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Welcome to Kicking the Seat!

Ian Simmons launched Kicking the Seat in 2009, one week after seeing Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. His wife proposed blogging as a healthier outlet for his anger than red-faced, twenty-minute tirades (Ian is no longer allowed to drive home from the movies).

The Kicking the Seat Podcast followed three years later and, despite its “undiscovered gem” status, Ian thoroughly enjoys hosting film critic discussions, creating themed shows, and interviewing such luminaries as Gaspar Noé, Rachel Brosnahan, Amy Seimetz, and Richard Dreyfuss.

Ian is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. He also has a family, a day job, and conflicted feelings about referring to himself in the third person.

Ep968: IndieSeen: EMERALD CITIES (1983) w/ Director RICK SCHMIDT!

Ep968: IndieSeen: EMERALD CITIES (1983) w/ Director RICK SCHMIDT!

Ian Simmons

IndieSeen returns with a special kick-off to 2024, as Ian and Sujewa welcome famed indie filmmaker Rick Schmidt to the show!

A couple years ago, the guys reviewed Rick's Dogma 95 movie, Chetzemoka’s Curse--an utterly unique experience that turned Ian into an instant fan. Today, we're rewinding all the way back to 1983, with the equally enthralling road picture/punk concert/cultural indictment, Emerald Cities.

Ed Nylund stars as Ed, the alcoholic manager of a gas station/diner in the California desert. Two days a year, he dresses up as Santa Claus and performs in the nearby town of Trona. Fed up with her father's drinking, listlessness, and refusal to buy a better television, Ed's daughter, Z (Carolyn Zaremba), abandons him for a traveling musician--thus prompting Dad's hitchhiking adventure to track her down in San Francisco.

In this in-depth discussion, Rick talks about the trials and tribulations of shooting a micro-budget indie in the early 80s; his reliance on creative miracles; and what it's like to have inspired generations of Hollywood superstars like Kevin Smith and Vin Diesel.

Plus: Learn how you can support Rick's next movie, Bread Machine, and catch Chetzemoka’s Curse and other wild indies at the upcoming Indie Discovery LA in NYC film series!

Subscribe, like, and comment to the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel, and check out kickseat.com for multiple movie podcasts each week!

Show Links

  • Watch Emerald Cities here.

  • Join Ian in backing Rick's upcoming film, Bread Machine, at IndieGoGo!

  • Check out the homepage for Indie Discovery LA in NYC for info on films screening at Film Noir Cinema in Greenpoint, Brooklyn this March and April--including Rick's Film, Chetzemoka’s Curse!

  • Learn more about Rick's movies and books here.

  • Watch the new trailer for Sujewa's latest film, Cosmic Disco Detective Rene (screening in Brooklyn in late April, as part of Indie Discovery LA in NYC).

  • Rent The Secret Society for Slow Romance (the predecessor to Cosmic Disco Detective Rene).

  • Keep up with all of Sujewa's projects.

  • Follow Sujewa on X.

  • Rent Cosmic Disco Detective Rene on Vimeo!

  • Flash back to 2022, when Ian and Sujewa reviewed Chetzemoka’s Curse!

  • And while you're at it, why not watch Rick Schmidt's Chetzemoka’s Curse?

Ep969: Gettin' Our Phil: BLADE RUNNER (1982)

Ep969: Gettin' Our Phil: BLADE RUNNER (1982)
Ep967: ADAM THE FIRST Interview w/ Writer/Director IRVING FRANCO and Star OAKES FEGLEY

Ep967: ADAM THE FIRST Interview w/ Writer/Director IRVING FRANCO and Star OAKES FEGLEY