Avert Your Eyes

This episode's guest is Maria Tuadi. She is an Indonesian-American musician and filmmaker raised in SoCal that I met while attending the 2019 Asian Film Festival of Dallas. Her film Always screened during the Women's Block. Her "Love, Sweat and Fears" EP that she wrote, performed, and produced, is an exploration of contemporary RnB and Soul singing. The EP features the single, "Still", a Session I 2016 Grand Prize Winner and Lennon Award Winner in the R&B Category of The John Lennon Songwriting Contest! Tuadi's latest single, "Always" is the title track of her Asian on Film Festival Best Original Score Award-winning short film of the same name. During our conversation we discuss her film, music and more on episode number 49, of the Avert Your Eyes Podcast! Consider yourself warned... Visit Maria's website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, and Soundcloud. If you enjoyed the episode, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe! You can also subscribe via Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or Google Play. Follow us via Facebook and Twitter. Visit our website. Click here to take our listener survey! We now have Avert Your Eyes Podcast merchandise! Check it out here!

This episode's guest is Fort Worth rapper, The.Naaman. He is currently nominated for a 2019 Fort Worth Weekly Music Award in the R&B/Hip Hop Category. Check out his current single here. If you enjoyed the episode, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe! You can also subscribe via Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or Google Play. Follow us via Facebook and Twitter. Visit our website. Click here to take our listener survey! We now have Avert Your Eyes Podcast merchandise! Check it out here!

This episode's guest is Dave Lieber who is "The Watchdog" columnist at The Dallas Morning News. He is also on a mission to bring back to life a forgotten historical figure of North Texas – Amon G. Carter – who owned the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, WBAP-AM and what's now NBC 5. Carter is credited with bringing a trillion dollars worth of businesses to North Texas. Dave's eighth book is called "AMON! The Ultimate Texan." He's also written a play of the same name that was performed before more than a dozen sellout audiences at Artisan Center Theater in Hurst in May 2019. I got the chance to see the play following our sit down interview and this trip through history was amazing! Seeing actor Kelvin Dilks portray such a larger than life person in the flesh was a roller coaster of highs filled with big bravado and laughs and the touching, sad lows that made you feel his personal tragedies. If you have lived, worked, dreamed, or played in Fort Worth, I highly recommend you see the play! Catch it if you can at the Artisan Center Theater! For tickets, visit www.artisanct.com. During our conversation, I got to sit behind the desk on the set as in between performances as we discuss his new play, the death of journalism, and so much more on episode number 45, of the Avert Your Eyes Podcast! Consider yourself warned... If you enjoyed the episode, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe! You can also subscribe via Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or Google Play. Follow us via Facebook and Twitter. Visit our website. Click here to take our listener survey! We now have Avert Your Eyes Podcast merchandise! Check it out here!

This episode's guest is Deborah Jung, the Founder and Executive Director of Kids Who Care. Deborah is a 2007 Great Women of Texas honoree, 2008 Legacy of Women Award recipient for the Arts, and most recently the Heart of Gold award recipient from the Fort Worth Arts Council. Deborah Jung has produced and directed tours of original musicals since 1990 with Kids Who Care, previewing Off Broadway at the Lamb's Theatre, and appearing at the Kennedy Center, Bass Hall, and Disneyland. Additional tours include venues in New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Italy, Albania, Germany, Washington D.C., Orlando, Nashville, across Texas and at 30,000 feet in the air on the American Airlines Wish Flight. Deborah has produced and directed family musicals for Kids Who Care including West Side Story, Peter Pan, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Godspell, Narnia, Wizard of Oz, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, A Christmas Carol and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Under Deborah's direction, Kids Who Care has produced Family Concerts with Peter Yarrow, Trout Fishing in America, Sara Hickman, Inca Son, Eddie Coker, Danny Wright, and Joseph Vincelli. Prior to founding Kids Who Care, Deborah Jung was a member of Actor's Equity and a member of the Resident Company at Casa Mañana (1975-1989). While at Casa, she directed and/or appeared in over 75 productions and is the original founder of Casa Kids. Celebrating thirty years this year, Kids Who Care is still following the original vision and desire of Founder and Executive Director Deborah Jung….. which is "To Create a place where the Child is Cherished. To Write and Produce Original Works designed to Change the World. To Find Stellar Arts and Business Professionals, who adore Kids, and work with them. To Gather the Brightest Business and Community leaders, who love Kids, and ask them to volunteer alongside us. So that, When the Lights Go Up … We Find Delight!" Kids are transformed when their confidences are built, and when the combination of artistic development is infused with entrepreneurial leadership, Kids are more than ready for the bright futures that await them! At Kids Who Care, they do this by leading with an entrepreneurial mindset, valuing the artistic integrity of kids, promoting excellence in artistic development, seeking financial and cultural diversity, teaching ensemble driven mindset, mutually respecting all ages, and producing original works that are designed to change the world! By offering a year round artistic education to kids of all ages and backgrounds, children have opportunities to be part of summer musical and leadership camps, weekly classes, or even the opportunity to tour an original work which is designed to change the world. During my conversation with Deborah Jung, we discuss how she accidentally got into theater, her time at CASA Mañana, the creation of Kids Who Care, and so much more on episode number 43, of the Avert Your Eyes Podcast! Consider yourself warned... If you enjoyed the episode, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe! You can also subscribe via Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or Google Play. Follow us via Facebook and Twitter. Visit our website. Click here to take our listener survey! We now have Avert Your Eyes Podcast merchandise! Check it out here!

Episode 41 is a very special edition of the podcast! I recently attended the 2019 Best of Fests Film Festival a few weeks ago. 22 different film festivals came together to present films that either were popular with their audiences or represented their programming esthetic. I attended the red carpet and spoke with several filmmakers and festival representatives including: Harry and Linda Eaddy with the Denton Black Film Festival. www.dentonbff.com Rob Smat, Director of "The Last Whistle." www.lastwhistlemovie.com Aaron N. Martin, Becky Nitschke, Celena Rae, and Ray Hosack from the film "The Last Whistle." www.lastwhistlemovie.com Mark Birnbaum, The Director of the documentary "The Big Buy," and Bart Weiss of Dallas VideoFest. www.videofest.org Lizette Barrera, Director of the film "Mosca." www.videofest.org David Blue Garcia, Director of "Tejano." www.tejanomovie.com His film represented the Dallas International Film Festival. www.dallasfilm.org. Thomas Shubert and David Gibson of The Asian Film Festival of Dallas. www.asianfilmdallas.com Liz Cardenas, Director of the film "Imago." The film represented the Dallas International Film Festival. www.dallasfilm.org. Susan Carol Davis and with The Thin Line Film Festival. www.thinline.us. Alexa May, Director of "Phonies" with the Pegasus Film Festival. Alex Garcia Topete with Festival de Cine Latino Americano. www.fdcla.org. Rachelle Weiss Crane with the Dallas Jewish Film Festival. Jeffrey Brown with Czech That Film. www.czechthatfilm.org Curtis Smith, President of the Board of Directors of Q Cinema. www.qcinema.org. Jitin Hingorani, Executive Director of the DFW South Asian Film Festival. www.dfwsaff.com. Samuel Thomas, one of the Festival Directors of the Deep in the Heart Film Festival. www.deepintheheartff.com To learn more about Best of Fests, visit www.bestoffests.org. If you enjoyed the episode, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe! You can also subscribe via Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or Google Play. Follow us via Facebook and Twitter. Visit our website. Click here to take our listener survey! We now have Avert Your Eyes Podcast merchandise! Check it out here!

This episode's guest is Maddy Lea. She is a 9 year old up and coming actress from Fort Worth, Texas and has been in various performing arts since the age of 5. Maddy Lea has been featured in several SAG eligible projects including one of the current nationwide Great Wolf Lodge commercials. She has also acted in community theatre as well as numerous independent films within the last few years. When Maddy Lea is not performing in film and television projects, she is also making a name for herself as a professional cosplayer within the DFW area. She was a featured guest at the annual FanExpo in Dallas, TX. Maddy Lea is also an accomplished dancer and model in both print and runway. Maddy Lea's aspirations continue to grow every day and she one day dreams of starring in a full feature horror film. Maddy plays the titular character of a film called Alora that Michael Gibson Jr co-wrote along with Nicholas Muthersbaugh. The story is about a single mother who is training as a NASA astronaut to potentially go and visit a new planet labeled that has been discovered that is within the Goldilocks Zone of a star. The conflict arises in that she has to make a choice to going on the mission of a lifetime versus the love of her daughter that she would have to leave behind. It's an amazing story and I hope you can check it out. The film has been selected into the 2019 Denton Black Film Festival. The world premiere is on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 6:15 p.m. at the Campus Theater in Denton, Texas. We'll have a link at www.avertyoureyespod.com so you can see the trailer we released as well as get tickets to the screening. During our conversation we talk with Maddy Lea and her parents about Maddy's acting, cosplay, dancing, and so much more on episode 39 of the Avert Your Eyes Podcast. Consider yourself warned. Follow Maddy on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter. Click here for links to the trailer and tickets. Follow Alora on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you enjoyed the episode, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe! You can also subscribe via Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or Google Play. Follow us via Facebook and Twitter. Visit our website. Click here to take our listener survey! We now have Avert Your Eyes Podcast merchandise! Check it out here!

As you may know, aside from working on my day job and podcasting, I have also been working on a film. It's called "Alora" and it has been selected into the 2019 Denton Black Film Festival. It was written by myself and my friend, the very talented Nicholas Muthersbaugh, who also directed it. The story is about a single mother who is training as a NASA astronaut to potentially go and visit a new planet labeled that has been discovered that is within the Goldilocks Zone of a star, A-107A. The conflict arises in that she has to make a choice to going on the mission of a lifetime versus the love of her daughter that she would have to leave behind. It's an amazing story and I hope you can check it out. The world premiere is Saturday, January 26, of this year, 2019 at 6:15 p.m. at the Campus Theater in Denton, Texas. Click here for links to the trailer and tickets. Follow Alora on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The film stars 3 amazing actresses that we had the opportunity to work with: Lauren Brizendine, who plays the mom, Maddy Lea Hendrix who plays the daughter and did such an fantastic job, and our next guest on the podcast, Nicole Fancher. Nicole Fancher was born in LA, but mostly grew up in Oklahoma. She has a Bachelors degree in vocal performance and English Composition, but she got the film bug while taking a class on film at Oklahoma City University and has been acting in indie films and commercials ever since. Look our for her first starring role in a feature called Shifter, which will be filming in February. During our conversation we discuss acting, her upcoming film Shifter, shark movies, and so much more on episode 37 of the Avert Your Eyes Podcast. Consider yourself warned. Follow Nicole on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you enjoyed the episode, head over to Apple Podcasts and kindly leave us a rating, a review, and subscribe! You can also subscribe via Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn or Google Play. Follow us via Facebook and Twitter. Visit our website. Click here to take our listener survey! We now have Avert Your Eyes Podcast merchandise! Check it out here!