Steve Segal and Phil Trumbo co-directed “Futuropolis” a zany animated sci-fi adventure that was released in 1984. It’s being screened at the 32nd annual James River Film Festival (March 29 – April 4). Steve went on to work at Pixar on the first two “Toy Story” movies and Phil won an Emmy for his work on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” but we’ll save those discussions for future podcasts. This show is about “Futropolis:”
– The VCU inspiration for the movie
– Their expectations and the results
– Being influenced by Red Grooms and Max Fleisher
– Shooting stop motion with people
– Drawing animation on the actual film
– Silent movie tributes all over Richmond

LINKS:
James River Film Festival
A news report from the premiere at the Biograph
Steve’s website
Phil’s website

This year’s Indie Short Film Festival runs from March 20 – 22 in Charlottesville. Two directors from the festival talk about their films.
Jamal Hodge has 2 films: “Take it to the Grave” and “Mourning Meal”
Kelsey Nerrie is premiering her first short “Repurcussion(s)”
They’ll give us insight into their backgrounds, their inspirations and the challenges for their projects.

LINKS
Indie Short Film Festival
Jamal Hodge website
Kelsey Nerri’s social media link: @repercussionsfilm2025
The doc on Terry O’Neill of Penny Lane Pub

Andy Edmunds, Director of the Virginia Film Office, is back for this 5th year to talk about the activity in Virginia’s production industry last year. This also includes a discussion of the film that Andy wrote and directed here.

LINKS
Virginia Film Office
“The Cashier” on Insta
“The Cashier” on Facebook
The Byrd Theatre

Previous podcasts mentioned
Griffin in Summer
Bird in Hand
Daphne Reid
Bunt Young
Rex Teese