Best MovieMaker Magazine Podcasts (2024)

1
Glen Powell and Richard Linklater (HIT MAN) 50:52

29d ago50:52

50:52

Hit Man star Glen Powell and director Richard Linklater talk about co-writing their story of a quiet college professor who goes undercover to impersonate a hitman and catch people looking for hired killers. He ends up falling in love. We talk about Steely Dan, submitting to passion to become the person you want to be, thinking, overthinking, and se…

1
Vera Drew (The People's Joker) 41:42

3M ago41:42

41:42

Vera Drew is the creator of The People's Joker, which evolved from an attempt to re-edit Todd Phillip's 2019 into its own completely original work of art — a very affectionate parody of Batman mythology and all the ideas it takes for granted. Combining comedy, animation, and Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher's flair for cartoonish drama, it's a punkis…

1
Using VR to Embrace Life, Not Escape It 58:54

5M ago58:54

58:54

Some people think of virtual reality as an escape from actual reality. But helping you escape reality is the opposite of what Felix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël hope to do through their immersive virtual reality company, Felix & Paul Studios. The Emmy-winning Montreal-based studio takes audiences to places they might otherwise never go — to the Inte…

1
Debra Granik and Coss Marte (Conbody vs Everybody) 38:51

5M ago38:51

38:51

Coss Marte created a prison-based workout program in solitary confinement, then turned it into a thriving business called Conbody that employs ex-inmates. Their recidivism rate is zero. Debra Granik, the brilliant Oscar-nominated director of films including Winter's Bone and Leave No Trace, tells the story in Conbody vs Everybody, premiering today …

1
Actual Facts: "American Pain" Director Darren Foster 50:10

6M ago50:10

50:10

Documentary podcast Actual Facts is back on the MovieMaker feed to talk docs! Eric and Jason discuss "American Pain," a documentary that tells the story of twin brothers and bodybuilders Chris and Jeff George, who operated a franchise of pain clinics in Florida where they made millions of dollars handing out pills like candy. The film's director, D…

1
Cory Choy (Esme, My Love) 41:35

7M ago41:35

41:35

Cory Choy's Esme, My Love is a mother-daughter thriller, set in the wilds of upstate New York and powered by visual and auditory experimentation. Choy relied not just on his extensive experience as a sound designer (he runs NYC's Silver Sound) but also on his own life experiences, from recording music with his friends in his early teens to being a …

1
Brian Helgeland (Finestkind) 45:43

7M ago45:43

45:43

Brian Helgeland has won an Oscar for the screenplay of L.A. Confidential and was nominated again for Mystic River. He wrote and directed films including Payback, A Knights Tale and 42. But the film he always wanted to make is Finestkind, inspired by his experience on a fishing boat off the coast of his Massachusetts hometown. It's now out on Paramo…

1
Sharon "Rocky" Roggio (1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture) 34:10

8M ago34:10

34:10

Filmmaker Sharon "Rocky" Roggio is a lesbian filmmaker who hopes to someday change her Christian pastor father's mind about homosexuality. Like many Christians, he believes that the Bible condemns it. But her new documentary, 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture, argues that mistranslations at a 1946 gathering led to widespread misundersta…

1
John Carney and Gary Clark (Flora and Son) 33:17

8M ago33:17

33:17

John Carney and Gary Clark tell stories of scrappy amateurs trying to break into the music industry — because they've both been there. Flora and Son is about a working-class young Irish woman (Eve Hewson, magnetic) who picks up a guitar for her son, and ends up learning to play it herself with help from an American teaching lessons online (Joseph G…

1
Steven Holleran (Sympathy for the Devil) 38:05

11M ago38:05

38:05

Cinematographer Steven Holleran doesn't do anything the easy way. For A Boy. A Girl. A Dream: Love on Election Night, he shot one continuous 90-minute film while racing down Sunset Boulevard. For Missing, he handed off cameras to the actors. And for his latest project, Sympathy for the Devil, he found ways to make a car ride with Nicholas Cage and …

1
Sam Hargrave (Extraction 2) 32:11

1y ago32:11

32:11

Extraction 2 director Sam Hargrave thought long and hard about how to top the 12-minute nonstop action sequence in the first Extraction, and thought of one way to do it when he saw a weather forecast calling for snow: "What if we light Chris Hemsworth on fire?" Here's our full talk with Hargrave about stunts, Oscars, the writer's strike, and yes, f…

1
Marc Levin (It's Basic) 41:31

1y ago41:31

41:31

The new doc IT'S BASIC examines how the idea of Universal Basic Income – giving people money to do with as they please —plays out in the real world. The doc by Marc Levin explores how innovators like former Stockton, California mayor Michael Tubbs have helped introduce programs that get money directly into the hands of those who need it. What do th…

1
Sav Rodgers & Alex Schmider (Chasing Chasing Amy) 36:36

1y ago36:36

36:36

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 Schm…

1
Nardeep Khurmi (Land of Gold) 40:38

1y ago40:38

40:38

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 be…

1
Ali Afshar (Casa Grande) 52:45

1y ago52:45

52:45

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…

1
Alex Convery (AIR) 33:30

1y ago33:30

33:30

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 int…

1
Barbara Kopple (Gumbo Coalition) 28:00

1+ y ago28:00

28:00

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…

1
William Sherak (Scream 5 & 6) 48:01

1+ y ago48:01

48:01

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 helpin…

1
Kevin Abrams (I Got a Monster) 27:57

1+ y ago27:57

27:57

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 i…

1
Kyle Marvin (80 for Brady) 27:11

1+ y ago27:11

27:11

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 …

1
MISSING Creators Aneesh Chaganty, Sev Ohanian and Natalie Qasabian 25:33

1+ y ago25:33

25:33

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.co…

1
Adam Leipzig Made Some of Your Favorite Movies. His MediaU Wants to Teach You What He's Learned 51:50

1+ y ago51:50

51:50

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 happines…

1
Nick Richey (1-800-HOT-NITE) 43:32

1+ y ago43:32

43:32

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 …

1
Matt Stawski (Blue's Big City Adventure) 26:19

1+ y ago26:19

26:19

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 …

1
Sylvia Caminer (Follow Her) 49:38

1+ y ago49:38

49:38

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 …

1
Rasool Berry (Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom) 30:19

1+ y ago30:19

30:19

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 twis…

1
Peter Phok (Pearl and X) 37:55

1+ y ago37:55

37:55

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 A…

1
Kelci Parker, VP of Animation at Hulu Originals, on Feedback 21:06

2y ago21:06

21:06

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 …

1
“Perfect Bid” (w/ C.J. Wallis) + “The Price Is Right” & 1980s Comfort Viewing 58:41

2y ago58:41

58:41

This is a preview episode of Actual Facts, MovieMaker’s new podcast about documentaries. Listen to more episodes at https://pod.link/1646377119 Come on down! Director C.J. Wallis joins us to talk about his film “Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much,” which tells the story of Ted Slauson, a math assessment test writer and “The Price Is Righ…

1
“Three Minutes” (w/ Bianca Stigter) + Cool Things We’ve Found 53:18

2y ago53:18

53:18

This is a preview episode of Actual Facts, MovieMaker’s new podcast about documentaries. Listen to more episodes at https://pod.link/1646377119 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 o…

1
“Hallelujah” (w/ Dayna Goldfine & Dan Geller) + The Genius of Leonard Cohen 47:54

2y ago47:54

47:54

This is a preview episode of Actual Facts, MovieMaker’s new podcast about documentaries. Listen to more episodes at https://pod.link/1646377119 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 Cohe…

1
Slash (The Breach) 27:43

2y ago27:43

27:43

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…

1
Eli Powers (Skin & Bone) 26:52

2y ago26:52

26:52

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 strat…

1
Todd Flaherty (Chrissy Judy) 34:33

2y ago34:33

34:33

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 …

1
Still Working 9 to 5 (Camille Hardman, Gary and Larry Lane & Zoe Nicholson) 53:21

2y ago53:21

53:21

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 Workin…

1
Ben Stiller and Dan Erickson (Severance) 37:10

2y ago37:10

37:10

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…

1
Dr. Gilda Sheppard (Since I Been Down) 27:59

2y ago27:59

27:59

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 h…

1
Fab 5 Freddy (Hold Your Fire) 34:03

2y ago34:03

34:03

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 …

1
Eskil Vogt (The Innocents) 27:52

2y ago27:52

27:52

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 anima…

1
Bruce McCulloch (Kids in the Hall) and Vance Banzo (TallBoyz) 42:30

2y ago42:30

42:30

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 …

1
Justin Kawika Young (My Hero the Hitman) 32:00

2y ago32:00

32:00

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 …

1
Nadine Crocker (Continue) 47:31

2y ago47:31

47:31

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 followi…

1
Richard Linklater (Apollo 10 1/2) 55:05

2+ y ago55:05

55:05

"I've been accused of being the hangout movie guy, and that's fine. Because cinema can do that really well," says Richard Linklater, whose latest film is the beautiful Apollo 10 1/2. Richard Linklater is one of our all-time favorite filmmakers, and Apollo 10 1/2 may be the most Richard Linklater of all Richard Linklater movies. He amicably fields o…

1
Kat Coiro (Marry Me) 30:00

2+ y ago30:00

30:00

Kat Coiro went from acting to directing, becoming a very in-demand director of shows like Modern Family and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and directing the pilots of Girls5Eva and the upcoming Marvel series She-Hulk. She's also the director of four films, including the brand-new music-packed rom-com Marry Me, starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen W…

1
Denis Villeneuve (Dune) 19:50

2+ y ago19:50

19:50

We had the honor of speaking with one of our greatest directors just days after his film Dune earned 10 Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture. Our favorite part is hearing him talk about the interconnected shots in Dune, "trying to create a melody" in the story, and watching Lawrence of Arabia in an empty theater when no one else showed up.…

1
Ethan Eng Made Therapy Dogs In High School. It's Spectacular 28:40

2+ y ago28:40

28:40

Therapy Dogs is one of the highlights of the latest Slamdance Film Festival, and Ethan Eng made it during his senior year of high school. He and his friend Justin Morrice enlisted their classmates in the class of 2019 to tell a stunning and beautiful story of teenagers who feel invincible, but aren't. They brilliantly combine real and staged moment…

1
Isabel Castro (MIJA) 31:51

2+ y ago31:51

31:51

Mija starts at a party store, to celebrate a birthday. It's one of many milestones in the life of Doris Muñoz that director Isabel Castro captures with charm and relatability as we see Muñoz suffer a huge career setback, then rebuild. Rejecting the tropes of depressing documentaries, she tells a story filled with incredible challenges, but also joy…

1
The 2021 Nicholl Fellows: Haley Hope Bartels, Karin delaPeña Collison, Byron Hamel, R. J. Daniel Hanna and Laura Kosann 1:01:01

2+ y ago1:01:01

1:01:01

The Nicholl Fellowship is one of the most important and prestigious screenwriting competitions. There are countless articles online about how to win — but we thought it would be best to just ask the 2021 Nicholl Fellows about their achievement. Here are their names and some details about their winning scripts: Haley Hope Bartels (Los Angeles), Pump…

1
Dasha Nekrasova (The Scary of Sixty-First) 37:59

2+ y ago37:59

37:59

Dasha Nekrasova is the director, co-writer and star of The Scary of Sixty-First, a horror story about two roommates (Madeline Quinn, Betsey Brown) who discover that their affordable new Manhattan apartment was previously owned by Jeffrey Epstein. She talks about Hollywood's "self-imposed code," why she kept the harsh language in, Epstein enabler Gh…

1
Sean Baker, Simon Rex and Bree Elrod (Red Rocket) 44:30

2+ y ago44:30

44:30

In Red Rocket, the latest from Sean Baker, a washed-up porn star named Mickey Saber (Simon Rex) returns to his Texas town and begs his wife (Bree Elrod) and her mother (first-time actor Brenda Deiss) to let him move in. They're skeptical, with good reason. He soon devises a secret plan to weasel his way back into the porn industry with help from a …

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