If there's a more innovative, surprising, enjoyable, and fun documentary than STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF (2023), I haven't seen it this year. It's no surprise all those attributes could be used to describe my conversation with its director, Law Chen.

From leading the way in Asian-American romcoms to the brilliant 26.2 TO LIFE, I talk with filmmaker Christine Yoo about her career, how to depict marathons and prisons on film, the state of rom-coms and Asian-American filmmaking, and more. Just by those categories alone you should know you are hearing from a wildly original filmmaker. And that's before the CIA gets namedropped.

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There's something so inspiring about a filmmaker who has a million different reasons for why he shouldn't be selected for this fellowship or that school, but goes forward boldly, anyway, and stays humble about it.

And also a guy who would love the opportunity to teach at his film school -- NYU -- but I completely believe him when he says that he would quit if it got in the way of his feature filmmaking.

That's the story of my guest, filmmaker Ward Kamel.

Let's throw it back to how things used to be -- date night movies, romcoms, leaving the theater feeling good about what you just watched.

I don't want to get too nostalgic about the past because right now we have access to so many great films from so many new creators than we ever had before, but we can all agree (I hope) that we need more films like HANGDOG (2023) in theaters. And thanks to filmmakers Matt Cascella (director + writer) and Jen Cordery (writer), we can.

There is no other filmmaker working today that personifies being the "man in the arena", as Theodore Roosevelt so eloquently put it, than Matthew Heineman.

His films have ranged from the frontlines of wars to the sweet and touching portrayal of Jon Batiste in AMERICAN SYMPHONY (2023). Just making one such film could be a career pinnacle -- Matthew has directed 14 wholly original, extraordinary special artistic contributions to the medium -- and he's here to share the details.

The debut feature, TO NOWHERE (2020), of Sian Astor-Lewis is one of the best films I've seen this year, and she's here to talk about it. It's available now for streaming on Amazon, Tubi, and Apple.

Welcome to spooky season in this re-release of my conversation with filmmaker Hoku Uchiyama.

Be prepared to get a bill from The New School after this episode -- it's an hour with Vlad Nikolić, dean of the School of Media Studies at The New School.

This is a re-release of my discussion with Ross McDonnell. His film, SWIFT JUSTICE, is up for a News & Doc Emmy in Outstanding Cinematography: Documentary. The awards will be revealed live on September 26, 2024.

AI is the most controversial topic in filmmaking right now. I talk about it with the directors' duo of Julien Vallée and Eve Duhamel, artists who are now exploring the medium in the best possible way -- as an extension of their own art.

I mean this in the best possible way: Nathan Schiltz doesn’t give a fuck. About chasing laurels for your short films. The professors at Woodbury. THE FABELMANS saying you are going to get the girls by becoming a film geek.

What he does care a lot about is the quality of his art. This is what made the episode so much fun for me. If you think I’m describing somebody with a nihilistic point of view, that’s not what I’m saying. He’s that dedicated to his art that he’s tuning out everything else and concentrating on what matters for him. 

Hope he stays this way the rest of his career.

I can say with certainty I've never laughed more when discussing dead bodies than I did with P.D. (Phil) Viner, currently crowdfunding for LAST NIGHT TOGETHER on Kickstarter. You can tell straightaway Phil is a born storyteller, whatever the medium.

Practically lives in a film theater? Develops films showing the plight of sex workers? Who does this sound like? Welcome to First Time Go, I’m Benjamin Duchek. It sounds like the brilliant Angel Fernandez, who wowed me with a tour-de-force discussion about his journey into filmmaking and his current film, THE TIMES OF MELANCHOLY. 

You can see the artistic talent of Christian Kamaal in the vivid way he describes his life -- and that's only half of it. This episode blew me away in the perspective -- and talent -- Christian brings to independent film.

"It's not about me, it's about my films." When you get awards for your filmmaking at 15, you can either become arrogant about it or you can become reflective, humble, and brilliant, and from listening to this episode, I think you can tell which path filmmaker Ava Bounds chose.

I talk with Aleks Dimitrijevic, executive producer of the British Film Institute's Future Film Festival.

The UnShushed! Film Festival is coming to Washington, DC on October 13th, 2024 for its inaugural year. In this episode, I talk with its founder, filmmaker Tanya Upshur.

This is what you have to give to be successful in indie films: everything.

I'm so proud to share my conversation with So Young Shelly Yo on the eve of her Los Angeles theatrical run with SMOKING TIGERS. The film won the AT&T Tribeca "Untold Stories" competition in 2022 and after it screens in LA, it will stream on MAX starting August 23, 2024.

Expect it to show up in indie awards season. Shelly turns everything on its head in this interview.

Have you ever watched a film about a middle-aged man falling in love with a public bus? In the spirit of Yorgos Lanthimos comes Leonardo Perez and his film MOTORIZED LOVE, currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo.

Speeding in a Mini and filming it for a short? Aussie-born? That's our podcast gold, and Dan Lesser blew away all expectations, as he crowdfunds for his film ONE TWENTY SIX. Guess the next podcast guests have to be Australian.