THE STORY
There are half a billion podcast listeners worldwide. This year there will be 5 million new podcast hosts. Charlie Bailey is one of them.
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From the director of THE McPHERSON TAPE, comes a twisted dark horror comedy about ambitious podcast host Charlie Bailey and his podcast ‘ParaNormalcy’, which takes the piss out of those who believe in ghosts.
His girlfriend, Brie, wishes he wasn't so mean-spirited about debunking spirits, but Charlie's humorous, sarcastic style is what his burgeoning audience loves.
All this changes when Charlie meets Duncan, a junior professor at Pasadena-Tech University. Duncan claims he can scientifically prove there's no afterlife.
When his experiment goes awry, Charlie’s life and career are turned upside down.
"What a pleasure to read such a
wonderful script and be in the skillful hands of a director with a vision!"
Mick Garris
"I'm delighted to be a part of
this wonderful movie!"
Dave Foley
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THE PRODUCTION
THE CHARACTERS
GABRIEL RUSH is "DUNCAN"
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Gabriel made his feature film debut in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom and his follow up The Grand Budapest Hotel. Gabriel went on to star in Guillermo del Toro's Scary Stories in the Dark and Better Call Saul. His most recent film Linoleum was a SXSW Grand Jury Award Nominee and was picked up by Hulu. In The Last Podcast Gabriel plays "Duncan", a brilliant yet tragic character whose persona is a combination of sympathetic conspirator and the silent movie icon Buster Keaton. His ability to convey what he wants with sometimes only a gesture is pure cinema. His actions set the movie on its twisted course.
CHARLIE SAXTON is "JASPER"
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Charlie Saxton got his start in the
M. Night Shyamalan supernatural thriller The Happening. From there Charlie co-starred in Showtime's Hung, Silicon Valley and Betas. In The Last Podcast Charlie plays podcast host "Jasper" -- "Charlie's" charismatic archrival. In the world of supernatural podcasters, Jasper's that guy who can walk into a room and know who's a paranormal "loser" and who's worth airdropping. Jasper has two personalities -- one that's gameshow host peppy and one that's dark, calm, calculated, and only refers to himself in the third person.
BLAKE SHELDON is "NICHOLAS"
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Blake Sheldon's incredible range as an actor has been featured in David Fincher's Gone Girl, Roadside Attractions's The Ride, and as a series regular on Hulu's The Reprisal. For The Last Podcast, Blake
plays Nicholas, an asshole vape-smoking Silverlake hipster from hell. This is the kind of delicious character that both repels and fascinates us. He is a wonderful train wreck and the catalyst for Charlie's Faustian bargain with evil.
ERIC TABACH is "CHARLIE"
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Eric's work includes appearances on Law & Order, Blue Blood, starring in the horror/thriller Dashcam, and correspondent work for Buzzfeed and Yes Theory. Eric caught the eye of the director when he saw one of Eric's videos on his popular YouTube channel. Entitled, "Why I'm Leaving YouTube." The video explained how Eric was unplugging from social media to save his sanity from the same social media demons that drive the character Charlie down a dangerous path.
KAIKANE is "BRIE"
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Kaikane is no stranger to the supernatural and horror film genes. She's starred in the etherial film Ghosts and the award-winning horror-thriller Night of The Bastard. In The Last Podcast, Kaikane plays Charlie's girlfriend Brie -- a strong independent force who may be the only thing that will save Charlie from his dangerous manic acts of grandeur. However, Brie is on her own life trajectory, one that's filled with hope and growth, and Charlie will have to fight his dark impulses to keep up with her.
DAVID FOLEY is "MILTON"​
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David Foley began his career with the irreverent MTV cult hit comedy series Kids in the Hall. David is that rare kind of comedic actor who can portray both slapstick and deadpan humor. His feature film work includes Sky High, A Bug's Life and Vampire's Suck. Coming up, David will appear as a regular in this season of Fargo. In The Last Podcast David plays Milton, an author of supernatural books who Charlie mocks. This dismissive attitude comes back to haunt Charlie.
THE CREW
DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER
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Dean Alioto got his start dropping out of two film schools to work on movies for Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, and Oliver Stone. Dean went on to direct several independent films including the recent supernatural thriller Portal for Vertical Entertainment. His writing skills and direction of actors has been praised by Variety and his abilities as an innovative storyteller were singled out by Collider. Recently, Dean was featured in the Paramount + Documentary Unknown Dimensions as the creator of the first ever found footage movie The McPherson Tape and the enigmatic Paramount TV movie Alien Abduction: Incident In Lake County. Currently, Dean is developing a series for Blumhouse TV.
PRODUCER
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Eric Tabach got his start by both producing and hosting video content for Buzzfeed and Yes Theory where his videos accumulated over 1 billion views. His inventive storytelling skills led him to create the horror movie Unsubscribed -- which opened at number one at the box office thanks to his renting out a theater during the pandemic. This audacious act was featured nationally in the news. Most recently, Eric produced the Oscar shortlisted feature documentary Bad Axe.
SPECIAL FX MAKE UP
Here's some cool credits, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Star Trek: Discovery, InHumans, and
V/H/S. Special effects make up artist Sheila Bond has worked on all of those films and TV shows and a crapload more. Her ability to create eerily believable make up FX has made her a sought after talent in her field.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
The idea of making a dark horror/comedy about a young man's relentless addiction to becoming a successful podcaster came directly from my life.
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I had a small following in both the cult found-footage horror genre and in the UFO/alien community because of my first film The McPherson Tape. After a podcast host friend of mine went in for heart surgery, I filled in for him for a month.
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At the end of the month, I was encouraged by some listeners to start my own podcast. So down the rabbit hole I went, researching the hell out of "how to build a huge podcast following." This resulted in a loss of 6 months and a crippling anxiety over doing a podcast for "success" instead of for creative enjoyment. When my girlfriend pointed out that I was becoming an obsessed psycho, I knew it was time to unplug from my unrealistic podcast fame dreams.
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My remedy for this half-a-year detour was to write about the experience in a genre I truly love -- dark comedy. Out of this came a movie project that pulled together not only a great crew and an accomplished cast, but podcasters/actors as well -- one of which became the lead in The Last Podcast, Eric Tabach.
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The Last Podcast is a cautionary tale of ambition and the many chances life gives us to either do the right thing, or to fuck up. At its heart, however, The Last Podcast is a love story between a man filled with great potential and his girlfriend who sees the success he already is.
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Cheers,
Dean Alioto
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THE
LAST
PODCAST
A FILM BY DEAN ALIOTO