Episode 174: Steven Aripez

On this episode of March Forth with Mike Bauman, Mike chats with Steven Aripez!

Aripez is an independent filmmaker from Temecula, California whose love for movies dates back to his childhood. He started taking film seriously at the age of 16, initially as a writer.

Aripez wrote, produced, directed and edited his first feature film entitled The Director's Cut. Inspired in part by the style of movies like Clerks from Kevin Smith, The Director's Cut (2022) is a hangout murder mystery set in a video store. Additionally, Aripez has writer credits for The Morning Star, as well as writer and producer credits on Switchblade Holiday, and Rob, The Robber. He's also one of the brains behind The Temecula Valley Film Festival.

An avid fan of horror and comedy, the next adventure for Aripez is his raunchy comedy film entitled Romancing with Herp. A nod to gutter cinema in the vein of films like Knocked Up, Superbad, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Aripez launched a Kickstarter for Romancing with Herp that's active through 6/5/25 to help bring independent, raunchy romcoms back to the mainstream.

In this episode, Aripez talks with Mike about the genesis of Romancing with Herp, including the film's plot, getting Tober Williams, Nikki Howard, Nick Hibbitts, and Steve Bridges signed on to the movie, the Kickstarter perks for backers, his love for gutter cinema and raunchy comedies, his goal of getting a theatrical release for the movie, shooting the film locally in Temecula, and more.

Follow Aripez on Instagram @aripezfilms. Follow Romancing with Herp on Instagram @romancingwithherp.

To donate and help support the successful launch of Romancing with Herp, visit the Kickstarter link at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aripezfilms/romancing-with-herp. Every dollar counts!

Follow Mike on Instagram @marchforthpod. To stay up-to-date on the podcast and learn more about Mike, visit https://linktr.ee/marchforthpod.

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