The No Film School Podcast

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Erik Luers and Charles Haine discuss the quiet indie making a loud noise at the international box office and why now is the time to pitch your high-concept horror film, as well as Netflix’s newest independent filmmakers: Barack and Michelle Obama. We also say a sad goodbye to master movie poster designer Bill Gold and literary titan Philip Roth, who both passed away this week. In gear news, RED’s hot streak with three big announcements this week. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the difference between LUTs, color grading plugins, and dedicated color grading software. Plus, Wim Wenders on narrowing down his 8-hour rough cut of ‘Pope Francis - A Man of His Word.’ As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into the final release of Amateur. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've seen a few independent films that have come out of the festival circuit the past year or two, odds are you've seen the work of Sam Daley, Nat Jencks, or Seth Ricart. They are three talented colorists who have graded films like "The Florida Project", "City of Ghosts", and "Beach Rats". All three sat down with No Film School at this past Sundance Film Festival where they premiered their color work on some of the edgiest, loveliest, or grittiest films we've seen this year! How do they work? What are the real lives of an indie film colorist? How can you get your film to look like that? Listen to this conversation to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers share loads of news from the 71st Cannes Film Festival, including the biggest acquisitions, what caused Agnes Varda and Ava DuVernay to team up, and Spike Lee’s Oscar contender. Charles Haine joins us for gear news including why a company known for monitors might be making your next camera. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the best cloud storage for video editing. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into the post-production stage of filmmaking. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The difference between a film that has some good moments and a full-fledged, unhindered story hinges on how it's treated in post-production. That success starts with the delicate navigation of the editor. Sitting down at this past Sundance Film Festival, a handful of talented post-production artists who worked on some of the most cutting-edge indie films of 2018, discuss how they work to make brilliant, award-winning films. In Part 1 of this podcast, we focus on the role of the editor, their process of working with directors, and how they articulate the nuanced philosophy behind their craft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss the opening of the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival and how Netlifx is playing nice—or are they? We also cover the first results of the Academy’s ethics enforcements, and say a sad goodbye to prolific editor of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and over 50 more films, Anne V. Coates. Jon also answers an Ask No Film School question about whether or not a short film should be used as an industry “calling card.” Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including a hot take on why 8K is a good thing. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into the production stage of filmmaking. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three filmmakers with documentary films in the 2018 Tribeca and HotDocs lineups—Assia Boundaoui of ‘The Feeling of Being Watched’, Nancy Schwartzman of ‘Roll Red Roll', and Cynthia Lowen of ’Netizens'—sit down with No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss their powerful films and several behind-the-scenes topics like how to gain the trust of subjects who have been exploited by the media or other institutions in the past, how to make uncomfortable issues into conversation-starters, how to tackle films that challenge entrenched beliefs while keeping yourself and your subjects safe, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss two of the most important industry events that you might never have heard of, Cinemacon and the Newfronts, along with mayhem at Moviepass. We also say a sad goodbye to photojournalist Shah Marai, who was killed in a bombing in Afghanistan this week. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including a potentially exciting partnership between RED and Facebook.Charles and Jon also answer an Ask No Film School question about the right audio gear for recording podcasts. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film "Amateur" as a case study, we dive into the creative and visual side of prep including storyboarding, shotlisting, previz, and creating overheads. He also discusses some common pitfalls to avoid such as why it's challenging to rewrite the script during prep and why locking locations is so important before starting principal photography. Ryan gives us some tips into his favorite tools and apps that helped him through pre-production as well as the cameras and gear that made the production of the film possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve discussed many different tactics for getting your short films into film festivals on this podcast, but at SXSW last month we decided to head straight for the source: the people in charge of selecting the films themselves. That’s right we’re talking about the all-powerful festival programmer. And to get the inside scope there’s no one better than SXSW Senior Film Programmer Claudette Godfrey. On today’s program, Claudette and NFS Producer Jon Fusco run through exactly what it is that attracts a festival programmer to a certain short. She also gives us a rundown of the things a filmmaker should focus on when submitting, as well as what they should attempt to avoid when working on a project they hope will be selected. Claudette makes a powerful case for the value of festivals like SXSW for all filmmakers and if you’re in the middle of planning a festival run, you better listen close. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Erik Luers and Jon Fusco share all the news, films, projects, and directors you need to know about from our on-the-ground coverage of the Tribeca Film Festival, and debate Tribeca’s importance for indie filmmakers. Charles Haine joins us for tech and gear news, including the lighting that was designed for Michael Haneke and is now available to you. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about whether or not you really need to shoot at 60fps for broadcast production. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into how to cast your movie—and what to expect when you go into prep. This episode covers Ryan's experiences attaching cast to Amateur, including Michael Rainey Jr. (POWER, LUV), Josh Charles (THE GOOD WIFE, SPORTS NIGHT), Sharon Leal (ADDICTED, DREAMGIRLS), and Brian White (RAY DONOVAN, SCANDAL). We then move into the prep process on the film, and touch on: How a short film can help with attaching cast; The two-part process of auditioning Michael Rainey Jr. (who came us to via Jason Berman, who had produced a film with Michael in it, LUV); The value of a casting director (in Amateur's case, Jessica Kelly and Kate Geller; What an "offer" is and why you can only offer the part to one actor at a time; Doing street casting to find "real people," in this case, several basketball players who had never acted before; Location scouting and tax credits; Scheduling and what a "company move" is (and why we needed to avoid them); The challenges of working with a child actor and the resulting limitations on shooting hours; Rehearsing and read-throughs; Tech scouts... and more. Thank you to the Panavision New Filmmaker Program, Sony, G-technology, and Vision Research for their help in providing equipment on the film (which we'll cover more of in our forthcoming production episodes). Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three filmmakers with short nonfiction films in the SXSW 2018 lineup—Jury Award-winner Charlie Tyrell, Mohammad Gorjestani, and Leah Galant—sit down with No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss why this is a golden age for documentary shorts, how they each got their projects made, and how shorts can fit into your filmmaking career’s bigger picture even if you’ve already worked on commercials or features. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Erik Luers and discuss whether independent filmmakers ultimately pay the price in the ongoing war between Netflix and the Cannes Film Festival. We also preview the Tribeca Film Festival, which we will be covering in depth over the next two weeks, and say a sad goodbye to influential film director Milos Forman, who passed away last Friday. Charles Haine joins us for gear and tech news, wherein he recaps the best new filmmaking toys and tools that our team discovered over four days at America’s biggest broadcasting expo. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to put together a showreel for sound design. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at www.nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, we dive into the pitching and financing processes on Ryan Koo's Netflix Film AMATEUR. This episode covers his experiences pitching Amateur eighty (!) times and eventually getting it to Netflix, including the following points: Making a pitch into a back-and-forth conversation as early as possible; What goes into a pitch packet other than the script, including a rip-o-matic/multimedia lookbook; Using CRM software to track producers and financiers (Ryan used Streak); How rejection can be a development process unto itself; Why "producer" is an amorphous term and how to identify producers with complementary skill sets; Who his producers were (Jason Michael Berman, Chip Hourihan, and Mark Moran) and what their roles were; and finally, How he got the film to Netflix. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license with coupon code "FirstFeature20." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The landscape for short films is changing quickly. One might say we're entering a "Golden Age," where content is being taken seriously and you can even make money off of a five-minute video...if you get the right eyes on it. Traditionally, getting those views used to be all about submitting your project onto the festival circuit. This also came with the stipulation that you couldn't exhibit your project online or anywhere else if you wanted to make it in. That's not the case anymore. Many aspiring filmmakers may not know just how valuable a Vimeo Staff Pick can be to your career. The distinction, which celebrated its tenth anniversary at SXSW this year, can lead not only to massive exposure but gigs from brands, producers and even music companies. You can really make a name for yourself if you're one of the 3-4 projects selected every day. Case and point, Jon Fusco's guests on today's show who have a combined 19 video staff picks between them: DANIELS, of Swiss Army Man fame, and Kirsten Lepore who's animated shorts in the style of Hi, Stranger led to jobs like creating an episode of Adventure Time, which later went on to win an Emmy. Together they join Vimeo's Head of Curation Sam Morrill to discuss how to get a Vimeo Staff Pick, what that Staff Pick can do for your career and how to best position yourself for a successful career after creating a short. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special episode of Indie Film Weekly, Charles Haine, Andy Zou, and Jon Fusco broadcast live from the historic Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. The trio of No Film School editors come together to discuss their first couple of days of non-stop coverage at the annual NAB Show. And man, did this year's convention come through in a big way. While we've seen less of the sexy lenses and cameras that were abundant earlier in the decade, certain pieces of gear (including major products in the lighting department) signal that we could very well be on our way to a new era of filmmaking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, we dive into the screenwriting process on No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur (out now!). This episode covers many screenwriting tips and tricks, including: Tracking your hours to ensure you prioritize screenwriting in your life; Brainstorming out loud and recording yourself so you don't forget a lightbulb moment; Writing your first draft by hand to ensure you finish it and you can't go back and edit; Spending >50% of your time NOT in screenwriting software — researching, outlining, breaking the story; Why applying for grants can be helpful even if you don't win them; The Sundance Screenwriters Lab (which we did an entire podcast on at Sundance); Doing entire drafts from the perspective of supporting characters; Apps like Workflowy, Final Draft, and WriterDuet; and Workshopping your script with actors at table reads. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What would you do if you were tasked with building an entire universe on an infinitesimally small budget? Where would you even start? This is probably the biggest problem that any independent filmmaker with a science fiction project must solve. Co-Directors Zeek Earl and Christopher Caldwell have found a solution. To put it plainly, you can't separate the money from the creativity. For Earl, Caldwell and producer Brice Budke, this meant that every creative decision was tied with a producing decision. Perhaps the most important of these decisions was to rent a warehouse in Seattle, fill it up with thirty different artists (from bike-makers to carpenters), and go through seven months of pre-production, building the universe of their debut feature "Prospect" as practically and detailed as they could. Their efforts garnered them the Adam Yauch Hörnblowér Award after their premiere at SXSW. This singled out their film as the best in the Visions category. NFS Producer Jon Fusco sits down with Zeek, Christopher and Brice to discuss their old-school, unorthodox methods and what it takes to build a Utopia in pre-production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Jon Fusco discuss a new finding on the average length of Oscar-winning short films and what it means for you, which digital companies may be replacing the Hollywood studio system once and for all, and why some audiences in Asia may be missing out on the most popular indie films. In tech and gear news we get in the mood for NAB with some filmmaker-friendly updates from Adobe and more. Filmmaker and editor Josh Granger joins us to answer an Ask No Film School question about using multiple nested timelines in Premiere Pro. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's Episode Two of our new podcast series The First Feature. This is a step-by-step guide on how to get your first feature made, using Ryan Koo's new Netflix Original Film AMATEUR as a case study. In this episode, we get into: Whether or not your short should be a proof-of-concept for a feature, how to make production manageable and cost-effective for a short film, auditioning, casting, and finding crew for a short without a lot of personal connections, production prep, how much money you need to make your short, and how to distribute it once its done. AMATEUR will premiere on Netflix on April 6, 2018. You can find all episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director/Writer Olivia Newman, DP Ashley Connor, Editor Tamara Meem, and producers Chanelle Elaine and Bryan Unkeless of ‘First Match’ join No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss how they took their film from short to Netflix Original feature, how they made a sports movie inside a personal narrative instead of the other way around, and the strategies they used to stretch a limited production budget into creating a very polished final product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss the MoviePass effect on indie films and a whole bunch of ways the industry is throwing shade on Netflix—including promising young upstart Steven Spielberg. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including Canon’s entry into the Full Frame Cinema market with the C700 FF. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about recording pro-res. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's Episode One of our new podcast series The First Feature. This is a step-by-step guide on how to get your first feature made, using Ryan Koo's new Netflix Original Film AMATEUR as a case study. In this episode, we get into: The three questions you can ask yourself to help decide which movie to make; when you need an agent; how Koo lied his way into MTV (and New York); Koo's DIY web series with Zack Lieberman, The West Side; how new platforms represent an opportunity because of decreased competition; how failure can be more instructive than success. AMATEUR will premiere on Netflix on April 6, 2018. You can find all episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some would say that Jim Cummings' journey to winning this year's SXSW Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature started back in 2016 when his short film "Thunder Road" won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Yes, the short, which many consider one of the greatest of all time, was the source for their feature adaptation, but in reality, Jim's journey to SXSW royalty started long before "Thunder Road." And while he's certainly the star of this film, it would also be unfair to say that Jim made this journey alone. Between Jim, the film's creative director Danny Madden, and producer Ben Wiessner, the tight-knit crew behind the film have worked together on projects at SXSW for the last seven years in a row. In 2018, their production company ORNANA, wasn't only in Austin to represent "Thunder Road", but also for the Vimeo Staff Pick Award-winning short "Krista." Mere hours after winning their respective awards, the team was already at it again, creating a video and launching a Kickstarter for the feature-length version of Krista. Even with a Grand Jury Prize from Sundance at their disposal, Jim and crew found it impossible to find anyone who would produce their feature. But that didn't stop them. It just fueled the fire more. "Thunder Road", which tells the story of an eccentric police officer whose mourning over his mother's death leads to disastrous consequences, is the result of a decade of strong team building, work ethic, and an unrelenting desire to get stories told. Joining Producer Jon Fusco on the podcast today are several members of the producing team that made it happen, Ben Wiessner, Natalie Metzger and Matt Miller. cinematographer Lowell Meyer (who himself had three projects in competition at the festival) and of course: writer, director and actor, Officer Arnaud himself, Jim Cummings. We discuss all aspects of production which surround their mantra: "Don't wait for somebody to make your movie, do it yourself." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Fusco and Erik Luers are back from SXSW while Liz Nord has mysteriously disappeared, so get ready for a testosterone-fueled recap of the week's best news from the entertainment world! The resident men of the publication discuss the impact of what could be No Film's Greatest piece of original content ever, an intriguing new cut of Stanley Kubrick's classic The Shining, and how The Weinstein's Company bankruptcy could make things even worse for Harvey's victims. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including what could be a less expensive new alternative to the Alexa LF. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the best way to find clean, high quality archival footage for your documentaries. As always, the show also brings news you can use about gear, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The First Feature is a new in-depth podcast series on No Film School about the making of a single film: in this case, NFS founder Ryan Koo's first feature AMATEUR. AMATEUR is a Netflix Original and premieres April 6; the trailer was released today. Every episode of The First Feature will cover a different phase of production, from screenwriting, to prep, to production, to release. It's meant to be a step-by-step guide to everything Koo did to get his first feature made, and the lessons he learned along the way. Episode one coming soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you imagine being pepper sprayed, pelted/bombarded with rubber bullets, or hit with water cannons while still managing to hold on to your camera and record? That’s what filmmaker Cody Lucich took on for eight months to document the Standing Rock protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline. No Film School's Oakley Anderson Moore saw the first screening of Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock at the Sundance film festival and sat down with Lucich and producer Ginger Shankar to talk about the process of making their feature. If you’ve wondered what it takes to film an uprising of civil disobedience in the face of a militarized police force, this conversation will put you right in the middle of one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Co-hosts Jon Fusco, Erik Luers, Oakley Anderson-Moore and yours truly, Liz Nord have been running all over downtown Austin, Texas for the past week to bring you insights from America's coolest film event, the SXSW Film Festival and conference. In this episode, we forego our regular show format to share in-depth festival coverage, from news on the ground, to interviews with festival award-winners, to the best advice from industry panelists, to survival tips for navigating the massive event. We also talk about the value for filmmakers of a festival with as many non-film tracks and sections as this one has. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nash Edgerton, Tonya Glanz, and Cesar Mazariegos are three creators of shows that were featured in the new Indie Episodic section at Sundance 2018. They Join No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss how the got their series off the ground, stretched production dollars across multiple episodes, and how much freedom they felt working in this burgeoning medium, unrestricted by duration, platform and traditional production rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers get pumped for America’s coolest film festival, SXSW, and share our fun-fact-filled awards season recap. Charles Haine joins us for gear news including new and improved versions of three useful tools. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the best way to get those surprisingly tricky super slow shots. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you haven’t picked up on the hottest trend in film and TV right now, then you may be living under a rock. Of course, we're talking about the “80’s Revival” a movement seemingly spurred by the success of Stranger Things. In reality, however, the 80’s Revival may just be the sign of a new wave of filmmakers coming to fruition in the masses. 80’s babies who are looking to re-live their childhood on the big screen are having their moment at just the right time. They have an eager audience at their disposal and an even more eager group of producers looking for projects. Many movies of the revival deal with similar themes. You can usually bet that a group of suburban children will encounter some sort of supernatural force then band together to defeat it. Summer of 84 puts a spin on the trend, keeping many of the Stand By Me vibes, but committing to an antagonist that’s more grounded in reality. In the film, a group of kids begins to suspect that their neighbor is, in fact, a serial killer. As a result, the kids spend their summer gathering clues and spying on him to prove he’s responsible for the death of several other teens in the neighborhood. Summer of 84 is directed by the filmmaking trio that made Turbo Kid, which first started off as a short, before being picked up and greenlit for a feature. No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with the directing trio at Sundance and talked about how they used the “80’s Revival” to their advantage to strike while the iron was hot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers preview the upcoming Academy Awards, ponder whether Netflix’s total dominance of original content is good for indie filmmakers, update you on the latest in the battle for Net Neutrality, and say a sad goodbye to veteran producer Benjamin Melniker. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including new camera offerings from Sony and Canon in the affordable 4K mirrorless space. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to rig a camera to a rollercoaster. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. https://nofilmschool.com/2018/03/indie-film-weekly-030118 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To say that it’s tough to play your short at Sundance is an understatement. In 2018, 69 shorts were picked from 8,740 submissions. While there’s no simple formula on how to make a short film will get into Sundance, programmer Dilcia Barerra told No Film School that there is one important guiding principle for filmmakers that do get in: be authentic to your reality and your style. Anything contrived is obvious to programmers. While at Sundance, Oakley Anderson Moore sat down with five filmmakers whose short films embody just that authentic quality that you instantly recognize in a really good short. Their conversation can offer you insight on how to make a good film that’s authentic to your voice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers and discuss how BitCoin and the blockchain are revolutionizing the film industry. We also update you on awards season and the Berlin International Film Festival, as well as marvel over ‘Black Panther's astonishing opening weekend and talk about what it means for indie filmmakers. Charles Haine joins us for gear news including official details of the Fujifilm X-H1 mirrorless camera. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the difference between still and cinema lenses. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s no secret that filmmakers copy those other filmmakers in their lives who most inspire them. Whether that’s picking up on some sort of trademark dialogue, production design, pacing, music, performances, editing, or camerawork, many times it's easy to identify and trace a piece of style one director drew influence in from another. With two wildly different, yet eerily similar films under his belt, Nicolas Pesce is mastering the art of adapting his favorite filmmaker’s techniques in a way that serves his own form of storytelling. He describes his first film The Eyes of My Mother as his tribute to 50’s/60’s black and white horror, while he claims his newest project, the stylistically impressive thriller Piercing, is his take on the Giallo crime pictures which peaked in popularity in Italy during the 1970’s. That’s not to say his films are a direct emulation of those pieces that he so dearly loves. As his actor Christopher Abbott puts it, filmmaking is all about “gathering influences to create something of your own.” Clearly, Pesce is a filmmaker who is not only interested in taking risks, but in creating and pushing style as well. Piercing is indeed one of those risky pictures. Abbott plays a man with, well, psychological problems. One night he kisses his wife and baby goodbye, seemingly on his way to a business conference. His real plan, however, is to check into a hotel, call an escort service, and kill an unsuspecting prostitute. That prostitute is played by Mia Wasikowska who ends up providing her captor with a little bit more trouble than he initially imagined. No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with Pesce, Abbot, and their producer Jacob Wasserman back at Sundance to discuss, cultivating tone and style in your picture, maintaining your vision through intensely detailed pre-production and how to create screenplays that will attract both actors and producers to your project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss ‘Black Panther’ mania ahead of the groundbreaking film’s opening weekend. We also get into the Parking Production Assistants of New York decision to unionize, the results of the WGA Awards, and say a sad goodbye to Oscar-nominated film composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Charles Haine joins us for gear news including some speculation about a potentially game-changing partnership between RED and Foxconn. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question on whether you should shoot with RED or ARRI cameras for your short film. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. https://nofilmschool.com/2018/02/indie-film-weekly-021518 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his introduction speech prior to the premiere of "The Catcher Was a Spy," Sundance Director of Programming John Cooper described the film’s director Ben Lewin as the “nicest director you'll ever meet.” When you’ve got four decades of dealing with the chaos of filmmaking under your belt and can still be described as such, you know you must be doing something right. While Lewin may describe his career as a “career built on accidents,” in reality, it is his attitude and personality that keep people coming with projects again and again. The greatest lessons Lewin’s learned don’t come from a technical, professional or even filmmaking level. They’re personal lessons. These are the type which help to maintain a working personality, sanity, level-headedness and leadership when the shit around you has hit the fan. His philosophy is to stay positive, especially between projects. Everyone knows it's hard to make a movie, so why gripe about it? "The Catcher Was a Spy" is a film that not only Lewin, but Hollywood at large, has been trying to bring to the big screen for years. It tells the story of Moe Berg, a queer Jewish major league baseball player, who was hired by the US government during WWII as a spy. His mission: to kill Werner Heisenberg before he could finish creating the Atomic Bomb for the Nazis. While it may sound absurd, the story is one hundred percent true. The film made its premiere at Sundance where No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with Lewin to discuss his career, coping with the post-production blues, and most importantly, how to maintain your sanity when making a living as a director. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss why the ‘Kill Bill’ car crash story matters for every filmmaker, how to create a winning Super Bowl ad, and the results of the recent DGA Awards. Liz also answers an Ask No Film School question about what to do if you don’t think you fit in at film school. Charles Haine joins us for a huge week in gear announcements, including ARRI’s new 4K Alexa LF. As always, we also bring you upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet four powerhouse cinematographers who had nine projects between them at Sundance this year: Claudia Raschke, Shana Hagan, Ashley Connor and Mia Cioffi Henry. The talented group sat down at Sundance 2018 with No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss the benefits of switching between docs & features instead of sticking to just one, how to be the cinematographer your director needs, what to do when a production starts to go off the rails, why cinematography is a people’s business, and much more. The group has a pretty amazing combined filmography. At Sundance alone, they screened docs, narratives, shorts, and an episodic TV show. They also represent four different decades of DPs, having begun shooting professionally in the ‘80s, ‘90s, 2000’s and 2010s, respectively, so they were able to share stories and advice with each other that we can all benefit from. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers discuss two historic Sundance deals and what the festival sales tell us about the ever-changing indie distribution landscape. We also cover the Sundance awards and ponder whether MoviePass’s risky strategy will pay off. Liz answers an Ask No Film School question about perfecting your film's fundraising pitch. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including RED’s limited edition Gemini sensor and an analysis of the cameras that were used to shoot Sundance films. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nathan and David Zellner are no strangers to Sundance, but perhaps they wish the festival was as new and exciting to them as it was when they premiered "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter" back in 2014. That's not to say Park City has grown stale for the directing brothers, merely that they enjoy new experiences. So much so, in fact, that it has become the driving force in their creative mission over the course of their career. They make it a point not to explore material which they have already explored, so with every new film, they add a new genre to their resume. For their current project, the subversively titled "Damsel," that means "western." "Damsel" takes place in the frontier west sometime in the 1800's. Robert Pattinson plays a wealthy dandy-man by the name of Samuel who hires a priest (in fact played by one of the Zellners) to accompany him in tracking down and marrying his beloved Penelope. Penelope is played by Mia Wasikowska who had two brilliant and strong-willed performances at the festival this year with this film and Nick Pesce's "Piercing." No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with the Zellner's the day after their film premiered to discuss their "fresh start" philosophy, their roots as child filmmakers, and what it's important to remember when acting in your own films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Jon Fusco are joined by Oakley Anderson-Moore and Erik Luers to give a full rundown from the snowy streets of Park City. The whole team has been trudging through the mountain snow for the past week to bring you all the most fascinating stories from America's preeminent independent film event. We forego our regular show format to share in-depth Sundance coverage, from the lay of the land, to celebrity run-ins, to the most intriguing films. We also cover festival acquisitions—or lack thereof—and what the lesser presence of Netflix and Amazon in the buying pool might mean for independent filmmakers. Finally, we bring news of the other biggest event in the film world this past week, the 2018 Academy Award nominations.You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, here we are, live from Utah and our first interview out of Sundance is for a film called "Arizona." Bizarre right? Well not nearly as bizarre as the film itself. Set in the midst of the 2009 housing crisis, this darkly comedic story follows Cassie Fowler (played by Rosemary DeWitt), a single mom and struggling realtor whose life goes off the rails when she witnesses a murder. The man who commits the murder (played by Danny McBride) proceeds to take her hostage and she must do her best to escape the grasp of his insanity. The result is a film that quickly alternates between dark comedy and horror/slasher, which makes sense considering the team behind it will be responsible for the "Halloween" sequel coming later this year. But how do you toe that line without lessening the effects of either genre? Director Jonathan Watson has been part of David Gordon Green and McBride's Rough House Pictures since "Eastbound and Down," but this is his first shot at the helm of a feature. To enhance that slasher vibe he employed the talents of composer Joseph Stephens. No Film School's Jon Fusco sits down with the collaborators to talk about how a great score can be used to influence your audience, the typical workflow of audio post-production and how a composer can stand out in the biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Jon Fusco are headed to Park City, Utah for the 34th Sundance Film Festival. They are joined by NFS Managing Editor Erik Luers to share everything you should know to get ready for the big event, whether you’ll be there in person or not. In gear news, Kodak makes a big gamble on a new version of old tech, and in Ask No Film School, Charles Haine reveals the most useful film production apps on the market. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the third and final episode of our “Best of 2017”, but honestly, with the quality of advice we received over the course of our interviews last year, we could keep this going forever. All of the excerpts featured in this week’s volume are part of what we here at No Film School like to call “Roundtable” episodes. We’ll try to get at least one or two of these done at every festival we travel to. The idea is really to get a group of filmmakers together and have them discuss their craft together in a forum where everyone can relate to each other and build off of their experiences. A lot of times they will be fresh off seeing each other's work so the questions keep flying and lead to some fantastic stories. We’ve selected three of these episodes to feature today, “What It Takes to Get Your Short into Sundance,” “How to Get Your Midnight Shorts into SXSW,” and “DP Roundtable: The Shots That Almost Killed Us.” For those of you making short films, these clips should be especially helpful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Jon Fusco discuss one of the most memorable Golden Globes ever and other awards season news, as well as the group of industry women coming out *against* the #MeToo movement. Liz answers an Ask No Film School question about holding public screenings before your festival premiere. Charles Haine joins us to preview the new film and video gear being released at this year’s CES, including a very unusual entry from Kodak. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s officially a new year but we’re still not over how great our podcasts turned out in 2017. Last year, we started doing interview podcasts every single week in addition to our Indie Film Weekly episodes. We’ve had tons of great guests from Sean Baker to Flying Lotus and everything in between. In the first volume of our “Best Of” episodes, we heard from Flying Lotus, Gillian Robespierre, Brett Gelman and more. Today you’ll hear selections from Sean Baker, Ruben Ostlund, Parker Smith and Lloyd Kaufman of Troma Entertainment. Our series will continue next week, as NFS Producer Jon Fusco leads you through more of the best clips from 2017. If you haven’t heard all of our interview podcasts, these are some great examples of the type of information you can expect to come away with after every listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices