Podcasts about Sundance

Zach Blume is the co-founder and president of Portal A, an award-winning brand and original content company built for a social world.Portal A has been named Campaign's Brand Entertainment Agency of the Year, Digiday's Video Agency of the Year, the Streamy Awards Agency of the Year, and Cynopsis Digital Studio of the Year. The company's work has been viewed over 4 billion times online and received recognition by the One Show, the Clio Awards, Tribeca, Brand Storytelling at Sundance, the Webby Awards, the Shorty Awards, and many others.Portal A has been independent since its founding, and in 2019 took on a strategic investment from Wheelhouse, the next generation entertainment company founded by Brent Montgomery and partner Jimmy Kimmel.

EPISODE 144 -  “HOLLYWOOD BLOODLINES: CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD'S LEGENDARY FAMILIES” - 6/15/2026  Hollywood has always been a family affair. In this episode, we explore some of the entertainment industry's most enduring dynasties, from the swashbuckling legacy of the Fairbanks family to the influential Montgomerys to the acclaimed generations of the Fondas and the multi-talented Hustons. Discover how these iconic families shaped the history of film, passed their craft from one generation to the next, and navigated the challenges of living in the shadow of legendary names. Join us as we uncover the stories, triumphs, and lasting influence behind Hollywood's most famous family legacies. SHOW NOTES:  Sources: The First King of Hollywood (2016), by Tracey Goessel; Broken Silence: Conversations with 23 Silent Picture Stars (2011), by Michael G. Ankerich; John Huston Interviews (2001), by Robert Emmet Long; Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir (1998), by Peter Fonda; September Song: An Intimate Biography of Walter Huston (1998), by John Weld; “Elizabeth Montgomery's Secret Heartbreak: How She Found Magic Despite Her Fame,” February 27, 2026, by Ed Gross, Woman's World; “The Fonda Family: All About the Hollywood Dynasty, From Golden Age Star Henry to Living Legend Jane,” September 8, 2025, by Julie Tremaine, People Magazine;  "Peter Fonda, ‘Easy Rider' Actor and Screenwriter, Is Dead at 79,” August 16, 2019, by Anita Gates, New York Times; “The Fonda Factor,” December 1990, by Peter Collier, Vanity Fair; “HENRY FONDA DIES ON COAST AT 77; PLAYED 100 STAGE AND SCREEN ROLES,” August 13, 1982, by Peter B. Flint, New York Times; “Robert Montgomery, Actor, Dies at 77,” September 28, 1981, by David Bird, New York Times; Wikipedia.com TCM.com; IMDBPro.com; IBDB.com; Brittanica.com; Movies Mentioned: The Mark of Zorro (1920); Robin Hood (1922); The Thief of Bagdad (1924); So This Is College (1929);The Divorcee (1930);Inspiration (1931); Little Caesar (1931);Letty Lynton (1932); Rain (1932); Morning Glory (1933);The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935);Petticoat Fever (1936); Dodsworth (1936);Jezebel (1937); The Prisoner of Zenda (1937);Night Must Fall (1937); Of Human Hearts (1938);Young Mister Lincoln (1939); Gunga Din (1939);Earl of Chicago (1940);The Grapes of Wrath (1940);Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941); The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) Sergeant York (1941);The Lady Eve (1941); Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942);The Ox-Bow Incident (1943);They Were Expendable (1945);Lady in the Lake (1946);My Darling Clementine (1946);Ride the Pink Horse (1947);Once More, My Darling (1948); The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948); Key Largo (1948); The Asphalt Jungle (1950); The African Queen (1951); Mister Roberts (1955);The Desperate Hours (1955);The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955); Moby Dick (1956);  12 Angry Men (1957); Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957);Tall Story (1960);The Gallant Hours (1960); The Misfits (1961);Period of Adjustment (1962);Calculated Risk (1962);Johnny Cool (1963);Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed (1963);Tammy and the Doctor (1963); Night of the Iguana (1964);Cat Ballou (1964);The Young Lovers (1964);The Wild Angels (1966);Barefoot in the Park (1967);The Trip (1967);Bonnie and Clyde (1967)Once Upon a Time in the West (1968);Rosemary's Baby (1968) Barbarella (1968);Easy Rider (1969);Klute (1971); Fat City (1972); Chinatown (1974);A Case of Rape (1974);Mrs. Sundance (1974); The Man Who Would Be King (1975);The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975);Coming Home (1978);Wanda Nevada (1979);On Golden Pond (1981);9 to 5 (1982); Prizzi's Honor (1985);Agnes of God (1985);The Morning After (1986); The Dead (1987); Mr. North  (1988); The Grifters (1990); The Adams Family (1991); Adams Family Values (1993);Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story (1993);Ulee's Gold (1997); Ever After (1998);The Passion of Ayn Rand (2000); The Aviator (2004); The Constant Gardner (2005); 30 Days of Night (2007);3:10 to Yuma (2008); X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009); Wonder Woman (2017); --------------------------------- http://www.airwavemedia.com Please contact sales@advertisecast.com if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Janek Ambros is a filmmaker, producer, writer, and founder of Assembly Line Entertainment whose work has screened in connection with major festivals including Sundance, Venice, SXSW, and TIFF. As both a producer and director, he has built a career balancing the creative and business sides of independent filmmaking while helping bring a wide range of projects to life. In this episode, we discuss Janek's unconventional path from studying economics and interning at Morgan Stanley to building his own production company and producing award-winning independent films. We talk about his documentaries IMMINENT THREAT and MONDO HOLLYWOODLAND, the importance of editing as a storytelling tool, and why producing other filmmakers' work helped shape his perspective as a director. We also dive into the collaborative spirit of the legendary "Film Brat" generation, the influence of filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, and James Cameron, and the current state of independent cinema. Janek shares his thoughts on practical effects versus CGI, the future of moviegoing, why comedy films have become increasingly difficult to make, and the importance of building communities of filmmakers who support one another. As always, we close the conversation with Janek's two favorite movie scenes and the lessons filmmakers can learn from them.   Hosted by Zef Cota Produced by Cole Howard

Summit County Councilmember Megan McKenna recaps Wednesday's meeting, including the first emergency sales tax grant awards, Park City Elks Club members Lisa Schneider and Craig Cooper preview Saturday's community Flag Day ceremony at the Senior Center, and Park City Film Executive Director Katy Wang preview of upcoming screenings and announces a new post-Sundance summer film program.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast features an interview with Bill Morrison who has been called the poet laureate of lost films (New York Times, 9/21/2021), as he often makes films that re-frame long-forgotten moving images. He has premiered feature-length documentary films at the New York, Sundance, Telluride and Venice film festivals. In 2021 Morrison became a member of the documentary branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. His found footage opus Decasia (2002) was the first film of the 21st century to be named to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016) was included on over 100 critics' lists of the best films of the year and was later listed as one of the best films of its decade by the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, and Vanity Fair, among others. His most recent film, Incident (2023) won the Best Short Film Award from International Documentary Association in 2023, the Cinema Eye Honors for Outstanding Nonfiction Short, and was nominated for an Academy Award in Documentary Short in 2025. His film, The Great Flood (2013) — the focus of this episode — was recognized with the Smithsonian Ingenuity Award for historical scholarship.The Mississippi River Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in American history. In the spring of 1927, the river broke out of its banks in 145 places and inundated 27,000 square miles to a depth of up to 30 feet. Part of its enduring legacy was the mass exodus of displaced sharecroppers. Musically, the “Great Migration” of rural southern blacks to Northern cities saw the Delta Blues electrified and reinterpreted as the Chicago Blues, Rhythm and Blues, and Rock and Roll. Using minimal text and no spoken dialog, filmmaker Bill Morrison and composer / guitarist Bill Frisell have created with The Great Flood a powerful portrait of a seminal moment in American history through a collection of silent images matched to a searing original soundtrack. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt and Jordan review Netflix's massive true crime tabloid horror hit, The Crash, a direct-to-streaming look at the tragic Mackenzie Sherilla case. Jordan walks away feeling like he needs a shower for his soul, while Matt thanks his lucky stars that social media didn't exist when he was a youngster. For Rec Seg, Matt challenges the "drek" of the true crime genre by recommending an Oscar-nominated Netflix doc and Jordan counters with a 2018 indie drama that offers a nuanced take on the endless scroll. Listener requests yield recommendations for a 1945 "hardcore British" romance and 2012 Sundance indie featuring an ex-con who hangs out with a robot. Finally, Producer Sam steps in to host a true crime-inspired game called If You Can't Do the Time, Don't Watch the True Crime (on Amazon Prime). Plus, dabbing, dad jokes, and brief thoughts on box office phenomenons Backrooms and Obsession, and Masters of the Universe. (Ep. #175)Chapters / Timecodes (Timecodes/chapters may not be precise with ads.) Backrooms, Obsession, Masters of the Universe (00:00:00–00:7:45) The Crash (00:7:46–00:24:14) Rec Seg!: Good True Crime, Online Teens (00:24:15–00:40:11) Personalized Recs: British Romance, Sundance Dramedy (00:40:11–01:05:31) Game: If You Can’t Do The Time… (01:05:32–01:20:34) New to Streaming / Credits (01:20:35–01:29:18) Show Notes Now Streaming on Bazooga - A Filmspotting: SVU Archive https://letterboxd.com/samvanhallgren/list/now-streaming-on-bazooga-a-filmspotting-svu/ Matt's appearances on our sister podcast, The Next Picture Show, discussing Shogun Assassin and The Mandalorian and Grogu. https://www.filmspotting.net/nextpictureshow Pre-Order Matt's book "Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever" (Coming October 6th): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/790241/funny-business-by-matt-singer/ Feedback: Email us at feedback@filmspottingSVU.com Follow Matt on Blue Sky: @mattsinger.bsky.social Follow Jordan on Blue Sky: @jhoffman.bsky.social Follow the Show: https://www.instagram.com/superpulse/ https://www.facebook.com/FilmspottingSvuSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A CUBADORIAN WRITER-ACTION DIRECTOR Michelle Salcedo shares growing up Cuban and Ecuadorian in Miami, turning her parents' immigrant love story into creative fuel, finding her voice through years of writing features at the library, making her Sundance-supported short 'Cinnamon Skin,' breaking into action with her feature 'Switch and Bait,' and exploring why her work keeps returning to underestimated heroes, complicated morality, and the cost of freedom. Instagram - @lalistapodcast Music: Arriba Mami - Jingle Punks

Melanie Loren is a multi-faceted performing artist with a diverse body of work and many credits as an actor and singer. Notably, she played a supporting role in The Shitheads, a film starring Dave Franco and O'Shea Jackson, Jr., which premiered recently at Sundance Film Festival. She also portrayed the fearless “Unattainable Sister” in Undercover Brother 2, a sequel to the popular, original film and has appeared in a number of television series, including Chicago Fire, Sprung and The Chi, among others. Additionally, Melanie has performed at theaters across the country in crowd-pleasing productions like Little Shop of Horrors,The Color Purple, and Dreamgirls. Also, she is the proud co-creator and co-host of the Dipped With Sweet and Hot podcast.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 6, 2026 is: valedictory • val-uh-DIK-tuh-ree • adjective Valedictory describes something expressing or containing a farewell. // The valedictory speech given by the department chair moved several faculty members to tears. See the entry > Examples: “Did I regret not catching a retrospective showing of ‘Little Miss Sunshine,' in a special valedictory program of Sundance sensations from over the years? Perhaps—though not as much as I regretted missing the screening of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's ‘Half Nelson' (2006). That's the title that I remember most fondly from my first year at Sundance ...” — Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 31 Jan. 2026 Did you know? Valedictory addresses delivered by valedictorians at high school and college graduations are as much a sign of spring in the United States as baseball games and cookouts. Though we don't know where the first valedictory address was given, we do know that such addresses were an institution at some colleges in the U.S. by the time Noah Webster wrote his famous 1828 dictionary. (We also know that valedictory was used in non-academic settings—mostly churches, and especially in the phrase “valedictory sermon”—from the mid-1600s.) Since a valedictory speech is given at the end of an academic career, it is perfectly in keeping with the meaning of its Latin ancestor, valedīcere, which means “to say goodbye.”

A dive into the world of friendship with our latest "Friends Like Us" podcast episode! Marina Franklin host special guests Sharaé Nikai and David Lassiter as they talk about their incredible journey creating "The Other Gold" — a film about friendships' complexities. Watch it now on Apple TV and Tubi! Sharaé Nikai - Against industry odds, Jersey City native Sharaé Nikai wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in her very first feature film, "The Other, Gold." It is a heartfelt dramedy that follows a TV writer living in Little Tokyo as she navigates grief, isolation and the rekindling of a former BFF-ship. Out of 13,016 submissions, TOG was invited to world premiere as one of only 10 films in Tribeca's US Narrative Competition. This acclaim led to Nikai being in consideration for the 2025 Oscars, Spirit Awards and Emmys in the Outstanding Television Movie, Directing & Lead Actress categories. It also makes her the first Black female quadruple threat (sole writer/producer, director & star) to qualify for the Academy Awards with no studio or major production company backing. As a producer, Sharaé secured an exclusive Mental Health Awareness partnership for "The Other, Gold" at FOX-owned Tubi and sponsorship for its launch by Women in Film (WIF) and The Entertainment Community Fund. In March 2026, "The Other, Gold" was released worldwide in celebration of Women's History Month exclusively on Apple TV. In addition to TOG, Nikai appears in numerous ad campaigns, films and TV series including Grey's Anatomy and opposite Alison Brie in Sundance's "Horse Girl" (The DuPlass Bros/Netflix). Currently, she is the 2026 international voice of Nordstrom Rack all while developing her dramedy driven TV/film slate. In her spare time, Sharaé takes serious pride in the accent mark over her "e" and is the reigning (read: self-proclaimed) trap karaoke queen. David Lassiter is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician from Jersey City, New Jersey. He co-directed and appeared in the feature film The Other, Gold (2024), which premiered at the Tribeca Festival before streaming on Apple TV+ and Tubi. Before transitioning into filmmaking, Lassiter worked as a fashion model and was signed to Wilhelmina Models, appearing in campaigns and editorial work for brands and publications including Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Vogue, GQ, Banana Republic, Swatch, and Levi's. He later studied acting in New York at HB Studio, Susan Batson Studio, and WB Workshops while appearing in national campaigns for Verizon, Macy's, and American Eagle. Lassiter also collaborated with Viacom on street-interview segments featured on MTV and MTV2. Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf. Writer for HBO's 'Divorce' and the new Tracy Morgan show on Paramount Plus: 'Crutch    

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe091This week's guest is Lawrence Carter-Long. Lawrence is Director of Engagement for ReelAbilities International, where he works at the intersection of disability, media, culture, and access. A longtime advocate, curator, commentator, and creator. He has worked with the National Council on Disability, Turner Classic Movies, Sundance, PBS, NPR, the BBC, and other organizations to expand how disability is represented, understood, and experienced. He also originated the Disabled #SayTheWord campaign, which helped reclaim disability as a term of identity, power, and pride.Connect with Lawrence:ReelAbilities InternationalLawrence Carter-Long (@lcarterlong) • Instagram photos and videosLawrence Carter-Long - ReelAbilities Film Festival | LinkedInEmail: lawrence@reelabilities.org.Connect with the Rocky Mountain ADA Center at RockyMountainADA.org or find us on social media. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts!

Beth takes her family ghost hunting in Jerome, Arizona. Tonya had a dream visit from the childhood dog. Anon has more stories as a night auditor at a haunted hotel. Billie's dad saw a phantom monk, and had dogs barking at nothing. Kati creeped her parents out after a family tragedy. Please send us your own true paranormal experiences in either a voice memo or e-mail to funnyfeelingpod@gmail.com.
 SpectreVision Radio is a bespoke podcast network at the intersection between the arts and the uncanny, featuring a tapestry of shows exploring creativity, the esoteric, and the unknown. We're a community for creators and fans vibrating around common curiosities, shared interests and persistent passions.
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We're kicking off Pride 2026 with a look at Todd Haynes's 1991 feature debut, Poison - one of the defining films of the New Queer Cinema movement! Join in as we discuss Haynes's early career, the way the movie's subject and structure challenge convention, and the rise of the Sundance Film Festival. Plus: Why did this movie cause trouble for the National Endowment for the Arts? Which of the three stories is the most unbelievable? And an explanation of why you should give Haynes's Dark Waters a second chance. Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next week: My Own Private Idaho (1991)-----------------------------------------------------Key sources and links for this episode:Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film by Peter Biskind (2004)"New Queer Cinema" by B. Ruby Rich (Sight & Sound)"On the Margins: Todd Haynes's Poison" (Criterion)"Todd Haynes's Poison" (Art Forum)"The Todd Haynes Poison Controversy Explained" (SlashFilm)"Todd Haynes Rewrites the Hollywood Playbook" (New Yorker)"Transcendent Transgression: Looking Back at Todd Haynes's Poison" (Sundance)Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (YouTube)Cloud Atlas extended trailer (YouTube)"Serial Killer Documentary Takes Horrible Turn" by Cole Escola (YouTube)"Investigation into Bishop Bransfield finds Harassment, Gross Misuse of Funds" (National Catholic Reporter)

I sat down with filmmaker and producer Sophie Power following her trip to the Cannes Film Festival. We discussed her 11-minute experimental documentary short, Whatever A Son Will Always Sing. Bypassing the heavy-handed exposition of traditional documentaries, the film uses professional actors and a dreamscape visual approach to blend fiction with real-life interviews. Sophie spoke with 50 different women about the exact, pivotal moment they were forced to grow up, ultimately weaving together four universal narratives that explore everything from the discomfort of being under a microscope to the sudden awareness of danger that shatters childhood bliss. Her goal was to dismantle the shame that often shrouds these collective female experiences, offering a platform where they can be spoken loudly and frankly. Sophie's background spans from a lifelong obsession with human stories and visual art to working on high-profile archival projects. Before directing her own work, she lent her production and research talents to major documentary teams—including assisting Motto Pictures on a Sundance film about the iconic singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, and serving as a production coordinator for the Stephen Hawking documentary Hawking: Can You Hear Me? Check out the full conversation, and stay updated on her upcoming festival circuit by following her on Instagram at @sophiefrpower. Thanks for listening.Kyler---Episode Links:SophiePower.infoInstagram: @sophiefrpowerMore interview at SaltLakeDirt.com

Today's guest is someone who quite literally shapes how stories feel. Tiffany Anders is a music supervisor working across film, television, and advertising, and if you've ever been completely pulled into a scene emotionally, there's a good chance someone like Tiffany helped build that experience. Her work spans everything from the Sundance-winning indie film Like Crazy to major series like Reservation Dogs and Netflix's BEEF. What's remarkable is how seamlessly she moves between those worlds, bringing the same instinct, care, and emotional precision whether she's working with a tiny music budget or a global production. But what makes Tiffany especially compelling is how she got here. Growing up in Los Angeles around filmmakers and musicians, she absorbed how music and images work together to tell a story. That deep sense of listening still defines the way she approaches her work today. We talk about how a project unfolds from script to screen, how she figures out what a scene needs emotionally, and how she balances instinct with the realities of budget, time, and negotiation. We also get into collaboration, creative identity, and the invisible decisions that shape the emotional experience of film and television. And there are some brilliant stories along the way, from discovering music as a kid and playing in bands to her recent work on The Lowdown. If you've ever wondered how music really works in storytelling, or how to build a creative life that can hold both art and complexity, this is a great one. KEY TAKEAWAYS Your early environment matters, but it's not about having perfect conditions. In Tiffany's case, it was chaotic, it was under-resourced, it required her to grow up quickly. But what she did was translate that into skills. It's not about imposing taste or showing off knowledge. It's about understanding the world of the work deeply enough that the right choice becomes obvious. And that comes from years of paying attention. From being curious BEST MOMENTS “You needed those role models … to be able to go, okay, this is feasible for me, I can do this.” “In a world where it's easy to skim, shortcut, and replicate, Tiffany has built her career on going deeper. Listening properly. Understanding the backstory.” “Creativity isn't just about what you make. It's about how you think, how you connect, and how you move through complexity.” EPISODE RESOURCES https://www.instagram.com/jumblequeen PODCAST HOST BIO With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals. ** Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today! https://cerihand.com/membership/ ** Unlock Your Artworld Network Self Study Course Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today. https://cerihand.com/courses/unlock_your_artworld_network/ ** Book a Discovery Call Today To schedule a personalised 1-2-1 coaching session with Ceri or explore our group coaching options, simply email us at hello@cerihand.com ** Discover Your Extraordinary Creativity Visit www.cerihand.com to learn how we can help you become an extraordinary creative. This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

As writer, actor, and Sundance-winning creator Kathreen Khavari joins the Jacob Krueger Studio faculty, Jake sits down with her for a candid conversation about voice, character, creative audacity, and the art of paying attention. From overheard subway conversations to guerrilla filmmaking, Kat shares how she created her breakout viral short Brain of Terror by paying close attention to the strange, specific rhythms of real people – encouraging writers and actors to stop waiting for permission to create. Together, Jake and Kat explore the relationship between acting and writing, why compelling characters emerge from strong points of view, how dialogue becomes believable through embodiment and rhythm, and why the artist's job is not to “know,” but to remain curious. Along the way, they unpack the emotional realities of building a creative career: rejection, collaboration, trusting your instincts, and learning how to advocate for your work before anyone else believes in it. The result is both an introduction to Kat's perspective as a mentor and artist, and a deeply practical conversation about how curiosity, specificity, and audacity can help you create the work – and career – that feel genuinely your own.

When Andre Ricciardi was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer, he didn't want a somber eulogy or a tragic retrospective. He wanted to be called an "idiot" for not going with his friend, Lee, to get a potentially lifesaving colonoscopy a year earlier.   In this episode, we sit down with Mekanism co-founders — CEO Jason Harris and Chief Creative Officer Tommy Means, and Andre is an Idiot director Tony Benna, who also worked alongside Andre at the creative agency, to discuss the documentary and the "Colonoscopy Reminder" campaign they launched to support the film and raise awareness of the illness,  The film is a masterclass in "humor in adversity," born from Andre's own desire to use his final days to shout a message from the rooftops: get your colonoscopy.   We explore the emotional tightrope of filming a friend's final act, the cultural impact the project had on their agency, and the incredible reception at Sundance. From the absurdity of the title to the life-saving advocacy work now being done in Andre's name, this conversation proves that while death might be a taboo subject, laughter is often the best way to start the conversation. It's a story of legacy, the power of creative storytelling, and the profound community bonds that form when we face our darkest moments with a smile.     campaignlive.com Music - Take you Out by Lucid Tides, courtesy of Triple Scoop. What we know about advertising, you should know about advertising. Start your 1-month FREE trial to Campaign US. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

FTP Theater Hour: Pickleville's Butch and Sundance review -- June opening shows

From Oscar Gold to Fiction Filmmaking: Daniel Roher on Tuner How do you follow up winning an Academy Award? If you are Daniel Roher (Navalny), you resist the pressure to stay in your lane, take a leaf out of Bob Dylan's book, and make a massive leap into fiction! This week on The Filmmakers Podcast, Dom Lenoir sits down with Daniel to discuss his debut narrative feature, Tuner. Starring Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, and Jean Reno, the film is a brilliant blend of character drama and heist thriller. Daniel pulls no punches in this candid conversation about the realities of the industry. He shares how the Oscar opened doors, but why even at his level, the rejection never stops. He also breaks down the craft behind the film, explaining why he wrote the sound design into the script from day one, what it was like collaborating with master sound designer Johnny Burn, and his baptism of fire directing actors for the very first time.

Documentary filmmaker Ivy Meeropol (“Bully. Coward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn”, “After The Bite”) returns for her 3rd visit to the podcast. Her latest film “Ask E. Jean” which recently had a very successful festival run and is currently in theaters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgyI8GStcao Ivy Meeropol is the Director and Producer of “Ask E. Jean”, a feature documentary film about the advice columnist and journalist E. Jean Carroll who sued Donald Trump for rape and defamation and won. In 2023, she completed “After The Bite” (HBO), a feature documentary about the explosion of great white sharks and seals on Cape Cod. She premiered her HBO documentary “Bully. Cward. Victim.: The Story of Roy Cohn” at the 2019 New York Film Festival and in 2020 the film was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary. She was the Senior Story Producer on the CNNFilms documentary “The End: Inside the Last Days of the Obama White House” , which premiered at the National Archives in Washington, DC. She directed and produced the feature “Indian Point”, about an aging nuclear power plant close to New York City, which was honored with the Frontline Award for Journalism in a Documentary Film and aired on NHK during the anniversary of Fukushima in Japan. Ivy created and directed the 6-part nonfiction series “The Hill” (Sundance Channel), about Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) and his young staff (nominated for best series by the International Documentary Association). She produced the feature documentary “Museum Town”, which premiered at SxSW, and has produced and directed for the Emmy Award winning climate change series “Years of Living Dangerously” (National Geographic) and for “Death Row Stories” (CNN). Ivy's debut film, “Heir to an Execution” (HBO), explored the legacy of her grandparents Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. It premiered at Sundance and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and serves on the Professional Advisory Board of The Jacob Burns Film Center.

In episode 26 of the DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker catches up once again with BAFTA Award-winning director John Dower (Lockerbie, Thriller in Manila, My Scientology Movie) to discuss his latest film, The Balloonists. In cinemas on 22nd May, this gripping documentary follows explorer Bertrand Piccard and British flying instructor Brian Jones as they take on the world's top aeronauts and billionaires in a high-stakes race to become the first to fly nonstop around the globe in a balloon.This podcast has been made possible with the support of the Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland Stakeholders Fund.Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.Welcome to The DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work…John DowerJohn Dower is a British director who recently won a BAFTA for his series Lockerbie. His feature Thriller in Manila played at Sundance in 2009, went on to be BAFTA and Emmy-nominated, and won a Grierson and a Peabody. His film Bradley Wiggins: A Year In Yellow was BAFTA nominated in the Best Director category. John's other films include the music documentary Live Forever, My Scientology Movie, the Netflix series Sophie – A Murder in West Cork, and The Mystery of DB Cooper, described by The Guardian as, “a real-life Twin Peaks … highly entertaining” and the Times calling it “all but flawless.”The BalloonistsThe Balloonists, a thrilling new documentary opens in the winter of 1999, when Piccard - from a family of record-breaking explorers - and Jones set out to complete the last great aviation challenge of the 20th century: circumnavigating the globe nonstop in a hot-air balloon. With rival teams launching across the world, the race is on to secure a place in the history books.Working together, they must overcome extreme weather conditions, survive potentially fatal technical failures, and endure mounting mental and physical exhaustion. An exhilarating ride through breathtaking heights and perilous challenges, The Balloonists is a life-affirming story of adventure, obsession and friendship - drawn from a rich archive capturing the highs and lows of their extraordinary journey.The Balloonists is produced by Rise Films, the Oscar-winning company behind Icarus, All That Breathes, Nuisance Bear, The Invisible War, The Interrupters and George Carlin's American Dream. The film is produced in association with Anonymous Content and Red Bull Studios.In Irish cinemas 22 May 2026.Check out more DocArena episodes herePodcast music composed by michaelflemingmusic.comRoss Whitaker is a filmmaker and former editor of Film Ireland Magazine and programmer of the IFI Dublin Documentary Film Festival @RossWhitakerTVRoss is a producer and/or director of the feature documentaries Beat the Lotto (2025), Katie (2018), Between Land and Sea (2016), Unbreakable (2014) and Saviours (2007). His recent work includes the TV documentaries This Is Open Country (2025) for NBC/Sky, Birdsong (2024) for RTÉ (+ BBC, ARTE), Rachael Blackmore: A Grand Year (2021) for ITV/RTÉ, Barney Curley Beat the Bookies (2021) for BBC/RTÉ and The Boys in Green (2020) for RTÉ. His short documentaries include the award-winning Bye Bye Now (2009) and Home Turf (2011), as well as the documentary commercial Sleeping Flags (2019), which won prestigious D&AD and Cannes Lions Awards. Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.So make sure to subscribe and listen back! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

REWIND. PAGE Awards Judges David Portlock and John Evans continue our conversation about how they evaluate your screenplay. These two judges share a lot of helpful information in this interview.✰ David Portlock has worked as a script reader for United Talent Agency and currently works for Bassett Vance Productions. Over the past 15 years, David has consulted and assisted dozens of writers in developing their films. Also a screenwriter, David wrote and directed a feature film picked up by HBO, Cinemax, and Starz; a short film that premiered at Sundance; and a horror script that topped the Bloodlist. As a PAGE judge, David evaluates screenplays in the Science Fiction, Thriller/Horror, Comedy, and Drama categories.✰ John Evans received his MFA in Screenwriting from Boston University. Since moving to LA, he has worked in the development departments at ABC Studios, The Donners Company, Kopelson Entertainment, and AEI. John has also taught writing at the college level, authored six educational books, and worked as a copywriter and editor for several film distribution companies. John is the editor of our PAGE Awards ezine, and as a contest judge, he primarily reads Thriller/Horror scripts and TV Drama Pilots.

EcoRadio KC is glad to encourage awareness and protection of our world.  Our goal is to ensure our listeners are aware of how we can create a sustainable present for a sustainable future! We experience more extreme temperatures because of global energy increase. As we move to the future, it will take ALL of us to make the world habitable for millennia to come. You can trust that KKFI will strive to broadcast relevant, accurate, and timely information. You share KKFI's mission of providing an independent voice to information underserved or ignored by mainstream media. From the filmmakers of “Kiss the Ground” there is a follow-up “Common Ground”, recipient of 30+ awards. Learn more at https://commongroundfilm.org/ Sobering yet hopeful, ‘Common Ground' exposes the toxic interconnections of American farming policy, politics, and health destruction and healing across the United States and beyond, and how regenerative agriculture and soil health plays a vitally important role in changing these systems for the better. At its root, it explores how people from different walks of life, different political backgrounds, and different places share one thing in common – the very soil beneath their feet. The film is directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell (Big Picture Ranch), who have created bold and inspiring environmental films (Kiss the Ground, On Sacred Ground, Regenerate Ojai, Fuel, The Big Fix), while winning coveted awards along the way from Sundance, Cannes, Red Nation, and Tribeca. We can all find our common ground to heal the soil, our food systems, our health, and the planet. No action is too small, and every acre counts. From urban gardens to large ranches, composting to food production, ecological restoration projects to curriculum in the classroom and in the fields, we can do this if we work together. EcoRadio KC supports the work for a future in which humans flourish as members of a thriving ecosphere. We are all in this together and it will take all of us to make the world safe. This will be a great radio hour! “The whole world is one neighborhood.”  Franklin D. Roosevelt

One Wyoming Podcast Episode 78 with Wyoming Cowboy Head Coach Sundance WicksRyan and Sunny Talk postseason and look ahead to next season, as Wyoming finishes its roster for the 2026-27 season.

Kevin Smith's Clerks The 1990s were a strange, wondrous, and hopeful decade for Cinema. Three decades later we look back on those mid 90s attitudes, trends, screams, and shouts. With the emergence of Sundance, The Weinsteins, and voices such as Tarantino, Fincher, Rodriguez, and others, Independent Cinema was flexing in a way that threatened the studios in much the same way the 70s thrilled, excited, and - most importantly - challenged that audience. This week we look at one of the loudest and unlikliest voices to emerge from this decade; A Coming of Age, Adulthood focused story following the lives of convenience store workers, Kevin Smith's 1994 classic Clerks. Thirty-two years later the anger, frustration, and hopelessness of our collective futures remain. Smith (working as a convenience store clerk while supporting his passion for writing and filmmaking) would give purpose to that anger with a foul-mouthed, pessimistic, and hopeless look at blue-collar jobs and the people who are swallowed by them. Through the lives of two best friends, Dante & Randall (with a couple of pot-dealing morons names Jay & Silent Bob singing the chorus), Smith gave voice to the fears, inhibitions, and cynicism of the 90s and the working mans' struggle. Most importantly, how does all of this relate to us? Well, we are all mired in the aimlessness and calcification of the 40 hour work week. Clerks spoke volumes to a generation unsure of itself. Thirty-two years later that volume has not dimmed. Take a listen and let us know what you think. As always we can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com - Many, Many Thanks.  For those of you who would like to donate to this undying labor of love, you can do so with a contribution at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos - Anything and Everything is appreciated, You Cheap Bastards.

My guests in this special episode are co-hosts of the podcast Films Not Made: Amy Hobby and Avi Zev Weider. This episode is also appearing on their platform as well. Amy and Avi’s one-of-a-kind podcast explores the fascinating world of movies that were planned, developed, and sometimes even cast—but never made it to the screen. From legendary unmade projects to obscure near-misses, we dig into the stories behind cinema’s most intriguing what-ifs. Amy Hobby is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Peabody-winning producer with 30+ films including “What Happened, Miss Simone?,” “Secretary,” and “Sunday.” Former Executive Director of Tribeca Film Institute; co-founder of Distribution Advocates. She’s spent her career finding the stories nobody else would touch – and figuring out how to get them seen. Avi Weider is a filmmaker and technologist whose work spans the Sundance-premiered “I Remember” to “American Santa” (LA Times) to “Welcome to the Machine” (SXSW). He’s part of OpenAI’s Artist Program, a Sundance Lab alum, lives at the intersection of storytelling and emerging tech – and built half the tools he uses to get there.

 In this episode of The Table Podcast, Darrell Bock sits down with Neil Coulter, Brian Chan, and Windrider's Ryann Heim to reflect on the final Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT and its upcoming move to Boulder, CO. Join the conversation as we explore standout indie films from Sundance 2026 and discuss how the intersection of theology and film can turn movies into powerful machines for empathy, love, and cultural engagement.  Time Stamps:   00:00  Introduction   02:42  The Last Sundance in Park City   08:22  The Value of the Sundance Experience   13:39  Standout Films: Birdie   19:12  Standout Films: If I Go, Will They Miss Me?   20:32  Standout Films: Queen of Chess   24:37  Standout Films: Birds of War & One in a Million   26:42  The Impact on Seminary Students   36:15  Movies as Empathy Machines   49:02  Final Encouragement  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Co-directors Lindsay Utz and Michelle Walshe's documentary “Prime Minister”, which premiered at Sundance to critical acclaim, chronicles Jacinda Ardern's unexpected journey as New Zealand's 40th Prime Minister, offering an unfiltered window into her personal journey of family, motherhood, democracy and hardship. They share with Tiller where this film began (5:30), their most incredible archival discoveries (14:00), the future of the “follow doc” (20:30), and striking the dramatic tonal shifts of Jacinda's life (29:00). Produced by: Jacob Miller Executive Producer: Tiller Russell Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

Editors - Laura Zempel, ACE and Lauren Connelly, ACE Although BEEF - Season 2 editors Laura Zempel and Lauren Connelly are working together for the first time, this is Laura's second season working on the series.  But despite being new to one another, Laura's and Lauren's talents seamlessly combined to tackle a complex, character-driven "slow burn" with multiple storylines that required a delicate balancing of tone, including both dark comedy and psychological drama. Created by Korean director Lee Sung Jin (Sonny Lee) for Netflix, Season 2 of BEEF stars Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan as Joshua Martin and Lindsay Crane-Martin, and Cailee Spaeny and Charles Melton as Ashley and Austin, two couples; the poor latter two blackmailing the rich former two, using footage Ashley shot of a heated argument which would threaten their image.  Similar to Season 1, this incident escalates into a prolonged feud and a game of cat-and-mouse...minus one dog. LAURA ZEMPEL In addition to her Emmy®-winning work on BEEF - Season 1, Laura's skills as an editor can be seen in another Netflix series, SIRENS (2025).  She has also worked on EUPHORIA (2019-22), DISPATCHES FROM ELSEWHERE (2020) and ROOM 104 (2017-19).  Prior to that, she assisted on HOUSE OF CARDS (2014), DEXTER (2011-13) and IF I CAN DREAM (2010). LAUREN CONNELLY, ACE Originally from Chantilly, Virginia, Lauren graduated from The University of Southern California with a B.A. in Cinema-Television Production.  Past credits include television shows such as MO on Netflix, GASLIT on Starz, MASTERS OF SEX on Showtime, THE STRAIN on FX, and THE SON on AMC.  Recent feature films include SITTING IN BARS WITH CAKE for Amazon Studios, A TOURIST'S GUIDE TO LOVE on Netflix, and Rodrigo Garcia's FOUR GOOD DAYS, which premiered at Sundance.   Visit ExtremeMusic for all your production audio needs Hear Laura discuss her work on BEEF - Season 1 and SIRENS. Subscribe to The Rough Cut podcast and never miss an episode Visit The Rough Cut on YouTube

This is the second gathering in SAND's ongoing series on AI and the human spirit — and it takes a deliberately different rhythm. Rather than asking "is AI safe?" or "will it take our jobs?", Tiokasin Ghosthorse and Pooja Prema invite us to slow down and ask the deeper questions: What cosmology is AI extending? What is intelligence, really? And what happens when the earth-based, organic, living intelligence of Indigenous and ancestral ways of knowing gets replaced by a synthetic one? A spacious, felt-sense conversation that asks us to remember what a living mind actually is. Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome & framing the deeper questions 00:04 — Opening body practice: tuning into felt sense before speaking 00:07 — Tiokasin: AI as the latest ship on the shore — colonization in a new form 00:17 — "There is no artificial intuition" — what technology cannot replace 00:18 — Pooja: the cosmology behind AI — colonial linearity vs. the curving motherboard of Earth 00:25 — AI as the latest savior narrative — and why that story keeps repeating 00:45 — Who owns the data? Who controls the intelligence? The politics of AI 01:05 — AI as therapist, AI replacing elders — the cost to young people and mental health 01:10 — Ghost in the Machine: how to resist empire over the long game 01:15 — Closing: "Our body is the mystic" — an invitation to make this a living inquiry Guests Tiokasin Ghosthorse is a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation and lifelong Indigenous activist. He is the founder and host of First Voices Radio, which broadcast for 33 years before its final episode in July 2025. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, is a National Native American Hall of Fame nominee, and a master musician who performs worldwide. He describes himself simply as "a perfectly flawed human being." He is also featured in SAND's film The Eternal Song. Pooja Prema is a first-generation Indian American writer, multidisciplinary artist, and ritualist from Kerala, South India. Her work weaves ecofeminism, decolonial somatic practice, and animistic cosmologies. She is the founder of The Rites of Passage Project and The Ritual Theatre. Her work has been featured at the Kennedy Center, Ebony Magazine, and NPR. Resources & Links Tiokasin Ghosthorse Akantu Intelligence — website First Voices Radio — archive Featured in The Eternal Song — SAND film Pooja Prema Website: poojaprema.com The Rites of Passage Project The Ritual Theatre Instagram: @thecabinwitch Film referenced Ghost in the Machine — documentary directed by Valerie Veatch, Sundance 2026 — traces the buried history of AI and its roots in eugenics, racism, and colonial power. Featuring Tasheka Lavann on how indigenous nations are resisting data centers and how we resist empire over generations. Concepts discussed Conspecific aggression — Tiokasin's term for what happens when a species competes so aggressively over shared resources that it turns on itself Present-phobic language — technology as a tool for escaping the present into an imagined future The real motherboard — Pooja's framing of Earth and cosmos as the original curving, relational, non-linear intelligence that AI's linear grid cannot replicate SAND series context Part 1 of The Great AI Unraveling — with Tristan Harris The Eternal Song — SAND film series Contact SAND podcast@scienceandnonduality.com Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member

Hot off the news that he's just sold one million copies of his books, my wonderfully talented friend, KING OF ASHES and ALL THE SINNERS BLEED novelist S.A. Cosby returns to the pod this week for a delightful episode Gen Xers in particular will love. Listen in as we wax nostalgic, nerdy, & philosophical about the American independent film scene, video stores, actors with faces, Sundance, the New Queer Cinema movement, & iconoclastic filmmakers of the 1990s. We started with groundbreaking director Gregg Araki's TEEN APOCALYPSE TRILOGY, then went everywhere, & obviously, fittingly, NOWHERE. The three main films in the trilogy that we discuss are TOTALLY F***ED UP, THE DOOM GENERATION, and NOWHERE, but we bring in myriad other films, directors, and actors from this terrific era that valued original voices and stories that no one else could tell.Orginally Posted on Patreon (5/14/26) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/158267662Donate to the Pod via Ko-fi & PayPal Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopTheme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Send us Fan MailOnStage Colorado is growing. In this monthly episode, Alex Miller and Toni Tresca announce the launch of On Screen Colorado, a new sister site dedicated to covering Colorado's film and TV landscape — from Sundance's arrival in Boulder in January 2027 to the 20+ festivals already happening across the state each year.The guys also catch up on recent reviews from the OSC crew — including Much Ado About Nothing at Platte Valley Players, English and Somewhere at the DCPA, Mary Jane, Furlough's Paradise, Jagged Little Pill and We Are the Tigers. Plus, Alex sits down with playwright Mia Burnett and Veritas Productions founding artistic director Nancy Evans Begley to talk about Burnett's new play Divine Bull Transformation, opening May 15 at Denver's Mizel Center. And as always, the episode wraps with the top 10 Colorado headliners worth checking out in the coming weeks.For more Colorado theatre coverage, subscribe to the Theatre Blast newsletter at onstagecolorado.com.

Colby Day is a breath of fresh air who refuses to be performative. In an industry that runs on heat and carefully curated perception, he just gives it to you straight. Day is an Emmy-nominated writer whose credits include the Netflix film "Spaceman" starring Adam Sandler and "In the Blink of an Eye," which premiered at Sundance this past year. He also served as a writer and story editor on Apple TV's For All Mankind season five. He is also the creator of Hollyweird, a Substack where he documents the unglamorous reality of being a working writer in Hollywood with more honesty than almost anyone else in this business. His directorial debut "The Comedy Hour "with Tim Heidecker and Tatiana Maslany is up next. This was one of my favorite chats of the year so far. Colby and get super real about 10-year timelines, selling a show and watching it collapse, why transparency is a radical act in this industry, and what keeps us going when everything falls apart. Tune in! xx CG

“Boy, I got vision… and the rest of the world wears bifocals.” Join Ian, Liam & Kev for our 330th episode as we saddle up, head for Bolivia (Megs has headed back to America early), and ride into one of the most charming, melancholy, and effortlessly watchable westerns ever made with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). It's outlaws, bicycles, and impossible charisma this week as we ask whether two of cinema's coolest men were ever really built for the world they lived in. This week we discuss: Paul Newman and Robert Redford's legendary chemistry — playful, effortless, and endlessly quotable. Is this one of the greatest screen pairings of all time? The tone — western, comedy, tragedy, anti-western. How does the film balance charm with the creeping inevitability of its ending? Newman's Butch Cassidy — talkative, inventive, and always thinking three steps ahead. Is he a genius… or simply delaying reality? Redford's Sundance Kid — cool, lethal, and increasingly aware the world is changing around him. Ian breaks down the film's structure — episodic storytelling, tonal pivots, and why the pacing feels so modern for 1969 - but does it rob us with the ending Liam questions the mythology of outlaws — are Butch and Sundance rebels, romantics, or simply criminals we've chosen to like? Kev dives into the cinematography and score — sweeping landscapes, freeze frames, and Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head somehow working against all odds. Liam educates us all on the Old West and references about 25 other Westerns in the process The pursuit — who are those guys, and why does the film turn a chase into existential dread? Katharine Ross as Etta Place — underwritten love interest or essential emotional grounding? There's a cameo in this film that you'll never see coming - we didn't The ending — iconic, tragic, and endlessly imitated. Does freezing the moment make it more powerful? The “show vs tell” balance — how much does the film rely on charm and implication rather than explicit emotional beats? And finally, whether Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is the Best Film Ever — or simply one of the coolest films ever made. Become a Patron of this podcast and support the BFE at https://www.patreon.com/BFE We are extremely thankful to our following Patrons for their most generous support: Juleen from It Goes Down In The PM Hermes Auslander James DeGuzman Synthia Shai Bergerfroind Ariannah Who Loves BFE The Most Paul Komoroski Duane Smith (Duane Smith!) Andy Dickson Chris Pedersen Randal Silva Nate The Great Rev Bruce Richard Ryan Kuketz Dirk Diggler Stew from the Stew World Order podcast NorfolkDomus John Humphrey's Right Foot Timmy Tim Tim Aashrey Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank Buy some BFE merch at https://my-store-b4e4d4.creator-spring.com/. Massive thanks to Lex Van Den Berghe for the use of Mistake by Luckydog. Catch more from Lex's new band, The Maids of Honor, at https://soundcloud.com/themaidsofhonor Also, massive thanks to Moonlight Social for our age game theme song. You can catch more from them at https://www.moonlightsocialmusic.com/

On this week's episode of Female Gaze: The Film Club, Morgan spoke with filmmaker Chloé Robichaud about her Sundance award-winning film, "Two Women" (or "Deux femmes en or"). "Two Women" follows Violette (Laurence Leboeuf) and Florence (Karine Gonthier-Hydman), two neighbors and mothers who are at a crossroads in their lives. The film follows them attempt in many ways to find their own personhood outside of their roles as mothers and learn to center themselves in their relationships with men. The film has great witty humor and empathetically explores how our interpersonal relationships can change in moments of existential angst. The film has some really incredible performances which lean into the humor while also retaining deep sincerity.The film is in select U.S. theaters now! You can add it to your Letterboxd watchlist here. (Not Letterboxd sponsored, merely the app I use!)You can follow Female Gaze: The Film ClubInstagramBlueSkyWebsite

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Suzannah Herbert and Darcy McKinnon, the director and producer of the award-winning documentary "Natchez," which will air on PBS on May 11 as part of the Independent Lens Series.   The film is also currently available for VOD streaming on multiple platforms including Apple TV, Prime Video, and YouTube TV.   Winner of the best documentary feature award at the 2025 Tribeca film festival, "Natchez" captures an unsettling clash between history and memory in a small Mississippi town; it's a layered mosaic of people contending with the weight of the past in a place where it is always present.    Equal parts amusing and disturbing, "Natchez" grapples with a deeply troubled history that is so thoroughly ingrained in its present, we're left to wonder if it's actually past at all.   Suzannah Herbert is a documentary director and editor from Memphis whose directing work focuses on the American South. Herbert directed and produced the twice Emmy-nominated film "Wrestle." As an editor, she has collaborated on various Bob Dylan, Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga projects, music videos and award-winning films. "Natchez" is her second documentary feature.   Darcy McKinnon is a documentary filmmaker based in New Orleans whose work focuses on the American South and the Caribbean. Her work has been seen on the World Channel, POV, and Hulu and has screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, and more.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead    

Nicholas Bruckman is an Emmy-nominated director and founder of People's Television, a NYC- and DC-based storytelling studio producing award-winning independent films as well as creative campaigns for the world's leading brands, foundations, and social movements. His feature documentary Not Going Quietly, about healthcare activist Ady Barkan, won both the Audience and Jury Awards at SXSW and was released to critical acclaim in theaters nationwide and on Hulu. His follow-up, Minted: The Rise (and Fall?) of the NFT, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released on Netflix in 2025. Most recently, his docuseries The Price of Milk—which uncovers the hidden story behind the iconic “Got Milk?” campaign—had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Ray Maiello is an award-winning film producer and former Netflix and Paramount Pictures executive. He founded Moontower Productions to champion independent voices and produce bold films. In just three years, Ray has produced five films, including My Dead Friend Zoe, winner of the 2024 SXSW Audience Award and Chasing Summer, which is premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.Other recent projects include "Are We Good?" starring Marc Maron and documentary films Jean-Michel Basquiat and The Trial of Alec Baldwin. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and based in Venice, California, Maiello's producing career builds on an earlier chapter in music, where he founded Moontower Entertainment to develop artists from New York's indie rock scene, including Wheatus, whose global hit "Teenage Dirtbag" topped one billion streams on Spotify.

If your idea of a perfect weekend involves a high-energy 3D concert experience where the audience is literally moshing in the cinema aisles, we have the ultimate recco from a global pop icon.We’re also talking about the heartwarming adaptation of a best-selling novel featuring a very sassy, very smart sea creature and a retired cleaner with a mystery to solve.Finally, we unpack a quirky new film about a flock of woolly detectives that features one of our favourite leading men, and has been crowned Em's favourite movie of the year (so far).Love binge-watching TV? The Spill has launched a new podcast called Watch Party where we deep dive into the shows everyone’s talking about. Follow the feed on Apple or Spotify now. Plus remember The Spill drops the tea twice a day in this feed so follow us for all the latest entertainment news… OR you can WATCH our show in full length video on the Apple Podcast app - make sure your phone is up to date and enjoy the watch! Link here. Read more weekly watch recommendations from the Mamamia entertainment team here. THE END BITS Find and follow us on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespillpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thespillpod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thespillpodcast/ Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia: https://mamamia.com.au/entertainment/ Support Independent Women’s Media: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe/ Your subscription helps us continue to tell the stories that matter to women. Want to join the conversation? Have feedback or a topic you want us to discuss? Send us a voice message or email us at thespill@mamamia.com.au and we’ll get back to you ASAP! Executive Producer: Monisha Iswaran Audio & Video Producer: Michael Kean Mamamia acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which we have recorded this podcast. You're listening to a Mom with mea podcast. 00:11Speaker 2 From Mom and May. I welcome to this bill, your daily pop culture fixed. I'm em Vernon and I'm Anihaiswarren, and we are doing we can Everything with my voice gone as well. It does not sound as nice as my previous weeks, because previous weeks does sound quite nice. 00:29Speaker 1 You've got a nice little husk going though. I feel like it's quite sexy. 00:32Speaker 2 I kind of hope it stays like this. 00:35Speaker 3 You're doing a bit of scar jokes and make my throat very dry though, so not good for you, but good for the people. 00:43Speaker 2 Yeah, good for everyone else. Anyway. It's our weekend Watch episode where we give you our favorite movies and TV shows to watch this weekend. On the show today, we have a movie that you can dance to in your living room or on the cinema stage. And we also have a movie that you can vibe with, laugh with, investigate. 01:05Speaker 1 With, talk with. You went on a real journey with that movie. 01:08Speaker 2 Oh my god, I have so much to say, spillers, But first, mon, you have a movie that's been on your radar recently. 01:14Speaker 3 Yes, so there's a movie that's coming out today and I haven't seen it yet because it only drops later tonight. 01:20Speaker 1 But I'm really excited about it because I've read the book. 01:22Speaker 3 Oh so I think a lot of people would have heard of this, because I think a lot of people are reading it right now. Literally went to the park the other day and I saw a woman get out of a book and it was this book. It's everywhere. You might recognize it as the bright yellow book with the octopus on it, yes, but it's called Remarkably Bright Creatures. 01:38Speaker 2 I've heard very, very good things about this book. 01:40Speaker 3 Yeah, it's spent more than sixty four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. It's written by this lady called Shelby van Pelt. 01:48Speaker 1 I don't know any of her other work, but she wrote this book. 01:51Speaker 3 And I actually read it from my book club and I aced the quiz, so it did really well, And I want to free your. 01:56Speaker 2 Book club has quizzes? 01:58Speaker 1 Shall we do a quiz? We take it very serious, not one of. 02:00Speaker 2 Those meant to be fun and enjoyed. 02:03Speaker 1 It's fun and you learn things. Emily. 02:06Speaker 3 So the plot is basically the main character is called Tova Sullivan. She's this woman in her seventies she's retired, but she doesn't fully want to retire, so she still has this part time job cleaning the aquarium and the aquarium the town aquarium. Yeah, it's the aquarium of the town. And she forms a bond. Nothing weird, but she forms a bond with this octopus called Marcellus. 02:29Speaker 2 Is it like a sexual book. 02:30Speaker 3 It's not a sexual pod. It's more of a deeper emotional connection. 02:34Speaker 1 He just gets her. 02:35Speaker 2 Octopuses are meant to be very smart creatures. Isn't it octopi not octopuses. 02:39Speaker 1 I don't think it's octopi. Well, there's no plural in this because it's only one o. 02:43Speaker 2 Well, this octopus seems like he is he or she he muscles, is very smart. So this we have an octopus that would guess who would win the fief for World Cup. 02:52Speaker 3 Yes, so there's all these videos of octopus octopi that. 02:56Speaker 2 Go viral and she doesn't take it seriously. 02:59Speaker 1 But okay, well I'm pretty sure that's what it is. But the woman who wrote. 03:03Speaker 3 This book got inspired by one of those viral videos of the octopus doing something smart. She was like, oh, they're so smart, and then she like wrote this book and there's. 03:10Speaker 1 Parts that are from the octopus perspective. 03:12Speaker 2 They love crazy imaginations. I know, I watched that video and I was like, cool, that made like a massive career out of writing this, Like she's a. 03:21Speaker 3 Seller book, actually great character inspoke, So there's little parts of book that are from the octopus perspective. And he's quite like, I'm sure it's a good book. He said that he's quite disdainful of humans. He's always like, I don't know, he's always kind of like looking down on them. 03:36Speaker 1 It's kind of comic relief in the book club. 03:38Speaker 3 People were divided over whether he's very annoying or very lovable. 03:42Speaker 1 Ah, but anyway. 03:44Speaker 3 It premiered at Sundance earlier this year and was very well received, very warm reception, so I'm very excited to see it. Sally's Field is playing Toba, and Lewis Pullman is in it. He's playing Cameron, who's this other character, Who's this. 03:56Speaker 1 Guy who's like thirty. Honestly, he really annoyed me in it. 03:58Speaker 2 He's just kind of like thirty. 04:00Speaker 1 He's just trying to like, he just has nothing figured out. He just has he's always like. 04:05Speaker 2 Him a break, he's down thirty everything's always breaking. 04:08Speaker 1 His camper van's always breaking. I think it's it is. 04:12Speaker 3 If you read it, you do mean everything goes wrong and it's sort of his fault and you just get it together cameraon. 04:18Speaker 1 But anyway, he's also a lead character. So very excited to see it. I think it'll be quite a heartwarming watch. It's quite emotion I. 04:24Speaker 2 Think, do you think I should read the book before I watch it? 04:27Speaker 3 Yeah? Maybe if you can be bothered. But it's going to come out tonight, so I don't know if you want to be part of the cultural movement, and yeah, maybe I'll just watch the movie. 04:34Speaker 1 Maybe just watch it. 04:35Speaker 3 So it's out on Netflix, I believe around five pm tonight, remarkably Brian creatures. 04:40Speaker 2 I'm excited. 04:42Speaker 3 Okay, So I went to see a movie this week where I have to say, I haven't been to a movie where the atmosphere in the audience was like this crazy for a while. It was the Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, like the live concert experience in three D. 04:58Speaker 1 The day of a show, it just feels like any day at all. 05:02Speaker 4 I just feel like I'm like going to hang out with my friends. 05:05Speaker 2 Here I go. 05:08Speaker 4 To see the scrapes on my hands that is from the fans. I want to feel like it's me and them. You love that. 05:20Speaker 1 I love that. It was really good. 05:24Speaker 3 And I've never gone to a stadium tour of hers, like I didn't go to this tour. I've seen her at festivals when she was on the way up, like it grew in the moon and stuff, but. 05:31Speaker 1 I have never cared. 05:32Speaker 3 I've never seen her well after this, I really want to because she's amazing. I feel like I went to the concert because the crowd were like super fans, so everyone was there dressed in their like caps and kind of like dressed like her and were full like singing along. It was kind of like with the Ears tour with Taylor Swift, how people would go down to the front and like marsh in. 05:51Speaker 2 The like was there a marsh in your cinema? 05:53Speaker 1 There was a mosh in my cinema. 05:55Speaker 3 And the guy next to me was honestly, he brought a lot of the vibes like I wish I could recommend this movie. Sitting next to this particular man, he was like every time she did like a vocal run, he'd be like, yeah, he's kind of like do it along, and then he'd follow along every now and then be like, WHOA, I killed that anyway, So he was very invested. Would you consider yourself a Billie Eilish fan? 06:16Speaker 2 I would consider myself like, yeah, I would say I'm a fan of her music, but I don't know much about her as a person, and I don't think I would like when she came to Sydney. I think it was like a year ago she came to Sydney. I wasn't a big fan enough then to be like, Okay, I'm going to fork out for a concert ticket because concert tickets are expensive. 06:36Speaker 1 They are really expensive. 06:37Speaker 2 As you guys mentioned on the spill, this is. 06:40Speaker 1 A prime example of it. So I would say the same. 06:43Speaker 3 I really like a music, definitely not like a hardcore fan. So I went into it being like, oh am I going to be like a big enough fan to really enjoy this movie. But I really did. And I will say there were probably only like two songs I didn't recognize, like she has so many bangers. 06:56Speaker 2 Yeah, just keep going, and she's an excellent performer and live singer. 07:00Speaker 3 Because she obviously has so many deep emotional, moody songs. Me and my friend who went, We were like, whoa kind of like, you know, feels right now, but then it will suddenly be like bad guy and the whole cinema goes crazy. And it's obviously such a good way to get to experience that if you didn't go to the concert as well. I was thinking before the only concert films I can remember seeing other than this are the Eras Tour and then like never say never, the justin Peoble. 07:21Speaker 2 One, Oh yeah, oh did you ever you know which one I went to which when I was like quite young, like I was in primary school. The Hannah Montana concert me Miley Cyrus. 07:33Speaker 1 I did actually watch that too, and that was crazy. 07:36Speaker 2 Every time one of the Jonas brothers came on screen, every young girl in the cinema would just scream ahead off And I was like, because I was quite a mature young person, so I was like, they're not really there, They're not there. 07:48Speaker 3 I'm so glad you were there to clarify that I was such a looser. 07:51Speaker 2 I was like scolding these kids my age. 07:53Speaker 1 Yeah, like, thank thanks everyone. 07:56Speaker 3 So I feel like this one was different to sort of like the Ears to where it's just the concert films because they had these little behind the scenes interview bits with her as well on the day of the concert, and she it was done in collaboration with James Cameron, like he was one of the directors. 08:10Speaker 2 Oh wow, kind of friend. 08:11Speaker 1 I'm like in between avatars. 08:12Speaker 2 Yes, he's I need to show people the length of my work, not like blue people. 08:17Speaker 1 I'm more than that. 08:18Speaker 2 I'm more than avatar. 08:19Speaker 3 And the way it's shot is great, like the way she has such hypnotic eyes and the way she sort of stares down the camera. 08:25Speaker 2 And the way she does her makeup. I remember one of her I think it was Vogue where they do like the celebrities and how they do their makeup, and like her video went completely viral because of the way she does the eyeliner is so intense. 08:36Speaker 3 They show that in this too, where she sort of tweaks it on the end. She does all her hair and makeup for the tour herself. 08:42Speaker 2 That's crazy. And she's so good at makeup because her face always looks beat. 08:47Speaker 3 Yeah, she looked really great, and she talked about some really interesting things in the interview bits that he did with her, so she sort of explained her reasoning for why she dresses in the kind of basketball jersey and like baggy shorts for the concert, and she sort of spoke about how there's not that many female pop stars who don't do the whole like dress up and look really sexy kind of thing. Obviously we see that more with like Taylor Swift, Sabrina carp and to take and prey all those people, and she was like, I just didn't really want to have to do that because when I was growing up watching rap artists and they would just run around the stage being so comfortable and free, I just wanted to be like that, and she didn't see other women doing that, so she really wanted to be that for like the next generation of girls. 09:24Speaker 2 That's so cute. 09:25Speaker 1 Yeah, So I thought. 09:26Speaker 3 They showed really interesting things like that, a lot of interviews with the fans, and then also sort of showed how she is as a creative, like she's really involved in the lighting, she's really involved in everything to do with the stadium more than just like getting up there and singing. And then one thing I thought was really cute is that every town that they go to, they kind of connect with a rescue dog center and they bring in dogs for the crew and the other band members to like. 09:49Speaker 1 Have us like little therapy dogs and they play with them. 09:51Speaker 2 Shut up, why do we do that here? 09:53Speaker 1 And we should bring that. 09:55Speaker 2 We just had a dog in our studio just sleeping over there. 09:57Speaker 1 I think the podcast would be better. 09:58Speaker 2 Yeah, let's put that in our next like quarterly review. I want to do this, improvements to me for yourself, And I was like, improvements for everyone else bringing dogs. 10:10Speaker 3 So yeah, Billy Eilish hit me hard and soft. The tour live, it's out in cinema's now. Probably a good one if you have kids as well. I feel like all the like there were a lot of children there and they were really getting into it too, so. 10:20Speaker 2 Yeah, good family experience. Okay, I need to talk about a movie that I saw over the weekend. I was very lucky. I got to go to the Sydney screening of this movie. And when you know it's a weekend screening, it means there's going to be a lot of kids there. Because kids can come out in the weekend. 10:39Speaker 1 They're like vampires at night on the weekend. 10:41Speaker 2 We never see them throughout the week. We only see them on the weekend. So I went to the screening much similar to you, chaotic crowd, vibe vibes, a lot of children. And I was sitting next to Tina Burke and a few of us, and someone was like, Oh my god, look at all those kids over there. Look how many there are. And I was like, Oh my god, that's crazy. And then I realized those kids, all of them belonged to exact producer Georgie Page, all eight all millions of kids. There's like a million kids in that theater. Whoever went to Sheep Detectives in the weekend? All those kids you saw, all Georgie Pages kids, every single one of them. It was such a fun movie. Oh sorry, it's called Sheep Detectives. I should have lived with that. 11:22Speaker 1 The movie you've been talking about, a wee movie. 11:25Speaker 3 Of the year. 11:26Speaker 2 I reckon. I think Tina Burke agrees with me. Georgie, do you agree with me? She says, best movie ever. 11:33Speaker 5 If there's one secret to happiness in. 11:35Speaker 3 My life, it's taking care of the kindest creatures on earth, sheep. 11:42Speaker 4 I'm keeping them well fed, well groomed, and. 11:45Speaker 2 Each day read out loud to them mysteries who've done it? I know who the killer was. 11:51Speaker 1 Our shepherd was murdered and we shall solve the crime. I am George Hardy's lawyer. 11:57Speaker 5 He wrote and will in the night Time stories that people and the will are always the suspects. 12:01Speaker 2 That man had nothing. 12:03Speaker 1 Well, actually there is thirty million dollars and we have our motive. 12:09Speaker 2 It is so good. I regret not bringing more people because I want everyone to watch this. 12:15Speaker 3 You're like, why didn't they shut down the street at the State Theater like for dettlewors Prada. 12:19Speaker 2 I actually reckon, Hugh Jackman should have done like a big premiere here, Like, the reception for this movie is huge? 12:25Speaker 1 So is he in it quite a lot? 12:27Speaker 2 He's yes, he's in trailer. 12:29Speaker 1 Didn't make it seem that way. 12:30Speaker 2 Because his character dies very early on in the movie, which is also shown in the trailer, but he comes back during like flashbacks and stuff like that. So he's in like the whole length of the movie as an actor. Okay, but it's the highest rated movie he's ever done. 12:43Speaker 1 That's so unfortunate for him. What about the Greatest Showman? I thought that the guy's literally Wolverine. 12:52Speaker 2 Sorry, Hugh, but it is what it is anyway, sheep detective what it's about? So yes, Hugh Jackman is I would say the main character. He plays a shepherd who owns like this flock of sheep, and they're not like you know how when you see a flock of sheep, how they all look the same. 13:08Speaker 4 Not. 13:10Speaker 2 I think he like collects him throughout his life, so they're all like kind of like sheep who have just all come together. Anyways, he loves his sheep so much. She lives in just like a little caravan on his like field. And every night he reads detective stories to his sheep, and they say and he thinks he's just having a good time reading stories to his sheep, and then when he goes inside, it's shown to the audience that the sheep actually understand everything he's been saying, and they get really into the detective stories. His I was gonna say, the main sheep, his main sheep, the top sheep. His name is Lily. 13:46Speaker 1 Oh, it's a woman. It's a woman. 13:48Speaker 2 And she is played by Julia Louis Dreyfuss. Oh, very very good. She is like so well done. The other main character sheep is Sebastian and he's played by Brian Cranson, also really well done. 14:00Speaker 3 They played by just the voice, the voice voice. They're not there the voice. The sheep are very much Cgi sheep, and they're very very cute anyway, So what happens. Hugh Jackman murdered. I forgot his real name in the movie. We're calling him Hugh Jackman. 14:17Speaker 2 But you're not spoiling because he's in the trailer. It's in the trailer. He gets murdered, and then the sheep decide to investigate his murder because they know so much about murder because he's been reading them all these detective stories. 14:28Speaker 1 It's almost like he knew it was gonna happen. 14:30Speaker 2 Ah nice, And it's really hard for the sheep because they've never left their flock and they've never left the field, so even just crossing a road, they've never seen a road before. The Steaks couldn't be high of the sheep leaving their field to get into the town because the stupid humans don't know what they're doing. Nicholas Braun is the main police guy and the only police guy of the town. He has no idea what he's doing. He's busy taking orders from Emma Thompson and she's just the lawyer. She has no idea what she's doing, so the have to keep giving the humans clues so they can help investigate Hugh Jackman's death. 15:05Speaker 3 Do you know there's actually a lot of parallels to this in the Octopus book, because the octopus. 15:08Speaker 1 Helped solve a mystery. I forgot to say that. 15:10Speaker 3 So there's a running commentary that humans need to listen to animals more. 15:14Speaker 2 Okay, whatever, No, it's true. I think humans need to listen to animals more. And in the end, they do listen to them. I mean not physically. They still can't understand what they're saying, but they do listen to them. But there was a lot of good analogies in this, So, like the sheep do this thing where they all come down to three to forget what they just experience. So it's all about like kind of like living in your trauma, not always like pushing things aside and trying to forget it. 15:41Speaker 1 So what but count down to three to forget what they're just seeing because they were. 15:44Speaker 2 Like, Hugh Jackman just died. Everyone, let's forget this. This was so terrible. One, two, three, And then they forget it. But then they were like, no, we deserve to remember Hugh Jackman. He did so much for our life and for our flock. But then, but then I looked into this, this is not a thing that sheep do. Sheep have actually very good memories and remember everything. 16:02Speaker 3 Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't expect so that was kind of a PLoP hole in the movie. 16:06Speaker 1 I thought this was steeped. 16:07Speaker 2 In real sheep yess. Yes, what is a real sheep? Fact though, is that there's a cute little lamb in the movie that's like really like muddy and dirty, and the other sheep want nothing to do with it because it's the winter lamb and usually when lambs are born in the winter gets rejected by. 16:24Speaker 1 The flock so they die. 16:26Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, this one didn't die spoilers, but like Hugh Jackman's the only one that really loves it, and he died. He dies, And now who's gonna love the lamb? 16:36Speaker 1 I'm gonna want you to forget that? 16:38Speaker 4 What? 16:39Speaker 2 Two? 16:39Speaker 4 Three? 16:40Speaker 1 What lamb? 16:41Speaker 2 What is this place? Where am I? But anyway, okay, I do want to say that this movie, although it's like marketed towards kids and family, it is such a good movie and it's also has really deep themes that I didn't expect from a kid's movie, kind of like int like where like you know how adults like draw so many like parallels to it. It's one of those really good movies. It's also much sader than what I expected. And because the whole thing's in a mystery, it's kind of like a Sherlock's Home vibe where you're like trying to guess who the killer is A body kid next to me guessed it in two seconds. 17:19Speaker 1 We like, don't spoil it. 17:21Speaker 2 Well, the person came on screen and the kid next to me was like, that person did it, And I was like, kids are so stupid. And then as I was watching, I was like, oh, maybe they're just I think that might be And then yeah, that eight year old kid next to me just spoiled the whole movie. But you know what, kids are smart. I guess. 17:38Speaker 3 Well, it's really good though, when they do those movies that parents can also genuinely enjoy, not just like you know some like Duck. 17:44Speaker 4 Well. 17:45Speaker 2 Everyone from our team were just like full adults. We didn't besides Georgie, we all bought other adult people. 17:50Speaker 3 You guys decided Saturday, this is what I'm doing and watching some sheeps of. 17:54Speaker 2 The Murder and I'm so glad I did. I really want to watch it again. 17:57Speaker 1 Now you have really sold it. I want to see it now. 17:59Speaker 2 Oh my god, it's so good. Anyway, that's sheep detectives in cinemas. Yes, you can take your family, but I promise you you will enjoy it more than your kids. 18:07Speaker 1 Thank you so much for listening to this spill. 18:09Speaker 3 We have another super exciting episode dropping this afternoon, a brutally honest review of a film that you absolutely don't. 18:16Speaker 1 Want to miss. Emma and Laura are unpacking all of it. 18:19Speaker 3 This fill is produced by me Minishiuslawn with a video production by Michael Keene and we'll see you this afternoon. 18:25Speaker 5 Bye see ya, Mamma. Mia acknowledges the traditional owners of the land. We have recorded this podcast on the Gatigol people of the eorination. 18:42Speaker 1 We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander cultures.Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Tyler and David discuss the films David saw at Sundance 2026 as well as Celine Song's Materialists.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Sundance Film Festival relocates to Boulder January 21-31, 2027. What will it be like? Who is welcome? Will there be enough popcorn? At this year's CU Conference on World Affairs, Colorado Matters previewed Sundance and discussed its year-round mission, in front of a live audience. Our guests are director Lulu Wang ("The Farewell"), producer and Sundance Institute trustee Gigi Pritzker, and CU-Boulder student filmmaker Kate Yezzi. 

Do film festival laurels actually help sell your movie? In this episode, I break down the truth about film festival awards, official selections, and what buyers, sales agents, and distributors really care about. We'll talk about the major festivals that matter—like Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca, and Toronto—why smaller regional festivals often don't move the needle for sales, and how filmmakers should use festivals strategically to build an audience instead of chasing meaningless laurels. If you're trying to sell your indie film, this is an important conversation.

Editor - Brian Philip Davis Hokum editor Brian Philip Davis teams up once more with director Damian McCarthy.  Prior to this film the two joined forces to craft McCarthy's supernatural thriller, Oddity.  This time out, they double down on the dread and jack up the jump scares to keep audiences on the edge of, and often a few feet above, their seats. Written and directed by Damian McCarthy, Hokum stars Adam Scott as novelist Ohm Bauman.  When Bauman retreats to a remote inn to scatter his parents' ashes, he's consumed by tales of a witch that haunts the honeymoon suite. Soon, disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance force him to confront dark corners of his past. BRIAN PHILIP DAVIS Brian Philip Davis is known for his work in genre cinema, with films showcased at major festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, TIFF, FrightFest, and Fantastic Fest. He has a strong ability to work across multiple genres—from horror to comedy—bringing a confident balance of tone that allows each project to feel cohesive, engaging, and distinctive. In addition to Damian McCarthy's Hokum, Brian's upcoming working also includes The Incomer, a folk comedy (starring Domhnall Gleeson), written and directed by Louis Paxton and winner of the Sundance Film Festival NEXT Innovator Award 2026. Additional titles include Oddity, Bad Day for the Cut, Boys from County Hell, The Occupant, Here Before, and The Devil's Doorway. He is a member of Irish Screen Editors, British Film Editors, and BAFTA, and is represented by UTA.   Visit Extreme Music for the new Extreme Music extension for Avid Media Composer See which Avid Media Composer is right for you Subscribe to The Rough Cut podcast and never miss an episode Visit The Rough Cut on YouTube

Tyler and David discusses the movies screening at this year's Sundance Film Festival as well as David Mackenzie's Relay.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Black on Black Cinema breaks down Love, Brooklyn (2025), Rachael Abigail Holder's directorial debut that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Starring André Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, and Roy Wood Jr., this indie romantic drama follows writer Roger as he navigates complicated relationships with his ex Casey (an art gallery owner) and current lover Nicole (a newly-single mother) against Brooklyn's rapidly changing landscape.Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Love, Brooklyn delivers intelligent Black characters working through love, loss, career, and friendship without falling into stereotypes—no one raps, dies, or gets incarcerated. Director Holder created a story with "no villains," just good people navigating modern relationships.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

How can you navigate uncertainty in a constantly changing market? Why is persistence the key to a sustainable creative career? Plus why distribution is so important, and the four ways to monetise your creative work. All this and more with Adam Leipzig. In the intro, my reflections on running an author-publisher business after a fantastic e-commerce workshop run by Blubolt, and why you will always pay for marketing with either your time or your money; AI-Assisted Artisan Author webinars; and last call for my Kickstarter Bones of the Deep – J.F. Penn. Today's show is sponsored by Draft2Digital, self-publishing with support, where you can get free formatting, free distribution to multiple stores, and a host of other benefits. Just go to www.draft2digital.com to get started. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Adam Leipzig is a producer, former studio executive, and educator whose work spans film, media, and technology. He served as a senior executive at Walt Disney Studios and as President of National Geographic Films. His film credits include March of the Penguins and Dead Poets Society, with projects recognised by the Academy Awards, BAFTA, the Emmys, and Sundance. He is the author of several books on filmmaking and his latest book is Fearless Persistence: Creative Life, Creative Work, and the Ten Laws of Culturenomics. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Why writing books still matters in a world saturated with visual media The Jeffrey Katzenberg “next” lesson and the power of fearless persistence How uncertainty and the “long middle” are essential parts of the creative process What film editing can teach writers about cutting, shaping, and refining their work The 10 Laws of Culturenomics, including why awareness is not desire and why distribution is everything How generative AI is changing filmmaking — and why creatives should be the architects, not the tools You can find Adam at AdamLeipzig.com. Transcript of Interview with Adam Leipzig Jo: Adam Leipzig is a producer, former studio executive, and educator whose work spans film, media, and technology. He served as a senior executive at Walt Disney Studios and as President of National Geographic Films. His film credits include March of the Penguins and Dead Poets Society, with projects recognised by the Academy Awards, BAFTA, the Emmys, and Sundance. He is the author of several books on filmmaking and his latest book is Fearless Persistence: Creative Life, Creative Work, and the Ten Laws of Culturenomics. Welcome to the show, Adam. Adam: Thank you so much for having me, Jo. Jo: I'm excited to talk to you today. You have written several books, but you have worked on many more films. So I wondered, why do you think books still have a part to play in reaching people? What do you love about writing books that is different to your filmmaking work? Adam: You can put so much information in a book, and the beautiful thing about a book is that you can pick it up wherever you want, whenever you want, and leave it off and go back to it. It's just waiting for you and it's there. It really allows me, and other authors like me, to share information in a different way, with more details and more stories and more specificity. I love the ability to just share that information and have it always available. You don't need a device, you don't need to have a subscription. You can just go to it whenever you want. You asked me what I love about writing. Like a lot of writers, I'm not sure I love writing, but I do love having written. The thing about a book is that it's a very solitary exercise. A film is a highly collaborative exercise. No movie gets made by one person. It's made by hundreds or sometimes thousands of people. But this book is just me and a laptop and notes and a lot of thought. It's a very introverted, almost monkish existence while you're doing that, and then it has to go out into the world—and that's when it really starts to interact with people. So there's this huge difference between being alone and being always in a collaborative environment, which is what happens when I'm making a movie. Jo: Most listeners will be independent authors in some way, and a lot of us do this because we're control freaks. We like being the only people. So how is that different? You mentioned collaboration in the film industry, but is it almost freeing to do a book without having that? I mean obviously you have editors and publishers and stuff, but— Is it freeing in some creative way? Adam: It is really nice, because there is not another point of view in the room and I can just say what I feel and know that that's there. At the same time, you're right—I have had some amazing editor help and I've had some great early readers that have given me feedback on it and helped me make it so much better than it was when I finished the first draft. I knew that going in. I always test and share what I'm doing to make sure that it lands in the way that I wanted it to land, and it can be helpful for people. Jo: Getting into the book, you have a chapter on “what you do matters.” I feel like this is super hard. This is not a political show, so we're not doing politics, but there are a lot of big things going on in the world. It can be very hard as writers to think, is writing my book actually going to make a difference? So how can you encourage people? Adam: That's the hardest thing, Jo, because there is a lot going on in the world right now. Everything that's going on in the world right now exists because it's following a certain narrative. I don't believe that narratives are come up with because people look at things that are happening and say, “Oh, well let's just write what happened.” I think that we do things from micro experiences that we have with ourselves, our relationships, our families, to the macro experiences of politics and global situations. I believe that happens because there is a narrative that is being followed. So what I say to all creative people is that it's our job to craft and express the narratives that matter—and different narratives—so those narratives can be followed. One of the points that I make in the book is that poets are not overtly really dangerous people. Poets are generally lovely people, a lot of them don't talk too much. They're great to have dinner with, and they just work with words—and often not a lot of words, right? Because beautiful poetry is often concise and simple and spare. Yet there are places where poets are in jail. Because the narratives of those concise, spare, gorgeous idealistic words matter so much that those voices need to be silenced, which means those narratives are dangerous sometimes. Those narratives present an alternate world, an alternate view of reality. I think it's really our job as creative people, as entrepreneurs, as people who are essentially creating narratives out of the soul of our lives and our experience—we want to express those to the world. It's really important for us to express those to the world, especially now, especially because so much is going on. Those narratives are going to become pathways that others can look at and maybe follow. I think that's really important. It's the reason why we do our work. Jo: I absolutely agree with you around writing the narratives that we want in the world. “Be the change you want to see in the world” and all that. I also want to call out the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of books now published, and you come from the film industry, and many more people really watch films or play games than read books. I've wondered about this myself. I've written a few screenplays and sometimes it feels that wouldn't it be better to try and put our words into a visual medium? A lot of authors listening will do micro video like TikTok and all of this. So this is back to the question of— Why books? How can we change these narratives when we feel like we're drowned out by all the media? Adam: I think it's great for authors to express themselves in other media. I have a pretty active Instagram channel, and I love doing that, but it's a really different thing. I'm talking to people in two-minute bursts with very specific things. It's not the same and not the same detail as a book. If we let our understanding of the ocean of content that is always coming to us stop us from doing anything, we wouldn't do anything. That's also true about movies. There are probably 10,000 movies made every year. There are a few hundred that are released. So if every day I thought, “Oh, the movie that I'm working on is maybe not going to be released because there's only a small percent of movies that are made that are released.” Or worse than that, “Of all the movies that are made, there's 500 different shows on Netflix and Apple and Amazon and there's so many choices.” If I thought that everything I was going to do is going to be drowned out, I wouldn't do anything. I just don't believe that's true. I think it's our job to do things. Yes, there's an ocean of content out there, but what we do really matters, and it doesn't have to matter at gigantic scale. We don't know the scale that our work is going to achieve over time. One of the early films that I worked on is a film called Dead Poets Society, and that script was passed on by every studio at least three times. It's probably a film that I couldn't get made now for all kinds of reasons, because it's not a sequel and it doesn't have superheroes or visual effects. When we made that movie, we didn't know the impact it was going to have. It could have been drowned out by things, but it rose to a level that everywhere in the world I go, someone has seen that movie, including people who were not born when that movie was made. We don't know the long arc of our work and the people that it affects. Jo: I love that movie too. “Oh Captain, my Captain.” I can hear everyone saying that behind the screens. This brings us to the title, Fearless Persistence, because of course Dead Poets Society ended up being an incredible success, but not everything turns out so well. I wondered if you could talk about this persistence. How do you keep creating after something you perceived as a failure, or perhaps all the things that didn't get made? Why is persistence so important that you use it in the title? Adam: I've been super fortunate. I've worked with amazing people and on great projects. I've made 40 films at this point, and I'm making more. I've tried to make 400 films. I failed at getting them made 90% of the time, and that's okay. I just keep going. When I was working at Disney and I was an executive at Walt Disney Studios for seven years, there was one movie that we were opening and nobody had really high expectations for it. But it opened huge on a weekend and it beat the competition. We were in our Monday morning meeting and we were dancing on the tables and we were so excited. Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was running the studio at that time, came in, looked around the room, put his hands on his hips, and said, “Next.” We just had to move on. I really learned the meaning of the word “next” about four months later when we had a film that we all knew was going to be hugely successful and make a lot of money and give everyone their bonuses, and it completely bombed at the box office. It was like you gave a party and nobody showed up to eat the hors d'oeuvres. We were in the Monday morning meeting, very glum and not sure what was going to happen. Were we going to be fired? What was going to happen? And Jeffrey walked into the room and said, “Next.” Jo: Mm-hmm. Adam: And we just keep going. I think that is the great and defining quality of people who really have sustainable lives, either as creatives or business people or entrepreneurs. We're persistent. We're just like those little birds—you put their beak in water and they just keep bobbing up. We just keep going. It's not about the people who are the most talented, because I'm certainly not the most talented. I'm certainly not the smartest. I'm certainly not the most creative. There are people who are smarter and more talented and more creative than me all the time, and I get so much energy in being able to know them and work with them. But I am super persistent. I don't stop. If there's something that I really believe in, I'll just keep going. I started taking notes on this book 10 years ago. There are movies that took 12 years to get made. You just keep going. There are times, as a producer, where everybody's fallen away. There was a director attached, there was a star attached. They all left, they did other projects. The material is no longer under option. You don't even have legal rights to it anymore. You just keep blowing on the embers and then eventually maybe it gets made. That's what it's about. Jo: Do you think there's some kind of serendipity or something more that makes a book or a film? Is it timing? Is there just some chemistry? You talked earlier about testing and sharing things to see if they're going to work, but as you mentioned, some films you think are going to be amazing and they bomb. Other things are a slow burn. How do you know when to make a film if you just can't predict this stuff? Adam: You can never predict it, but I think you start with: do you really, really think about it all the time? Do you really care about it? It's not like you're in a meeting or you read a script or you hear an idea and you're super excited about it—but are you still excited about it tomorrow morning? The next day and the next? If you keep waking up every morning thinking, “Wow, that's great, I've got to get that forward,” then I think that is the first indication for me that it's going to have some staying power. I don't think I am that different from everybody else. So if it's something that consistently excites me, I feel like there's going to be at least some other people in the world that it's also going to excite. Jo: Do you think you have a voice, I guess, as a filmmaker as much as a writer? Are there things that excite you consistently that you're drawn to? Or do you think it's much wider as a filmmaker than a writer? Adam: I think it's a lot wider as a filmmaker. Part of it's also just my capacity right now as a writer. I really like the writing in Fearless Persistence and I also recorded the audiobook. I love listening to the audiobook experience. I think it's some of the best writing I've ever done. I have not yet found the capacity to write a novel or to write fiction in the way that other people can. So part of it's just my skill and capacity at this point in my writing career, where I think I'm pretty good at expressing ideas in a nonfiction setting, but I haven't developed the skill set for fiction. In movies, I make documentaries. I make fiction feature films. What attracts me is character. It's always the character, the people, the journey. Are the people really interesting? Do I want to spend two hours of my life in a cinema with them, or 10 hours of my life watching those episodes on a streaming channel? That's what always starts with me. If the character is interesting, then I'll keep going. Jo: I think the book, Fearless Persistence, has a lot of your character in it and your experience. It's not just a nonfiction book of prescriptive rules. You did bring a lot of voice into it, I think. Adam: Thank you. I try to make it be like we're sitting down and we're talking and we're having a conversation. Jo: Coming back to the book—a quote from the book: “Uncertainty isn't the enemy of creativity. It's its greatest ally.” You talk about these messy and unpredictable times. I'm what we call a discovery writer. Some people say “pantser.” It mostly is quite chaotic and unpredictable. Could you talk about this uncertainty and messy creativity? Adam: One of the things I really try to do in Fearless Persistence is give support to all of us in this messy, unpredictable—what I call “the long middle”—where stuff is happening, but you're not seeing obvious results out there. You're either in the world or in your project, and you're just in this mess. That mess is a beautiful place, and I'm trying to give support to the fact that that mess is gorgeous and it's part of the process. It's part of everybody's process. We shouldn't feel as though we are not doing our job when we're in that long, unpredictable, uncertain middle. Because out of that, we discover what we actually want. It gives us a way to refine our taste and refine our direction because we are so uncertain. Then there's this moment—and I don't know if you find this in your own writing, Jo—but there's this moment where that uncertainty changes into: there's no choices here at all. This is just what I have to do. I actually think that the greatest freedom is when there's no choices. Where the path is just there, but we've got to get through the thicket to get to that path. And there's always a thicket. Jo: There's a moment for me where the chaos becomes more certain and I'm like, okay, that's the story. I thought it might have been something else, but now that's what it is. I often have too much material as well. So I wanted to ask you about this too, because as an author with a book, editing is hard for us. Of course there are lots of words and we have to go through it all, but editing on a film—I can't even imagine how hard the editing process is. Could you talk about editing and how you cut and organise these massive projects? Adam: Yes, editing is really hard, but it's also so fun. I think being on a set is great. It's the most fun a kid could have. But being in an editing room is also the most fun a kid could have, because you have all of the pieces and there are so many ways to do it. This is where a film is actually made—in the editing room. Probably the way books are made also is in the editorial process between the writer and your own brain as the editor, or if you have someone who's helping you edit it. Editing is really interesting because it's the only craft that did not exist before filmmaking. Everything else existed, right? There were scripts, there were actors, there were costumes, there was art direction, there was production design, there was music. Editing was a craft that had to be invented for film. So it's a craft that's only about 120 years old. When we make a film, the first thing that the editor does is just put all of the scenes together in a first editor's cut, a rough assembly. It's basically every scene that was in the script as it was shot, and the editor just tries to choose the best angles. That generally comes out maybe a week or two after we wrap photography, and that first cut could be three or four hours long because it's got everything in it. Then the process is: let's take that out. Let's take that out. You don't need this. You can move this scene here and move it there before the other scene. We don't really need that shot. Or can we get to a closeup there? And you get it down, down, down—just like in writing where you kill your darlings. I actually find editing the most fun I have. “Oh, I don't need that sentence.” Or, “I can take out three words here and the sentence is better.” We go through exactly the same process in film editing and squinch it all down to the most compelling and efficient way to tell the story. Jo: I'm glad you say it's fun because I also like editing. I find the editing much more creatively fulfilling because I actually can figure out the book that way. It's so funny, I think as writers, many people either love the editing or they love the first draft. It seems like you enjoy the whole process. Adam: I like the editing so much more than the first draft. I feel like I had to get through the first draft. That was my long middle, that was my uncertain period, that was my thicket. Then my editing was, “Oh, great. Let's cross this out. Let's change that word. Let's lose that paragraph.” That was fun. Jo: So let's say we now have a book or we have a film. In your book, law eight of culturenomics is that “without distribution, there is nothing.” So now we have to get this out there, and this is really difficult. Can you talk about how film distribution has changed? Can you also reflect on how it is for writers, because our distribution has changed a lot too? Adam: So, as you mentioned in the last section of the book, I've observed over the past 30 years that when a work is both aesthetically really excellent and also economically viable and sustainable for the creators, it always observes these ten principles. I call them the 10 Laws of Culturenomics. One of them is “without distribution, there is nothing,” by which I mean: unless your audience, your market, the people that you are seeking to share or serve with the work—unless they can get it, it doesn't really matter. It's like that tree falling in the forest and no one's around to hear it. I always think about my market and my distribution before I start making the movie. I was thinking about that as I was writing the book, because I really want it to be there to meet people where they are and I want them to be able to get it. Film distribution has changed a lot, especially during the pandemic. People stayed home and cinema admissions have fallen off 30% from pre-pandemic levels, so people are going out to cinemas less. That means fewer films are being distributed in cinemas for any viable period of time. Sometimes some movies will be out there for one or two days, literally, in cinemas, and then they go right to streaming. On the streaming side, there was a glut of streaming content. All the streaming channels overinvested in streaming. There were too many shows. I don't know about your Netflix queue or your Amazon queue, but it's unnavigable. There is so much stuff. Now they've cut back a lot—they're just doing a lot less. We're in a situation now where anything can get out there somehow. The question is, does your market, does your audience know about it? Do they want to invest the time to experience it? One of the other Laws of Culturenomics is that “awareness is not desire.” There's a lot of things that we're aware of that we don't want to spend our time with. Everybody was aware of Disney's new Snow White movie. Nobody wanted to go see it. Jo: I must say, I'm not the key demographic for that! Adam: But you knew about it? Jo: Was that a live action one? Adam: Yes. Jo: I don't understand those live action ones, to be honest. Maybe that's why— Adam: I think we are sequelled out. I look at the movie business and I just think what audiences really want is something new, please. Something we haven't seen before. We don't want the 95th iteration of something from the MCU. The studios, because the movies cost so much and they're so risk-averse, talk a lot about “pre-aware titles.” In other words, titles that you've heard of before, so you're going to go see the movie. It works to a certain extent, but I just think it's cinematically boring. In that world, you never could have predicted Oppenheimer. You never could have predicted Barbie. Movies that really don't have a precedent, but they did so well because they're different. I think audiences are craving something different right now. Jo: It's interesting though, isn't it? I agree on one level, but then I also watch Bridgerton and we watched the latest series as soon as it came out. I guess that is pre-aware to a point. I don't read historical romance, yet I really like the show. I think it's because of Shonda Rhimes. I watched Grey's Anatomy for about 20 years. Adam: She's great. Jo: She's amazing. So I feel like this is why it's hard, isn't it? It's hard to know. As fiction writers particularly listening, we have very specific genre audiences, and they often don't cross over into other genres. They love their genre fiction. So it is hard to balance original work that may not be easily sold and the other stuff. I guess that's why the studios do it, right, because they think they can make enough money with the next Marvel movie. Adam: Yes, but I'm curious to know what you think about this, because even within a genre, a really good genre movie or a really good genre book is not the same as all the other books or films in the genre. It's familiar in that it does what the genre says you have to do, but it's different. It's got those unique things that make us feel like super fans, that we really love it. It's familiar enough to fall within the genre—and yes, genres have rules that you've got to follow—but then there's something unique and different that's exciting. And that's why we say, “Hey Jo, you've got to read this book.” Jo: I agree with you. I love that you said “awareness is not desire.” This is another problem with our creative work, right? We have to do marketing. We can throw all this stuff out there, and yet it may or may not work. So let's talk about your book marketing. Obviously you are on this podcast, and I presume your publicists are pitching lots of podcasts, but— What are you doing to promote the book that might be different to a film release? Adam: Well, I don't have a hundred million dollars. Jo: Surprise! Adam: Right? I've got a few hundred dollars, so we're just doing it this way. As you know, once upon a time, legacy publishers actually did marketing. Legacy publishers barely do any marketing now. Every author has to do it themselves. So we have to do this ourselves. It's been the hardest thing. I think it's the hardest thing that we've all had to adopt, that we have to do this thing where there used to be a marketing department and you just hand it over to them and we could just be in our own little creative space. But no, we've got to do this also. So what am I doing? I've amped up my social media. I'm speaking. I am on podcasts like this. I'm sharing as much as I can. I'm asking circles of people who have been early readers of the book. I'm really grateful because I've had really enthusiastic response to it, both from creatives and also some business people, which was surprising to me, but really great. Someone said, “This is the best business book in the past 10 years,” which is really interesting, right? Because you read it, Jo, as an author, but she read it as someone who sits on the board of major companies. That was a pretty interesting response. I'm just asking them to be advocates and share it around. I'd just like to be those people who blow on the embers and let's see if we can make a fire. Jo: We talked about the fun bits earlier. I'm enjoying our conversation, but I know that marketing is not necessarily in the fun bucket. Are you finding bits of the marketing you enjoy? Adam: Yes, I love meeting the audience. I love meeting the people that I'm writing the book for and sharing it with. I've been fortunate enough to be asked to run a writer's workshop in Greece for the past few years. It's a retreat centre called Rosemary's House. It's on the east coast of Greece. A dozen writers. I work with writers all the time, but they're always writing a specific thing, like a screenplay or something. This was a dozen writers all writing different things, and I'd never done that before. I had an extraordinary time. The first year I went, I'd had all these notes for this book, Fearless Persistence, that I'd been compiling for some time. But there I was in the room and I was with the people that I was really intending to write the book for, and that kicked me in the butt and I wrote the book. Then the next year I was back and I finished it while we were there at the writer's retreat. So that was great, and I was with another group of writers. I'll be back there again later this year and the book will be out. So it's this fabulous continuation of really engaging with and meeting the people that I'm seeking to serve with this book. I really enjoy encouraging and mentoring and sharing the systems that are undergirding the creative process, and then the process of how do you build a sustainable life, including all these super practical things that they don't teach you in art school or writing school or film school or even business school. How do you actually build a sustainable life in this practice? I love that. I guess that's marketing, but it's also just being with the people that you're there to serve. Jo: I love that you use “serve.” I use the same word. I say, “Who do you serve?” And that can help people, because I feel like creative people are like, “We don't want to be marketers, we don't want to be salesy.” So if you reframe it as service—who are you trying to help, who are you trying to entertain—that actually helps. Coming to the business side, you mentioned systems. You are right, the book has a lot of business in it, which I love because we talk a lot about business on this show. In one section you say there are only four ways to monetise your creative work. So could you talk a bit about those different ways to monetise your creative work? Adam: Yes. This has been true for maybe 5,000 years because it's not about technology, it's just about how work is monetised. There are only four ways that any piece of work is monetised. For sale. You have a book, and you go to your favourite bookstore and you buy the book, and now you own the book. For rent. You could rent a book from your library, or in a movie context, what you're really renting is the seat for two hours to watch the movie. On subscription. People have subscriptions to Kindle Unlimited or other platforms, or people have subscriptions to a streaming service. Free. When it's ad-supported. That's like linear television where there's ads, or Amazon where there's ads and you don't pay for it. For sale, for rent, on subscription, or free—those are the only ways anything is ever transacted. When it's ad-supported, for example, some people have YouTube channels that are very successful. YouTube is free, and then YouTube is making money from the ads and the creators are getting a tiny little slice of the ad revenue. Jo: Like this podcast. I have sponsors who pay, and they're all related to the author industry. They're companies that I use and work with. I personally recommend them, and that means this podcast is free. Adam: Thank you, sponsors. Jo: Yes, thank you, sponsors! I also have patrons—people who subscribe to the show to support it as well. So I guess we don't have to be in one bucket or another. We can have our work in different buckets. Adam: Ideally, you can have your work in every single one of them. Not always, not necessarily always at exactly the same simultaneous moment, but at a certain point as the work gets out there into the world, as it's lived long enough, it probably will be in every bucket. That's great because we want our work to be as accessible to the people that we're serving in any way they want to get it. Jo: I totally agree. And your audiobook, as you mentioned, will be available in those different formats as well. Adam: Yes. Jo: I find that, especially with nonfiction audio, what I love is being able to listen to just a chapter, just a chapter in a specific part. Someone could actually listen to the 10 Laws of Culturenomics separately to some of the rest of the book. I love that. Adam: I'd never done that before. It was so powerful to record the audiobook because up until that moment, my relationship with this book was fingers typing keyboards, electrons on a screen. It was a completely silent experience. Then I was in this recording booth in Los Angeles and I started speaking the words, and I was visualising the people that I was writing it for as I was doing it. It was so powerful. Then I listened to it and I thought, wow, this is actually a really good experience. It was so powerful that I was recently in Paris because I'm working on some films that are in Europe, and I decided to create a special advanced listener edition of the audiobook, where I took the chapters and put them into individual or grouped listening units. In a recording studio in Paris, I recorded some prefaces and reflections on those listening units, which are now thematic. I'm really proud of that edition. It's not for everybody. The regular Audible audiobook is going to be out there, but this version, which is on my website, I think is a really wonderful version for someone who just wants me to walk with you as you go through the experience of the book. Jo: Are you selling that direct from your website? Adam: Yes, I'm selling it direct on the website. Jo: Brilliant, because we all do that too. You can actually make more money selling audio direct than you do from the streaming. Adam: Yes. Jo: I realise we don't have much time left, but I need to ask you this because the film industry and publishing are in this great time of change with the advent of generative AI. We've seen in the last week the actor Ben Affleck's company, InterPositive, has been acquired by Netflix. So it seems like technology is disrupting a lot. How do you think we can navigate this time? What are your feelings around this new wave of generative AI? Adam: It's a great tool. It's not a great writer. It's actually really a terrible writer. You can always tell when generative AI has written something because it has a certain very annoying style, but it's a great tool. I use it in my production. I teach at the business school at UC Berkeley. We train people on how to use it for various kinds of problems and solutions. But the important thing is that you are the architect of the machine. It's a machine. It is like a paintbrush, but it is not the hand that holds the paintbrush. So I am not concerned that AI is going to go make movies that we all care about, and I am not concerned that it's going to disrupt, in the largest sense, the employment picture. Certainly some jobs are being lost, but new jobs are being gained. It's really interesting. For example, you mentioned Ben Affleck's company, which Netflix just partnered with. It's not making new content. It's creating a better production workflow. It's taking what is shot or what is planned in the production workflow and just making it better and more efficient and implementing it and adding to it. That is a really good use of AI. All the creative power retains within the hands of the creative humans, but it's giving the humans more tools. Jo: I've been reflecting on the idea of the film director, in that people often know their names and they win awards, and yet they didn't necessarily write the script. Some do, obviously, but they didn't act in it, they didn't do all the editing, they didn't do all the different jobs, but it's their creative vision. So is that how you see us playing that part? Adam: I do. I think that's a really good analogy. And look, AI—it's good. It's going to keep getting better. It still has massive error rates, so we still have to be very careful about what we attribute to it and what powers we give it, and what facts we believe from it. Jo: So what are you excited about next? Obviously you are promoting this book, you are doing speaking things, but are you looking to your future continuing to work across film and books? What are you excited about in terms of your creative projects? Adam: The big arc of my creative life is creating ecosystems where creative people can do their best work. This book is part of that. With the movies that I make, as a producer, I try to create the ecosystems where people can do their best work. I envision, and I'm excited about, continuing to do that. Whether it is in a book or in a workshop or in a film that I'm making. I just want to keep doing that: creating these ecosystems where people can really do great work and express themselves creatively, entrepreneurially, and with a positive view of the world to come. Because that is a responsibility, coming back to the first question you asked me. Jo: Brilliant. So where can people find you and your book and everything you do online? Adam: You can find me at my website, which is AdamLeipzig.com, just like the city. Of course, the book is available wherever you buy your books, and the Kindle and the audiobook are exactly where you would expect to find them. You can also find me on Instagram at @AdamLeipzig, and you can find me on LinkedIn as Adam Leipzig. I love interacting with people, so come and find me. AdamLeipzig.com is the best place to find everything. Jo: Brilliant. Well, thanks so much for your time, Adam. That was great. Adam: Jo, thank you so much for having me. It was great talking with you.The post Navigating Uncertainty And Fearless Persistence In A Long Term Creative Career With Adam Leipzig first appeared on The Creative Penn.