A candid, high-stakes look at how a 48-hour livestream "telethon" jump-started Vengeance Turns during lockdown. ALSO -- casting wins, crowdfunding stress, day-one chaos, and the line between compromise and collapse.

One of the most magical—and painful—truths of filmmaking is that it only happens when a lot of artists pull together -- in the same direction. In this extra-long chapter of Turning to Vengeance, I am going deep on the lockdown era that pushed Vengeance Turns from script to screen: building the Cabin Fever Radio 48-Hour Telethon, restarting casting during COVID, and racing into the first day of production with more grit and vision than money.

You’ll hear how we rallied around auditions that brought Paola Luelmo (Rebecca/Mia), Azeem Vecchio (Simon), and Stacy Marie Turner (Mrs. Paine) into the family; why friends from Perry Mason—Kate Comstock, Tomer David, and Sean Hartman—became crucial collaborators; and how a wardrobe surprise, a location scramble, and the setting sun turned day one into a crash course in creative problem-solving... for all of us!

FOUND IT! Here is the link to the reading of "Perry Mason" from Cabin Fever Radio during the 48 Hour Telethon: https://youtu.be/FtbGBLG8-Q4?si=ZttvGYX2g9dmAaaa

Want to hear the Slick Talking Episode? CLICK HERE!

This episode reflects my personal recollections and opinions from that period; others may remember differently. Where I state facts, they’re drawn from call sheets, emails, and production audio/video. I’m open to sharing this space with anyone mentioned to add their perspective.

In this episode

• Building a 48-hour livestream during lockdown
• Casting wins & surprises (Backstage, returning collaborators)
• Crowdfunding vs. reality: expectations, audience, and strain
• Lake Elsinore shoot: period details on a micro-budget, racing daylight
• My “perpetual donation machine”—how I decided to dedicate personal royalties to causes tied to the film’s themes

Content notes: candid discussion of production stress; references to on-screen violence (no graphic audio).

Watch the films: Vengeance Turns: Volume One & Volume Two are streaming FREE on Tubi.

Next time: “HQ and the Greenscreen Room” (and you’ll hear from Dave Ross himself).

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

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When the pandemic hit, filmmakers, actors, and dreamers everywhere faced the same question: would lockdown be wasted time, or could it be transformed into something new? For me, Robert Christopher Smith, the lockdown became a personal and professional crucible. From recovering after a brutal case of COVID to finding myself stalled on Vengeance Turns, I chose to use isolation as fuel.

In this episode of The Lethal Voice Podcast, we open Chapter 3: Lockdown Productions with the story of Cabin Fever Radio — the wild weekly livestream where I again teamed up with David Ruano along with a crew of actors to read Twilight Zone scripts, classic movies, and eventually, my own feature screenplay. It was part survival, part creativity, and part rebellion against paralysis. What started as our desperate attempt not to get rusty became a proving ground that set the stage for everything that followed.

Listen as I share how Cabin Fever Radio pulled together a community of storytellers in the loneliest time, how it kept Vengeance Turns alive when I had nearly given up, and how it ultimately brought in the producer who would push us forward — for better or worse.

Watch the Cabin Fever Radio Novelas reading of "GLADIATOR" at https://youtu.be/zfKVvCkF40c?si=EwXIFuYT7Yl53DjF

Listen to the "Slick Talking" episode! https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/2509405/episodes/17499220-slick-talking-chapter-2-everything-falls-apart

Check out Andrew Ruano and his art at https://www.instagram.com/arystudio/

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.

Ready for revenge?
This week, I continue taking you through the experience of shooting Vengeance Turns: Volume Two scene by scene as the story turns darker and Mia Falcone finally gets her revenge! You'll hear about how we executed out own stunts and the real-life horror of spending 19 hours on location. You'll also hear about the amazing child actors we worked with and if you want more information about that, check out this edition of the Lethal Voice Newsletter: https://lethal-voice.beehiiv.com/p/never-work-with-children-or-animals-how-our-youngest-actors-helped-vengeance-turns-shine. If you’ve already watched the movies, this is your chance to hear how we did it. If you haven’t… go check them out, then come back and dig into the behind-the-scenes commentary.

Vengeance Turns: Volume Two is available to watch FREE on Tubi NOW!

Want to read the official comic book sequel and dig in deeper on all my productions and projects? Sign up for the Lethal Voice Newsletter today!

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi!

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

**NEXT WEEK CHAPTER 3 Begins: Lockdown Productions**
Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.

Ever wonder what really goes on while filming an indie production?
This week, I take you through Vengeance Turns: Volume One scene by scene, sharing the raw, unfiltered truth about what it took to make my first feature—from on-the-spot rewrites to on-the-set chaos, compromises to keep things on track, and the moments that made it all worth it! If you’ve seen the movie, this is your chance to pull back the curtain. If you haven’t… maybe watch first, then come back and hear the whole messy, glorious story.

Vengeance Turns: Volume One is available to watch FREE on Tubi NOW!

Want to read the official comic book sequel and dig in deeper on all my productions and projects? Sign up for the Lethal Voice Newsletter today!

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.

What if the sacrifice you’re making isn’t noble... just unnecessary?

In this raw and deeply personal episode, I share what it really looked like to chase my dream of filmmaking while living out of a rental car for four months in Los Angeles. From long nights folded into a pretzel in the backseat to the self-funded short film (Maddest Love) that helped me reclaim my purpose, this is the story of how desperation became strategy... and how one close-up on Perry Mason meant more than anyone could’ve guessed.

Also in this episode:
– A philosophical gut check on artistic sacrifice
– Guerrilla filmmaking on a shoestring
– Background acting as training ground
– Berg Studios, eyebrow close-ups, and Stephen Root being a legend
– The day I likely became one of the first background actors to catch COVID on set… and what it revealed

This is the moment right before Vengeance Turns finally gets made — and the world shuts down.

🎬 Want to watch the films?
Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Vengeance Turns: Volume Two are streaming now for FREE on Tubi.

📰 Subscribe to the Lethal Voice Newsletter
📸 Connect on Instagram: @onlyrobertcsmith

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.

How far would you go for a dream?

In this brutally honest chapter of The Lethal Voice Podcast, I continues my journey through hell and back in pursuit of my single vision: making Vengeance Turns. From a bug-infested shithouse and a repo'd car to four surreal months living in a rented car for rideshare, you'll hear the darkly comic, (hopefully) deeply human, and sometimes terrifying realities of chasing art to the edge of sanity.

Meet Gummy—the worst-smelling nightmare roommate with a heart of gold—and Brutus, the pill-dependent agoraphobe who loved him. Learn what happened when a ghost from my high school past, now known only as “General Loudmouth,” offered him a couch… with a price tag that smelled of beer and MAGA hats.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, and you might even reconsider your own breaking point!

This is not and never will be a rags-to-riches story. It’s my story about refusing to let go, no matter how bad it gets—and sometimes, about how bad it has to get before anything really happens.

🎬 Watch Vengeance Turns: Volume One & Vengeance Turns: Volume Two for FREE on Tubi! For those links and more, visit: VengeanceTurns.com
📬 Join the newsletter for more behind-the-scenes chaos at LethalVoice.com
🎧 And don’t forget to subscribe for next week’s episode: LOCKDOWN.

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.

Chapter 2: Everything Falls Apart begins!

What do you do when your first feature film dies, your car gets repossessed, and your “producer” vanishes with your last $2,500?

You keep keep pressing forward. At least that's what I did...

In this raw, unfiltered episode of The Lethal Voice Podcast, I share the unraveling that followed The End of Fun — a project that started with a bang on Kickstarter and ended in the void. Now broke, half-homeless, and inhaling bug spray in a North Hollywood flop house, I put everything on the line for a second chance -- with Vengeance Turns as my means of redemption.

But... then came Slick Talker—a fast-talking “producer” who promised million-dollar budgets, big-name stars, and a golden ticket... for a small fee, of course.

This is the true story of that scam, the downfall that followed, and my stubborn refusal to let go of a dream even when everything — money, housing, and hope — was slipping away.

💥 Listen now for:

• The death of The End of Fun
• Life inside the S*%THOUSE
• Why the “million-dollar proposal” was a copy-paste joke but still a valuable lesson
• Preview of THE CROOKED BRAZILIAN -- an exclusive coming only to Procrastagram this week!

Make sure you also read the Lethal Voice Newsletter. Sign up and get a comic or something else cool as you join the underground fun at LethalVoice.com!

🎧 Catch up first?
Start with Episode Zero and the full five-part Chapter One: Putting the Cart Before the Horse – now streaming.

Follow. Subscribe. Share.
Because this industry doesn’t just break your heart — it tries to take everything.

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.

What’s your barometer for knowing if you’re winning — or failing? Deadlines? Bank account? Me? Once upon a time... I used my facial hair.

In the final episode of Chapter One: Putting the Cart Before the Horse, I'm going to take you from a shady “producer” promising cash in Malibu to squatting in a borrowed guest house under security cameras — and explain how a half-wild beard became the unofficial countdown clock for my first feature film, Vengeance Turns: The Motion Picture.

You’ll hear what happened when I gambled on shady money, how background acting turned into a self-made film school, why deadlines must be broken sometimes, and how losing a beard almost cost me a gig on The Mandalorian.

This is the last stop before Chapter Two: Everything Falls Apart! so if you’re just jumping in, you can start here, then binge back through Episode Zero and the rest of Chapter One. Check out the companion newsletter for this episode to check out pictures and video showing the whole facial hair timeline and a lot more!

Lethal Voice Newsletter COMPANION to this podcast! (click here)

🔗 Sign up for the Lethal Voice newsletter at LethalVoice.com — get bonus photos, videos, and your free comic.

📸 See the “Facial Hair Barometer” in all its glory on Instagram @onlyrobertcsmith.

🐷 And if you’re hungry for the deep Crooked Brazilian saga, join Procrastagram.com — my Patreon, where the full uncensored tale drops soon.

One beard, one dream, a mission and a plan that has everything out of order.
This is the Lethal Voice Podcast.

Support the show

Vengeance Turns: Volume One and Two streaming FREE now on Tubi

Grab the free comic + see exclusive content from Vengeance Turns and ALL my projects: Procrastagram.com

Rate, share, and share your lethal voice.