Sav Rodgers was a 12-year-old queer kid in Kansas when he first found his mom's VHS copy of Chasing Amy , the Kevin Smith film he credits with saving his life. It also inspired Sav's triumphant TED Talk and now the documentary Chasing Chasing Amy , which premiered at Tribeca. In this episode we talk with Sav and Chasing Chasing Amy producer Alex Schmider about films that serve a perfect purpose despite their imperfections, and making movies with representation that aren't just about representati...
Jun 08, 2023•37 min•Ep. 159
Nardeep Khurmi wrote, directed and stars in Land of Gold , a cross-country, cross-cultural road trip exploring the dynamic between a Punjabi American truck driver (Khurmi) and a Mexican-American girl named Elena (Caroline Valenicia) whom he finds hiding in his trailer. "Can you get more American," he asks, "than two communities of color, who have been marginalized by the country they want to call home, banding together to find their piece of the pie?" The film arose in part from his fascination ...
May 26, 2023•41 min•Ep. 158
Ali Afshar has one of the most unique origin stories in Hollywood. His family moved to Petaluma, California after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, and he sought peace against a backdrop of tragedy by wrestling and street racing. A stuntman older brother helped him make his way into acting, and he soon became a producer as well. His latest project is the bilingual upstairs-downstairs family drama Casa Grande , now airing on Amazon's Freevee. But that barely scratches the surface of a story that in...
May 01, 2023•53 min•Ep. 157
Alex Convery grew up in the Chicago suburbs in the 1990s, when Michael Jordan was a superhero. He watched the Jordan doc THE LAST DANCE during pandemic lockdowns, like everyone else. But unlike everyone else, he saw an amazing movie idea about the creation of Nike's trademark sneaker, Air Jordans. Two years later, Convery's script has been made into a movie directed by Ben Affleck, starring Affleck, Matt Damon, Viola Davis and other A-listers. It's a fascinating, fun film that looks like the fir...
Apr 05, 2023•34 min•Ep. 156
Two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple helped invent the modern-day documentary with her groundbreaking Harlan County, USA , which recounted a brutal coalminers' strike in dirt-poor Harlan County, Kentucky and won the 1976 Oscar for best documentary. She won her second Oscar in 1991 for American Dream , about a heartland strike against the Hormel Foods corporation. She returns to the grassroots struggle for survival and dignity in her new film Gumbo Coalition , about the work of the Civil Rights g...
Apr 01, 2023•28 min•Ep. 155
Born into the film industry, William Sherak has a long family history with innovators like James Cameron and George Lucas. He tells us about running Hollywood's go-to 3D company at exactly the right moment, watching Jurassic Park with Steven Spielberg, connecting with directing duo Radio Silence (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett), and helping salvage the Scream franchise from the smoldering wreckage of The Weinstein Company. He also tells us why practical effects work so well for slasher ...
Mar 21, 2023•48 min•Ep. 154
You know when you're watching a cop show, and a suspect says the cops planted a gun? Or drugs? It happened for years in Baltimore thanks to the crooked Gun Trace Task Force. The new documentary I Got a Monster , by Kevin Abrams, explains the disgraced officers' M.O. and how they finally went down. He also tells us how common he thinks the behavior is, and how to stop it. If you're interested, here's the very interesting podca st that MovieMaker host Tim Molloy references in which an ex-police of...
Mar 09, 2023•28 min•Ep. 153
In his directorial debut, Kyle Marvin guided not only four of the greatest actors of all time — Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field — but also the GOAT football player in NFL history, who had never really acted before. He also juggled the interests of Endeavor Content, Brady's 199 Productions, many producers, and the NFL. And yet he somehow managed an inspirational, feel-good movie that even the hard-to-impress New York Times calls "stubbornly charming." Also, here's a terrific...
Feb 03, 2023•27 min•Ep. 152
MISSING producers Aneesh Chaganty, Sev Ohanian and Natalie Qasabian join us to talk about their addictive mystery thriller, which unfolds entirely on computer and phone screens. Yes, all the technology in their film actually works. No, it isn't easy. Also: Did you notice that alien invasion? MISSING is in theaters now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 20, 2023•26 min•Ep. 151
Making one movie is a miracle, and Adam Leipzig has worked on 36. Some of them might be among your favorites, from Honey I Shrunk the Kids to Dead Poets Society to March of the Penguins . In this episode, the former Disney and Nat Geo executive tells us what he's learned about producing, marketing, and instinct – and what he's learned about happiness. He's trying to share his insights with his new online filmmaking education platform MediaU. You can check out some free insights on our YouTube ch...
Jan 17, 2023•52 min•Ep. 150
Nick Richey, director of 1-800-HOT-NITE , is as cooly understated as he is full of surprises. The new film is about a teenager in trouble (Cobra Kai star Dallas Dupree Young) who gets surprisingly good advice from a phone sex operator (Aly Richey) on a wild night with his friends. The film is inspired by Richey's own tumultuous early years, growing up on the edge of trouble in Vancouver, Washington, near Portland. Many of his scary childhood experiences — like a weird encounter with a reptile — ...
Dec 01, 2022•44 min•Ep. 149
Matt Stawski grew up a Detroit punk fan, shooting his friends' bands with equipment from a local TV and radio station. So of course he was the ideal person to direct Blue's Big City Adventure , the new Blue's Clues movie. It's actually not as weird as it sounds. Blue's Big City Adventure is packed with light, color, and music. And Stawski found his way to it after directing videos for bands like Anti-Flag, which led to jobs directing videos for Fall Out Boy, Snoop Dogg, and CeeLo Green — includi...
Nov 18, 2022•26 min•Ep. 148
Follow Her director Sylvia Caminer knows all the potential pitfalls of making a psychosexual thriller: cheesy sex scenes, falling into tropes, and at worst, actors who feel exploited. She avoids them all in Follow Her , a film written by and starring Dani Barker, a former influencer herself whose script skillfully subverts cliche in favor of a meta exploration of the genre. In this episode, Caminer — a documentarian and producer as well as a first-time feature director — also talks about social ...
Nov 02, 2022•50 min•Ep. 147
In Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom , host and executive producer Rasool Berry travels to Galveston, Texas to learn about the real origins of Juneteenth, our newest national holiday. He talks with the descendants of the people who were emancipated on the first Juneteenth, June 19, 1865, to learn the true story of the day — and how the truth has been twisted to help people feel better about the past. He also met with Opal Lee, the grandmother of Juneteenth, whose long quest to gain recognition for...
Nov 01, 2022•30 min•Ep. 146
Peter Phok is having an amazing year — he executive produced both X , released in March, and its prequel Pearl, released in September. And he's planning ahead to MaXXXine , the third film in the horror trilogy directed by Ti West and starring Mia Goth, who co-wrote Pearl with West. Phok goes way back with West — they attended NYC's School of Visual Arts together —but he's also produced horror hits separately from the director, including the Netflix hit 1BR , which we covered in a previous episod...
Oct 05, 2022•38 min•Ep. 145
Kelci Parker, vice president of Animation at Hulu Originals, shared some perspective with students at the SCAD Animation Fest on the art of storytelling: "We're not curing cancer. But we may be bringing someone a laugh as they go through treatment." Parker, recipient of the 2022 SCAD Animation Fest Award of Excellence, spoke about her journey from writing her own screenplays to working at Comedy Central to helping shape Hulu hits like Only Murders in the Building , How I Met Your Father , and Ma...
Sep 27, 2022•21 min•Ep. 144
Come on down! Director C.J. Wallis joins us to talk about his documentary 'Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much,' which tells the story of Ted Slauson, a math assessment test writer and “The Price Is Right” fanatic. From an early age, Slauson studied the prices of the show’s prizes, and even wrote software to help him memorize them. He eventually gets caught up in a controversy when one contestant gets a price a little *too* right. Plus: Eric and Jason discuss their love for comfort TV ...
Sep 22, 2022•59 min•Ep. 143
We speak with Bianca Stigter, director of 'Three Minutes: A Lengthening.' The documentary is a beautiful and devastating tribute to a Jewish community in Poland that was captured on film in 1938 and wiped out by the Nazi regime a year later. We also talk about Nathan Fielder's unique (and hard to describe) docuseries 'The Rehearsal' and discuss fascinating artifacts uncovered in record stores, flea markets, and neighbors' homes. Hosts: Eric Steuer and Jason Betrue Theme music: Yalls ( https://ya...
Sep 03, 2022•53 min•Ep. 142
Welcome to Actual Facts, where we discuss documentary films and talk to the filmmakers behind them. In this first episode, we speak with Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, directors of 'Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song.' Hosts: Eric Steuer and Jason Betrue Theme music: Yalls ( https://yalls.bandcamp.com ) Send us a note at actualfactspod@gmail.com Visit MovieMaker Magazine online: https://www.moviemaker.com...
Aug 24, 2022•48 min•Ep. 141
We should probably shut the podcast down, because somehow we scored an interview with the legendary SLASH. We talk about his work executive producing and scoring the gnarly soundtrack for Rodrigo Gudiño's The Breach, about a chief of police investigating the very strange appearance of a mutilated body on the Porcupine River. We talk about how Slash got involved in the project, as well as his work with Quentin Tarantino, how so many G'N'R songs ended up in Thor: Love and Thunder, and why there wi...
Aug 01, 2022•28 min•Ep. 140
Eli Powers new short Skin & Bone is about a woman who draws troubled people to her farm... and looks deep into their souls. It stars Oscar nominee Amanda Seyfried and her husband, The Newsroom star Thomas Sadoski. Powers alternates between working on films by great directors like Paul Schrader and David O. Russell and making his own films — a strategy that has worked well as he builds strong relationships and buzz at festivals like Tribeca, Aspen Shorts, and Indy Shorts, where Skin & Bon...
Jul 22, 2022•27 min•Ep. 139
Todd Flaherty makes his feature directorial debut with Chrissy Judy , in which he also stars. It's the story of drag performers Chrissy (Wyatt Fenner) and Judy (Flaherty) who split up when Chrissy leaves New York City for a new relationship, leaving Judy alone to figure himself out. Chrissy Judy is a film that is very comfortable with the messiness of love, but makes everything look elegant. Despite a budget of under $20,000, the film has the black-and-white majesty of Woody Allen's Manhattan, t...
Jul 12, 2022•35 min•Ep. 138
Still Working 9 to 5 is a new documentary about two things: First, the 1980 workplace comedy 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton as office workers who get revenge on their sexist idiot boss. And second, the serious issues that the film set out to address, that remain shockingly relevant today. Our guests today are Still Working 9 to 5 moviemakers Camille Hardman and Gary and Larry Lane, as well as Zoe Nicholson, who abandoned dreams of the priesthood to become a feminist ic...
Jun 28, 2022•53 min•Ep. 137
Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson are here to talk about Severance , their Apple TV+ series about a group of office workers for a mysterious company called Lumen. As part of a bizarre security protocol, they agree to separate their work and home lives completely, so they can't remember home at work, or work at home. They keep things so separate that they can't even recognize co-workers outside of work. Adam Scott plays Mark, who receives a promotion just as the show starts, and has to onboard a brand...
Jun 16, 2022•37 min•Ep. 136
Since I Been Down tells the story of Kimonti Carter, who was sent to prison for a drive-by shooting in 1997, when he was barely 18, for the killing of a college student named Corey Pittman. The film's director, Dr. Gilda Sheppard, also tells the story of Kimonti's decades-long search for redemption, and of a prison education program he founded in hopes of giving fellow inmates hope behind bars. Perhaps most powerfully, the film indicts the factors far outside of his control that made his neighbo...
May 31, 2022•28 min•Ep. 135
Fab 5 Freddy is an icon of art, music and film who has spent much of his life bridging those worlds. We talk with him about the stunning new documentary Hold Your Fire , which he produced. The film tells the story of a 1973 standoff that began when four young Black men tried to rob a sporting-goods store, and quickly spiraled into a 47-hour hostage situation that has drawn comparisons with the Attica prison takeover and Dog Day Afternoon bank heist. (Freddy, aka Fred Brathwaite, remembers standi...
May 20, 2022•34 min•Ep. 134
Eskil Vogt is the writer-director of The Innocents , and an Oscar nominee for co-writing The Worst Person in the World . His films transcend genre, but value both realism and surprise. In this episode, Vogt talks with MovieMaker 's Tim Molloy about good vs. evil and why neither really exists, why screenwriters sometimes have to harm children and animals (only cinematically, of course) and a 1977 Swiss-French film he loves. We also discuss the promise of the X-Men films and how they often fall ap...
May 18, 2022•28 min•Ep. 133
Bruce McCulloch and Vance Banzo are two guys from Edmonton, Alberta guys, united by comedy. McCulloch is a member of the legendary Kids in the Hall who has used his clout to boost Banzo's hilarious, multicultural comedy team, TallBoyz. The new Kids and the Hall is airing on Amazon Prime just as TallBoyz make its U.S. debut on Fuse TV and Fuse+. We talked with them about who gets to make what joke, if comedy is really harder because of our more sensitive times, and dealing with notes from higher-...
May 13, 2022•43 min•Ep. 132
The first time Justin Kawika Young met Maile Stant, she told him her brother Shane was her hero: a protector at a time when both were struggling to cope with their father's abuse. Then Maile mentioned something else about Shane: He was the guy who, in 1994, attacked figure skater Nancy Kerrigan. Soon Young found himself meeting with both Maile and Shane Stant to tell the story of a man who made the worst mistake of his life at age 22, and has spent nearly three decades trying to rebuild. My Hero...
May 04, 2022•32 min•Ep. 131
Nadine Crocker made her film Continue in the hopes that people considering suicide will instead live long enough to overcome their pain. She knows that day will come, because she's lived to see it herself. Today she's the writer, director, producer and star of a feature film that's earning love on the festival circuit, building a passionate following and encouraging people to talk openly about the most difficult subjects. But a few years ago, at 23, she attempted suicide herself. She knows thing...
Apr 15, 2022•48 min•Ep. 131
