Five Minutes to Midnight: Inside the Pressure and Passion Behind “MONDAY”

If the world were ending in five minutes, would you panic, confess your secrets, chase desire—or try to save everyone? In this candid roundtable, the cast of “MONDAY” reveals how a frantic 48-hour shoot, sudden role swaps, and real-life vulnerability turned a race-against-time short film into a deeply personal—and award-winning—reflection on how we live when time is running out.

Featuring Montrece Hill (Jasmine Miller), Tryphaena Singleton (Dr. Marshall), and Olivia Cate (Disgruntled Wife).

ART, ALL-NIGHTERS & THE APOCALYPSEInside the Frenzied, Funny Birth of “MONDAY”What do you pitch when you’re exhausted, on Zoom, and given 90 minutes to sell an idea that could make or break a 48 Hour Film Project? If you’re David Fritzson, you shock the room, quote Mallrats, promise a sex scene, and gamble everything on five minutes left to live.In this candid Richmond Film Network podcast episode, writers David Fritzson and Anson Kessinger unpack the chaotic, collaborative creation of the short script for the film "MONDAY," made for the City Producer 48 Hour Film Project. With a rotating pool of writers pitching ideas under extreme time pressure, Fritzson’s offbeat, apocalyptic-comedy concept—rooted in urgency, moral clarity, and pants-down honesty—wins out. Joined by co-writer Caitlin Whitaker, the trio writes through the night until 4 a.m., navigating technical mishaps, disappearing dialogue, and the relentless clock that defines the 48-hour experience.The conversation explores how trust, shared humor, and veteran instincts helped shape a cohesive story that integrates required elements organically rather than as box-checking exercises. Fritzson and Kessinger reflect on pitching under pressure, embracing collaboration over competition, and planting Easter eggs. At its core, Monday asks a simple question with global stakes: when panic hits and time is running out, what choices will you regret—and which ones will define you?

FLEXIBILITY, FOCUS & 48 HOURS

What would you do with your last five minutes on Earth?
That question—posed half in jest, half in existential dread—hangs over this podcast conversation with the cast of “Monday,” a film written, shot, and edited in just 48 hours for the 48 Hour Film Project's international City Producer Competition.

What begins as casual introductions quickly turns into a candid, funny, and surprisingly profound reflection on chaos, creativity, intimacy, and trust under extreme pressure.

Recorded after the film’s completion, the discussion brings together actors Louis Rivers, Leah Webster, Lisette Glodowski, Lamont Gonzalez, and Lee Lawson, all of whom participated in the film. They recount the uniquely nerve-wracking ritual of waiting for a 1 a.m. casting email, memorizing lines at dawn, driving hours on little sleep, and stepping onto set with no time to overthink—only to discover a production that was unusually organized, professional, and emotionally safe.

Ultimately, the podcast paints “Monday” not just as a successful 48-hour film, but as a reminder of why artists keep saying yes to impossible timelines: because in the chaos, something honest—and occasionally magical—can still break through.

PROTOCOLS, PROCESS & PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS

In this episode of the Richmond Film Network Podcast, guest host Alina McMahon sits down with fellow production assistants Matthew Tate, Addy Miner, and Payden Wilson to talk about life on set during the making of the short film “Monday,” directed by RFN Founder Lisa Giles. Created for the first-ever Global City Producer 48 Hour Film Project, “Monday” brought together a large, highly skilled crew of regional creatives under an intense timeline—and this conversation captures what it felt like to be in the trenches.

From first-time experiences to seasoned PA insights, the group reflects on what surprised them most: doubling as background actors, witnessing the careful choreography of an intimacy-coordinated scene, troubleshooting sound issues in a cavernous warehouse, and watching a bare industrial space transform into a fully realized botanical lab through exceptional production design. Again and again, they emphasize the professionalism, calm leadership, and collaborative spirit that defined the set—especially impressive given how quickly the project came together.

The episode also explores mentorship and growth: learning how departments intersect, finding confidence on a professional set, navigating walkie-talkie etiquette, and discovering new interests in producing, cinematography, art department, and assistant directing. The PAs share favorite moments, biggest challenges (including a last-minute location setback), and the pride they felt watching the final cut—particularly the editing, cinematography, and attention to detail that elevated the film.

Above all, this conversation celebrates “Monday” as a true community effort—described affectionately as “the Avengers of the Richmond film community.” It’s a candid, encouraging listen for anyone curious about what it’s really like to work on a 48 Hour Film Project, especially at a high professional level, and a testament to the generosity, talent, and collaborative energy that define Richmond’s film scene.

Technical note: Due to connectivity challenges, Addy Miner’s video is unavailable for part of the episode, and Payden Wilson’s connection ends shortly after the discussion begins. We’ve retained as much of the recording as possible to honor the conversation as it unfolded.

COMEDY, CATASTROPHE & COMPOSITION

What does a film composer do when the world is ending in five minutes—and the movie has to be finished in 48 hours?
On this episode of the Richmond Film Network Podcast, composer Casey Lenhart pulls back the curtain on the high-wire act of scoring “Monday,” a comedic apocalyptic short made under the brutal constraints of the 48 Hour Film Project—before the edit was locked, before scenes existed, and before anyone knew what the film would ultimately become.

Lenhart traces his path from childhood piano lessons to festival-recognized film scores, then dives deep into his fast-thinking, low-panic workflow: scoring directly from the script, building flexible cues that can stretch or contract in real time, and composing with urgency, rhythm, and restraint to balance apocalypse with comedy. The conversation explores the rarely seen collaboration between composer, editor, and director as music and picture evolve simultaneously, the technical wizardry behind orchestral-sounding scores created under impossible deadlines, and the discipline it takes to trust instinct over perfection. The result is a candid, insider look at how music doesn’t just support a film—it shapes its emotional spine, even when the clock is ticking toward oblivion.

CREATIVITY, COLLABORATION & CONSENT

What if the most radical creative choice on a film set isn’t what you show—but how you protect the people showing it?

In this episode of the Richmond Film Network podcast, host Lisa Giles sits down with Virginia-based actor and intimacy coordinator DeAnna Day to dismantle long-standing myths about intimacy coordination and argue for its necessity—not as a constraint on creativity, but as a catalyst for better, braver storytelling. Drawing on three decades as an actor and her training through SAG-endorsed programs, Day explains how intimacy coordinators function as advocates, mediators, choreographers, and mental health first responders on set, ensuring that actors’ boundaries and a director’s vision can coexist without compromise.

The conversation dives deep into the mechanics of the work: boundary conversations in pre-production, the difference between choreography and “containers,” the importance of enthusiastic consent, and why scenes involving children, family dynamics, or cultural specificity often require as much care as explicit sexual content. Day also addresses generational resistance within the industry, pushing back against the idea that intimacy coordinators stifle spontaneity. Instead, she argues, they increase trust, efficiency, and creative freedom—resulting in stronger performances and smoother productions.

Using the recent 48 Hour Film Project short “Monday” as a real-world case study, Giles and Day unpack what it looks like to apply best practices under extreme time pressure. Despite last-minute scripts, casting pivots, and limited prep time, clear communication, closed-set protocols, and actor-centered advocacy made the intimacy scene not only possible, but successful. The takeaway is clear: intimacy coordination isn’t a luxury or a trend—it’s fast becoming a professional standard, one that signals a respectful, collaborative, and future-facing film set.

CROSS-CONTINENTAL COLLABORATION

From Berlin to Richmond: How a Stranger’s Facebook Post Became an Award-Winning Horror Film

When Berlin filmmaker Oliver Theurich posted a simple message in a Richmond Facebook group looking for collaborators for the Richmond 48 Hour Horror Film Project, he never imagined it would end with an international win — and a ticket to Filmapalooza in Lisbon.

Teaming up entirely online with three Americans he’d never met, Richmond-Seattle writing team Anson Kessinger and Steve Rodgers, and Richmond-based production assistant Will Sidaros, Theurich led a German-American crew across time zones to make “The Liquidation” — a chilling short produced in just two days. Despite six hours of jet-lagged chaos, last-minute cast cancellations, and a 6:54 p.m. upload with six minutes to spare, the transatlantic team swept Best Film, Best Directing, and Best Use of Line in Richmond’s competition.

MUSES, METAPHOR & MONSTERS

What happens when a filmmaker dreams a nightmare so vividly, it consumes his waking life—and then dares to turn that madness into art?
In this haunting episode of the Richmond Film Network Podcast, host Lisa Giles speaks with Anastasia Listopadova, producer and composer of The Path to Enigma, a surreal psychological short by Russian filmmaker Max Gladkov. What begins as a discussion of sound design and symbolism unfolds into an astonishing story of artistic obsession and resilience: a first-time director driven by childhood encounters with mental illness, a film born from a dream and shaped by real-life tragedy, and a cast and crew who finished production only after Max went bankrupt mid-shoot.

Anastasia offers a rare look behind the curtain—how a Salvador Dalí painting inspired the film’s unsettling visual language, how color and sound were weaponized to blur sanity and delusion, and how the actor’s raw performance teetered between method and madness.

More than a film about mental illness, The Path to Enigma becomes a mirror—of artistic struggle, of humanity’s shadow side, and of the systems that abandon the broken. It screens for the first time before an American audience at RFN Indie Fest on November 15, where the line between horror and healing promises to dissolve right before our eyes.