The Cinematic Schematic

As the deadCenter 2021 Film Festival begins to wind down, we’re highlighting some of our favorite gems from this year’s schedule. Among the huge array of short films playing is a documentary titled “Sardis,” a story preserving a forgotten piece of Oklahoma history. If you’re from Oklahoma and have never heard of the town of Sardis, you’re not alone. Similar to the Tulsa Race Massacre(until recently), the tragic story is rarely discussed in state history classes. To learn more about what inspired the short film and why it’s an essential piece of Oklahoma history, we spoke with the short film’s writer/director, Colleen Thurston. Tune in to today’s conversation and check out “Sardis” at the deadCenter virtual cinema before the festival concludes tomorrow evening. More information about Thurston’s upcoming “Drowned Land” can be found at redfordcenter.org. Special Guest Colleen Thurston, writer/director of “Sardis” The official deadCenter 2021 synopsis describes “Sardis” as: Deep in the Choctaw Nation, a picturesq

The deadCenter Film Festival is hosted here in the heart of Oklahoma, but thanks to last year’s virtual cinema that was launched as part of the festival’s COVID-19-minded approach, the scope of the audience expanded far beyond just the sooner state.  Last year, more than 40,000 people attended deadCenter Film Festival virtually, with audiences watching from 42 states and 24 countries. One pair of attendees in 2020 were the hosts of The Furloughed Film Talks, a Dallas-based podcast dedicated to the latest movie news and reviews along with weekly special guests to discuss and debate the present and future of the film industry. In today’s deadCenter 2021 Film Festival conversation we’ll be joined by the Kelly brothers to discuss their deadCenter 2021 experience including their favorite films, most memorable experiences, and what they hope to see more of from the festival in the future. Special Guests Alex and Ryan Kelly, hosts of the Furloughed Film Talks podcast Follow The Cinematic Schematic Podcast Hear all o

Between out-of-state projects like the Killers of the Flower Moon, Minari, Reagan, Reservation Dogs, and Stillwater, and homegrown projects like Mickey Reece’s Agnes and Kyle Kauwika Harris’s Out of Exile, Oklahoma seems to be in the middle of a boom in film and TV productions. Thanks to increasing tax incentives, new talent development programs from the Oklahoma Film and TV Academy, larger sound stages from Green Pastures Studio and Prarie Surf Media, and top-notch emerging talent, both behind and in front of the camera, Oklahoma continues to carve out its place as one of the top states in the country for making film and television. Earlier this year, MovieMaker Magazine named both Oklahoma City and Tulsa among its Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2021. In today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 keynote conversation, we’re joined by an incredible panel of leaders working in the Oklahoma film and television industry including the Oklahoma Film+Music Office’s Tava Sofsky, Green Pastures Studio’s Melod

The deadCenter 2021 film festival has always had a knack for finding the most memorable and emotionally satisfying documentaries of each year. In 2021, the festival played the heartwarming We Are Thousand, a story about amateur musicians gathering together in an Italian village to pay tribute to the Foo Fighters, and also Questlove’s upcoming documentary, Summer of Soul, which immortalizes 1969’s Harlem Cultural Festival, among many others. Today’s featured documentary is no exception because, in virtual space, nobody can hear you laugh. Today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 Film Festival Conversation conversation dives into one of the festival’s most exciting documentaries for any self-respecting cinephile, Alien on Stage. I’m joined by the storytellers who followed the amateur production of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien, Danielle Kummer, and Lucy Harvey, to learn more about what inspired the troupe to adapt the classic sci-fi horror for the stage. The film is playing as part of the deadCenter 2021 virtual film fest

The deadCenter Film Festival is a place for all types of stories including the short stories found in music videos. One of the festival’s most notable short films playing at this year’s festival in the SHORTS: OKIE 1 block is the music video, “Jabee: Hope.” Last year, Oklahoma City hip hop artist Jabee released his new album, “This World Is So Fragile And Cruel I’m Glad I Got You.” When considering how to best adapt the music for a video, he pitched the song “Hope” to his collaborator and award-winning casting director, Chris Freihofer, who created a treatment before stepping into the role of director for the music video. Jabee and Freihofer partnered with Windswept Media and WeerNProduction to shoot the video, and by September of 2020, had completed the project. In today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 conversation on The Cinematic Schematic, I talk with Jabee and Freihofer about the autobiographical story behind the music and how Freihofer highlighted OKC’s unique setting to match Jabee’s vision. You can catch

Guests: Ben Tefera, writer/director of Feel So Good Slyrex, co-producer, co-editor, sound designer and composer of Feel So Good Ben Stillwell White, co-producer, cinematographer, and co-editor of Feel So Good Grayson Dunn, star of Feel So Good deadCenter has long been a platform for homegrown Oklahoma films from storytellers who are dedicated to a high concept with a compelling vision. In this year’s festival, few filmmakers carry this auteur’s spirit more than Bad Faith, the collective of artists including Ben Tefera, Slyrex, Ben Stillwell White, Grayson Dunn, who are behind one of this year’s most noteworthy Oklahoma narrative features, Feel So Good. In today’s exclusive deadCenter 2021 Film Festival conversation, I speak with the members of Bad Faith about what inspired the film’s unique premise. Feel So Good is holding its world premiere tonight as part of deadCenter at the Oklahoma Museum of Art at 8 PM CST. It will also be available as part of the deadCenter 2021 virtual film festival starting on Saturd

Today kicks off the beginning of the 2021 deadCenter Film Festival week for filmgoers around the state of Oklahoma. To give listeners and pass holders a tease of what they can expect, The Cinematic Schematic is joined by the deadCenter film festival director of operations, Miranda Patton, and deadCenter features programmer, Kevin Ely, to help you make your plans ahead of the Thursday, June 10th opening night. How will the virtual festival work? What about the in-person events or special outdoor screenings? What are the most essential short film blocks to check out? In today’s 2021 deadCenter sneak peek, you’ll get all of the tips and information you need to start building out your schedule ahead of the festival’s June 10th opening night film, How It Ends, playing at The Winchester Drive-in at 7 PM CST. We’ll also talk about other of the must-see films of this year’s festival including Alien on Stage and Agnes, before closing out our exclusive conversation with Patton and Ely with a few insider tips and tricks

Our exclusive coverage of the deadCenter 2021 film festival continues on The Cinematic Schematic with an interview featuring the president and CEO of the Inasmuch Foundation and producer of “A Long Road to Liberty,” Bob Ross, and the short film’s writer/director, Bryan Beasley. In this deadCenter 2021 Film Festival podcast conversation, Ross and Beasley join the show to discuss the story behind the making of “A Long Road to Liberty” and why this retrospective of Oklahoma’s African American history is more essential today than it has even been.  The short film will become available through deadCenter’s virtual film festival to Oklahoma pass holders only on Monday, June 14th until the festival’s conclusion. deadCenter 2021 film festival passes are on sale now! Special Guests Bob Ross, president and CEO of the Inasmuch Foundation Producer of “A Long Road to Liberty“ Follow Bob’s work at the Inasmuch Foundation at inasmuchfoundation.org Bryan Beasley, film director Writer/Director of “A Long Road to Liberty“ Foll

Special Guest Jacob Leighton Burns Writer/Director/Producer of “Snow Day” Co-Founder of The Cinematropolis We’re kicking off our coverage of the deadCenter 2021 film festival with an interview featuring The Cinematropolis co-founder, Jacob Leighton Burns, to discuss his short film,”Snow Day.” In this exclusive deadCenter 2021 podcast conversation on The Cinematic Schematic, Burns joins the show to discuss what inspired him to document 2020’s major Oklahoma snowfall before adapting it for an Instagram post and, eventually, a short film. “Snow Day” will have its world premiere during the deadCenter 2021 film festival’s SHORTS: OKIE 1 short film block scheduled to play at OKC’s Rodeo Cinema on Saturday, June 12th at 12 PM CT before being made available as part of the virtual film festival later that day. deadCenter 2021 film festival passes are on sale now! The official deadCenter 2021 synopsis reads: On a snowy day, a young man copes with the loss of an old friend. When and Where to Watch “Snow Day” Sat, Jun 12

The Cinematic Schematic’s Three Films That Got You Through the 2020 Pandemic interview series concludes in its final entry with the Oklahoma City Museum of Art head of film programming and theatrical operations, Lisa Broad, PH.D. I talk with Broad about how the pandemic impacted the museum’s ability to play films before discussing how her team pivoted to the virtual cinema. We close out the conversation with a look at her selections. Broad joined the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Film Program in 2017 and has served as Head of Film Programming and Theatrical Operations since April 2020. She earned her Ph.D. in cinema studies from New York University, where she received the 2017 Jay Leyda Award for Academic Excellence. Her dissertation research focused on the relationship between film and the philosophical notion of possible worlds. In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on film style and contemporary international cinema, Broad has published and presented on French film, Hitchcock, and phil

In today’s episode of The Cinematic Schematic, first-time special guests Brock Lay and Josh Reid are welcomed to the show to share their fond memories and experiences with the Mortal Kombat franchise before joining me to review the 2021 HBO Max/theatrically released Mortal Kombat from producer James Wan and first-time director Simon McQuaid. Video game big-screen adaptations have a pretty poor track record for box office and critical success with very few films justifying full-blown franchises and even fewer managing to be received well by critics or remembered fondly by audiences. The flops date back to one of the earliest attempts by Buena Vista’s 1993 Super Mario Bros. One of the more notable exceptions to this trend is 1995’s Mortal Kombat, a film made on a relatively low budget of $18 million. It struck a chord with filmgoers who simply could not resist the synth-heavy theme, resulting in over $120 million at the box office. Though the film has remained appreciated by generations of moviegoers, its 1997

The Cinematic Schematic maintains our annual tradition of hosting an Oscar predictions episode with recurring guest host, Laron Chapman. It’s our aim to give listening cinephiles, award show junkies and casual watchers a slightly better idea of how to hedge their bets for Sunday’s 93rd Academy Awards. 2020 was full of unexpected twists. There were global pandemics, historic elections, and how can we forget it was just a year ago that Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite became the surprise Cinderella story that swept the Academy? With so many major studio films and highly anticipated indie films being pushed back until theaters reopen, the floor is open for the 2021 Oscars to be another show full of surprises. Who will take home sought after best lead Actress? Will it be the SAG winner, Viola Davis? Or what about the BAFTA winner, Frances McDormand, or the buzzed about Promising Young Woman performance from Carey Mulligan? This also marks the first year more than one woman was nominated for best director, with Chloé Zhao

The Three Films That Got You Through the 2020 Pandemic interview series enters its final stretch on The Cinematic Schematic in part nine, our penultimate interview, with the Oklahoma Film+Music Office(OF+MO) outreach and production manager, Yousef Kazemi. I talk with Kazemi about how the pandemic impacted Oklahoma’s film industry before discussing how his team pivoted and turned last year’s unprecedented times into a period filled with silver linings. The conversation wraps up with a look at the three films that helped Kazemi get through it all. Within two years, Kazemi was promoted to locations coordinator for OF+MO where he served in this role for nearly a decade. Now, as outreach & production manager, Kazemi works actively to engage statewide community development in support of the state’s film and television industry through OF+MO’s Oklahoma Film Friendly Community Program while continuing to provide locations, permitting and logistical support for productions filming on-location in Oklahoma. Additionally

The Three Films That Got You Through the 2020 Pandemic interview series continues on The Cinematic Schematic in part eight with the managing partner of Tower Theatre in OKC, founder of Mostly Harmless Media, and the director of technology of the deadCenter Film Festival, Stephen Tyler. I speak with Tyler about how the pandemic impacted the operations of Oklahoma’s historic theater before discussing how they pivoted in order to keep the film and concert venue afloat during the economic challenges they faced during the pandemic. To close out the conversation, we do what we’ve always done in this series by taking a look at the three films that helped him get through it all. Tyler is one of the Oklahoma City film community’s hardest working individuals. He’s a jack of all trades in all things technology for the deadCenter Film Festival and also co-operates Oklahoma City’s historic Tower Theatre. The Tower Theatre opened in 1937 and is one of Oklahoma City’s last original movie houses with an intact auditorium and

Since 2014’s American Godzilla reboot, Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros and Toho have been slowly building up their combined “Monsterverse,” set to end in a climatic rematch between Godzilla and King Kong. It would be the rematch of the century, coming 59 years after they first crossed paths in 1962’s King Kong vs Godzilla. In a world where mega-franchises and CGI spectacle is king, how could a crossover this big fail? Despite the warm critical and box office reception of Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters was a huge flop with critics and audiences, leaving the future of the franchise in question. Does this epic crossover, Godzilla vs Kong, step up its game to deliver the type of crowd-pleasing spectacle audiences have been clamoring for throughout the pandemic, or have the goliaths fallen out of favor with fans due to uninteresting human characters? The Cinematropolis co-founders Jacob and Zachary Burns rejoin host Caleb Masters to get the answers by reviewing HBO Ma

Tune in for a special announcement regarding an update to our April programming. The post April 2021 Programming Update appeared first on The Cinematropolis.

For years, fans called on DC and Warner Bros. to #ReleasetheSnyderCut after the poor reception of the original 2017 release that was completed by Joss Whedon, and on March 18, 2021, the studio answered the call with a $70 million dollar HBOMax release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. In this episode of The Cinematic Schematic, we assemble a group of panelists including Geek Girl Features’ Chelsea Ratterman, The Cinematropolis’s Daniel Bokemper, and DC aficionado, Bobby Griffith, to review the long-rumored and fan demanded director’s cut. We’ll kick the conversation off by getting perspective on how each member of the panel has felt about the Snyder films previous to 2017 before giving our verdicts on this new release. We’ll close out the discussion by diving into what to make of the film’s final chapters and what we’d like to see next in the increasingly unclear future of the DCEU. Does Snyder’s vision justify years of hype, a four-hour runtime, and the hefty price tag? Listen in to get the final verdict from

The Three Films That Got You Through the 2020 Pandemic interview series continues on The Cinematic Schematic in part seven featuring the host and producer of the Tunes/Toons podcast, Harold Storey. I speak with Storey about how the pandemic impacted his ability to produce his podcast and changed how he spoke with guests. As always, we shift the conversation to the three films that helped him get through it all to close the show! Special Guest Harold Storey, host of the Tunes/Toons podcast Listen to Tunes/Toons on Spotify or wherever your podcasts are found Follow Harold on Instagram or on Twitter According to the Apple Podcasts description, “Harold Storey heads up the Tunes/Toons Podcast – a show dedicated to all things concerning animation and music.” Storey has recorded nearly 150 episodes and featured a wide variety of people of interest in the Oklahoma City area as well as special guests including Jim Lang (Hey Arnold!), Jaret Reddick (Bowling for Soup), Mike Kennerty (All-American Rejects), Butch Hartman

The Cinematic Schematic returns for a review and spoiler-filled discussion of Walt Disney Animation’s latest film exploring a post-apocalyptic southeast Asian fantasy, Raya and the Last Dragon. Rejoining us for this conversation is our resident animated film fan, Lauren Weingart, founder of Video Peach Productions. After a full year away from a theater, the slow release of blockbuster-quality studio films had come to a crawl. That is with a handful of exceptions, including Disney’s latest $30 Premiere Access release. Raya and the Last Dragon is about as big a scope you can get with a Disney movie. It’s set in a fantastical world that had been ravaged by evil. The only way our hero, Raya(Kelly Marie Tran), can hope to save her world is by taking a globe-trotting, Indiana Jones-style adventure to reassemble a magical dragon gem with her new partner, Sisu(Awkwafina). It features sword fights, treasure hunts, and a timely message. Does it deliver on something fun and new? Is it worth the $30? We discuss all of th

The Cinematic Schematic returns in part six of our ongoing Three Films That Got You Through the 2020 Pandemic interview series with entertainment writer, filmmaker, and host of the Hardcourt Hunnies podcast, Shea Vassar. We speak with Vassar about how the pandemic impacted her work as a freelance entertainment writer focused on native stories and her coverage of international film festivals like Sundance. We’ll wrap up the conversation by talking about the three films that helped her get through it all.  Special Guest Shea Vassar Writer, filmmaker and host of the Hardcourt Hunnies podcast Follow Shea on Twitter @justsheavassar According to her website, “Shea Vassar is a Cherokee Nation citizen and member of the Native American Journalists Association. Her film criticism career started as something to do to pass the time in film school at Hunter College and since has been published at Roger Ebert, High Country News, Film School Rejects, and Zora Magazine among others. Currently, she is working with the Red Hou