Shows / Barely Living The Dream
Barely Living The Dream
Filmmakers Mel House, Chris Warren, and Brittany Miles share their unfiltered, true stories about making their way through the independent film landscape.
Episodes
Barely Living The DreamMade in 16 Days: How Chris Hartwell Pulled Off Do No Harm With Harry Shum Jr.
In this episode of Barely Living The Dream, filmmaker Chris Hartwell takes us behind the scenes of his first feature film, Do No Harm—a deeply personal project…
Barely Living The DreamFrom Prison Break to Sinners: Dave Maldonado's Incredible Acting Journey | BLTD Episode 60
What does it actually take to build a successful acting career in Hollywood? In this episode of Barely Living the Dream, actor Dave Maldonado shares the highs…
Barely Living The DreamFrom Gaffer to Director: Ken Whiting on Making Rich Interior Lives | BLTD 59
What does it really take to go from cinematographer to directing your first feature film? In this episode of **Barely Living the Dream**, filmmaker **Ken…
Barely Living The DreamWe Pitched Jackie Chan... and It Actually Worked! | BLTD 58 with Lee Anthony Smith & Gregory Bradley
What does it really take to break into Hollywood? In this episode of **Barely Living the Dream**, filmmakers and screenwriters **Lee Anthony Smith** and…
Barely Living The DreamHe Lost His Father to Suicide—Then Ran 250 Miles Heal | BLTD 57 with Daniel Herzog
What happens when unimaginable loss becomes the catalyst for transformation? In this episode, filmmaker Daniel Herzog joins the show to discuss his powerful…
Barely Living The DreamFrancis Ford Coppola Was His Mentor—Now He’s Making His First Feature Film!
What does it really take to become a filmmaker? In this episode of Barely Living the Dream, filmmaker Jayson Johnson shares his incredible journey from growing…
Barely Living The DreamHow They Made an EPIC Zombie Western Sequel on a Tiny Budget | BLTD 55 with The Undead End!
This week on the podcast, we sit down with the filmmaking team behind The Undead End — the long-awaited spiritual sequel to the cult indie zombie western The…
Barely Living The DreamFrom $0 Indies to Prestige Series and Netflix Movies | BLTD 54 with Brittany Miles and Chris Warren
After a long break, Chris and Brittany return to catch everyone up on the wild last two years working in the film industry. From working on Taylor Sheridan…
Barely Living The DreamHer Short Films Are Making Audiences Speak Out! - BLTD 53 with Sara Gaston
In this episode of Barely Living the Dream, we sit down with Houston-based filmmaker and actress Sara Gaston to dive deep into her journey from stage actor to…
Barely Living The DreamHe Made Feature Films for $5,000… and They Became Cult Classics! - BLTD Episode 52
Houston filmmaker and actor Joe Grisaffi joins the podcast to talk about 30+ years of independent filmmaking, from shooting his first feature on 16mm film and…
Barely Living The DreamMy Film WON… Then I Almost Died (Again) - Barely Living The Dream Ep. 51
After a long break, the podcast is back—and there’s a LOT to catch up on. In this episode, I dive into everything that’s happened since the premiere of…
Barely Living The DreamINBETWEENING Dazed
Making this grant presentation from last year public now (with some minor edits) in anticipation of our world premiere next month at Amazing Fantasy Fest!…
Barely Living The DreamFear The Walking Brittany
A Very Special Homecoming Episode! Brittany (re) joins Mel and Chris to discuss all the stuff she's been working on/doing over the last couple years, ranging…
Barely Living The DreamThe Wolfeman
On this episode of BLTD, writer/director Stephen Wolfe joins Mel and Chris to discuss his projects, his love for Universal Monsters, and that time he let Mel…
Barely Living The DreamCatchin' Up With Chris
We're back with a new episode with Chris Warren, who brings us up to date on all the sets he's been working on for the past 3+ years! Chris has been making…
Barely Living The DreamIN THE BLOOD (aka DARK RITUAL aka IMAGO) Writer/Director/Interview - 2021
Here's an interview that Chris Warren (Director/Co-Writer/Etc.) and I did with Derrick Fury (director of LION KILLER and head instructor at Axiom Jiu-Jitsu)…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 45 - INBETWEENING Sneak Peek...I mean "Sneak Listen"
Earlier this week, I did this "sneak peek" of the movie via Zoom - it was part of the grant finalization process. I recorded it, so here's the audio! I play…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 44 - In Between The Mystery Spots
What's up everyone? Yep, been a while. Lots of stuff has happened...and we do mean LOTS. MYSTERY SPOT premiered, DARK RITUAL gained traction, the Burn video…
Barely Living The DreamEp: 43 - Ritual Zombie Werewolf Mystery!
Back from extended hibernation, to the delight of a couple people and the chagrin of many more! You'd think we'd have spent the lockdown cranking out…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 42 - Workshopping the Workshop
Our first foray into live-streaming wherein we ask the question: what would YOU think would be most valuable to focus on in a "filmmaking workshop" session? We…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 41: MYSTERY Machines (MYSTERY SPOT Chronicles, Part 3)
Once again, Mel House, Chris Warren, and Brittany Miles all find themselves in the same room to do a podcast. This time, we have a feature in the rearview to…
Barely Living The DreamMYSTERY SPOT Chronicles, Part 2: "The Other Side"
That's a wrap on MYSTERY SPOT! (Actually, we wrapped over a month ago, but I've been busy editing, handling wrap up stuff, and celebrating our 14th wedding…
Barely Living The DreamMYSTERY SPOT Chronicles, Part 1: "Curious Goods"
We recently wrapped principal photography on my fifth feature, MYSTERY SPOT. It was a wonderfully harrowing experience - "wonderful" because of the amazing…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 38 - Now You See Me
Another Barely Living The Dream podcast - now with video (which you can see at the Upstart Filmworks YouTube channel)! Bear with us as we expand/tweak this new…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 37 - Back Again, Again. Again.
Back after another semi-unintentional hiatus. Upstart Filmworks has a new office, a new lease on life, AND a new employee! Consider it a recharge / renewal /…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 36 - Am I Black Enough To Say The "N-Word?"
Complicated question, right? I figure if I've been called it more than 5 times in my life (I have, and with the hard "R" to boot) I can say it. Obama can say…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 35 - SCARELY Living The SCREAM
For this episode, we take a slight diversion in the spirit of the season (and our 13th wedding anniversary). Melanie joins Mel for a round of personal ghost…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 34 - You're Gonna Have To Cut That Out
This one's kinda late and off of our normal upload time, but we've been busy working on stuff. Most of which we discuss on here. Chris has been working on a…
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Ep. 33 - On The Road: Kentucky FIRED Movie
We do a little time travel on this one, as the bulk of it was recorded back in February while Chris and Mel were driving through Kentucky and Tennessee…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 32 - DRo and MHo Talk S#%t (w/ Debbie Rochon)
At long last, we have the lovely, wonderful, legendary Debbie Rochon on the podcast! Debbie and Mel have collaborated many times (with many more on the…
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Ep. 31 - Lazarus! (w/Yousef Abu-Taleb from WEST OF HELL)
The BLTD podcast returns with our friend Yousef Abu-Taleb in the passenger car! We worked with Yousef on WEST OF HELL (formerly COLD DESCENT, and before that…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 30 - Reset The Fun (w/ Jeff Caudill)
Jeff Caudill (frontman for prominent Southern California rock band Gameface) joins us to discuss his latest solo EP, "Reset The Sun" and the five (!) videos…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 29 - A Lynx To The Past
Quick update from Mel on what he's got going on (videos for Jeff Caudill's RESET THE SUN & the SEQUENCE BREAK World Premiere at the Chattanooga Film Festival…
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Ep. 28 - What Doesn't Kill You...
Remember that promo we cut where we (mostly me) read hatemail? Here's the uncut recording session, which makes a pretty compelling listen on its own. Beyond…
Barely Living The DreamBLTD Promo
Promo for the podcast. It will run on other B&E Network podcasts. http://www.bmoviesandebooks.com/
Barely Living The DreamEp. 25 - Menagerie Of Bullshit
In this feature-length episode, Mel is the sin-eater (for once) as Brittany, Chris, and guest Justin Powers spend an hour and a half going off about about…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 24 - Fade To Black(ish)
Nickie Morgan, Mandi LeBlanc, and William Basinger join Mel as they reminisce about his first movie, FADE TO BLACK (which they are all in). Well, as much as…
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Ep. 23 - Lance Myers Fever
Lance "Fever" Myers has been a professional animator for over twenty years. His work can be seen in the feature films SPACE JAM, ANASTASIA, and Richard…
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Ep. 22 - M-O-O-N...That Spells "Name Dropping"
In which Mel discusses how Las Vegas, one of its most prominent magicians, rock supergroups, a Wayans brother, and horror genre illuminati have all recently…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 20 - ReGrahaminator
Mel welcomes guest (and recent on-set collaborator) Graham Skipper to the podcast. Graham is probably best known for essaying the role of Herbert West in…
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Ep. 19 - Full(ish) Disclosure
Mel rolls solo on this one again, pulling back the curtain even further on how he's managed to "barely live the dream" for the last couple years. Lots of…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 17 - Production Diaries: California In This Big Gray Sky
This summer (technically spring/summer), Mel landed to back-to-back gigs on California-lensed genre features. Both were in the A.D. department…and if you're a…
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Ep. 18 - Every Movie Like This Is Minus One Movie Of Mine
Mel, Chris, and Brittany are all in the same room once again, and this episode basically is a "debriefing" of the past couple months of production work in…
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Ep. 16 - The Script Supervising Warlock
Tim Wrobel, script supervisor and one-time star of the longest running direct-to-video horror franchise ever, drops by and gives us some sage advice from the…
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Ep. 15 - Spider Mel(anie) No More
Things get serious as we speak with our guest, actress Melanie Donihoo (Mel's wife) about performance anxiety, stage fright, and what to do when you hate doing…
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Ep. 14 - Barely Living The Dream Child
Lisa Wilcox returns in this installment (much like she did in the Nightmare series) to discuss the impact and usage of social media in today's independent…
Barely Living The DreamEp. 13 - Barely Living The Dream Master
Lisa Wilcox from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4 & 5 joins us on this episode to talk about her particular journey in the industry...from General Hospital to…
Barely Living The DreamBLTD Ep. 12 - Back In The (Hunter Pack)Saddle, Again
This episode is more or less the Chris Warren show, as Chris relates his most recent on-set experiences. Basically , Chris turned a whole production around and…
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BLTD Ep. 11 - Porno Banking, Racial Ostentation, & The Big Call Out
Brittany and Mel discuss distribution issues, crowdfunding complaints, what happens when people who theoretically should support you don't....and the…
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BLTD Ep. 10 - Living Outside
This week, Mel takes the podcast in a different direction, talking "film fallout" with his oldest friend Domingo, and his wife Melanie. And his daughter…
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BLTD Ep. 9 - Third Time Is Enemy Action
Brittany gets ripped off! (probably) Mel gets ripped off! (two possibles, one definite) Chris says something about a time machine! We also talk about…
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BLTD Ep. 7 - "The Experience…of A Lifetime…?"
We bring Brittany Miles (producer of the film 869) into the fold, and get her origin story, some on-set Charlie Foxtrot anecdotes, and discuss her writing and…
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BLTD Ep. 6 - Tapping The Vein/Axel Foley Overdrive
Jumping backwards in time with this super-sized (feature length!) episode: during the first, pre-Xmas return trip from the WICKED TRICKS shoot, Mel and Chris…
Barely Living The DreamBLTD Ep. 5 - Placeholders and Glossary Terms
Our comedy series PLACEHOLDERS has begun its multi-platform rollout! In honor of that milestone, we talk about the series' humble beginnings, the road to the…
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BLTD Ep. 4 - Smooth Sailing (or: "We Saw A Unicorn")
Recorded the week of Christmas, 2015, as Mel and Chris were returning back to Texas after the first leg of production for WICKED TRICKS. Things went really…
Barely Living The DreamBLTD Ep. 2 - The A.D. Is Your Powerhouse Drummer
Filmmakers Mel House and Chris Warren welcome you to their inaugural podcast, recorded straight from the trenches as they trek cross country to work on an…
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BLTD Ep. 3 - Nothing Feels Good
In our continuing efforts to "keep it real", Mel goes off on his own and gives an inside look into his situation, his current mental state, and other related…
Barely Living The DreamBLTD Ep. 1 - Mission Statement/Walkies Are The Canary In Your Mineshaft
Filmmakers Mel House and Chris Warren welcome you to their inaugural podcast, recorded straight from the trenches as they trek cross country to work on an…