DS5 Podcast: Five Backstage

If you aspire to win a spot on a TV cooking competition or a primetime game show, then the editing and storytelling skills of Casting Producer Brian Huckeba could help pave your way to your "fifteen minutes" of fame. Find out what motivated Brian to make his initial move to Hollywood, how he landed on the casting side of the entertainment business and how he's helped to serve up talented contestants for shows like He...

Reporting local news is becoming more and more challenging, especially in the year 2020. Today, I talk to an old friend who is now the main news anchor for the FOX affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina. Brian McConchie discusses the challenges of covering the COVID pandemic and other historic events on the local level, the joys of covering local sports, and how this New England raised boy adjusted to life as a journalist in the dee...

John French grew up with a love for motion pictures, but after a primary career in sales, he's recently written a second act in life, pursuing his passion for the performing arts. How John's father inspired him to join the independent film circuit and what John thinks other newcomers need to know before stepping in front of a movie camera. Hear John's story of becoming an actor in the indy film world as Five goes bac...

Meet a Nigerian immigrant who's found success working as a producer, writer and director in the southern California television and film production industry. Indeed, Olu Odebunmi is the modern definition of the Ellis Island era concept of the American Dream. Why Olu chose to pursue a career in entertainment upon moving to the US, and how he climbed the ladder towards producing and writing projects for some well known TV network...

Today Five goes backstage with Las Vegas based Independent Filmmaker Kelly Schwarze. Kelly first grabbed our attention when his team produced the funny internet sketch comedy show "Smidgits." Kelly and team has gone on to turn out several independent feature films, most recently "Abigail Haunting," currently available on Amazon Prime. And through his Indie Film Factory, he helps other aspiring filmmakers learn t...

Best known for playing Colonel Taylor's son on the NBC sitcom "A Different World," actor, Cory Tyler landed many roles during his Hollywood career, even producing the hilarious internet show "Can We Do That?" But his time in the entertainment world fueled a desire to help people in the real world, leading him to become a certified counselor. Cory shares how his time on the set inspired a career transition, ...

Meet a hilarious sketch comedy artist and commercial actor who tossed his hat into the world of indy filmmaking with a Film Noir throwback that's earned a good amount of hardware on the independent film festival circuit. It's the funny and talented Tom Konkle, director of the award winning "Trouble Is My Business." Tom talks about the unique production schedule that made Trouble a reality, his origins in British...

After accomplishing his dream of working for his favorite local TV station, this small town South Carolina boy is doing so much more. John Howard is now the Technical Director for NBC's Sunday Night Football, bringing the best pro football match-ups to living rooms nationwide 17 weeks a year every fall. How he went from local newscast director to puncing up the pictures on primetime sports broadcasts, what a technical director...

From small town TV news anchor to executive producer and host of a multi-time Webby Award nominated web series, Sunny Gault was an early adopter of internet media. Now after over a decade of success as an audio podcaster, she's now helping newcomers learn how to launch their own shows into the podcasting universe. Sunny shares her rise from traditional broadcasting to producing for the world wide web and how her current projec...