2025 pt 3 (bc I don’t really celebrate the new year until after Tax Day): LA / Beyond Fest / work hard play hard love hard be hard
In A Cold Vein had its US premiere at @beyondfest ! @e.c.o.films & @evangamble had a sweet Q&A panel with it and we all had a blast celebrating this movie with most of the team there! I felt SO HAPPY to share it with my friends living there!!! I’m really grateful and lucky to have felt so much love that week in LA by friends I’ve known for so long, hadn’t seen in years (many not pictured bc we were too busy catching up and hugging and laughing a ton!!!!), who really showed up for me and welcome me to town 🫶 Plus making new friends who were just totally delightful! Man, y’all made me want to move there… so we’ll see. A few months earlier I got to go work in LA with @kihmberlie to build an installation and watch @doechii perform from steps away 😮💨
final 2 photos:
-the Zach’s groveling at my feet battling for my love, as they should
-the teddy bear robot from AI: Artificial Intelligence by Steven Spielberg which always felt magical and was the first to break my heart as a child
thanks for all the fun and joyous celebrations!
as for the movie…more to come soon! <3
#beyondfest #inacoldvein #doechii
more parts of 2025 (2: “overview” or “she’s alright”)
- I made it through the finale of my 20s, I cared for and cried goodbye to my Pepaw, I celebrated the marriages of my brother and my aunt, I gave many kisses to the cats, I stayed silly, I filmed/worked on set/edited A LOT…and have yet to slow down, I began and continue to work on a project near to my heart @gotyourback.doc about @hideouttheatre all the while I performed and laughed and created at the very same theatre with some of the funniest and interesting folk. I seeped into my community and let myself plant a little more root somewhere for once. I gave myself permission to do whatever I want (!) like perform, travel abroad, invest in myself, and even occasionally rest. I’m grateful for the time spent with friends and family and all the joy that collided with my grief this year.
Oh, and I turned 30! A new decade feels really, really exciting. To more stories and joy and laughter and love and travel this new season.
parts of 2025 (1: “London”)
- I grieved, I celebrated, I traveled, I made new friends, I saw old friends, I laughed, I cried, I filmed, I performed, I learned, I participated in this life
This was some of London & I loved every bit of it. We premiered ‘In A Cold Vein’ at FrightFest UK and I’m stoked to share more news soon.
HEY! I am forever posting way late about this life I live… but we LOVED being at @wearediffdallas this year with the Reaganomics music video! Bouncing between 2 fests in our hometown and celebrating with some of our awesome team, friends, and family was just the best!
And we looked good doing it (see: video a stranger took of us walking down the street 💃😎)
Watch REAGANOMICS by @donospectacular - link in bio 🌿
@dono_bog and I had such a blaaast being back in our college hometown for @thinlinefest last weekend!! to hug and celebrate friends as we’ve cheered each other on for the last decade, to watch cool projects made by cool people, to watch very cool shows and dance and vibe…… it felt so good to be home!
Thanks for having us and our music video for Reaganomics, Thin Line ‘25!!! You all made the visit so warm and welcoming with great hospitality and fun throughout. I hope for many more years with all involved!
#thinline #denton #musicvideos
Man, what an exciting weekend ahead of us! @dono_bog and I are beyond honored to be apart of these great festivals in our hometowns and you can catch the Reaganomics music video on the big screen *this weekend* at both fests! Info below and links to tix in my bio!
@thinlinefest Thin Line: Saturday 4/26 at 3PM at Campus Theatre in downtown Denton, TX
@wearediffdallas DIFF: Sunday 4/27 at 2:45PM at Cinépolis Victory Park screen 6 in Dallas, TX
Some of our great team will be with us and we’ll be excited to chat with folks after, so come out!
Some favorite setups and shots from the Reaganomics music video. With a couple days to shoot, 2 cities to prep in, and a limited budget, everyone involved carried this project to make it happen. I’m beyond grateful for that support and the generosity of time and skill from such a fantastic team. If this were a screening presentation, I’d say: A round of applause clap for us all in making this. (oh, and link in bio)
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Cardinali Studios presents:
🌿 ‘Reaganomics’ by DonoSpectacular Official Music Video 🍇
Artist: DonoSpectacular @dono_bog
Song Production: DonoSpectacular @dono_bog & Piyush Thapar @bipolarent
Director: Samantha N. McDanel @_sinmantha
Director of Photography: Jörg Viktor Steins-LauB @samhainstudios
Assistant Director: Nick Piper @lord_chupacabra
Edit & Sound FX: Samantha N. McDanel @_sinmantha
Color: Nick Piper @lord_chupacabra
Title Graphics: Laura Gonima @lauragonima
ATX Unit Team
Production Design/Set Dress: Sophia Roderick @ssroderick
1st Assistant Camera: Roman Hernandez @roninmedia_
2nd Assistant Camera/Swing: Matt O’Donnell @matt.odonnell.5205
Gaff/Grip: Beo Lerman @beolerman99
Gaff/Grip: Luke Lechman @luke_lechman
Camera/Art PA: McCoy Patterson @mccoypatterson
Art Assistant: Tara Dickerson @conjapop
BTS Photographer/Production Assistant: Sarah Uftring @sarah_uftring
BTS Photographer/Production Assistant: Jae Jacobs @j.jaepg
DFW Unit Team
Production Design/Set Dress: Kihmberlie @kihmberlie
1st Assistant Camera: Lucio Lopez @the_crust_lord
2nd Assistant Camera: Emi Solis @ac.emiii
Gaffer: Bryan Oliveira @brybryo
Key Grip: Nathan Mesner @layzproductions
Grip: John Francis McCullagh @johnfmfilms
Art Assistant: Shrey Shah @shrey_kshah
Art Assistant: Dylan Brehm @dylanbrehm
Masked Extras Cast
Choreography & Performance by: Corrie Sharpe Wilganowski @corrie_lil_bit
Choreography & Performance by: Ramya Anbarasu @rams.rhythms
Red: Tara Dickerson @conjapop
Georgia Garner @georgiagarnerr
Ryan Rutkoskie @ryanrutkoskie
Renee Troxler
Nick Gilley @actforlife
Laura Gonima @go.nima.go
Shrey Shah @shrey_kshah
Dylan Brehm @dylanbrehm
Taylor Frantum @trick_machine
Preston Longbine @preston.longbine
I am so honored and excited and grateful to collaborate with THE Mr. Spectacular himself @dono_bog and direct this phenomenal music video! We’ve talked project ideas since before I moved to Austin over 3 years ago and finally nailed such a special one down.
Thank you to Donovan for the trust in giving me this opportunity to direct my first music video and create these stellar visuals to match up with your stellar music. Thank you to my ATX & DFW teams for coming onboard with myself and @samhainstudios to make it all happen. I will praise your names for many, many years to come. I can’t wait to share, but we have a few days til then... 🍇 Stay tuned to this Saturday, 11.30.2024 🌿
Artist: DonoSpectacular @dono_bog
Director: 🙋♀️ Samantha N. McDanel @_sinmantha
Director of Photography: Jörg Viktor Steins-LauB @samhainstudios
Assistant Director: Nick Piper @lord_chupacabra
BTS Photos 📸: @uftring_imagery@roninmedia__@j.jaepg
(ran out of characters, rest of crew/cast will be posted soon 🫶🫶🫶)
yes, I am posting 20 photos in 1 post! I’d post all the hundreds of images in 1 if I could!! you all know I only post quarterly, or less. maybe we’ll squeeze a few more out of me before this year ends…. anyway, scroll to the end to see my FAVORITE photo/sequence and sneak peek of the MV.
sxsw was months ago but here’s some images from the time 🤭 always stoked for this fest and seeing the city come to life even more and giving us filmmakers a gig for the week or lots of events to hop around and meet others out of our usual texas bubble. the days and nights are long and full of movie watching, meeting fellow filmmakers, watching their movies, partying together every night, and waking up early to attend panels and more movies.
funnest year I’ve gotten to experience, stoked for the next one 🍿 and to see many of the fine folks again
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#sxsw #film
Behind The Scenes images from our first national commercial shoot for @itsskinny featuring @itsqcp 📸 captured by @matt.odonnell.5205
With about a week to write, gather the team, hire funny improvisational cast members, plan it all out, execute the shoot and edit it all together…this was a blast at every step. I really love getting to work with great talent and have fun doing it!
We were stoked to see it air on ESPN+ at the National MMA Awards last year. Watch it now with the link in my bio!
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#commercial #commercialdirector #femalefilmmaker #filmmaker #bts #behindthescenes
Filming in Sri Lanka last year was an absolute dream. It was really special to dive in and create and learn so much about the country while there.
Prettier images than these were captured in camera and it’s been exciting to see my footage out there in the world with the show airing now - excited to share more work soon!
This was apart of the India, Sri Lanka, & Saudi Arabia tour of a travel reality show and I feel so lucky for the opportunity. It really filled my adventurous spirit and wonder!
Went to a beautiful Buddhist temple, took a trek out into the mountains to a tea farm and factory, carried a stowaway leech with me for a few hours (If you’re squeamish, maybe skip the last image here bc it’s a video of said leech that found its way to me like a little vampire while filming at the tea farm! 🫥🩸) saw a komodo dragon cross the road (😅), took my first surfing lesson and desire to try it more!!!
All to say, Sri Lanka has a piece of my heart and I can’t wait to go back and explore it more in this life.
There’s my bi-annual post I guess! Cheers, y’all
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#filmmaker #traveling #srilanka #srilankatravel #doc #femalefilmmaker
