INITIATION

The director, co-writer, and editor of this film, Oren Benamor, joins the show. Bloody Disgusting called INITIATION, "unusually thoughtful," and a, "well-crafted thriller." It's a death match movie, about a mysterious cult that kidnaps a group of strangers and makes them fight its recruits to the death as part of an initiation ceremony. You might notice that Oren and I have the same last name - he's my cousin, and I'm the other writer of the film. Listeners of the show know that I am brutally honest about my work, and this is my favorite produced film I've been involved in. We discuss how Oren made the film, the intense reactions it provoked when we screened it for an audience in a theater, and the process of capturing compelling performances from the talented ensemble cast of the movie. You don't need to have seen the film to get something out of this episode, which is also a peek behind the curtain at the practical challenges of independent filmmaking.