IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit

With his newest film "Fatherland" staring Sandra Hüller, director Pavel Pawlikoski completes his unofficial trilogy of films looking at the historic past. Listen to hear how the style and themes from "Ida" and "Cold War" evolved in this third film, crafting a contemplative roadtrip, and what Pavel thinks of his own homeland.

Watch this episode on YouTube - https://youtu.be/26xCrqzR_kk

Read our review of "Fatherland" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/fatherland-review-sandra-huller-pawel-pawlikowski-1235193023/

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During the making of her boundary breaking period drama "Marie Antoinette," Sofia Coppola's mother Eleanor shot hundreds of hours of behind the scenes footage. Sofia and her long time editor Aaron Mathews assembled it into a feature length documentary, with the aid of Diane Lane reading the late Eleanor's journals from the set. She opened up with IndieWire's Chris O'Falt about the intimate access a filmmaker grants their own mother, working under the shadow of her father's reputation for grandeur, and her pride in her mother's art.

Watch this episode on YouTube - https://youtu.be/hoolI1...

Lance Oppenheim is a favorite guest on the Filmmaker Toolkit; a director who loves dissecting his process. Lance has two films in theaters that demand this kind of breakdown more than any this year. First, we dig into the Elizabeth Holmes documentary he co-directed with Nathan Fielder, 'You Can See Everything.' Lance explains the web of confusion and falsehoods they were drawn into by Holmes, often disagreeing about the nature of what they had just captured on camera.

Then we cover Lance's first scripted feature 'Primetime,' including how he got Robert Pattinson on board and...

Director Cristian Mungiu ("4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days") uses his films to challenge audience's morals and sense of justice. In his newest film, the Palme d'Or winning "Fjord," Mungiu follows an immigrant Romanian family targeted by Norwegian child protective services for their conservative beliefs. Our challenging conversation digs into the messy morality of a progressive nation enforcing its beliefs with authoritarian practices, and how Mungiu writes his films to place the viewer in the role of jurist.

Watch this episode on YouTube - https://youtu.be/tBK4KDuGRE4

Read our full review of "Fjord"...

The legendary screenwriter returns to the subject that won him an Oscar for "The Social Network," this time in the director's chair. Hear Sorkin explain how he tried to get David Fincher to direct, replacing Jesse Eisenberg with Jeremy Strong's intense transformation into the Facebook founder, and why America's growing political extremism made him change his mind about "not wanting to jump up and down" on Zuckerberg. We also explore the making of the 2010 original film, and even touch a bit on 'The West Wing.'

Watch this conversation on IndieWire's YouTube page - https://youtu.be...

In his fourth film as writer and director, Chris Rock is coming out as a cinephile. In this conversation with IndieWire's Chris O'Falt, Rock shares his love for independent filmmakers like Alexander Payne and Noah Baumbach, and how he is trying to be taken seriously as a director of personal, dramatic films. We also discuss casting and collaborating with the film's star Rosalind Eleazar, and stumble into some fun anecdotes from Rock's comedy past.

Watch this conversation on IndieWire's YouTube page - https://youtu.be/jiBbivUZA3E

Watch the trailer for "Misty Green" - https...

In a live edition of Filmmaker Toolkit, writer-director Walter Hill joins IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill at the American Cinematheque for a post-screening discussion of his action-comedy classic “48HRS.” Hill discusses casting Eddie Murphy, designing one of the great long takes of the 1980s, and what he thinks his imitators got wrong in the buddy films that came later.

Read Walter Hill reflect on the making of another of his classics, "The Warriors" - https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/walter-hill-interview-warriors-1235142531/

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Through films like "Fury," "End of Watch" and "The Beekeeper" David Ayer has proven himself an auteur of visceral action and male emotion. His newest has him re-teaming with Brad Pitt to show off a side of the star (and himself) that we have not seen on screen before. Hear Ayer share how his time on a nuclear submarine helped him as a director, his philosophy of violence on screen, and how having a dog on set can make even the longest shoot days possible.

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For his feature documentary debut, director John Wilson takes us into (and far, far beyond) the history of a substance that forms the foundation of the modern world. He sat down with IndieWire's Sarah Shachat to discuss the difference in audience interaction from TV to film, file management, the drone photography epidemic, starting a micro-cinema, filming Kylie Jenner at a party, and much more.

Watch the trailer for "The History of Concrete" - https://www.indiewire.com/news/trailers/john-wilson-the-history-of-concrete-trailer-1235213146/

And read our full review - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies...

After creating one of the biggest waves of any film to ever hit the Cannes Film Festival, Director Na Hong-jin is bringing his genre defying spectacle "Hope" to theaters. IndieWire's Chris O'Falt could not wait to dive into the incredible world building, audacious motion capture CGI, and some of the most spectacular action filmmaking we've seen in in a while.

Skip to 27:16 to hear Director Na Hong-jin's full answers in Korean.

Watch the trailer for "Hope'" - https://www.indiewire.com/news/trailers/hope-trailer-na-hong-jin-1235204304/

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Director Michael Dinner returns to the podcast to talk with IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill about his work on Apple TV’s “Silo.” Dinner discusses the influence of 1970s conspiracy thriller’s on the show’s visual language, collaborating with showrunner Graham Yost and star Rebecca Ferguson, and much more.

Read more about the production design of "Silo" - https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/silo-props-apple-tv-plus-1234879799/

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In a wide-ranging conversation, veteran director Ridley Scott returns to the podcast to talk with IndieWire features writer Jim Hemphill about his latest film, “The Dog Stars.” Scott also has stories about “Blade Runner” and “Black Hawk Down,” reveals his very English approach to love stories, and explains how he’s able to make epics on a budget.

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Director Matt Johnson is already a hot name this year following the cult success of “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie,” and now his next film “Tony” is attracting early awards buzz. Johnson explained how he took many liberties adapting the early chapters of Anthony Bourdain’s memoir while avoiding the typical pitfalls of a biopic. He also reveals why he changed his style for “Tony,” avoiding the documentary aesthetics that define his previous Toronto-made comedies.

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After his hit shows ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul,’ creator and showrunner Vince Gilligan is back with the sci-fi thriller ‘Pluribus.’ We sat down with Gilligan at a reflective moment as he and his team were hard at work breaking Season 2. Hear him break down what worked and didn’t in the first season, why directing crowd scenes was the hardest part of the premise to film, and what it was like finally shooting outside his beloved New Mexico (while not abandoning Albuquerque).

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For their third feature, Jane Shoenbrun brings us to the brink of ecstasy with their deeply felt and impeccably crafted exploration of the slasher genre. The director of "I Saw the TV Glow" and "We're All Going to the World's Fair" explains why their new film had to start with a geyser of fake blood, walks us through making horror scenes a metaphor for sex, and wonders where our fascinations with slasher tropes really come from.

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HBO's epic dragon war just wrapped its third season, and series co-creator and showrunner Ryan Condal sat down with IndieWire's Sarah Shachat to break down how they pull off multiple features' worth of world-building and action into a season of TV. Hear how they balanced character psychology with famous battles adapted from the source material, and why they added some of their own dragon action to the story.

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Director Gregg Araki joins IndieWire features writer Jim Hemphill to talk about his latest film, “I Want Your Sex.” Araki discusses casting Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman, making sex fun again on screen, and making the most of the shortest schedule he ever had.

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Writer and producer Nick Antosca joins IndieWire features writer Jim Hemphill to discuss his Apple TV series "Cape Fear," an adaptation of Martin Scorsese's 1991 thriller and the 1962 Robert Mitchum classic that inspired it. Antosca talks about building on the previous versions to create a hallucinatory nightmare that retains the spirit of its sources but takes their themes in completely new directions.

Listen to the Screen Talk Podcast. Every Friday IndieWire editors Anne Thompson & Ryan Lattanzio break down insider news from Hollywood and debate the latest films and series. - https://podcasts.apple.com/us...

For the third season of the gothic horror series, "Interview with the Vampire" got a new name and a new focus on undead rock & roll. The creator and showrunner of all three seasons joins IndieWire craft editor Sarah Shachat to sink their teeth into how they made "The Vampire Lestat" so operatic and engaging.

Read our full review of the season - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-vampire-lestat-review-iwtv-season-3-sam-reid-remix-1235198082/?v3=true

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The co-creators of this sci-fi alternate history series join IndieWire's Sarah Shachat to dig into 'Star City's connections to 'For All Mankind,' adding spies to the mix, and the many unfortunate ways their story reflects the present day.

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Director David Wain and Star Ken Marino bring their decades of iconic comedy experience ("Wet Hot American Summer," "Role Models") to co-writing their newest hilarious summer romp "Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass." The pair sat down with IndieWire's Chris O'Falt for a chat about their 7 day writing process, loving their troupe of regular performers, and plenty of funny digressions as you'd expect from an interview with two improv comedians.

Read our full review of "Gail Daughtry'"- https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/gail-daughtry-and-the-celebrity-sex-pass-movie-review-1235175438/

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Olivia Wilde, the director and star of "The Invite," joins IndieWire's Chris O'Falt for an in depth discussion of her thorny and hilarious relationship drama. Drawing on lessons from her cameo on "The Studio," Wilde and co-stars Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton embarked on a fascinating rehearsal process that informed everything from script rewrites to cinematography. She breaks down the process in detail, and how it lead to the biggest sale out of Sundance this year.

Watch this interview on our YouTube page - https://youtu.be/0b8wsIzm9Ac

...

Call it crass, but Jackass has proven to be one of the best made comedy series of its generation. Jeff Tremaine, the director of every single frame of Jackass, sat down with IndieWire's Chris O'Falt to reminisce on how the franchise started and how they stuck around to disgust and delight theaters twenty five years later (including the story of how Johnny Knoxville first gave him the idea for the series).

Read our full review of "Jackass: Best and Last" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/jackass-best-and-last-movie-review-johnny-knoxville-1235202283/

Learn more...

The director of the beloved "Pig" is back for his third feature, the surprisignly brutal and deeply tactile drama "The Death of Robin Hood." Sarnoski talks with IndieWire's Chris O'Falt about defining this version of the folk hero with star Hugh Jackman, the intent behind the film's brutal violence, and the importance of doing so much of it practically. Sarnoski also teases his upcoming adaptation of the "Death Stranding" video game franchise.

Read our interview with Hugh Jackman about portraying this brutal version of Robin Hood - https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/hugh-jackman-death-of-robin-hood-interview-1235200325...

IndieWire's Sarah Shachat sat down with the creators of one of the oldest and longest running Dungeons and Dragons shows of the current boom. They discuss the wild ride taking 'Critical Role' from a Twitch stream to a podcast and now two animated series based on their campaigns.

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Andrew DeYoung returns to the Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast to discuss his new HBO series with Tim Robbins. DeYoung talks frankly about how budget limitations lead to the series' visual creativity, his process with Robbins, and how make an internet rabbit hole interesting on screen.

Andrew DeYoung's Toolkit episode on "Friendship" - https://open.spotify.com/episode/3AR0dIo2bvRvk6mG4YgFD6?si=e80d0f2af093409e

Read our review of "The Chair Company" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-chair-company-review-tim-robinson-hbo-series-1235154393/?v3=true

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Get ready for a lesson on how to make good TV. Creator and showrunner
R. Scott Gemmill sat down with IndieWire's Sarah Shachat to talk about the Season 2 finale, and how "The Pitt" takes full advantage of what TV can do.

Read more coverage of the season finale - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-pitt-season-2-episode-15-review-finale-ending-theories-1235189311/

More on the birth episode - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/shows/the-pitt-season-2-review-1235170958/

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"Euphoria" creator, writer, and director Sam Levinson joins IndieWire features writer Jim Hemphill to discuss the third and final season of his HBO hit. In a wide-ranging conversation, Levinson discusses how he integrates his collaborators' ideas, how his conception of the season changed during the pandemic, and how he's feeling now that he's done with the show that has consumed the last decade of his life.

Read more about how Angus Cloud's death impacted Season 3 - https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/euphoria-angus-cloud-fentanyl-impacted-season-3-1235188504/

Check out IndieWire's ranking of every episode of "...

Lucia Aniello sat down with IndieWire's Chris O'Falt to discuss the creative evolution of Hacks, balancing comedy with emotional storytelling, and wrapping up one of television’s most celebrated series.

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Showrunner Spencer Hudnut joins IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill to talk about the CBS series “Marshals,” a “Yellowstone” spinoff that combines the epic Western sweep of that show with the pleasures of a broadcast procedural. Hudnut discuses walking the line between prestige TV and the procedural world, making the show his own while paying tribute to “Yellowstone,” and much more.

Listen to the Screen Talk Podcast. Every Friday IndieWire editors Anne Thompson & Ryan Lattanzio break down insider news from Hollywood and debate the latest films and series. - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indiewire-screen-talk/id893977298

The writer and director of “I Love Boosters” sits down with IndieWire’s Craft Editor Sarah Shachat to discuss how music shapes his writing process, bringing ambitious cinematic ideas to life on an indie budget, the rough beauty and tactile emotion of stop-motion animation, and more.

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Writer Jack Thorne and director Marc Munden tell IndieWire about the journey to shoot “Lord of the Flies” in Malaysia, what they learned from the young actors playing boys stranded on an island, and what inspiration the Netflix miniseries took from “Lone Survivor.”

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Ten years ago, "The Comeback" was one of the first shows to satirize the rise of reality TV. Last Sunday the show aired its final episode, concluding a season that tackles the rise of the next trend promising to change entertainment forever: AI. Creator and star Lisa Kudrow and creator Michael Patrick King sat down with IndieWire's Chris O'Falt to share what they learned about AI making this third season, and reflect on the show's unique ten year history.

Read our review of the final season of "The Comeback" - https://www.indiewire.com...

We are fortunate to be joined by one of our favorite working filmmakers this week, the masterful Lucrecia Martel. In her first documentary, Martel tells the story of an indigenous Argentinian community facing colonialist forces in one of the most disturbing true crime stories you'll see this year. She brings the full power of film form to this complex story, exploring the ways pain is passed down through memory, and revealing how a trial is always more about theater than true justice. We also touch on the new restoration of her 2008 film "The Headless Woman."

To hear...

In a rare mid-season Toolkit check in, IndieWire's Chris O'Falt sits down with the creator of Euphoria and series cinematographer Marcell Rev to explore what makes Season 3 such a powerful departure for the show. From the custom film stock to the new approach to visual storytelling, don't miss this analysis of some of the most interesting filmmaking happening on TV right now.

Read our breakdown of Episode 3's big wedding - https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/euphoria-season-3-wedding-production-designer-1235190227/

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In her scripted debut, documentarian Sohpy Romvari explores with her memories of growing up with her brother's increasingly dangerous behavior. The way she wrestles with how her family responded, her own memories of that time, and how she processed it all through her masterful use of film form.

Read our review of "Blue Heron" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/blue-heron-movie-review-sophy-romvari-1235144901/

Read our interview with the editor of "Blue Heron" - https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/blue-heron-interview-editor-kurt-walker-1235189687/

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A favorite guest on the Filmmaker Toolkit, the director of "The Green Knight" and "A Ghost Story" is back with his newest original film. Lowery explains how "Mother Mary" began as a writing exercise and developed into a lurid pop fantasy, and discusses the thrills and challenges of working with huge names like Anne Hathaway, Jack Antonoff and FKA Twigs.

Read our full review of "Mother Mary" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/mother-mary-movie-review-anne-hathaway-a24-1235188817/

Hear more about Lowery's creative experience with Disney that inspired "Mother Mary" - https://www.indiewire...

American filmmaker Julia Loktev, born in the Soviet Union, returned to Moscow in 2021 to make a documentary on the persistence of independent journalism in Putin’s Russia, only to find herself documenting its death in real time as Russia invades Ukraine. Julia walked us through how she felt living inside this dark moment of Russian history, and how she can't help draw comparisons back home.

Read our full review of "My Undesirable Friends" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/my-undesirable-friends-part-1-last-air-in-moscow-review-1235053151/

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Directors Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, also known as the comedy duo BriTANicK, join IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill to talk about their new Hulu “Pizza Movie, which elevates lowbrow comedy to high art with its meticulous sense of visual design and structure. McElhaney and Kocher talk about influences, casting, and more in this wide-ranging interview.

Read our full review of "Pizza Movie" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/pizza-movie-review-britanick-hulu-comedy-1235186676/

Subscribe to Top Of The Line - IndieWire's new newsletter about the craft of film and TV - https://cloud.email.indiewire.com...

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, better known as Radio Silence, join IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill to talk about their new film “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come.” A sequel to the 2019 thriller “Ready or Not,” “Ready or Not 2” takes the story in surprising new directions while delivering the pleasures of the original. Radio Silence talks about striking that balance, approaching difficult exposition, and more in this interview.

Subscribe to Top Of The Line - IndieWire's new newsletter about the craft of film and TV - https://cloud.email.indiewire.com/signup/

Listen to the...