Indie Beat WithFilmmaker Theodore Collatos [Podcast]

Put everything down… we have a new Indie Beat!

This episode features filmmaker and all around great guy Theodore Collatos. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because (a) you’re ahead of the curve and know about terrific American independent cinema and/or (b) you’ve read the interview piece we did together over at Filmmaker Magazine.

Collatos’s first feature film, “Dipso,” follows Tommy (Matt Shaw) as he tries to right his life after a brief stint in jail. It’s a very raw portrait of a depressed American town which manages to deal with class, military, the prison system, and family without ever feeling bloated or preachy. Chuck your copy of Hillbilly Elegy and just watch it over at Kinoscope.

You’ll find that many filmmakers begin their career by making short films only to never return to the form once they start crackin’ the feature game. Ladies and gentlemen, Collatos is not one of those people. He’s made quite a number of great, concise movies that are all quite different in their manner. “Albatross” follows a young girl and her two father figures (we spoke extensively about it in the aforementioned interview, watch here); “Time” is a look at a number of inmates in a penitentiary using a Direct Cinema approach (Short Of The Week rightly included this on their site); “Truth With Wine” utilizes SD home video footage to perfectly capture a drunken family get together that turns quietly emotional (watch); “Dog Show” is a lo-fi high energy flick about the canine that comes between a father and daughter(view). And that’s not even all of them — check out his Vimeo page for more.

The filmmaker is now traveling the circuit with his latest feature “Tormenting The Hen.” Cityfolk Monica (Carolina Monnerat) and Claire (Dameka Hayes) head to the sticks as the latter starts workshopping and rehearsing her new play. Monica treats it as a quiet vacation away from urban ennui but finds herself disturbed when the groundskeeper Mutty (Shaw, in a fantastic turn) takes a liking to her. While not without laughs, it’s mainly an extremely tense, superbly acted psychological drama that’ll leave you shook. We’re proud to premiere the trailer ahead of its screenings at IndieMemphis (November 3) and New York’s own Spectacle Theater (November 16-22).

Listen to the podcast where Collatos and I spoke about filmmaking habits, movie money, and keeping at the game.