Off The Lot: The Indie Filmmaking Podcast

Writer-director Nat Boltt joins Off The Lot to break down the decade-long journey behind her feature directorial debut, Holy Days.
The film stars Judy Davis, Jacki Weaver and Miriam Margolyes, topped the box office in New Zealand, and went on to a global theatrical release — but getting there meant surviving years of development, financing setbacks, international co-production challenges, lost investors and an ambitious 26-day shoot.
Nat takes us inside how she landed her cast, navigated funding through Canada and New Zealand, shot complex road sequences using LED stages, and pulled off a major snowstorm sequence with limited resources.
But some of the biggest lessons came after the movie was finished.
We talk about the realities of independent film distribution, why filmmakers are increasingly being forced to build and market their own audiences, what she believes is broken about the current system, and why she plans to approach the release of her next film very differently.
A candid conversation about getting a first feature made, getting it seen, and what indie filmmakers need to understand if they want to build sustainable careers outside the studio system.

I finally made my first feature film.
After years of working in film and television, raising the money, assembling the team, shooting Remnant, going through post-production and now entering distribution, there are things I understand about filmmaking that I simply didn’t before.
In this episode of Off The Lot, Anthony walks me through the entire filmmaking process as I break down five of the biggest lessons I learned making my first feature — from getting the movie financed and casting the right actors, to protecting the magic on set, testing the film with audiences, and thinking about distribution long before the movie is finished.
We get into what actually happens when the plan falls apart on set, why casting can make or break your movie, why filmmakers need to test their cuts, how to know what success means for your film, and why nobody is ever going to care about your movie as much as you do.
If you’re trying to make your first feature film, this is the episode I wish I could have listened to before making mine.
Follow Ken's Indie Horror Feature Remnant here:
www.remnantmovie.com
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Harrison Houde and Dakota Daulby spent years trying to get a feature film made. Then a producer called and essentially said: write the movie — we’re shooting it this year.
The result was Tight Lettuce, a bilingual English/French dark comedy inspired by a true story about a son trying to maintain a relationship with his heroin-addicted father. The film went on to premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival and win the Golden Audience Award for Best Quebec Film.
In this episode of Off The Lot, Harrison and Dakota break down what it actually took to turn the project into their first feature — from originally developing it as a $100,000 short to suddenly having the opportunity to make the full movie.
We get into:
How a Facebook message eventually became a feature film
Writing a first draft in roughly a month
Financing the film outside the traditional Telefilm model
Making a sub-$2.5M indie feature in 20 shooting days
Why their 20-day shoot effectively became 16–17 days
Casting Quebec star Emmanuel Bilodeau
Combining comedy and addiction without trivializing either
What they learned from 12–13 cuts of the movie
Why Harrison says he’d never start another movie with car scenes
The mistakes they made on their first feature
Why they now want recognizable cast attached earlier
What filmmakers misunderstand about theatrical distribution
The reality of trying to get an indie film onto movie screens

They also talk candidly about the biggest writing problem they discovered in the edit, what they would put in their contracts next time, and the lessons they’re already applying to their next films.
Subscribe to Off The Lot for conversations about what it actually takes to finance, make, finish, and release independent films outside the studio system.
Follow Ken's Indie Horror Feature Remnant here:
www.remnantmovie.com
Follow Ken Kabatoff's newsletter here:
The Film Founder
Follow Anthony Epp's newsletter here:
The Greenlight Report
Follow Ken & Anthony on Instagram here:
@ken_kabatoff
@epptri

A great 1st AD doesn’t just keep a film on schedule — they can completely change what a director is capable of accomplishing on set.In this episode Ken and Anthony break down one of the most important relationships in filmmaking: the director and the 1st assistant director.
Ken shares what he learned directing his first feature, REMNANT, including working with veteran 1st AD Pete White, restructuring impossible shooting days, running two units simultaneously, knowing which shots could be pushed, and why the best ADs are much more than glorified schedulers.
Anthony brings the perspective of an experienced 1st AD: how to earn a director’s trust, plan an ambitious shot list around the reality of an indie schedule, manage dozens of departments without creating panic, protect safety without compromising the film, and keep an entire set moving with purpose.
We also break down chain of title — the paperwork every independent filmmaker needs to protect their movie before money, partners, investors, distributors, and competing interests enter the picture.
Follow Ken's Indie Horror Feature Remnant here:
www.remnantmovie.com
Follow Ken Kabatoff's newsletter here:
The Film Founder
Follow Anthony Epp's newsletter here:
The Greenlight Report
Follow Ken & Anthony on Instagram here:
@ken_kabatoff
@epptri

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is unlike anything ever put on a movie screen. Shot entirely on IMAX film across oceans, mountains, deserts and ancient landscapes, it is an astonishing feat of physical filmmaking—and arguably the ultimate theatrical experience.But is technical achievement enough to make a great movie?
In this full-spoiler review, we break down Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic, from the Trojan Horse and the Cyclops to Calypso, Ithaca and the slaughter of the suitors. We examine the film’s most significant changes to the original text, including the removal of most of the Greek gods, Odysseus’s altered motivation, the elimination of his defining act of hubris and Nolan’s decision to transform a story about homecoming into one about guilt, trauma and regret.
We also go inside the extraordinary production: enormous IMAX cameras, two-and-a-half-minute film magazines, custom soundproof camera housings, mirrored eyeline systems, real ships and practical environments. Nolan and his collaborators effectively had to invent new filmmaking techniques just to get the movie made.
The result is visually overwhelming and technically historic. But does The Odyssey give us a hero worth rooting for? Did Nolan’s changes weaken Odysseus’s journey? And why does the climactic return to Ithaca feel less emotionally satisfying than it should?
Spoiler warning: This episode discusses the entire film and major events from Homer’s original story.Subscribe to Off the Lot for candid conversations about filmmaking, film financing, production and what it takes to build a career outside the studio system.