This little seen 1991 gem is coming to the Criterion Collection. And even if you have seen this movie, the story of how it got made will shock you. Savoca talked about how she transformed a studio film destined to be another Porky’s teen sex comedy into a subtle masterpiece. Savoca talks about how her young star, River Phoenix, saved the ending fro…

You may remember "The People’s Joker" as that film Warner Brothers tried to shut down for copyright infringement during the 2022 Toronto film Festival. The more interesting story about this film is the ingenuity and a punk rock spirit in which it was created. Drew takes us on a journey of how her origin story as a trans woman coming up in the comed…

Thomas Kail, of Hamilton and Fosse/Verdon joins us to discuss this gripping series about a Jewish family in Poland surviving WWII, and how he worked to make sure this holocaust story reflects upon the modern day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesโดย Chris O'Falt

Having helmed their big grudge match in 2021's Godzilla vs Kong, director Adam Wingard is now back for the big team up. Hear how Wingard and his team expanded the mythology of the series, introduced several new titans, and integrated VFX with some spectacular location shooting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The director of "Saint Maud" takes us into the dark heart of her new noir romance. From the shocking gore to the authentic sex scenes, and even a touch of the cosmic, Glass breaks down how this movie goes so hard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesโดย Chris O'Falt

Michael Keaton joins us today for a chat about his work Directing and starring in this modern day film noir about a hitman with rapid-onset dementia. Hear how Keaton defied the expectations of a thriller in order to deliver a movie that is contemplative, tragic, and yet dryly funny. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

It's time to go back to the desert! The mastermind behind the Dune series returns to Toolkit to breakdown the complicated hero's journey, making sandworm riding a reality, and why this sequel feels like such a different kind of movie than the first. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Series creator and director Lulu Wang discusses carrying around a Zoom recorder on scouts and finding the rhythm (in more ways than one) of "Expats." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesโดย Chris O'Falt

The Apple TV Plus series “Masters of the Air” reunites screenwriter John Orloff with his “Band of Brothers” producers Gary Goetzman, Tom Hanks, and Steven Spielberg. On this episode, Orloff discusses his rigorous approach to research and how that manifests itself as drama in some of the most visceral combat scenes ever filmed. Learn more about your…

You probably know Dolph Lundgren as an actor from films like ROCKY IV and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER, but over the last 20 years he has quietly forged a directing career making modestly budgeted action films in the character-driven tradition of Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood. He joins Filmmaker Toolkit to talk about his latest movie, WANTED MAN. Learn more a…

Ava Duvernay joins us to dig into the deep emotions and complex histories that make up her extraordinary new film Origin. Hear how she saw a vision for a film within the 'unadaptable' best selling book by Isabelle Wilkerson, and how she blended genre and film form to not only connect important moments of human suffering across time, but also infuse…

It has been nine years since Under The Skin, the last film from Jonathan Glazer. Once you hear him discuss the approach to the harrowing and complex subject matter of his new film, including bold approaches to the look and sound, you will understand why it took almost a decade to develop one of the best films of 2023. Learn more about your ad choic…

Editor William Goldenberg has cut all but one of director Ben Affleck’s features, and Affleck says their partnership was the key to making “Air” fly. On today’s episode Affleck and Goldenberg talk about evoking period through editing, fine-tuning performances, and much, much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

The director and writer of Occupied City join us this week to explain how they crafted this very particular and precise cinematic experience, which presents a unique approach to a dark chapter in world history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesโดย Chris O'Falt

Director Michael Mann joins Filmmaker Toolkit to talk about his latest film, “Ferrari,” a movie he’s been working on in one form or another for decades. Mann discusses how he conceived and executed the film’s extraordinary racing sequences, why the movie contains two complementary styles of filmmaking, and how he worked with actors Adam Driver and …

Peter Sohn has long been a fixture at Pixar, and this week he spoke with us about taking the leap from voice acting and writing to directing. Hear how he finds his story through his drawing pen, and why his family's immigrant experience formed the beating heart of Elemental. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices…

Director Emerald Fennell joined us to the joys of crafting a deeply unsubtle movie without being foolish, and how the many lush details of Saltburn illuminate its characters' murky morality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesโดย Chris O'Falt

“The Color Purple” has already been a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, Academy Award-nominated film by Steven Spielberg, and Tony Award-winning Broadway show, but director Blitz Bazawule still found new areas to explore in his new adaptation of the stage musical. On this episode he talks about finding a visual language for the heroine …

This podcast was always conceived as a place where filmmakers could have the kinds of detailed, craft-centric discussions that Martin Scorsese would love. Now, for our 250th episode, the master himself joins us explain why his new film both is and isn't inspired by the American Western, and reflects on what keeps him passionate so far into his care…

Director Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone were nominated for Oscars for their first collaboration, “The Favourite,” and their new film “Poor Things” is even funnier, more moving, and more original. Lanthimos and Stone sat down with us to talk about their collaboration, the benefits of a stripped-down set even for an epic, and the challenges of editi…

Nikki Giovanni was one of the most prominent poet-activists to come out of the late-60s Black Arts Movement, and, as this film explores, is one of the Godmothers of Afrofuturism and the Afropunk alternative arts scene. But "Going to Mars" is far from your standard issue profile documentary, instead husband-wife co-directors Michèle Stephenson and J…

Errol Morris has interviewed many controversial figures from Donald Rumsfeld to Steve Bannon, but when he sat down with author and former spy David Cornwell - aka John le Carré - he finally met his match in terms of intelligence and preparation. Morris joined us to discuss the interview with Cornwell that resulted in “The Pigeon Tunnel,” one of the…

Ridley Scott is one of those directors with almost too many great films to count, from classics like Blade Runner to modern favorites like The Martian. He joined us to discuss his newest film, detailing how he manages to shoot epics like this in a fraction of the time it takes other filmmakers, and how his partnership with Joaquin Phoenix has stren…

Greta Gerwig and the creative team of "Barbie" discuss the musical evolution of the Warner Brothers' film and the unusual way that the pop songs being written for the film ended up informing score, tone, the opening and ending of the film, and even Barbie's heart. This Deep Dive also features "Barbie" editor Nick Houy and co-composers Mark Ronson a…

The director of the boundary pushing documentary joins us to illuminate how this famous character from Virginia Woolf remains strikingly relevant in our time, and how we are all a bit of an Orlando. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesโดย Chris O'Falt