The Business

<p>When comedian Louis C.K. created and self-financed his new web series <em>Horace and Pete</em>, he kept the production a secret and did absolutely no advertising. He tells us about risking his own money and making <em>Horace and Pete</em> completely on his own terms.</p>

<p>Marvel's newest blockbuster has so many super-characters, it's no wonder it took two directors to handle all the action. Brothers Anthony and Joe Russo tell us how they went from directing quirky TV shows to big-budget superhero movies. </p>

<p>Bill Borden has spent years making movies in both the U.S. and China. He was a producer on Stephen Chow's recent film <em>The Mermaid</em>, the biggest hit in Chinese box office history. He tells us how filmmaking is different in China than the US, and what American filmmakers can do to bridge the divide.</p>

<p>Veteran director Richard Donner tells us about the behind-the-scenes adventures of making the original comic book blockbuster <em>Superman</em> in 1978.</p>

<p>Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna had never planned to go back to working in television. Then she found Rachel Bloom's YouTube videos. She tells us how they teamed up to create the quirky CW musical comedy <em>Crazy Ex-Girlfriend</em>.</p>

<p>After years of playing drug dealers and terrorists, Maori actor Cliff Curtis is finally finding more complex, nuanced roles. He tells us how he's able to bring his own background to two recent leading man roles. And Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, creators and stars of <em>Catastrophe</em> talk about the anxiety leading up to their second season.</p>

<p>Journalist Robert Draper tells us about his profile of Kate del Castillo, the Mexican actress who served as the go-between for Sean Penn's infamous meeting with El Chapo. Then, a conversation with showrunners Michelle Ashford and Ilene Chaiken. They talk about their varied career paths that led them to overseeing their own shows.</p>

<p>Early in his career, Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim declared he would never make documentaries. He tells us about the bad experience in Hollywood that made him have a change of heart, and talks about his newest film, <em>He Named Me Malala</em>, which profiles activist Malala Yousafzai and her family.</p>

<p>Krisha Fairchild left LA in the 1980’s when her acting career failed to launch. Thirty years later, her nephew wrote and directed a film and cast her in the title role. Now, she's finally having her Hollywood moment. And Steve Harvey tells us how he's fought back against network execs who wanted to pigeonhole him in "black TV."</p>

<p>Writer-producer Kenya Barris tells us how he runs his writers room on his ABC show <em>Black-ish</em>, and what led him to write a much talked about recent episode about police brutality. </p>

<p>It's been two decades since Sally Field headlined a film, but now she stars as the title role in Michael Showalter's new indie dramedy, <em>Hello, My Name Is Doris</em>. Field and Showalter share why they were drawn to the project, and how they filmed it in under a month. </p>

<p>Terence Winter, the co-creator and showrunner of the new HBO series <em>Vinyl,</em> tells us how his roots in Brooklyn and stint practicing law both helped him -- in a roundabout way -- land big writing jobs in Hollywood.</p>

<p>When Douglas McGrath set out to make a documentary about Mike Nichols, he found the iconic director most excited to talk about his early work, up to and including perhaps his most defining movie, <em>The Graduate.</em></p>

<p><em>Mad Max: Fury Road</em> director George Miller has had a successful and exceptionally varied career. He tells us what all his films have in common, despite the differing subject matter.</p>

<p>Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have written movie scripts about real people like Ed Wood and Larry Flynt, but they weren't TV guys until they got an offer to tackle the trial of the century.</p>

<p>Director Todd Haynes and producer Christine Vachon trace tell us about the long journey to make their newest movie, <em>Carol</em>. Despite their past success, they say they still face resistance in the industry whenever they pitch a movie about women without any male leads. </p>

<p>Writer-director Adam McKay is known for his Will Ferrell comedies like <em>Anchorman</em> and <em>Talladega Nights</em>. He’s gone a different direction with <em>The Big Short</em>, and now the film about the 2008 financial collapse is up for five Oscars. </p>

<p>Director Lenny Abrahamson didn’t expect author Emma Donoghue would choose him to make a film based on her bestselling novel <em>Room</em>. Abrahamson tells us how he made his pitch to Donoghue -- and she explains why it worked.</p>

<p>First-time director László Nemes knew it would be tough to find funding for his intensely realistic Holocaust film, but he had no idea the level of resistance he'd face. He tells us how he went from having the movie no one wanted to touch to being a Cannes darling and Oscar contender.</p>

<p>Filmmaker Andrew Haigh had a difficult time funding his first film, a small indie drama called <em>Weekend.</em> When that movie charmed critics, everything changed. He tells us about his new film <em>45 Years.</em></p>

<p><span>Kim Masters, Michael Schneider of TV Guide Magazine and Matthew Belloni of the Hollywood Reporter, join forces for a 2015 year-in-review. They take on the year of the woman (or not), the fight over the future of Viacom, feast or famine at the box office, peak TV and more.</span></p>

<p>Rapper, actor and producer Ice Cube long hoped to make a movie about N.W.A., the hip hop group that gave him his start. <em>Straight Outta Compton</em> faced hurdles and backlash but that was no surprise to Cube. He tells us how he finally got the story to the screen.</p>

<p><em>Creed</em> director Ryan Coogler wasn't even born when most of the <em>Rocky</em> movies were made, but he fell in love with the franchise thanks to his father. Coogler tells us how he went from football player to filmmaker, and how he convinced Sylvester Stallone to go another round with <em>Creed.</em></p>

<p>Bill Pohlad has spent the past decade producing award-winners like <em>Brokeback Mountain</em> and <em>12 Years a Slave</em>. With <em>Love & Mercy</em>, a unique Brian Wilson bio-pic, he comes back to directing after a 24 year hiatus.</p>

<p>KCRW's Saul Gonzalez checks in on the headshot -- still a staple of the industry despite changing technology. And executive producer Betsy Beers tells us why she's sick of talking about diversity and how an all-woman producing duo locked down Thursday nights on ABC.</p>

<p>Despite a shrinking budget and difficult subject matter, director Tom McCarthy pulled together a stellar ensemble including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams to portray the unglamorous work of investigative reporting for his new movie <em>Spotlight.</em></p>

<p>Nick Hornby has seen his novels like <em>High Fidelity</em> and <em>About a Boy</em> made into films. He's also adapted other writers' work for movies, including <em>An Education, Wild,</em> and now, <em>Brooklyn,</em> an immigrant love story already generating Oscar buzz.</p>

<p>Bryan Cranston and <em>Trumbo</em> director Jay Roach tell us how they ended up making a biopic about blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and what drew them to the story of Hollywood’s darkest hour.</p>

<p>Director Leslee Udwin was in India as a court blocked the broadcast of her documentary about an infamous gang rape and murder in that country. Her film, <em>India's Daughter</em>, remains banned in India to this day. She tells us about putting herself at risk and in debt to make the film. </p>

<p>Director Lenny Abrahamson didn’t expect author Emma Donoghue would choose him to make a film based on her bestselling novel <em>Room</em>. Abrahamson tells us how he made his pitch to Donoghue, and she explains why it worked.</p>

<p>Early in his career, Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim declared he would never make documentaries. He tells us about the bad experience in Hollywood that made him have a change of heart, and talks about his newest film, <em>He Named Me Malala</em>, which profiles activist Malala Yousafzai and her family.</p>

<p>The German thriller <em>Victoria</em> follows a bank heist in Berlin in real time. Director Sebastian Schipper shot the entire film in one long take. Schipper and actress Laia Costa tell us how you make a movie without ever saying "cut!"</p>

<p>With her new film <em>Prophet's Prey,</em> documentarian Amy Berg takes on the polygamous, fundamentalist arm of the Mormon Church. She tells us about encountering unwilling subjects and also addresses her Hollywood child sex abuse doc, <em>An Open Secret.</em></p>

<p>Filmmaker Anna Muylaert has won acclaim at home and abroad for <em>The Second Mother,</em> which is Brazil's Oscar entry this year. But even with all the success, Muylaert's found that she's still not taken seriously within an industry dominated by men.</p>

<p>It may seem strange for the head of a cable network that's gone from two to 20 shows in the last decade to say there's officially too much TV, but that's exactly what FX's John Landgraf declared at this summer's TCA gathering. He breaks down his thinking for us.</p>

<p>The 1997 movie <em>Seven Years in Tibet</em> was banned in China, and its director Jean-Jacques Annaud barred from entering the country. A decade later, China came to Annaud and asked him to direct <em>Wolf Totem</em>, an epic Chinese movie. Annaud tells us what changed.</p>

<p>Television icon Norman Lear wrote sitcoms that tackled real issues, like rape, abortion and race relations. This Labor Day, we revisit Lear's conversation with Kim Masters about the lifetimes worth of adventures in film and television chronicled in his memoir.</p>

<p>For years, Bobcat Goldthwait wanted to make a movie about his mentor, Barry Crimmins. A stand-up comic with a taste for sharp political satire, Crimmins became an activist who testified before Congress, taking on AOL over the proliferation of child pornography on the Internet. Goldthwait tells how the film came together with help from his best friend Robin Williams.</p>

<p>Writer and comedian Keegan-Michael Key shares why he and Jordan Peele have opted to go the "British route" and end their Comedy Central show <em>Key & Peele</em> at the height of its popularity. </p>

<p>A TV show about the one man left alive after a virus wipes out the rest of humanity may not sound very funny, but Will Forte saw great comedic potential in the idea. Now he's Emmy nominated for writing and starring in Fox's <em>The Last Man on Earth.</em></p>

<p>David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik hit the TV jackpot with shows like <em>Friends</em> and <em>Mad About You.</em> They mined their experience of years in network TV to make the Emmy-nominated Showtime satire <em>Episodes,</em> now headed into its fifth season.</p>

<p>Jason Segel says he was terrified to take on the role of writer David Foster Wallace in <em>The End of the Tour</em>, but director James Ponsoldt never doubted him. They tell us about their new film, which follows a journalist on the road with the famed author. </p>

<p>The 2001 film <em>Wet Hot American Summer</em> tanked at the box office, but acquired a cult following as many members of its ensemble cast went on to have huge careers. Now director David Wain has reunited the entire cast for a new series on Netflix, <em>Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp</em>.</p>

<p>Filmmakers Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia tell us about the secretive, years-long process of making <em>Web Junkie</em>, a documentary about an internet addiction treatment facility for teens in China. Then, the executive producers of the Hulu hit <em>East Los High</em> share how their show is filling a void in the teen media market. </p>

<p>Filmmaker Benjamin Statler hopes his new documentary <em>Soaked in Bleach</em> will help reopen the Kurt Cobain case. Meanwhile, Courtney Love and her lawyers are attempting to stop his film from being shown in theaters.</p>

<p>Tab Hunter was the ultimate 1950's Hollywood heartthrob. Blond hair, blue eyes, stunning smile...and also gay. The multifaceted star, now nearly 84, tells his story in the new documentary <em>Tab Hunter Confidential</em>, directed by Jeffrey Schwarz. </p>

<p>When filmmaker Crystal Moselle first saw the long-haired Angulo brothers walking in the Lower East Side, her gut told her to run after them. She and Govinda Angulo, one of the six members of <em>The Wolfpack</em>, tell us how their friendship evolved into an award-winning documentary.</p>

<p><em>What Happened, Miss Simone?</em> is the first original documentary from Netflix. Director Liz Garbus shares how her Nina Simone project ended up there and tells us about the worldwide journey she traveled to find rare footage of the famous performer.</p>

<p>The new dramedy <em>UnREAL</em> is a major departure from the typical Lifetime fare. The series co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro tells us how her past experience working on <em>The Bachelor</em> led to the creation of a show all about the behind-the-scenes machinations of a reality TV producer.</p>

<p>Comedian Cristela Alonzo created and starred in an ABC sitcom based on her own life -- which made getting canceled after just one season that much harder. She reflects on the past year and tells us why she won't be joining <em>The View</em>.</p>