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May 19, 2025 • 50 mins
Finding the joy in unfettered creativity. A podcast dedicated to bringing awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere, and during any time.

In Episode 19 I am joined by Special Features Producer extraordinaire, Claudia Pretelin!

Claudia is a fascinating person. She is an international art curator, has worked with some very innovative contemporary artists such as Gary Baseman, and approaches disc production through the lens of wanting to know everything about the movie she just watched.

I really enjoyed this interview, and I'm proud to share with everyone that gets to hear from one of the most recent impressive people VS has brought onto their team.

I am trying hard to secure 2 more episodes in May including the biggest VS fan in the Nordics and an encyclopedia of exploitation. I hope to have these two up in special episodes around the Halfway to Black Friday sale.

Thank you for those who continue to listen and please let me know how I can make this better!

https://instrumentsofmemory.com/tag/claudia-pretelin/
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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Hey all, welcome back to Punk Vacation and an unofficial Vinegar
Syndrome podcast. We're going to do a special episode for
episode nineteen. It's coming out a little bit before the
halfway to Black Friday Sale. But I had an opperportunity
to speak to somebody that I'm very excited about, and
I wanted to just go ahead and get it in.
Y'all know by now, but I'll say in case anybody's

(01:08):
first time, Punk Vacation is dedicated to finding the joy
and unfettered creativity. This is a podcast dedicated to bringing
awareness and context to movies of any budget, from anywhere
and during any time in history. And I am so
excited today because one of the people behind the all

(01:29):
the discs that are on your shelves and all the
cardboard on your shelves, Claudia Bratalin. She's a special features
producer at Vinegar Syndrome. Claudia, thank you so so much
for making time tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:39):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Absolutely everybody. I was telling you this before we started,
but everybody Vinegar Syndrome is so excited for this interview
and the most of the reason is because you have
the really interesting background, I think because everybody else is
like a film major and kind of like, you know,
just did this, and so I can't wait to get
into your background a little bit tonight too.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
Yeah, I mean I don't. I didn't know about the
the cold following. Yeah, I know. I mean, I really
appreciate everyone at Vinegar Syndrome, so I'm I'm happy to
hear that there, you know, like curious about what I do.
We haven't met in person yet, so I hope one

(02:26):
day I can meet everyone and then.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, and the big reason why is you don't actually
live in New York, right.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
I don't. I live in Los Angeles, California, originally from
Mexico City, but I've been in in the United States
four ten years now, amazing.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
I could probably I just I was telling you, I
just got back from a trip to Mexico City for work,
and I got to see de Vayer the area that
you know, the zone like de Vaya Zone. Yeah, and
I took I was in Santa Fe Zone, which is
like more of a business district, and then we got
on this highway and drove past I think it's called
the lions desert or something like that. It's like a hill. Yes,

(03:08):
it looks more like a mountain when you're driving past it.
I was just shocking to see that beauty in between
two like really like huge city zones. It was this.
It felt like you were three hours outside of the city.
It was amazing.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yeah, I mean, Mexico City is huge. In just a
you know, fun fact about the Lees that's how we
call it in Spanish, is that that's where the Mansion
of Madness, that's one of the locations in the Madness
markt Zuma.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yes, oh that's awesome.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Yeah, so you see barb it.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
I didn't even realize that. That was a nice surprise.
So let's just let's catch up to twenty twenty four
when you join Vinegar Syndrome. So you kind of tease
this a little bit, but you actually don't have a
traditional film background. You are more in the art world
for a long time, right, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
So I have a professional background and communications and art history.
I have a master's and a PhD in art history.
So for over twenty years I've been actively working in
the art world where I conducted research, organized exhibitions and events,

(04:22):
and I also curated some exhibitions myself as.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Well, in both Mexico and here, yes both.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
I used to live in Rochester, New York. So I
was there for three years I think, and then I
moved to Los Angeles.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
So yeah, because of George Eastman or just a coincidence.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
In Rochester, yes, yeah, So while I was doing research
for my master's and PhD, I was studying the church
Isman collection. Oh wow, yeah, I met my husband and
that's how justin Liberty knows my husband.

Speaker 2 (05:04):
No way, that's awesome. What a change from Mexico City
to Rochester.

Speaker 3 (05:10):
It was. It was a great time. I mean I've
lived in Mexico City for three years, and then when
I moved to Rochester, it was just great not to
have to deal with traffic. Just a small place and
I needed that, so I was yeah, I was very

(05:30):
happy when I was there. And then I moved to
LA and it was back to the big.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
City, right back to traffic. And you actually spend a
lot of time in and around museums as well, right,
like creating I mean curating, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
I mean, I you know, like I I have this
website called Instruments of Memory that it's also like you know,
a platform for female artists where we kind of like
in And it's actually what I's part of what I

(06:05):
do with Vinegar Syndrome is that I interview many people
for the extras. But that's what I used to do
for my personal project as well. So yeah, that's I mean,
it's just a continuation of what I've been doing in
the in the last years.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
What And I definitely want to get into Vinegar Syndrome.
But I did like a double take when I saw
that you got to work with Gary Baseman for a while.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
Oh yeah, Yeah, that was the first experience working in
Los Angeles and it was an amazing one.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
So do you actually see his like working studio.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Yeah, I was working in his studio. I was helping
with different you know, like studio tasks that you know,
it's helping her, I mean, helping his manager. And I
was cataloging his photo collection for some time too.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Oh wow.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Yeah, he has an amazing collection of Halloween photographs. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
A lot of his work has some kind of like
a like a scary feeling to it, or like a
kind of an altered reality type of feeling to it. Right.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, he's He often says that he's you know, like
portraying or trying to represent the vitter soonness of life.
And I think it's just very accurate, you know, like
it just his work can pass us very cute and playful,
but there are a lot of like big concepts about

(07:40):
his work that are that are very very interesting.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
No, that's a amazing experience. Yeah, and was there? Can
you say the name of the website again? I want
to make sure we reference it the instruments of what
is it?

Speaker 3 (07:55):
Instruments of memory dot com. It is kind of like
I haven't been working on that, and I mean, I
think since I joined Vinegar Syndrome because it's a lot
of work. Yeah. Yeah, if you go there, I mean
you'll see pass work and everything. But yeah, I mean

(08:16):
I've always interested in, you know, like being a facilitator
for artists to present their work. So I that's why
I wanted to curate exhibitions at some point. And I'm
actually preparing an exhibition next year here in.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Los Angeles as well, in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
In twenty twenty six.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Wow, okay, that's okay. Well you'll have to remember to
tell me about it so I can promote it before
it happens.

Speaker 3 (08:44):
Yeah, of course.

Speaker 2 (08:46):
But yeah, it's interesting that the way that you phrase that,
because that's actually kind of where as I got into movies,
my interest sort of veeered more towards movies that were
underrepresented in some way. So one way to look at
that is women film or maybe black filmmakers or you know,
movies from different countries that don't get talked about as often.
That's one way to look at it, for sure. But

(09:08):
even within genre, there's just some movies like SOOV doesn't
get really spoken about and there's not many people speaking
about it from like a critical lens. So that's that's
more interesting to me than talking about whatever kind of
big movies out you know. Yeah, so it's but I
think I kind of describe what I'm trying to do
with this podcast and the other one I'm on in
a similar way of trying to bring a voice to

(09:30):
things that don't have as many people talking about them.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah. Yeah, And I mean people like to talk about
their projects all the time, so that is that's very convenient.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yeah, of course, it's a nice marriage of two people
that want that's true. Well, so okay, so that's a
good transition, and so tell me, So, how did you
get the idea to work with this crazy distribution house.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
I didn't get the idea, they actually can. We found
each other. So my connection with Vinegar Syndrome happened pretty casually.
I mean, they were on the lookout for someone to
create extras for the Mexican films that they were releasing,
and justin reached out to my husband, Ben Tucker, who

(10:19):
was a faculty member at the Preservation School at the
Isman Museum, and he mentioned that they needed someone to
assist with production of special features and communicating with talent
and archives in Spanish. So when Ben told me about

(10:41):
Vinegar Syndrome and their mission, I just became very interested
in their mission and just getting them both. And yeah,
like like you said, at the time, I was working
full time, So I initially initially help out part time
I'm and then when the opportunity arose, you know, like

(11:07):
I became a full time producer for Y.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
Yeah, that's interesting. So what were some of the early
discs you worked on.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
My first one actually was a Vacation of Terror Because
it's funny, when I moved here, I can't remember. I
think it's it was actually true. Gary Wiseman that I
met the two actors, the little Boys, the twins, and it,

(11:39):
you know, like when they told me we're working on
this film, I was like, I just met the one
of the actors. So yeah, so that was one of
the first ones. I was first, I was just working
on Mexican films. And then I guess they like what
I was doing with the Mexican films or they need,

(12:00):
you know, like someone to work on all their titles.
And that's how I started working on all their you know,
like studio films or independent films. It's been a you know,
like I just I think I was counting the titles
the other day and I think it's like over fur now.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Wow, because you started ten months ago, right, you said.

Speaker 3 (12:24):
I started in twenty twenty three.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
I think also almost two years. Yes, yeah, okay, that's
a little bit better. But still that's so busy like that,
they're really keeping you busy, Holy cod it's been very busy.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
So that's why I don't, you know, I don't do
anything else then yeah, sure.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
Sure, before we go too much on from vacation of terror,
because I haven't not a lot of people talk about that,
but that's a pretty important movie actually, right, because isn't
that a Galindo movie? Creedro Galindo? Right?

Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, I mean that was actually that was one of
the films that you know, like every time you turn
on the TV in Mexico City replaying.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Every Saturday night or something like. So I will, you know,
like I grew up watching that film. So when you know,
like and I it was really interesting because I'm gonna
dare to say that not that many people in Mexico
care about those films, and uh, you know, like even

(13:28):
when I wanted to, you know, like interview some of
the people who were part of the film, like, they
just didn't want to be part of it, you know,
some of them, not all of them. Some people like
don't have fond memories of it. But it's just, you know,
like these are kind of films that were produced in

(13:50):
a time when like everyone uh, you know, like the
goal was to make Hollywood films like small productions where
like you know, like people didn't see them as worthwhile.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
Interesting, so they wanted to be on like a bigger
budget picture or something like that. Okay, yeah, so I
had it wrong. The first one is Renee Cardona. I
believe and then the second one is Galindo I believe.

Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yes, yeah, so Rene Cardona the third and then Pedro
Galindo the third.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it's interesting if we were talking
a little bit before about the trash Mechs podcast and
they talk a lot about the Cardona family and the
Gallindo family. These you know, these big names in kind
of genre cinema in Mexico, and this one even had
the actor was Pedro Fernandez, right, I believe in the

(14:50):
first one.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Yeah, Pedro Fernandez was a it's still a very popular
pop singer, yeah, singer now, and he was in different
you know, like films, Mexican films at the time, so
he was very popular at the time.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
I was eating in a restaurant last night, actually, because
I was still in Mexico City, and they had these
big screen TVs in the restaurant, and somebody was the
person I was with was like, hey, that's pretty different
Ende he was like singing.

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, anyways, he hasn't changed at all. Certainly. I tried
to reach out to him and like I just never
heard back. So yeah, that was I wanted him to
be part of the special features.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
But yeah, that's when you have you done most of
the Mexican films that are with through vinegar syndrome.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
At this point, yeah, starting from twenty twenty three. Before
then there was someone else I didn't do that, the
Carlos Dabolla once, which anyways, yeah, I mean.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
You can mention anyone you want to. The other one
I wanted to ask you about was actually mentioned of Madness,
because so I'm a big fan of Sorry, there's there's
two releases that I always get mixed up, but all
Lookarta was Marketazuma as well, right, yes, yeah, yeah, okay,
so a huge fan of Alokarta. That movie is crazy. Yeah,

(16:20):
and I had never seen mentioned the Madness, but I
was so excited when when you put it out, sod
did you recommend that title or did they say, hey,
we're going to put this out, can you help with it?

Speaker 3 (16:29):
No? They yeah, they already had the titles, and yeah,
I just came on board to you. But that was
I mean, I it's funny because I had never I
didn't know about him before, you know, Like, it's just
funny that to me that people are so I mean,
and I really appreciate that, you know, like people that

(16:53):
are not from Mexico really love these films. Yeah, yeah,
because I didn't know anything about him before until I
in the US, and.

Speaker 2 (17:06):
That's interesting. But he was a big surrealist guy, right,
like he hung out with the other Rowski and some
of these people.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
Yeah yeah, and like this particular film, it was just
very interesting for me that LEONARDA. Carrington, the famous painter,
she was part of the of the art production and

(17:31):
her and her son who he was a production designer, Gabriel. Yeah. Yeah,
so I was, you know, like I didn't know anything
about it, and then I went back to Mexico and
I was like doing research and like someone told me,

(17:52):
like there's this you know, like curator that growth about
that film during retrospective of Leonora Carrington's work. You should
get in touch with him. And that's how the audio
commentary came about. Wow.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
That's amazing though.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
Yeah. So yeah, like if you know, like I always
try to find something related to art when I'm working
on the extras.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yeah, amazing, Yeah, bringing your two worlds together. Yeah, but
he's the perfect one to do it, right because he
was so inside the art world anyways.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yeah, he was He's such a you know, like enigmatic figure.
In Mexico, and I got to meet his daughter, who
was like really helpful and you know, like she I

(18:53):
think it was for me. In the extras for this film,
it was important to include there. There's a documentary from
twenty eleven that says some things about the filmmaker, and
there is also like the version of his daughter.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (19:17):
I wanted to include both in the release. Yeah, because
I think it's important to have you know, like we
don't always have all the facts. Memoir is not always
the most reliable, yeah, so I just wanted to give
different perspectives.

Speaker 2 (19:37):
That's awesome. Is there a release that you're particularly proud of?
Before we get into the Hollywood stuff, because it's a
whole other topic, I guess, But from the Mexican cinema stuff,
is there one you're particularly proud of?

Speaker 3 (19:51):
I guess the Mention of Madness is one of my favorites,
and I think it's one that I had in more
time time to work on. Yeah, I think that others.
I mean I really liked that, you know, people are
so interested in Mexican films, but it was it's not

(20:16):
always very easy to get in touch with people in Mexico.
Even if you speak the language. So yeah, so Mention
of Madness, I think it was more a more complete
release for me. Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (20:32):
Well, congress, it's a beautiful release. And I'm a little
bit biased because I love surrealism anyways, that's like my
sort of style. So anything about Marxtism that comes out,
I'm immediately like it's an instant purchase for me. You know. Yeah,
did you work on Interpretedoes Punks as well?

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Know, I did, but I didn't conduct the interview, so
I just together everything after. So yeah, I was on
you know, like part of the research or anything like that.
So we just again and like for those extras, I
wanted to you know, like include the point of view

(21:10):
of Mexican artist who's been documenting punk culture Mexico. So yeah,
and I got to write the essay for that one
that it was more like an introduction because again, like
I wanted someone from Mexico to write about the films,

(21:33):
and I found a lot of resistance.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
For those two in particular.

Speaker 3 (21:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (21:39):
Wow, interesting. Yeah, well, that's it's nice. It's that's in
the very complete release. That's actually one question I had
that maybe maybe this is a good time for it.
So you talk about the interviews a lot now, but
a special features producer, there's a lot more that you do.
So do you mind just kind of walking through for
people that don't know, like what what what goes into

(22:00):
being a special features producer for you?

Speaker 3 (22:03):
I mean, I'm sure my process is different from my
other colleagues. I do like to do a lot of research.
I often come, you know, like I often work on
this on films that I have never seen before, like

(22:24):
I just didn't know anything or that much about them.
So I think there's a lot of you know, like
just watching the film just trying to find what is
interesting and you know, like just try I try to
find things that appealed to me, Like I love the

(22:49):
special effects and practical effects and everything. So that's something
other I think that it's when art and film collide
and no more you know, like interesting way for me.
So yeah, I do. I try to do a lot
of research before I start reaching out to PEOPLEHD.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Part of you you want to go back and get
back into it.

Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, I can't. I you know, like I always feel
guilty if I don't drink too much about the films
that I'm working on.

Speaker 2 (23:28):
So yeah, I think maybe maybe that's a good reason
why because I was I was going to ask you
how do you started getting into the Hollywood side of this?
But actually, wait, no, no, no, sorry, before we do, you've
had to release this month itself, right or excuse me,
in April or either April or May, because you're working
on thirty eight especially right, Yes, yeah.

Speaker 3 (23:52):
That was was it this?

Speaker 2 (23:54):
Maybe that might have been April. I can't remember. Actually, yeah,
I think it was. It couldn't have been made. I
wouldn't have received it yet, so yeah, it's probably April.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Yeah, but I think I work on worked on that title,
uh like two years ago, so wow. Really yeah, sometimes
it takes some time too.

Speaker 2 (24:14):
You you were working on it for two years or
you were done.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
To No, I worked. I think this was one of
my first projects. Yeah, but then you know, like it's
I mean, they changed the time sometime when they released
this title. So yeah, I don't know what went into this,

(24:39):
uh waiting for this release.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
Oh it's okay, but but I think it just recently
came out. And that's a big one because is that
the first Vinegar Syndrome movie with Fernando Amda or.

Speaker 3 (24:55):
I'm not sure about that, but I will say so, yeah, I.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Thank you is a star.

Speaker 3 (25:01):
I think so, right, Yes, I think so too.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
But he's been in what like three hundred movies or something.
I mean the guys like everyone.

Speaker 3 (25:09):
Just like very very famous.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
Yeah, he's just.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
You can like the Sylvester Stallone.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, but he's Sylvester Stallone. But if
he was making like mini movies a year exactly right.

Speaker 5 (25:28):
Yeah, he I mean he also produced and act and
sing and you know that he does everything nice Yeah
yeah cool.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
Well anyways, sorry, that was just one thing I wanted
to draw attention to because I think that one still
has a few copies left. Yeah, it has a few
copies left, so if people wanted to go check that out,
that's like a that's an exciting to get a Fernando
al Model movie, even though it's not difficult to find one.
Hopefully there'll be many more coming down the line.

Speaker 3 (25:57):
Yeah, that'd be great following.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
Yeah, he has a big like he has a good
screen presence too. You know, he's like a he carries himself.
Well yeah, but anyways, yeah, so so going back, I
I distracted myself, but you started getting into more of
these kind of big Hollywood titles. Was that because you're
in LA Like was there? Like how did you start

(26:21):
getting into that?

Speaker 3 (26:25):
I mean, I don't think there was a particular person
at least not that I can think of. I mean,
we each of us have like a certain amount of
titles that we're working on. So I guess my first
big project for Vinegar Syndrome was there, all Okay, So perhaps,

(26:51):
I mean I I will say that I'm I think
I'm the producer that you know, like I I don't
care too much about like, oh, I want to get
the horror films, so I want to get the I
don't know, like the like you and.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Always gets the slasher movie something exactly.

Speaker 3 (27:12):
Yeah, I don't have a preference, Okay, Yeah, and I
don't know. Maybe also, like you're saying, the fact that
I'm in Los Angeles it makes it easier. An other
thing that I'd like to do when I can and
it's a possibility to you, is that I like to

(27:33):
go to the interviews. So we work with the studio
here with Jim Kuns, and like I like to be
there when we are shooting the interview.

Speaker 6 (27:44):
So yeah, did you know that Darryl had that sentimental
attachment to people or did you learn that when you
were working on the product the disc.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
I my husband told me about it, Okay, okay, yeah, yeah,
because I didn't know about the film until I started
working on it. But I really liked it. I think
it was I mean one of the films that I
can see myself watching back when I was eleven. I
just don't know, like why it didn't make it in Mexico.

Speaker 2 (28:19):
You didn't have it done there, No, But there was
a bunch of stuff coming out around that time, right,
like Never Ending Story, and like there's all these ones,
and some of them were a little bit bigger than
Darryl in terms of like box you know, ticket sales
or something like that. And there was a Flight of
the Navigator was a big one. I don't know. I'm
sure those made it down to.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Mexico, right, Yeah, yeah, I mean the Never Ending Story
was huge in Mexico. I do remember that. Of course,
the Good Nies exactly.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
Yeah, yeah, but I guess this one it was. It's
strange because for people that knew about it, it was
like a very sentimental movie, but it wasn't. There's still
some people in the US that don't know about it. Also,
it's not like it was quite as big I guess.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
You know, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:04):
Which is a shame because it's a great movie.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
It is a great movie. I mean, I just it
had it all Like we work on. That was one
of the first making up feature features that I work on,
and you know, like we interview a lot of the
cast and not the cast, I mean the crew. That's
the other thing that when we were working on that
particular film, the strike was going on here, so the

(29:30):
actors were not giving interviews.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
So, yeah, the writer's strike, and then after that the
actors followed right that one. Yeah, okay, okay, yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
So I always like I sometimes read, you know, like
comments from people like oh, it's great that I wish
they had interviewed so and so, And it's like, we're
always trying to interview the people that you all want to.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
You're like, don't worry, Yeah, we didn't think about it.

Speaker 3 (30:02):
Yes, it's fun to read what, you know, like vinegers
in their own fans think about this films too well.

Speaker 2 (30:12):
I know that there's some titles you can't talk about
because we haven't when we're recording, we haven't actually announced
the full full amount of the halfway titles yet, I
think that comes out next week or something. But you
the ones that we do know about our Golden Child,
Jade and Dirty Work. I know Oscar had a big

(30:33):
hardened and Dirty Work, but is there are there any
of these that you worked on as well? Or Swimming
to Cambodia.

Speaker 3 (30:37):
As one also, No, I work on the Golden Child. Yeah, yeah,
that was like that was a lot of fun to
work on. I wanted to do something like what we
did with Congo that we created this you know, like

(30:58):
feature it on how the gorillas were created by Winston Studio.
I wanted to do something similar with the Golden Child.
But one of the interviews that was kind of like
the main center for all of them didn't happen. But
I think, uh, you know, like we you know, like

(31:22):
it was a lot of fun to interview people that
work behind the scenes the special effects and created the
animation and you know, like the Devil and the Mad
Painter and yeah, it was it was. That's the other
thing that I enjoy about this job that I learned

(31:45):
a lot from every person that we interview, So that's
that's a lot of right. It's like the best film school.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
Yeah. Yeah, I mean even just listening at home, I
feel like I know so much more about film production
from some of the interviews that you get.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
Yeah. Yeah, and that is you know, like again, every
time that I get a title that like Congo or
The Golden Child, it's it's I'm just really happy that
I can, you know, like get to meet these people
that created this, you know, like worlds that we see

(32:24):
on the screen.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
Do you do you primarily reach out like one on
one or do you go through agents a lot like
some of these ones. Some of the people you're getting
are fairly well known, fairly famous people. So is it
just like a mix.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
It's a mix of everything. Yeah, and then there's a
lot of people in between us and them, so yeah,
it's I mean sometimes we're lucky. Some other times it's
just you know, like people love the film and they
want to talk about it or you know, like it
every every film is different, Oh for sure.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
Yeah, I mean that makes a lot of sense. This
one is a fun one because Michael Richie is a
very interesting character, so there's lots to talk about, even
just about him, you know, his career was very interesting.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
Yeah, I mean this one I guess what was interesting
to me is just how you know, like there is
no perfect film for the people that work on those films, Okay,
you know, like everyone is like, this is a movie

(33:35):
that I imagine and it ended up like being something different,
And I think it's just always fun to hear the
stories on how this movies came about.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Yeah, I mean they have even like a lot of
them have like worked titles, right, so they might be
working on a project for a long time under some
title and then they see it coming out under a
different title even, right.

Speaker 3 (34:07):
Yeah, So yeah, this like the special effects people, like
sometimes they're working on three different films at the same time,
or like they're creating work for I think I think
when ILM was working on this, we're also working on

(34:32):
other two films that I can't remember right now, but
it was just like, well, we wanted to do this,
but we didn't have time, or we didn't have the budget,
or you know, like it's just yeah, they're always talk
about how if they had more time or more budget,
and you know, like those films have a lot of money.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
Oh yeah, I know, the budgets are massive and something
Golden Child is a good one. There's the budgets are massive.
Congo was a big one.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Does this make you want to get into the behind
the scenes, like filmmaking side, Like after talking to everybody?
Is that a second career for you?

Speaker 3 (35:08):
I've always liked the behind the scenes. I don't think
I can do it myself. You never know. But I
remember that when Speed, the film with the Yeah I
came out, I was I think I was sixty years old,

(35:28):
and I saw it in the theaters with my parents
at least twice or I don't know how many times,
because we really liked it. And that year I watched
a TV special on HBO about the making of the film,
and Dennis Hooper was the host. He was like not
writing the special, and I was fascinated with all the

(35:51):
behind the scenes and all the effort that to produce
a film. So little did I know what I will
be doing many years later?

Speaker 2 (36:01):
Yeah, Well, is there I guess you can't talk about
titles coming up? Of the ones you've worked on so far,
is there one that maybe is Like, for whatever reason,
it's so hard to predict these things, but for whatever reason,
the title's not selling well and you want to tell
people about it. Because you think it's a really cool

(36:22):
movie or some of the features are really interesting and
you just want to like push people to it.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
I mean, I don't have a favorite. I have many favorites.
I mean I really liked working on Howling too.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
You did that release, Yeah, okay, so the special features
on that movie are amazing.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 2 (36:44):
I was cracking up because they gay they were asking
for werewolves, right, and they ship them like these monkeys. Yeah,
And I think it was like Christopher Lee there was like, no, no,
it's okay, we'll make it work, don't worry.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
Yeah, came up with the story of the stages of
where or something that's right.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
That's right. Yeah, Oh, that's cool that you did that one.
That disc is actually amazing and that movie is really
fun too.

Speaker 3 (37:11):
Yeah. That was That was a lot of fun to
work on because I got to work with Philip Morah
and he gave us, you know, like never seen you know,
polaroi is that no one had seen before, uh to
use in this release. And yeah, that was I mean,

(37:34):
we got Michael Mohan, the director from and Maculate to
do the interview with with Philip Mora, so that that
was a lot of fun. And that day when he
did the interview, that was the premiere of his film.
So yeah, yeah, he's he's he's just the best. He

(37:55):
was just really generous with his time.

Speaker 2 (37:59):
He left the premiere and came and did an interview with.

Speaker 3 (38:01):
Or he came to do the interview and then he
was going to the premiere after.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
That's crazy.

Speaker 3 (38:06):
Yeah, yeah, so cool. Yeah, yeah, that was that was
really special. So those are I mean, those are the
kind of stories that I like about working for Vinegar
Syndrome because you know, like you always find people that
are just very passionate about film.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah yeah, would you say that. I mean, based on
what you've seen, Michael Mohan is one of these kind
of film geek types. He just loves movies.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
He absolutely loves movies, is so passionate about it, and
he loves Vinegar Syndrome. Okay, yeah, so he was just
very excited. I wish I could could share his email
with everyone, but like he was just he was the best.

(38:55):
So like, really, if you if you get the chance
to watch that interview, just buy the Blu ray and
watch that in three you because he's so into you know,
like the the film and just getting to know Philip
and just trying to get advice from someone that you know.
I once had to go to a premiere of Howling

(39:18):
to and just be nervous about the film. So yeah,
that's one of my favorites.

Speaker 2 (39:23):
Amazing. In terms of the work you're doing at Vinegar Syndrome,
now that you've been there for some time, do you
find your responsibilities expanding or are you just like, do
they just give you more titles? Like how does that
work as you get more comfortable there?

Speaker 3 (39:38):
Well, I mean, for now, I'm just very happy to
be working on all of these films. Of course, if
there is an opportunity to help with anything else, I'm
happy to do it. But I'm just you know, like
I have my hands fold right now with all the
titles that.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
Without I won't to ask you names or anything, but
how many titles are you working on right now that
are going to be coming out in the future?

Speaker 3 (40:05):
I I usually, I mean I like to try to
work on four five films at the same time. Yeah,
just because you know, like and this is between now
and the end of the year, so you know, like

(40:27):
it's just it takes a lot of coordination and just
I like to try to get in touch with people sooner,
you know, like people are just very busy and like
there is always something going on. So yeah, so I
just wanted to say to you thank you for you know,

(40:49):
like inviting me, and I'm sorry that I had to
cancel the last time. You know, the fire is happening here.
That that is a thing. Uh that happened this year
with the LA fires. You know, like a lot of
production had to stop. So yeah, so yeah, I just

(41:14):
it takes a lot of time to convince people to
do things.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
I mean, I get yeah, it's there's like different. I'm
sure some people are excited to talk about it, maybe
they've been wanting to talk about it for a while
or whatever, but then some people have kind of moved on, right,
so you have to try to convince them they can
talk about it again.

Speaker 3 (41:34):
Yeah yeah, or they don't remember things sometimes. Yeah, it's
just you know, like some people do you know, they
keep working and just like you and me, they have
their favorite films and like, I'm sure you don't remember
everything that you did last week, so not exactly when

(41:57):
heard their years exactly. Yeah, Well that was my.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
Last question for you. So what have there been any
film genres or filmmakers or just movies that you love
a lot. Now because of this work, like that, you really,
you know, you do you find yourself drifting in a
particular direction with your interest after doing this work for
a while.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
I mean, nothing very very specific, but I like to
be surprised with Vinegar Syndrome does. I think the people
behind the curation of all of those films are very
you know, like they know a lot about film and

(42:40):
they you know, like they're creating this new canon, you know.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
Yeah, I like the way Justin talks about that.

Speaker 3 (42:50):
Yeah, so I think, you know, like everyone at Vineger
Syndrome is very passionate about film. Sure, I'm always surprised
with some of the films that I have to work
on or that I get a song too, because you know,
like I've never heard about them before, or there's always

(43:13):
something interesting about a particular film. So yeah, I don't know, Like,
I like, I'm really like the Possession of Joel Delaney
was a really interesting film for me to work on,
and I wish we could have done more in Stress,
But I don't know, like I still think about that

(43:34):
film today and.

Speaker 2 (43:36):
Okay, yeah, actually I had a note to talk to
you about that, and I got distracted because I'm enjoying
the conversation. Can we talk about that for one second. Yeah,
I don't see the incest stuff. I don't see it.
I mean, it's all over the special features and like
if you read reviews on it, people mention it and stuff,

(43:57):
but I don't see it really, Like I don't think
it's like a major point of the story.

Speaker 3 (44:02):
Yeah, I don't think it's a major point of the story.
And I think part of why I wanted I think
it was Kelly right who grew who made that video
essay about like the book versus the film.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
Yeah, yeah, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 3 (44:23):
So I wanted because that's the other thing that interests
me a lot, you know, like when when I can
I read the book after I watched a film or
before I watched the film. So yeah, this was in particular,
this film was like just really interesting. Yeah, I don't

(44:45):
see the connection between the Incest the way that some
people were talking about it. But I think, I mean,
I'm not saying that if it had a different director
it will be better, but I think Charlie maclain had

(45:07):
a very interesting project, and you know, like I think
it was just very interesting how she tried to make
this production and just how involved she was in and
like just seeing her on screen is just so you know,

(45:27):
like I really love how she looks in the film
issues and you know, like things, yeah that didn't you know,
like communicate the way that they do. But I think
just that particular film like really intrigue me, and it

(45:50):
still does, you know, Like I just I'm just that's
one of the films that I if it wasn't for
Vinegar Syndrama, maybe I you know, like I don't know
if I will have found it.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, well that's what I always tell people.
I'm very excited when Vinegar Syndrome releases like a big title,
because I know that it's going to sell well and
it's going to make the company do well, and like
then then then they get to put out movies like
the Possession of Joel Delaney that maybe people don't know about,
but but somebody in the company likes it and and

(46:25):
they take a chance on it, you know, and then
then it gets to be discovered by like another generation
of people. So yeah, I really like that about Vinegar
Syndrome a lot.

Speaker 3 (46:34):
Yeah, there's another film too that I just really loved
and I'm just I was so happy to work on
that one. It's Interrogation. Oh yeah, I love that film.
That Yes, that was one of my favorite titles.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
It was it's crazy to think of that as a
TV movie. Yeah, the quality is so high, it is.

Speaker 3 (47:05):
And like you know, like I got to interview a
Nesca Holeland awesome. So that was really that was really nice.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
It's like a boocket list kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (47:16):
Yes, yeah, that but that film, I mean if that's
one that I would recommend people buy immediately.

Speaker 2 (47:26):
Awesome. You need to get Aska Holland on your instruments
and memory.

Speaker 3 (47:31):
I yes, I should.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
Well, well, Claudia, I mean, you tell me if there's
anything else that you'd like to talk about, either with
Vinegar Syndrome or in your personal you know, creation world.
If you want to promote, let you know, let me
know otherwise. I just this is really really nice to
to get forty minutes with you here.

Speaker 3 (47:53):
Well, thank you so much for having me again. And yeah,
I mean it's just the only thing that I can
say is that I really enjoy working for Benegar Syndrome.
Everyone's like, you know, like put everything onto the titles
and like, it's just it's been two really great years

(48:16):
for me, so I'm very you know, like happy to
continue working with them.

Speaker 2 (48:23):
Well, the work you do is amazing. There's so many
special so many features on the disc and they're always
very interesting, and I like now that I understand your
vantage point a little bit better coming from the art world.
That's why there's also so many interesting behind the scenes
artistic things or costume design or stage design, all these

(48:43):
production design. So keep doing it because it's very interesting.
As a buyer of these, it's very interesting to hear
these perspectives as well.

Speaker 3 (48:53):
Thank you. Well, I'm glad you enjoy it, and thanks
again for having me.

Speaker 2 (48:57):
Yeah, of course, thanks Kadia.

Speaker 7 (48:59):
Okay, thank you for listening.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
To hear more shows from the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network.
Please select the link in the description.

Speaker 8 (50:02):
Hey, this is Jason Kleeberg from The Force five podcast,
a show that forces a guest to come up with
a movie themed top five list topic and then we
reveal our picks on air. Top five heist films, top
five tier Jerkers, top five movie dogs. Every show you'll
be asking yourself what would be on my list. Guests
include directors, screenwriters, actors, podcasters, musicians, authors, and even a

(50:24):
professional wrestler. Subscribe to the Force five podcast and you
won't just be a listener, you'll be a list nerd.
The Force five podcast available wherever you are listening now
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