The Stephen Savage Show

On this episode, Savage takes Zoom calls from two of the Idyllwild 2026 Best Actress winners. First up, Eve Austin (Junction, In Fidelity), winner of the Best Actress in a Featurette category for her perpormance in the film "Mother Knows Best", who talks about her career in both mainstream film and television and indie film. He then brings on the winner of the Best Actress in a Short film award, Zoe Yeoman (Better Call Saul, The Practice) who discusses her work as both an actress and producer of her film, "I Should Tell You".

On this episode, Savage takes zoom calls from documentary filmmakers Brett Buescher and Nick Costello to chat about their award winning extreme skateboarding film, Driven By Angels. The focus then switches to writer-director Jet Jansen Fernandez, who joins Savage to talk about his newest film and winner of the Best Of Festival award, Blue Evening.

On this episode of the podcast, Savage welcomes actor Tom Costello (Zooming in from the East Coast) to chat about his win in the Best Supporting Actor category at the 2026 Idyllwild International Festval of Cinema for his performance in the film Pieces Of Lilo, , as well as his work on some of the most iconic series on television, including Bosch: Legacy, Parks and Recreation,   and his turn on the new Donnie Wahlberg show, Boston Blue. Savage then welcomes actress Chelsea Newman, who talkes about her role opposite Robert De Niro and Morgan Freeman in the hit film, The Comeback Trail, her stage work in the theatrical version of Killer Joe, and her appearence at the 2026 Idyllwild Cinema Fest in support of her Best Supporting Actress nomination for the feature film, My Movie starring Paul Dano.    

On this episode, Savage takes a zoom from actress, producer, and screenwriter Nakia Secrest (Modern Family, Rizzoli and Isles) and screenwriter and director Dayna Lynne North (Lincoln Heights, Veronica Mars) about walking the line between big budget Hollywood production and Independent film. The conversation also covers the issues of being women of color in the industry, the importance of recognizing female filmmakers, and their experiences as winners at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema.

On this, the 3rd instalment of his interviews with the spotlight filmmakers selected to screen at the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema for 2026, Savage interviews screenwriter and director Cathlin McCullough about her newest work, a film entitled "The Oldest", and he is joined in studio by three filmmakers from Liverpool, UK, including the producer, Dr. Lorna Brookes and lead actress Matilda Brooks-Jones about their featurette, "That Girl".

On this episode, Savage goes one on one with Allison Jernigan, Binge Networks' Chief Content Officer and indie distribution guru. Allison talks all things film distribution, film festival acquisition strategies, streaming deals with platforms such as Amazon Prime, Hulu, Apple TV, etc., and how Binge Networks can help fasttrack a project into a distribution deal that actually makes sense for the filmmaker.

On this episode, Savage talks with IIFC spotlight Filmmakers Miguel Lopez de Leon and Dawn Fields. Miguel takes us through the 4 films he will be screening at Idyllwild 2026, including his Featurette, Bellow, and his three short films, Novel Idea, Now Smile, and Heckler Guy. And returning IIFC alumni filmmaker Dawn Fields, who gives us a look at her short film, Dinner With Quinn, and her plans to turn the short into a feature film in the near future, and about her workshop venture helping filmmakers pitch their work to major producers and production companies. 

On this, the first episode of the Stephen Savage Show for 2026, Savage welcomes to the show three of the Idyllwild 2026 Spotlight Filmmakers. From the feature film, Gym Rat, writer-director Korstiaan Vandiver and writer-actor Josh Murray. From the film The Devil Returns To Monolith, Director William Stancik, and from the featurette, Guns In Paradise, director James Boss.  

*WARNING* Slightly saucy language. We Close out the 2025 season by revisting Savage's 2024 interview with Kevin Gage. On this episode, Savage is joined in studio by renowned actor, Kevin Gage. Kevin talks about working with such legendary directors as Ridley Scott, Michael Mann, Ted Damme, and others, and about sharing the screen with some of Hollywoods biggest names, like Johnny Deep, Nick Cage, Demi Moore, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro. And Kevin's amazing body of work on the films Blow, GI Jane, Heat, ConAir, and many others.

On this episode, Savage takes a Zoom call from actress and model Kimmarie Johnson, former Miss Pennsylvania and a Miss USA finalist, and the owner and founder of the world renown beauty product company, Skinglow by Kimmarie. As an actress she’s appeared in such films and series as “Dude, Where’s My Car”, “Beverly Hills 90210”,  “Wanda At Large”, and the Pamela Anderson driven action satire series “VIP”. Kimmarie talks about her reluctant beauty pageant years, the ups and downs of international runway modeling and travel, her foray into the music business, and her dream of one day living in Italy.  She also explains why a $1500 pair of shoes can be a real metaphor for life,