Mike Southerly | Lost with You | Cinema Crusaders Podcast

WEPA! Cinema Crusaders is hitting the trail for a conversation packed with heart, hustle, and honest human connection as Al Mega welcomes writer/director Michael Southerly to discuss his feature directorial debut, Lost With You.

After years working as a creative force in motion picture advertising, helping shape the way audiences discovered major films through trailers and campaigns, Southerly has stepped into the director’s chair with a deeply personal indie romantic drama that strips storytelling down to its most powerful ingredients: two people, one walk, real conversation, and the emotional courage to listen.

Lost With You follows two strangers who meet on a Los Angeles hiking trail and begin what seems like an easy, flirtatious walk. But as the miles unfold, so do the deeper truths between them. Politics, identity, faith, family, and personal history all rise to the surface, turning a simple encounter into something funny, risky, intimate, and unexpectedly moving.

Starring Jake Short and Madison Shamoun, the film explores whether two people from different worlds can still find common ground in an age where division often feels louder than connection. It is romance with brains, indie filmmaking with guts, and a love letter to Los Angeles that trades the usual Hollywood shine for open trails, golden terrain, and conversations that actually matter.

In this episode, Al Mega and Michael Southerly dive into the journey from trailer editor to filmmaker, the lessons learned from years of shaping stories for other creators, the challenge of making a self-financed first feature, and why Lost With You was built with a small crew, real locations, natural performances, and a whole lot of heart.

They also discuss the craft of writing dialogue that feels authentic, directing a two-hander where chemistry is everything, and how indie filmmakers can transform limitations into creative fuel. Because let’s be real—anyone can make excuses, but making a movie with limited resources on real hiking trails? That’s not filmmaking. That’s emotional cardio with a camera.

At its core, Lost With You asks a question that feels urgent right now: Can we still truly hear each other across deep differences? Southerly’s answer is not simple, preachy, or wrapped in a bow. Instead, it lives in the messy middle—where people laugh, argue, challenge each other, misunderstand each other, and maybe, if they are brave enough, see each other clearly.

This is the kind of indie film conversation Cinema Crusaders loves: smart, human, passionate, and full of creative fire. Whether you are a filmmaker, film fan, writer, actor, romantic, skeptic, or someone who just loves a great story told with heart, this episode is one to watch.

Support independent cinema, check out Lost With You, and join Al Mega for a conversation about craft, connection, and the power of telling your own story.

Website:
https://www.lostwithyou.com/

The Cinema Crusade Never Ends!