WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

Timothy Cooper reached out to us leading up to last year's RiverRun International Film Festival. He was our first official interview. This past week he came back on the podcast to share how "Knead," the short film he wrote and directed and which played at RiverRun last year, has faired. He also talked about an upcoming short film for which he wrote the screenplay, "Rock, Paper, Destiny."

Watch "Knead" on the Omeleto Channel:

https://youtu.be/gkvTQzMRrIw?si=lWgn4G-Ar2GQAS7n

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WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

T.J. Sandella, the co-writer and co-director of the feature film "Battersea," which played at the 2025 RiverRun International Film Festival, came back on the podcast to share how the film has faired since we last spoke.

Learn More About Battersea:

https://www.tjsandella.com/battersea

Learn More About T.J.:

https://www.tjsandella.com/

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WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

This past week Richard had the privilege of sitting down for a conversation with Michael Morin, the new Executive Director of the RiverRun International Film Festival.

Michael hails from California, where he grew up loving both music and movies, though music was his first love. After attending Junior college and film school in California, he began the first phase of his multi-faceted career which saw him touring with bands, filming concerts, and, eventually, working as an assistant to filmmaker David O. Russell, who directed The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle, among other films. After taking some time off from working in and around Hollywood, the film industry came calling Michael again, but this from a different place - the world of Film Festivals. Specifically, the Slamdance Film Festival, which was based in Park City, Utah at the time. Michael’s spent 7 years working there (2018-2025) which prepared him well for his current role, which he began back in December of 2025.

• Peruse the Offerings for the 2026 RiverRun Int'l Film Festival: https://riverrunfilm.com/2026-films-events/
• Read Michael's Interview with the Winston Salem Journal: https://journalnow.com/winstonsalemmonthly/article_4c9d42d2-e4f1-44b9-944c-50f9883d84d6.html?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnlBpQI4gNrRbhh1dvIcgAw8sumMs0cT5sL7cforqJ-ceQTiWut6kmuHYXF4U_aem_2pOK-5CNexmV51Y1P0DnzQ
• Read Michael's Interview with Moviemaker Magazine: https://www.moviemaker.com/michael-morin-riverrun/?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMjU2MjgxMDQwNTU4AAGnY38kQ2KiXfQ_9oZsESDQFoK165dSEQtL0fpUcrudn6nJAZo7HYhQOdpRiYc_aem_GNxBIVdKDaJvUPO0Mxapeg
• Learn More About the Slamdance Film Festival: https://slamdance.com/

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WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

In honor of Women's history month, we are re-releasing two interviews originally recorded following the 2025 RiverRun International Film Festival. The first is with Yvonne Chan, MD. Phd. who came to RiverRun to promote the short film "We Are Kings," in which she played Jeri, the mother of the film's protagonist. The second interview is with Danielle Goldwert, whom Will and Richard met following the screening of her animated short, "Waterlogged."

Learn More about Yvonne Chan's Body of Work:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13258603/?ref_=fn_t_1

Learn More about Danielle Goldwert's Film "Waterlogged:"

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWcN1ZQj19F/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

This week's episode is dedicated to the memory of Ken Best, who passed away in March of 2025. In addition to teaching his son Richard how to play basketball in real life, he also took the time to sit down and play games like this one with his son (whom he always tried to defeat!).

What games did you play with your fathers? Did they introduce you to sports? Did they kick your ass in NBA Jam (or perhaps let you kick theirs?). :et us know in the comments.

Sources:

https://youtu.be/AYfoToYVoQ0?si=x1Gn_VPBRaWHlrlm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Live_96

https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-014/page/n135/mode/2up

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WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

We continue our celebration of 4 years making the Nerdhat podcast by sharing stories and clips from some of our favorite episodes. We also share the top 4 most popular episodes of all time (as of March 4th), including a clip from the most popular episode to date. Can you guess what it is? Let us know in the comments if you guessed correctly.

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WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

Moving Forward, audio versions of Nerdhat News will be uploaded to the podcast feed. Here is a summary of today’s talking points:

1) We’re going back to a bi-weekly release schedule

2) Going Forward, video versions of full episodes will be posted exclusively to Patreon and will be available at the paid tiers only.

3) We still want to know what’s in your Nerdhat! Join Patreon at the free or paid tiers today to join in on Nerdhatter Chatter and share your requests with us there.

4) Episode Schedule for March:

- March 9th: “4 Years, Baby! (Part 2)

-March 23rd: “Retro Console Game Review: NBA Live ‘96 (Sega Genesis)”

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WHAT’S IN YOUR NERDHAT?

In part one of our two part celebration, we return to the very first nerdy creation Richard reviewed for the podcast, Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995). This was Laura's first time ever watching an episode, so Will and Richard decided "Heart of Ice" (first aired 9-7-92) would be an excellent choice. Listen to find out if Laura liked it, and to learn whether Chicken Noodle Soup is a dish best served cold.....

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