#81 | Oden Roberts | Making Independent Films

Producer and filmmaker Oden Roberts on writing, directing, producing and distributing independent film, from SXSW to Sundance. As an accomplished American producer and filmmaker, Roberts has worked on a wide range of film projects that have garnered critical acclaim and recognition in the industry. As a writer and director, Roberts recently lent his talents to rewrite Stan Lee's last film in development "Panda fights Alien"(2021), Directed "Riverborn" (2022), "Fuzz" (2023), and wrote "La Jetée: Beta Eternal" (2024), and Supertrips (2025) which is currently in production. In addition to his work behind the camera, Roberts has made significant contributions as a producer. His involvement in the SXSW 2020 entry "The Donut King," presented by Ridley Scott, and the official Sundance and Neon's 2020 entry "The Killing of Two Lovers" helped bring these films to the attention of audiences worldwide. Roberts works with distribution has worked with SC International/Blue Finch and Fighting Chance Films in North America, Europe, and Asia, helping distribute over 50 titles from 2019-2023. As a writer and director, Roberts has also been recognized for his documentary and narrative filmmaking work. His film "Grindadrap" was an official entry at SXSW in 2017, while the international documentary "Antarctica: A Year On Ice" (2016) benefited from his involvement as an executive producer. His feature film "A Fighting Season," (2017) supported by the San Francisco Film Society and Ted Hope (Good Machine/Amazon), earned him the KRF award for social justice, the most significant writing grant in North America. His previous work as a writer and director, "Be The One," was also recognized with the prestigious Cannes Golden Lion Award for directing/new director's showcase in 2012. To learn more about Oden: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oden-roberts-producer Chapters 0:00 Welcome Oden Roberts 5:02 Living differently while you're young 10:05 Knowing you will eventually land somewhere 15:15 Yellow Pages and buying airtime 20:23 Shooting independent film on Super 8 25:32 New York or San Francisco 30:36 Thinking about it after the episode 35:40 Parents don't get a bad day 40:44 Meeting in the middle 45:53 Patience, one foot after another 50:54 His own universe 56:00 The artist's dilemma of getting paid 1:01:09 Making films at the highest level 1:06:10 Spending time alone 1:11:15 Relating without using it as a weapon 1:16:24 Blocking people 1:21:36 Corporate work and connecting with people 1:26:39 A 1960s version of family 1:31:43 Free to be subjective 1:36:47 When one partner grows and the other stops 1:41:54 Coming home after a month away 1:46:59 Public school and ice hockey 1:52:01 Not firing on all cylinders 1:57:11 Feeling like an outsider among producers 2:02:15 Are people really watching? 2:07:19 Covid protocols and losing money 2:12:28 Ryan's escape through Addis Ababa 2:17:33 Fear of failure 2:22:37 Political division and the news 2:27:47 I'm still going to be here 2:32:53 Dating an actress 2:37:58 Needing to breathe and come back later 2:43:05 Managing expectations with investors 2:48:20 Different ways to make it 2:53:20 A friend of 21 years The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com