Robert Redford changed my life. It was all the way back in 1997 and my friend’s sister heard I was really getting into independent film and was particularly interested in the Sundance Film Festival. Hell, who wasn’t back in 1997? […]

The post All Because Robert Redford Started a Film Festival appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

The Baltimorons marks Jay Duplass’s return to feature directing after more than a decade away from the director’s chair. The film follows Cliff (Michael Strassner), a newly sober improv comedian who cracks a tooth on Christmas Eve and lands in […]

The post A Conversation with Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner & Liz Larsen (THE BALTIMORONS) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Megan Griffiths’ latest film, Year of the Fox, is a coming-of-age drama that takes place in 1997 Aspen and Seattle. Ivy (Sarah Jeffery) is a young woman on cusp of finishing high school, when she gets a disillusioning peek behind […]

The post A Conversation with Megan Griffiths & Eliza Flug (YEAR OF THE FOX) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

How does the process of grief help us understand a person better? Can we tell who a person was from the things they leave behind? These are some of the questions that director/co-writer Courtney Stephens (Terra Femme) and actor/co-writer Callie […]

The post A Conversation with Callie Hernandez & Courtney Stephens (INVENTION) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Three years ago, at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival Directors’ Fortnight, I had the opportunity to speak with filmmaker Owen Kline to discuss his remarkable feature directorial debut, Funny Pages. At the time, Kline was most notable for his memorable […]

The post A Conversation with Owen Kline (FUNNY PAGES) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

(The Tribeca Festival runs June 4-15 in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood and Hammer to Nail has boots on the ground! Check out M.J. O’Toole’s The Travel Companion movie review fresh from the fest. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on […]

The post THE TRAVEL COMPANION appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

We’ve all seen a bad Q and A after a film screening. They’re awkward, often they overstay their welcome, and inevitably someone has to ask, “what camera did you use?” If you go to a lot of film screenings they […]

The post A Conversation with Alex Mallis & Travis Wood (THE TRAVEL COMPANION) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

In Honeyjoon, find ourselves in the paradise that is San Miguel island, the Azores, Portugal. Stark blue waters mirror the cloudless sky above as honeymooners bask in the sun, hand in hand, enveloped by the romantic allure of the island. […]

The post A Conversation with Lilian T. Mehrel (HONEYJOON) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Rising filmmaker Roxy Sophie Sorkin brings her unique comedic sensibility to the screen with Swollen, a sharp-witted short film which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. In this 13-minute horror-comedy, two best friends recovering from facial plastic surgery find […]

The post A Conversation with Roxy Sophie Sorkin (SWOLLEN) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

The post Qualities Of Better Films #28 of 32: DIFFERENTATION AMONG CHARACTERS AND ENVIRONMENTS appeared first on Hammer to Nail.