 PM at Galaxy Theatre. This conversation offers practical insights for indie filmmakers, screenwriters, actors, and producers looking to turn ambitious creative ideas into finished films.

What does it take to make a movie almost entirely out of paper? In this episode of the Filmmaker Mixer Podcast, filmmaker and animator Julian Curi—better known as Righteous Robot—takes us behind the scenes of his handmade animated shorts.
Julian talks about designing and building paper characters and sets, puppeteering, cinematography, editing, visual effects and building an enormous audience on YouTube.
For filmmakers, this is a fascinating look at how a highly individual visual style can become an entire filmmaking process—and how an independent creator can build an audience around that process.

What happens when the desire to escape a dead-end life leads to devastating consequences? On the Filmmaker Mixer Podcast, producer Marge Scimeca, writer/director Jesse Scimeca, and lead actor Alia Williams join us to discuss Cedar Bluff, a coming-of-age crime thriller premiering at the 2026 Austin Film Festival.The film follows a pregnant young woman who falls for a reckless robber and joins his crime spree in pursuit of freedom. We explore the creative decisions behind the story, developing complex characters, balancing coming-of-age drama with crime-thriller suspense, approaching emotionally demanding performances, and the practical challenges of producing independent films.Whether you're an indie filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, or film enthusiast, this conversation offers insight into bringing a character-driven story to the screen.🎬 Subscribe to Filmmaker Mixer for conversations with the filmmakers, writers, actors, and creative professionals bringing movies to life.

What does it take to turn a night of personal despair into an unpredictable, award-winning dark comedy? On this episode of Filmmaker Mixer, we sit down with writer-director J. Davis, Mike Castle (Brews Brothers), and Andre Hyland (Barry).We explore the craft of dark comedy, building believable characters in absurd situations, directing performances, managing the challenges of independent production, and bringing a distinctive creative vision to the screen.

Matthew and Daniel Kooman join Filmmaker Mixer to take us behind the making of Daniel and the Fiery Furnace, an independently financed biblical drama that opened in more than 1,500 theaters and earned over $3.3 million at the domestic box office. The brothers served as writers, directors, and producers, bringing the world of ancient Babylon and the story of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the screen.We talk about adapting familiar source material, creating an epic world on an independent budget, directing large-scale sequences, working as brothers, balancing faith and storytelling, and what they learned from taking an independently produced film to a nationwide theatrical audience.A valuable conversation for filmmakers interested in directing, producing, screenwriting, independent film, and theatrical distribution.