Making Media Now

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is former Hollywood studio executive and serial entrepreneur Steven Puri.   After working as an executive at three film studios and a producer on films such as "Die Hard 5" and "The Wolverine," raising $21MM of venture capital, and running 3 start-ups, Steven has learned some vital lessons about high-performancers and how nurturing focus—particularly for creatives and entrepreneurs is more important than ever as AI presents challenges…and when approached correctly…presents opportunities.   Steven’s latest entrepreneurial pursuit is The Sukha Company, a website and app designed to help creatives tap into their deepest focus and extrac...

We continue our 2-episode series of conversations with filmmakers who have documentaries playing at the 35th Annual Woods Hole Film Festival in scenic Woods Hole, MA which runs from July 25 to August 1 this year.   In this episode, I’m talking with award-winning cinematographer and director Cynthia Matty-Huber about her film "Hard Twist: Through The Lens of Barbara Van Cleve," which presents the life story of the famous western photographer, Barbara Van Cleve.   Barbara is a fifth-generation Montanan with a century of family history going back to the early 1900s. Upon their arrival in Montana, the Van Cleves began operating a gues...

The 35th Annual Woods Hole Film Festival in scenic Woods Hole, MA runs from July 25 to August 1 this year and we’re devoting a couple of episodes of Making Media Now to conversations with filmmakers who have documentaries playing at the festival.   First up is Michael Azevedo's conversation with 2-time Emmy winner Marilyn Ness, the director of The Endless Frontier an intimate, urgent portrait of three scientists working to solve some of the most pressing challenges of our time, from disease to climate change, while revealing the growing threat to the American research engine and what is at stake for us...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by Nicholas Bruckman the co-director and producer of a fascinating documentary series currently airing on the Documentary+ platform called The Price of Milk, which dives into the untold story behind the '90s "Got Milk" campaign and leads a four-part investigative romp from the dairy farm to the White House, diving into Americans’ love/hate relationship with milk and the dairy industry's impact on pop culture.

Nicholas, who joined Michael on the podcast last year to talk about his film Minted, is an award-winning director and producer and the founder of People’s Te...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by Sasha Waters, the director of “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” a biographical documentary about poet Mary Oliver that is now playing in a limited theatrical release and which will broadcast on the PBS series American Masters in August.   Celebrated best-selling poet, Pulitzer Prize-winner, lover of dogs and long walks in the woods, openly queer but intensely private, Mary Oliver was America’s unlikely contemporary mystic, stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly fifty years in order to open herself – and her readers – to the known and unknowable world.    F...

Award-winning documentary filmmaker and photojournalist Jessica Earnshaw joins host Michael Azevedo to discuss her latest film, "Baby Doe," which is currently playing in a limited theatrical release.   "Baby Doe" tells the story of Gail Ritchey who, 30 years ago, as a young woman from a conservative Christian community in rural Ohio, gave birth alone and left her newborn in the woods.   Now a mother of three, her quiet suburban life is shattered when DNA evidence links her to what came to be known as “Geauga’s Child,”and she is arrested for murder - despite saying the baby was stillborn.    Facing a life sent...

Director Alison Ellwood, whose latest music documentary is “Boy George & Culture Club”—which is now streaming on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video, joins host Michael Azevedo on this episode.   Alison’s documentary serves up an intimate and unfiltered look at Boy George’s meteoric rise to fame, the cultural impact of Culture Club, and the personal and professional challenges that shaped one of the most distinctive voices and images in pop music history.   Through rare archival footage, candid interviews, and behind-the-scenes access, the film explores themes of identity, artistry, resilience, and reinvention.   Alison Ellwood is known for her similarly culture-focus...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Steve Humble, the chief content officer for VPM—Virginia’s home for the public media.    Steve is also the executive producer of “Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War,” a new documentary that will premiere on PBS on June 29.   When the Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago, the Founders – many of whom were slaveholders – declared: “all men are created equal.”    As their aspirational words and ideals of freedom were signed into existence and spread throughout the colonies, Black people recognized that these ideas included them.    "DECLARATIONS: BLACK AMERICANS AND THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR" examines how they fo...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Paul Wagner and Ellen Casey Wagner, the filmmaking team behind “Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness of Light," a feature length documentary that is now available on all VOD streaming services.  

Narrated by Hugh Dancy and featuring Claire Danes as the voice of Georgia O’Keeffe, "The Brightness of Light" illuminates the extraordinary life and lasting influence of an artist who reshaped the American art landscape.

From her formative years in the Midwest to her groundbreaking rise in New York’s modernist movement, and finally to the vast, sun-drenched solitude of the Ne...

The original promise of the internet—creating community and a world where people enduring solitary personal struggles might feel less alone—was in full bloom back in 2006 when one friend, Renee, told another friend, Jamie, about a mental health crisis she was going through.    Jamie went on to write about the five days he spent with Renee before she entered a treatment center, and he sold T-shirts to help cover the cost.   When she entered treatment, he posted the story on MySpace to give it a home. The name of the story was “To Write Love on Her Arms.”   On this episode...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is director Theo Rigby to discuss his documentary "If I Could Stay," which will be premiere on PBS on June 1 and remain available to stream on PBS.org and via the PBS app for 90 days thereafter.  

Set in Colorado, If I Could Stay/Si Pudiera Quedarme follows two undocumented mothers, Jeanette and Ingrid, as they face deportation and the threat of being separated from their young children.

In a life-altering decision, they choose to seek sanctuary inside local churches in defiance of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Filmed ov...

Although it may be hard to detect, a quiet revolution is underway:   As the real-world consequences of social media come into focus, and AI’s invasion into every aspect of our lives feels imminent, a new generation of parents and teens are stepping forward to challenge the systems shaping their lives and fight for a different future, one where Big Tech doesn’t get to define the terms of human connection.   Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are director Sara Robin and writer Jack LeMay to discuss their documentary, "Your Attention Please."    Blending intimate human stories with insights from leading...

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 i...

Returning guest Brandon Katz joins host Michael Azevedo on this episode to take a look at some compelling data that’s informing several film and television related stories he’s recently published.   As the Director of Insight & Content Strategy for Greenlight Analytics, Brandon—who’s also a former entertainment journalist and film critic—unpacks data analysis to reveal compelling trends within the film and media industry.   Brandon and Michael discuss how multi-year film development cycles can often result in films whose cultural relevance may fade between the time a project is green lit to the time it hits movie screens. While the fi...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Chelsea Greene and Rob Grobman, two of the three co-directors on Academy Award-winning filmmaker and activist Fisher Stevens's (The Cove) timely environmental documentary called "We Are Guardians" which he produced alongside Executive Producer and fellow Academy-award winner and activist Leonardo DiCarprio.   The film which follows Indigenous forest defenders protecting the Brazilian Amazon, will expand its global streaming release on Earth Day, April 22, bringing the film to billions of viewers worldwide.
  "We Are Guardians" explores the complex intersections of politics, history, economics, and science, while shedding light on the global implications of defo...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by Raúl O. Paz Pastrana, the director of a new documentary airing on PBS’ Independent Lens series on April 13. Raul’s film, "Backside: The Unseen Hands of Horseracing," set amidst the pageantry of horseracing’s premier event—The Kentucky Derby—goes behind the glamour to present a portrait of the unseen workers whose tireless efforts are key to the event’s success.   Backside offers an intimate and tender glimpse into the lives of immigrant workers who begin their days at 3 a.m., seven days a week, year-round, caring for some of the world's most prized racehor...

Back in 2023, Making Media Now host Michael Azevedo was joined by filmmaker Bonnie Waltch and writer Sara Schley to talk about a film project for which Filmmakers Collaborative was the fiscal sponsor.   The film was called "Brainstorm" and it’s now complete and will be featured in a global virtual screening on March 30 as part of World Bipolar Day.   Bonnie is the film’s writer, director, and producer. And Sara served as co-writer and co-producer.   BrainStorm follows six compelling people living with bipolar in their journey from devastation to recovery. The film connects their experiences with the latest bipolar brain science...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on episode is writer and director Andrew Goldberg, whose documentary "White with Fear" will premiere on PBS on March 24.    Told by the operatives in the rooms where it happened, "White With Fear" is an explosive deep dive into the decades-long quest by America’s conservative political machine to amass power by exploiting racial fault lines and stoking narratives of White victimization.   The documentary examines how some American conservatives and political operatives have successfully weaponized racism and fear for decades and uncovers the real-world consequences of deploying tactics that seek to demonize immigrants, spread Islamophobia, and devise a str...

On this episode host Michael Azevedo takes a dive into season three of the award-winning podcast series, The Big Dig, produced by GBH News and distributed by PRX. Season three is called "Catching The Codfather."   Joining Michael are series’ host Ian Coss and the GBH Managing Producer of Podcasts, Devin Maverick Robins.   Season Three of The Big Dig™ podcast, “Catching The Codfather,” goes down to the docks. It’s a place  where food, work, nature, money and politics all meet – where dreams are born, fortunes ruined, and where the watchful eye of the government is always present.   The series traces the rise of Carlo...

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo chats with award-winning documentary filmmaker Lisa Olivieri about her film, "Recovery City," a raw exploration of what it means to be in recovery as seen through the eyes of four women whose lives share a common thread: addiction.   Set in the working class city of Worcester MA, the film is a real and honest portrait of resilience, grit and camaraderie presenting women who use their lived experience to lift up those still struggling while refusing to give up hope.   "Recovery City" will screen on March 28 at GBH Studios in Boston as part of the Vinf...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Angela Lynn Tucker, the director of an inspiring and informative new documentary called "The Inquisitor," which tells the story of the life and career of Barbara Jordan.   As a young girl growing up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, Barbara Jordan was taught to defy expectations. She understood that to succeed, she would need to forge her own path.   With relentless determination and unyielding tenacity, Barbara Jordan made history as Texas’s first Black state senator and in 1972 the first Southern Black woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.    At a time whe...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Miles Spencer, the co-founder of an innovative AI start-up called Reflekta. A few weeks back, Mile’s team reached out to me to say that they’ve enjoyed the conversations I've had with various types of storytellers…and how they especially liked how our conversations revealed the stories within the stories.  

Miles has helped create over 1,100 jobs while founding, financing, building and exiting three digital media companies. Before doing that he spent time in venture capital, hosted a precursor to Shark Tank called MoneyHunt on PBS , led over 1,500 people across 14 miles of open se...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by first-time director Vivien Hillgrove and producer Deann Borshay Liem to discuss a truly engaging and poignant personal documentary called “Vivien’s Wild Ride,” which will premiere on PBS on January 26.    Vivien Hillgrove has been a film and sound editor all her adult life.    She's worked with many filmmaking greats including: Francis Ford Coppola, Phillip Kaufman, Milos Forman, and Walter Murch, along with a who’s who of celebrated documentary filmmakers.    When Vivien’s eyesight starts to deteriorate, the shame and loneliness she felt in 1964, when she was forced to relinquish her baby as a teenag...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Laura Varela and Andrew Gonzales, the producer and producer/director of "American Sons," a new documentary that follows a brotherhood of Marines a decade after their deployment to Afghanistan, as they struggle to overcome the trauma of combat and the loss of many of their comrades.   The film will premiere on PBS on January 12 and will stream simultaneously with broadcast and be available on all station-branded PBS platforms   The story of their time in Afghanistan is told through the video diary of Corporal JV Villarreal, who was killed in action by an...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Ben Loeterman, the writer and director of Bombshell, a new documentary that Explores How The U.S. government manipulated the narrative around the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   Ben’s film will premiere on PBS as part of the American Experience series on January 6 and will be available on the PBS app and the American Experience website thereafter.    Through propaganda, censorship and the co-opting of the press, the government presented a benevolent picture of atomic power, minimizing the horrific human toll of the bombings.    The U.S. media became pivotal in prom...

On this episode host Michael Azevedo welcomes back Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Joshua Seftel to discuss his latest documentary, "All the Empty Rooms," which is currently available on Netflix and has been short-listed for the 2025 Oscars in the category of best documentary short.   Across America, bedrooms sit untouched — walls still covered in posters, clothes folded neatly in drawers — silent memorials to children lost to gun violence.  

"All the Empty Rooms" is a 33-minute documentary that follows CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman on a seven-year journey visiting families who have lost a child, photographing each child’s room as it was on their...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is first-time filmmaker Nivi Jaswal-Wirtjes, the director & executive producer of a powerful and thought-provoking new documentary called “Third Degree Burnout”  

Narrated by renowned meteorologist John Morales, "Third Degree Burnout" uncovers the hidden connections between personal burnout and the climate crisis, revealing them as symptoms of a larger socio-economic metacrisis.

With world-class animation, engaging interviews with over 20 experts, and playful humor woven into thought-provoking skits, the film breaks down complex ideas into something accessible, relatable, and impactful.

From the history of our food systems to the ripple effects of the C...

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo joined by long-time friend of the podcast Tim O’Donnell of Pixela Films and by first-time guest Mary Dague to discuss the just-completed film, "The Last Yztari."   This innovative and moving film tells the story of how after using her body as a shield to protect her unit from an IED in Iraq, Mary Dague is left medically retired, missing both arms from the elbow down.    Many years after returning home, she finds a new place in online gaming communities as she adapts her controllers to work with her feet.    When her active-military husband readies...

Director Daniel Masciari who joins host Michael Azevedo to discuss "Stationed at Home," his debut feature film.    Set on a clear and frigid Christmas Eve in 1998, in a small, forgotten city, "Stationed at Home" tells the tale of a solitary taxi driver on the graveyard shift breathlessly awaiting the sight of the International Space Station. As the hours count down, a parade of offbeat misfits derail his plans, propelling the story to its exhilarating climax.   Daniel Masciari grew up outside of Boston in a neighborhood of new arrivals to America from all over the world—a community that nurtured his imagi...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Jon Shenk co-director of a powerful documentary now streaming on Netflix called In Waves and War.   Blending observational scenes and animation, "In Waves and War" traces the journey of three Navy SEALs, tormented by trauma, to Mexico where they embark on a mission to rescue one another with powerful psychedelics whose effects shake them to the core and open a path toward healing.   Alongside intimate interviews, captivating animation, and first-of-its-kind research at Stanford’s Brain Stimulation Lab, "In Waves and War," is the emotional, inspiring odyssey of three American heroes as they...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Vicki Hughes and Holly Stadtler, two veterans of the documentary filmmaking world who’ve teamed up to produce The Green Box: At The Heart of War, a film based on a memoir by Jim Kurtz that tells the story of his decades long search to learn more about his father, 2nd Lt. Robert Kurtz, who died when Jim was just 2 years old.   All Jim knew of his father was that he was a bomber pilot in the European theater during WWII.  And because of his mother’s grief, most of the details o...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Ben Flaherty, the director of Shuffle, a film that won the documentary jury award at the 2025 SXSW festival. 

This powerful documentary provides a look into the lives of three Florida residents who struggle to free themselves from a predatory system of for-profit recovery centers that benefit from their reliance on substances.

The film depicts a depressingly familiar pattern of institutions failing the very individuals they exist to help.

A former addict himself, Ben Flaherty uses his own sobriety journey as a starting point to discuss t...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Rick Goldsmith, the director of the documentary “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink.

Rick’s film offers a clear-eyed look at the current state of journalism in the United States with a focus on the insidious threat from a secretive hedge fund that has put America’s free press at risk.  

Alden Global Capital, operating in the shadows, has managed to upend countless local newsrooms in the past 15 years. But their profit-at-all-costs efforts have not gone un-checked.  

This powerful, eye-opening 90-minute documentary tracks the courageo...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode is Clay Tweel, director of a powerful new documentary called "The Bitter Pill."    Clay’s film—which debuted on PBS on 9/22 and will be available to stream on PBS digital until December 10-- follows the charismatic West Virginian plaintiff attorney Paul Farrell, Jr, as he wages a legal war against some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies in a landmark battle fueled by personal stakes.    A powerful chronicle of justice, accountability, and resilience, the Bitter Pill is set in Farrell’s hometown, Cabell County, West Virginia, a community at the epicenter of America’s...

On May 8, 1970, “the Hard Hat Riot” erupted in lower Manhattan. At midday, construction workers, including those building the World Trade Center, violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War.   Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as pawns, unwilling to see the changes that America needed.    On this episode, host Michael Azevedo speaks with Marc Levin, the director of "Hard Hat Riot," a new documentary that will broadcast on PBS’ American Experience on September 30 and be available online thereafter.  ...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Andy DeMeo, the creator and host of the Granite Goodness podcast and Substack newsletter.  

Andy has a belief that most news thrives on outrage, fear, and conflict. And he created "Granite Goodness" in order to take a different approach.

The podcast and newsletter highlights what Andy calls real progress happening across New England in science, tech, sustainability, business, economics, infrastructure, and more.

It’s Andy’s contention that when people see a better world is possible, they are more likely to build it. At the core of "Grani...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by veteran film and television director Rob Spera.   Rob’s been on the faculty at the American Film Institute for over 20 years. His feature films include The Sweet Life, Fathers and Sons, and the cult classic Leprechaun in the Hood.    His numerous television credits include Criminal Minds, Supernatural, Suspect Behavior, and Army Wives. During four seasons as Resident Director at the Tony award-winning Actors Theatre of Louisville, he directed over 75 productions. And he is currently the Head of Directing at Rideback Rise, a Fellowship Program for mid-career screenwriters who are making the move to directing.    Rob disc...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Jen Bradwell and Todd Boekelheide, the married co-directors of "Make A Circle," a new documentary that offers a rare, inside look at the lives of child care providers and early educators — the backbone of a child care system on the brink.   The film premieres Monday, September 1 streaming nationally on PBS.org, the PBS app and on PBS TV stations (check local listings) across the country.    As Jen Bradwell says: “Make A Circle is a love letter to early educators and a portrait of a child care system in crisis. The film delves into one...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Jonathan Berman, director of the newly restored documentary "Commune." Originally released in 2005, the film has been newly restored with vibrant sound and picture quality and is currently making the rounds at movie houses across the US.    Commune chronicles the story of Black Bear Ranch, launched in 1968 with help from luminaries like The Doors, Frank Zappa, and The Monkees. This abandoned goldmine transformed into a hub for radical living, fueled by the motto "Free Land for Free People."   The film is packed with rare interviews—including with well-know actor and frequent documentary narrator Peter Coyot...

Here's a brief update on the current status of public media.   In short: it ain’t good.   If you’re a regular listener to MMN, you probably know that over the more than 150 episodes that we’ve produced a sizable chunk of them involved conversations with documentary filmmakers whose work was broadcast on public media outlets like PBS and NPR.    Much of the reason that these documentaries have found a home at places like PBS is because they deal with important issues—issues that impact the health of our democracy, our natural environment, the rights of marginalized groups, and often compelling h...