Substream Magazine • 23rd May 2022

Director Carey Williams and Writer K.D. Dávila Discuss 'Emergency' and Adding Social Commentary to the Buddy Comedy Genre

When you have a recent coming-of-age buddy comedy film, they usually have the following elements. A group of friends typically predicate all their social hopes and dreams on doing the impossible (and most times, illegal) for one night. In that period, they argue, discover traits about themselves they didn’t know beforehand and then venture triumphantly into the sunrise of the next day. Director Carey Williams and writer K.D. Dávila follows some of those themes in Emergency; their 2018 award-winn

Substream Magazine • 31st March 2022

Director Kate Dolan Speaks On 'You Are Not My Mother,' Irish Folklore, and the Side of Motherhood We Don't See

One of the most frightening things a person can witness is a person they love morphing into someone they don’t recognize, and there’s no way to help. What if the ghosts haunting your hallways are the memories of the times you used to share with a parent? Char (Hazel Doupe) is already having a tough time adjusting to school, fighting off bullies, and trying to make friends. Her mother, Angela (Carolyn Bracken), is going through a rough time, often lying in the confines of her dark bedroom. One da

Substream Magazine • 29th March 2022

'All My Friends Hate Me' Review: A Darkly Funny and Anxiety Inducing Catch Up Session Amongst Old Friends

When old friends get together after a long-standing break, there’s the saying of “picking up where you left off.” In reality, is that even possible? Sure, you’ll always have the memories, but is it really fair to say everything will be the same? One of the few constants in life is change—especially when talking about people. We all get new jobs, significant others, and fall into living situations that mold us into something different. Pete (Tom Stourton) is excited to spend some time with old c

Substream Magazine • 21st December 2021

Director Lauren Hadaway Speaks About 'The Novice,' and the Essence of Rowing

Determination is defined as a quality that makes you continue trying to do or achieve something difficult. It’s the quality that we love in all of our sports heroes—either driving down the field in the 4th quarter or putting up the last shot to beat the buzzer for the win. Well, there’s a road to get there. A lot of training, sacrifices, blood, sweat, and tears. You know the sayings. However, what if that drive turns into something darker where you can no longer recognize yourself? Where you c

Substream Magazine • 3rd December 2021

Director Camille Griffin Speaks About 'Silent Night' and Setting the End of the World During Christmas

The Christmas season is full of wonderful things—Santa, Candy Canes, snow, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” played around the clock. It’s a time of giving, love, and where you spend time with those who are closest to you. Now, imagine this and the end of the world was the next day. How would you choose to spend it then? Would you pretend as if nothing was happening and indulge yourself in holiday bliss? Or would you try to fight off the end from coming? First-time writer/director Cami

Substream Magazine • 24th November 2021

Creator Valerie Armstrong Speaks On 'Kevin Can F**k Himself' and How the Show Tackles Themes Hidden In the 'Laugh Track'

At first glance, Kevin Can F**k Himself seems like a typical family sitcom. It’s complete with prototypical characters, laugh tracks, and problem-of-the-week situations that many shows have patterned themselves for years. However, as you dive deeper into its clever setup, you’ll discover that creator/executive producer Valerie Armstrong has a lot of smart things to say. Within Worcester, Massachusetts, Allison McRoberts (Annie Murphy) has grown increasingly unhappy in her marriage to husband, Ke

Substream Magazine • 21st October 2021

Oh Wonder Find That the Only Way Out Lies Within Each Other

’22 Break,’ the fourth album from London-based alt-pop duo, Oh Wonder, is an honest depiction of the struggles that they experienced during that period. Through the pandemic, many people underwent an inner metamorphosis. Things that they deemed essential experienced a reshuffling. In some cases, the partners and relationships received a massive shock because there was nowhere to run from the truths tucked away through various modes of escape. The music industry was at a standstill – the halls an

Substream Magazine • 17th September 2021

Thrice Urges You To Be Present While They Continue To Expand Their Musical Horizons On 'Horizons/East'

Horizons/East, the 11th album from California-grown rock back Thrice, is a through-line of musical exploration and finding where ideas can lead. Change has always been the constant symbolic pillar of the band — from the electronics of 2005’s Vheissu to the four parts of The Alchemy Index, where the band made groups of songs to mimic the behaviors of the four elements. This album is a buffet of influences and musical curiosities. From the jazz club, piano feel of ‘Northern Lights’ to the aggressi

Substream Magazine • 16th September 2021

Noah Kahan Has Done A Lot of Growing and Is Ready To Show the World How Much

Around June 2019, I spoke to singer/songwriter Noah Kahan about his debut album, Busyhead. It was a particular time in his life where he was on the precipice of the stardom that he always wanted. Kahan’s brand of folk-pop spoke candidly about the excitement and the apprehension of leaving the comfort of everything you once knew behind. Like the past year and a half, many of us had some time to do a bit of self-reflection. There were few places to go where we could run to. Perhaps it was back to

Substream Magazine • 23rd August 2021

Revenge Wife Proves That There's Power In A Name

There’s a saying that in order for new things to arrive, let things go. That adage rang true for Elizabeth Nistico. Formerly known as lead singer and co-founder of the duo HOLYCHILD, the project would soon meet its ending point in December 2019. Even as HOLYCHILD was slowing down, Nistico began the DNA of Revenge Wife, her solo project in 2017. It’s not just music, but houses all her artistic endeavors. Nistico is an art director and director of all her videos, along with creating the treatments

Substream Magazine • 20th August 2021

Actress Carly Pope Speaks About 'Demonic,' Her Character, and Working With New Technology

Family wounds are usually the toughest to heal. Especially when there’s a presumably unforgivable act that alters the course of a mother and daughter relationship. Carly (Carly Pope) is faced with a difficult set of circumstances concerning her mother, Angela (Natalie Boltt) ad a young age. With that was a desire to forget the circumstances of her past and forge a new life and identity. Something draws her back. Her mother, who is in a coma, has been kept under the care of a mysterious company.

Substream Magazine • 16th June 2021

Alexa Mansour On 'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' and the Evolution of Hope's Character

Within the worlds of AMC’s The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead, there’s a certain sense of bleakness that has permeated throughout the long-running shows. Landscapes overtaken by zombies and the humans left behind to pick up the pieces. Some characters audiences have clung to as they tried to build a sense of community. Others we have grown to hate as you realize that the horrors and difficulties don’t just lie within the undead. It’s also the primal nature of the living that can get you,

Substream Magazine • 30th April 2021

Interview: Associate Producer & Editor Nick Carew Speaks About Working On 'The Girlfriend Experience': Season 3

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has put the TV and film industry through times when they had to learn to be as malleable as possible. At first, many productions were shut down and paused. Then, COVID protocols were implemented to make everybody on set as safe as possible. One of these shows was the critically acclimated The Girlfriend Experience. Now, in its third season, premiering May 2nd on Starz, the anthology series continues to provide a new set of characters and environments. It’s the fi

Substream Magazine • 12th April 2021

INTERVIEW: Director Devereux Milburn of 'Honeydew'

Horror movies have had audiences scared of the unknown for ages. They have us thinking the worst in the endless terrain of the woods. Even checking our car’s maintenance twice before we go out on the road trip. You never want to take a chance of a deranged visitor having to pick you up to take you to safety. Still, nothing beats the lone house in the country. Who would be the type of person to live so far away from civilization and what macabre things could they be hiding? With Honeydew, Sam (S

Substream Magazine • 24th March 2021

SXSW INTERVIEW: Directors Bradley Bell & Pablo Jones-Soler of 'Alone Together'

Creativity saves us when life makes little sense. We turn to it to fill in the blanks when we don’t have the answers and the outside world is a little scary. It’s a cocoon of self-discovery and a bonding point between artist and fan. Alone Together begins at the tail end of Charli XCX’s tour, where cancellations had to happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The music industry has felt a considerable shock wave for a year and counting. As an artist who sees opportunity in creating through hard

Substream Magazine • 18th February 2021

INTERVIEW: Director Mike P. Nelson of 'Wrong Turn' (Reboot)

It’s a commonality in the horror genre for there to be remakes or reboots of prior franchises. Sometimes creators want to update the story for a modern audience. Others want to build onto the initial mythos of the story or take it somewhere different entirely. The Wrong Turn franchise began in 2003 and continued with six installments up to 2014 with Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort. Seven years later, Director Mike P. Nelson took up the challenge of rebooting the franchise with a fresh coat of paint.

Substream Magazine • 11th February 2021

FEATURE: Pale Waves Is Ready To Show You More of Who They Are

Avril Lavigne‘s 2002’s debut album, Let Go featured the singer/songwriter standing in front of the world blurred out behind her. On that album, we went against the glossy, sexualized esthetic that pop music provided with a tie and a punk rock feel. Gave us songs such as ‘Complicated,’ ‘Losing Grip,’ and ‘Sk8er Boi.’ Lead singer/songwriter/guitarist Heather Baron-Gracie of Pale Waves has noted Lavigne as one of her personal heroes. It’s funny how life comes back around, and as we get old, we embo

Substream Magazine • 11th February 2021

INTERVIEW: Writer/Director/Actor Gillian Wallace Horvat of 'I Blame Society'

In the world of I Blame Society, Gillian just wants to be a successful filmmaker. She makes her first movie and not everybody is receptive to it. Her boyfriend is almost apathetic to her dreams. Her manager and producers dismiss her regularly and change their minds on what they want. One day, one of her friends’ makes an off-hand comment that she would make a good murderer. (As if that’s a great compliment). Holding on to one of the few bits of praise she gets, she turns this into a movie. An “i

Substream Magazine • 1st February 2021

INTERVIEW: Writer/Director Ben Hozie of PVT CHAT

The relationship between the two principal characters in PVT CHAT, Jack (Peter Vack) and Scarlett (Julia Fox) begins out of pure necessity for transaction. Jack, an online gambler, slowly gains feelings for Scarlet, a sex worker. Writer/Director Ben Hozie takes us through a journey that shows the audience that appearances aren’t always what they seem. That if you’re willing to dig deeper behind the mask, there are intricacies that make us who we are. Also, the movie sets out to break down the sh

Substream Magazine • 21st January 2021

INTERVIEW: Director, Writer, & Actor Alex Knapp of 'Go/Don't Go'

Audiences are well acquainted with the end of the world, post-apocalyptic style movie. There have been a multitude of scenarios that come along to bring human civilization to its knees. Aliens, monsters, climate disasters, plagues, and zombies are some that immediately come to mind. A good chunk of the population gets wiped out, and they leave a few survivors to pick up the pieces. Often with obstacles that they have to overcome – both mentally and physically. What if you didn’t know how in whic