With the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the masses have finally woken up to the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets--during a Pandemic--to protest against racist policies and practices that stretch across American society, with the police departments in virtually every city providing ample real-time evidence of the scope of the problem.

It felt wrong, during this time, to fill the discourse with the normal programming of white people talking about how to get into Sundance, so we went dark for a little bit. But staying silent has historically not worked even a little bit, so for the latest episode of "I Really Should Be Working," I'm talking to my old college professor, Dr. Todd Allen of Messiah College.

Dr. Allen organizes one of the longest-running Civil Rights bus tours in the country, taking busses full of people from Pennsylvania through the major landmarks of the Movement, including Greensboro, Atlanta, Selma, Birmingham, Memphis, and Little Rock.

When I got out of college, I went on the tour for 2 years and it was an eye-opening experience for a white boy from Maine. I met more icons of the Movement than I could have ever imagined, people like Rep. John Lewis, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Rev. Billy Kyles, Joanne Bland, and Rev. Robert Graetz.

In this episode, we talk about the importance of education as a tool to fight racism, the power of standing in a place where history happened, the role of poverty in racism, how the Movement never ended, the factors that made this murder stand out, what Martin Luther King would be doing today, and so much more.

Learn more about the Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights bus tour here: https://www.facebook.com/Returning-To-The-Roots-Of-Civil-Rights-Tour-178712595495361/

Follow Dr. Allen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CommProfTA

And check out the work of the Equal Justice Initiative in Birmingham: https://eji.org/

As always, thanks for watching. You can find the audio version of "I Really Should Be Working" everywhere you find podcasts. Please subscribe.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations

I met Paul Osborne on the set of FAVOR, his first narrative directing effort. It was part of A YEAR WITHOUT RENT and the film went on to conquer the iTunes indie horror charts. He followed that up with CRUEL HEARTS, currently available on Amazon Prime.

But you may know him as the director of OFFICIAL REJECTION, the highly-acclaimed documentary about the politics of film festival submissions.

In this episode of "I Really Should Be Working", we talk about film festivals and what you should consider when deciding whether to submit to a festival that's going virtual or sit on the film until things get closer to normal. And, more importantly, how that could impact your distribution.

We also talk about the potential risks in hiring a cinematographer, why it's better to cast actors who are also directors, why he killed Blayne Weaver, and so much more.

You can follow Paul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaulMakesMovies

FAVOR is available for free on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/286045/favor

CRUEL HEARTS (featuring Melora Hardin from THE OFFICE) is on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/Cruel-Hearts-Patrick-Day/dp/B084CT3SKT

As always, thanks for watching. You can find the audio version of "I Really Should Be Working" everywhere you find podcasts.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations

Marty Lang was the first guest on this podcast as he prepared to launch his crowdfunding campaign for the feature film STAY WITH ME on Seed & Spark. A little over a month and $14,000 later, he's back to talk about the lessons he learned.

Plus, we take a deep dive into the back-end stats of his campaign and discuss the feasibility of an "Ex-Lovers Metric" for campaigns.

All that and more!

Follow Marty on Twitter: https://twitter.com/marty_lang

Check out STAY WITH ME on Seed & Spark: https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/staywithme#story

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations

In Episode 5 of the podcast, I talk to filmmaker Matt Croyle (POTENTIAL INERTIA) about long long the tail is for a micro-budget feature, whether or not we should be writing stories about a global pandemic and how Film Freeway has made it much easier for filmmakers to get their films submitted to festivals. 

Matt is also the founder of the Oil Valley Film Festival, a festival that may or may not happen in September. So we discussed options for keeping the festival alive in the face of an avalanche of obstacles. 

Also, I made the rookie mistake of wearing a hoodie with a zipper, so apologies for the audio. I need to invest in a microphone.

Follow Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattcroyle

Learn more about the Oil Valley Film Festival: http://oilvalleyfilmfestival.weebly.com/

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations

I talk to Melanie Addington, the Executive Director of the Oxford Film Festival in Oxford, Mississippi, one of the more innovative film festivals in the country, and one that was forced to cancel because of COVID-19. We talk about that, their hopes of potentially doing something in the fall, their pivot to virtual events, and what Melanie thinks the future of film festivals holds. 

Follow Melanie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelAddington

Oxford Film Festival: https://www.oxfordfilmfest.com/

Oh, and that Wistia link I mentioned: https://fast.wistia.net/embed/channel/ug8733bwaw

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations

In Episode 3, I talk to filmmaker Andrea Shreeman (Best. Death. Ever.) about staying productive in a pandemic, how fundraising has changed over the last 25 years, and the benefit of cocktail parties on Zoom. 

That, and a whole lot more. 

Follow Andrea on...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndreaShreeman

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prudentpictures

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/prudentpictures

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations

In Episode 2, I talk to Seed & Spark's Film Community Manager Bri Castellini about the current state of crowdfunding, their model of taking the proactive approach of training creators along the way, and how that all applies to my toddler's love of Blippi.

Follow Bri on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrisOwnWorld

Check out all Seed & Spark has to offer: https://www.seedandspark.com/ 

Wash your hands! https://longwinterfarm.com/collections/soap-menu

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations

I used to be a filmmaker and a crowdfunding consultant and then life happened. 

When the COVID-19 Pandemic hit, my wife wondered if maybe I should get back into it. But, I've been out of the loop for so long, I need to get up to speed. I thought an interesting way to do that would be a podcast where I both get up to speed and interview people with ideas on where creatives go from here. What happens when society shuts down? How do you move forward? How do you get your work out there? 

In the first episode, I talk to filmmaker and film professor Marty Lang about his campaign for STAY WITH ME, the difference between crowdfunding 10 years ago and now, and what a filmmaker might do in a pandemic. At least, when my toddler isn't interrupting. 

This is very much a work-in-progress. Normally, I'd plan more and add a lot more polish, but things are moving quickly as the world falls apart. 

STAY WITH ME: https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/staywithme 

Wash your hands! https://longwinterfarm.com/collections/soap-menu

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/i-really-should-be-working/donations