The Soft Sticks Podcast

Episodes

1. 4

   8 | Anthony Frith (Award Winning Writer & Director)

   Today’s guest is Anthony Frith, an award winning writer and director. Anthony’s screen credits include his feature film debut, The Land That Time Forgot, the behind-the-scenes documentary Mockbuster , and ABC iView series Lessons From A Middle Class Artist. Anthony is the inaugural Guest…

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   Jul 31, 2026

   16 min
2. 3

   7 | Richard Sowada (SKFF Festival Director)

   Today’s guest is Richard Sowada, the Festival Director of the St Kilda Film Festival. In this episode, Richard shares his insights on submitting films to Academy-accredited festivals such as the St Kilda Film Festival. He discusses his programming approach, describing how he identifies the...

   Jun 2, 2026

   23 min
3. 2

   6 | Jasmine and Stuart Charles (SSFF Festival and Artistic Directors)

   Today’s guests are Jasmine and Stuart Charles, the Festival and Artistic Directors of the Stellar Short Film Festival. In this episode, Jasmine and Stuart share their approach to programming the ‘Stellar 12’, a collection of twelve highly acclaimed Australian short films, and explain their...

   Apr 30, 2026

   13 min
4. 1

   5 | 2025 Official Selection Filmmakers (AIFF)

   Today’s guests are the 2025 AIFF Official Selection filmmakers, including Travis Jeffery (writer, producer, actor) and Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (director) for Dusty, Luke Neher (director, writer) and Sam Gill (director, writer) for Sisters, Rebecca Parker (director, writer) for Bear, Cate Commisso...

   Mar 31, 2026

   24 min
5. 4 | Kirsty Stark (Emmy Award Winning Producer)

   Today’s guest is Kirsty Stark, an Emmy award winning producer, start up founder, speaker, podcast host and screen industry leader. Kirsty’s screen credits include children’s series First Day, Stateless (co-producer for Matchbox Pictures), feature film A Month of Sundays (Madman Production…

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   Feb 26, 2026

   13 min
6. 3 | Ruth Estelle (Award Winning Writer)

   Today’s guest is Ruth Estelle, an award-winning writer. Ruth is part of the dynamic writing duo at Word Ninjas. She is also the Business and Media Manager for UK business, Emotion Coaching, and was previously a Development and Production Executive at The Mercury. Ruth has worked across a variety…

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   Jul 29, 2025

   20 min
7. 2 | Carlos Manrique Clavijo (SPA Award Winning Animation Creative Producer and Sound Designer)

   Today’s guest is Carlos Manrique Clavijo, a Screen Producers Australia award winning animation creative producer and sound designer. Carlos is also the co-founder of Karu-Karu Animations and serves as the South Australian Representative of the Australian Screen Sound Guild. He has also been a...

   Jun 8, 2025

   18 min
8. 1 | Al Cossar (MIFF Artistic Director)

   Today’s guest is Al Cossar, the Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Film Festival. Al discusses what inspired him to pursue a career in the film industry and how he got started. Al highlights what filmmakers should focus on when submitting their short films to academy-accredited...

   May 8, 2025

   28 min
9. The Soft Sticks Trailer

   Welcome to The Soft Sticks Podcast, presented by The Adelaide Independent Film Festival! We speak with industry leaders to empower filmmakers as they navigate the ever-evolving film industry landscape. Hear from artistic directors at prestigious film festivals, along with award-winning...

   Apr 18, 2025

   <1 min