The 50/50 Podcast
The 50/50 Podcast
Podcast Description
Join us as we sit down with voices from all corners of the entertainment industry, offering educational insight into process, production, and execution.
Hosted by festival founder Luke Steinfeld (Filmmaker) and 50/50 Head of Talent Wyatt Sarkisian (Maximum Effort), the podcast builds on the mission of the festival: to nurture and empower the next generation of industry talent.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
Focuses on the production, direction, and creative aspects of filmmaking, with episodes covering specific topics such as directing debut features, collaborative set environments, and long-term professional relationships, exemplified by the episode featuring Freddy Macdonald discussing his journey from film school to SXSW success.

50% Business, 50% Creative.
Hosted by 50/50 founder Luke Steinfeld, and 50/50 Head of Talent Wyatt Sarkisian, the podcast builds on the mission of the platform: to nurture and empower the next generation of industry talent.
Join us every tuesday as we sit down with voices from all corners of the entertainment industry, offering educational insight into process, production, and execution.
This week, 50/50 Festival WINNER Ali Rosenthal traces her path towards comedic purpose; after cutting her teeth in New York City, she forged her voice as a comedy filmmaker at Stanford, where she made ICE QUEENS a self-described “fiercely feminist fantasy.” We then dive into her breakout short TEEN MARY – making the film at AFI while managing the creative risk of approaching religion from a fresh, comedic perspective—and why that very risk pushed her to make the film in the first place.
From there, we move to bigger questions: why pitching yourself can sometimes be harder than pitching a project, what truly separates a comedic short film from a sketch, and why a strong director’s statement can be essential to articulating your artistic purpose, especially in comedy. We wrap by discussing the project Ali is currently taking out to town and the process of refining drafts with her manager—plus the perennial question: how do you know when a script is actually ready to pitch?

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