Xan Cassavetes didn't set out to make a vampire film. In fact, though her newest film is called Kiss of the Damned, opening today (5/3/13), she's still not convinced she has.

Actor Seymour Cassel is on the phone and, when asked what he's been doing, says, "Well, I'm looking for work."

In Kirkland, a star was born -- in her forties. Kirkland's Anna, a faded Czech star stumbling into Manhattan striving for a new beginning, is just as stunning 25 years later.

The story of the making of Olive, the first full length feature film shot entirely on a cell phone, came to me back in December of 2009.

Should we call him "Spartacus"? Or "Champion"? Both names certainly fit the man. Kirk Douglas turns 95 tomorrow, and he is still very much with us.

In the artistically vibrant NYC of the 50s, Cassel was an acting student with the famed Stella Adler when he encountered Cassavetes, just six years his senior, a man who'd go on to redefine what independent film could achieve and be.