3.25 Filmmaker Interview with Jonathan Hammond

In today's episode, I interview Jonathan Hammond, the director of the short film "Fireflies in the Dusk," a clever genre bending comedy that brings the Victorian Age into the present day with hilarious results.

Listen to hear about some of the films that inspired Jonathan's concept for the film, how he got his actors to buy into the absurd situations their characters would encounter, and what happens when an actor getting food poisoning in the middle of busy L.A. traffic.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris
• Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris
• Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears by Michael Schulman

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "Fireflies in the Dusk" directed by Jonathan Hammond
• Somewhere in Time directed by Jeannot Szwarc
• Poltergeist directed by Tobe Hooper
• The Purple Rose of Cairo directed by Woody Allen
• Being John Malkovich directed by Spike Jonze
• A Room With a View directed by James Ivory
• "30 Meetings/30 Days" directed by Duane Andersen
• "A Little House in Aberdeen" directed by Emily Goss
• 8 Simple Rules (series)
• The Magicians (series)
• Pride & Prejudice directed by Joe Wright
• Chinatown directed by Roman Polanski
• Grand Illusion directed by Jean Renoir
• 2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Young Frankenstein directed by Mel Brooks
• Molly's Game directed by Aaron Sorkin
• His Girl Friday directed by Howard Hawks
• Silence of the Lambs directed by Jonathan Demme

You can follow Jonathan on Instagram @jonohamm and the film @firefliesinthedusk and check out the film at the Cleveland International Film Festival!