The No Film School Podcast

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Charles Haine discuss rumors of a major merger that could change the industry as we know it, and results of the 2017 box office returns. We also say a sad goodbye to ‘Black Swan’ production designer Thérèse DePrez. In gear news, we reveal the most rented items on ShareGrid last year. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to choose vintage lenses for your next project. 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

Well, it's been quite a year. Here at No Film School, 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 and we’re all really proud of the type of resource this podcast has become. Before we conduct each interview, we'll take the time to remind our guests that this will be a different sort of interview than the other ones they’ve been doing on the press junket or at the festivals. We’re not just interested in hearing about what makes their movie great. Rather, we want to frame these episodes as educational gems, with takeaways from their experiences that every one of our listeners can put into practice. In that sense, we really think we’ve succeeded. If you went back and listened to every single one of our interview episodes that came out this year, we're confident that you’ll come out with more than enough information to get yourself started on making your film. You’ll be all out of excuses. Over the next couple weeks, editor/producer Jon Fusco will be leading you through some of our best clips of 2017, so if you haven’t heard all of our interview podcasts, these episodes will be a great overview of those pearls of advice that may end up helping you down the road. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This special, year-end episode of Indie Film Weekly reveals the best that 2017 had to offer while you were busy making films. This year was full of controversy and growing pains in the industry, balanced by stellar indie releases, gear innovations, and inspiring filmmaker journeys. In our final episode of 2017, co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Charles Haine reveal our favorite films, top camera and gear choices, and predictions for the future of the film business. We also discuss our best takeaways from talking to some of the most interesting filmmakers and industry pros on the planet, from DIY maverick Sean Baker to ‘Wonder Woman’ DP Matt Jensen to French new wave and Cannes-winning filmmaker Agnes Varda. 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 Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord and Jon Fusco discuss Louis CK’s ‘I Love You, Daddy’ distribution saga and awards season updates (and upsets) from the Golden Globes, European Film Awards, and IDA Documentary Awards. We also reveal Netflix's most binged shows of 2017, get into a pretty geeky debate about Star Wars, and share tips from filmmaker Ela Thier about how to become your own script doctor. Charles Haine joins us for gear news and answers an Ask No Film School question about scanning photos to use in your 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Directors Nathan Fitch and Daniel McCabe join No Film School’s Liz Nord to share their tips on preparing to film in a conflict zone, both practically and emotionally. Fitch embedded with the US Military in Afghanistan for his film 'Island Soldier', and McCabe filmed amidst various factions of the Congolese civil war for six years for his documentary 'This is Congo’. In this episode, the directors reflect on their experiences and give advice on what gear makes sense to bring into a conflict situation and how to shoot while you’re literally being shot at. For new stories daily on the craft of filmmaking, visit nofilmschool.com. 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 Charles Haine discuss one filmmaker’s major role in Russia’s Olympic doping scandal, the first news from Sundance 2018, and the inaugural Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society Awards decision to split best male and female directors into two separate categories. We say goodbye to influential video essay series ‘Every Frame a Painting’ and Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to deal with brands and logos in your 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. 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 Charles Haine discuss the indie films that are changing the face of awards season after the results of the Gothams and the National Board of Review list results were revealed this week. We cover the questionable award categorizations of Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’ and Errol Morris’ ‘Wormwood’ and why they matter to other filmmakers. We also hear some unconventional lensing advice from rising star DP Katelin Arizmendi and debate the merits of anamorphic. In gear news, we share the results of getting our hands on DJI’s new Zenmuse X7 camera. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to shoot anamorphic on a still camera. As always, we 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

Three producers with decades of combined experience under their belts join No Film School’s Liz Nord for a detailed primer on how to get a documentary made and seen. Geeta Gandbhir has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and has won two, as well as working professionally as an editor as such acclaimed titles as Oscar-winning 'O.J.: Made in America’, Chanda Chevannes is an award-winning documentarian as well as a film instructor at Centennial College in Toronto, and Chris Metzler is prolific documentarian known for cult favorite docs like the John Waters-narrated ‘Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea’ which won over 30 best doc awards and was broadcast on the Sundance Channel. In this episode, we cover an A to Z of documentary production, and discuss what a successful producer’s role is at every stage of a film’s life. Learn more at nofilmschool.com. 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 Charles Haine discuss discuss what the FCC's recent actions on Net Neutrality and the 600mhz band mean for filmmakers, along with the most bizarre and heartbreaking turns in the avalanche of sexual misconduct stories and how they're affecting productions everywhere. In gear news, we reveal some of the best Black Friday discounts for filmmakers. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about color grading for different outputs. 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

No Film School’s Liz Nord is joined by three directors who have taken on the challenge of telling character-based stories where their films center around the personal journeys of one or a small handful of subjects. Their characters couldn’t be more different—one is the tough guy frontman of a New York hardcore band, one is the first female Sharia Law judge in Palestine, and one is a woman who has started a traveling circus of cats—but the lessons the filmmakers learned and advice they share is surprisingly similar and applies to any filmmaker trying to tell a good story. Erika Cohn ('The Judge'), Ian McFarland ('Godfathers of Hardcore'), and Jacob Feiring ('Samantha’s Amazing Acrocats'), discuss how they pulled off their impressive films, and the bravery it takes to embark on such a project both behind and in front of the camera. 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 Drip, Kickstarter's bold new move for filmmakers, plus a field report from DOC NYC that reveals why it's become the American documentary festival to pay attention to. We also cover the first Oscars handed out this year, marvel at Agnes Varda's infinite wisdom, and say farewell to Oscar-winning filmmaker Debra Chasnoff, who died last week. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the new Lumix G9 from Panasonic, and answers an Ask No Film School question about the best way to up-res VHS footage. 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

We all know that getting your first film made is hard. With the added pressure of expectation, getting a second made can be even harder. And then there are the Julie Cohens of the world. Cohen is a documentary filmmaker who has completed and distributed 8 feature docs and 5 shorts in the past ten years, and won three Emmys along the way. And this is after a prolific career as a producer at NBC, where she produced more than 20 hour-long and two-hour programs for Dateline. Cohen’s latest, available on iTunes now just in time for Veteran’s Day, is called AMERICAN VETERAN. It tells the story of Army Sergeant Nick Mendes, who was paralyzed from the neck down by a massive improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2011, when he was 21. Liz Nord sits down with Cohen to discuss tips on speeding up production, how to reach niche audiences to market your work, and steps for sustaining your career in this unpredictable business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happens when the community you’re filming doesn’t want you there? That is exactly the dilemma that faced celebrated documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady when they embarked on their latest project, the Netflix Original film 'One of Us'. The directing duo returns to the territory that garnered them an Oscar nomination in 2007 for 'Jesus Camp': extreme religious sects in America. In 'One of Us', we travel far from the rural Evangelical Christian summer camps of Jesus Camp to a very different world: the insular Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. The film focuses on three young people attempting to leave the community despite threats of retaliation. They are at different stages of separation but each is struggling to join mainstream America after having been raised strictly following daily religious mandates, speaking Yiddish, and with virtually no secular education. Because of sensitivities around their subjects and the community at large, Ewing, Grady and their cinematographers, Jenni Morello and Alex Takats, had to to develop all kinds of tactics and strategies for shooting very inconspicuously. Both the directors and DPs join No Film School's Liz Nord on this episode to discuss how they managed to film and craft such a sympathetic tale from within a notoriously closed community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been at one of those parties where people talk about movies and Hitchcock comes up, but you’ve never seen any Hitchcock? So then you get all sweaty and start avoiding people’s gaze? It feels like everyone is watching you, the world is slowly closing in and you get so claustrophobic and insane that you feel like you want to scream? Us neither. Funnily enough, the experience of watching Psycho for the first time feels exactly the same way. So now that you know what you’re in for, it’s time to stop making excuses and just watch it. Right now. Or rather, after you’ve listened to this podcast and before you go see Alexandre Phillipe’s illuminating documentary 78/52. This documentary defies the mere convention of looking back at an entire filmmaker’s career and it takes an even deeper focus than just examining one film. Instead, Phillipe focuses on one scene. Psycho’s infamous shower scene, which had 78 camera setups, 52 cuts and took seven days to shoot. In many ways, examining this one scene provides us with more insight on Hitchcock’s filmmaking than if we were to look at his resume as a whole. Jon Fusco sits down with Phillipe to discuss Hitchcock’s legacy, what Psycho has to say about his tendencies as a filmmaker, and plenty more interesting facts that will place you firmly in the realm of Hitchcock expert. 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 Charles Haine get in the mood for Halloween by sharing some of No Film School's best horror filmmaking tips from the likes of Jeremy Saulnier and Rob Zombie. We discuss a lens so good that it got its own Emmy (plus this year's other Engineering Emmy winners) and why there's an uncertain future for Amazon Studios. We also say a sad goodbye to Oscar-winning cinematographer Walter Lassally. Gear news includes Sony's 42 megapixel beast, the a7R III, and Charles answers Liz's Ask No Film School question about migrating a project from FCP6 to Premiere. 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

Ruben Östlund has never been one to shy away from difficult themes. That's not to say that the themes he presents his audiences are controversial or difficult to watch. It's more that they're difficult to fully comprehend. Östlund's ability to translate his thoughts to screen, however, is unrivaled among his contemporaries. "The Square" is certainly one of these pictures. Östlund explores what exactly the concept of 'trust' means in a modern society where paranoia is the dominant human emotion and catastrophe seems to await us around every new corner. The Palmes d' Or winning film centers on Christian, a curator at a renowned modern art museum in Sweden. One day he is robbed in blind daylight and his ensuing decision to track down the thieves sets off a series of events that cause his life to descend into chaos. No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with Östlund at the New York Film Festival to discuss his mind-bending new feature. They cover everything from how to make a two-and-a-half hour movie breeze by at a lightspeed pace to what Östlund (a teacher himself) feels is the most important part of film school. 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 Charles Haine predict what the Harvey Weinstein fallout could means for future film sets and discuss some steps being taken by the Academy, the PGA, and other film institutions to combat sexual misconduct in the industry. We also share a ton of news from Netflix, including the company's plans to release 80 original films in 2018. In gear news, we reveal how filmmakers can use Microsoft's new GPU, and Charles answers an Ask No Film School question about renting a 360 stereoscopic camera. 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

Steven Spielberg is the highest grossing directors of all time, with over 50 influential titles under his belt. And yet, do we really know Spielberg? After all, he rarely does public appearances or gives in-depth interviews. Perhaps the director was just waiting for the right moment to tell his life’s story and the right person to tell it to. Fortunately, that time has come, and that person is our guest, Susan Lacy. As executive producer of the PBS series American Masters, she produced 250 films exploring the lives of America’s most influential cultural icons. For the new HBO documentary ‘Spielberg', she turned her hand to directing. Lacy interviewed Steven Spielberg for over 30 hours collectively, skillfully pulling out threads from his own life to weave together the film’s thesis: though he’s not known as a “personal filmmaker", there’s a part of Spielberg in every film he makes. In this episode Susan Lacy joins No Film School’s Liz Nord and the film’s editor, Deborah Peretz, to discuss how they managed decades-worth of archival and new interview material, and what they learned from Spielberg and his movies in making this one. 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 the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse accusations and what they mean for indie film, share highlights from our New York Film Festival coverage including conversations with Richard Linklater and Sean Baker, and ponder what exactly is the future of storytelling. In gear news, RED has finally released its Monstro sensor and DJI has released its highest resolution drone cinema camera yet. DP Open Soffer joins us to answer an Ask No Film School question about how to shoot dialog scenes. 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

"The Florida Project" may be the first Sean Baker movie you'll go out to see in theaters, but he's been on the scene for a long, long time. Perhaps best known for the iPhone 5s filmed "Tangerine", Baker has been a champion of low-budget filmmaking for his entire career. More so than that, he has been a trailblazer in the democratization of film. Inspired by the Dogme 95 movement pioneered by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, he makes the absolute best use of the resources that are available to him. "Take Out", "The Prince of Broadway" and, yes, "Tangerine" were all shot on minuscule budgets with minimal crew and whatever gear they could afford to shoot on. His latest film, "The Florida Project", breaks this trend but keeps the Dogme 95 spirit well alive. It’s his first film to be granted a million dollar budget and shot on 35mm every frame oozes with beauty. The film is set over one summer in Celebration, Florida (the home of DisneyWorld) and follows the everyday adventures of precocious 6-year-old Moonee, a child whose mother lives month to month in a motel and does some less than favorable things to make rent. Baker and No Film School's Jon Fusco discuss the director's long road through obscurity, the level of discipline every filmmaker should aspire to own, and how even when no one else believes in you, you can still believe in yourself. 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 Charles Haine discuss Vulture’s list of the Top 100 Screenwriters of All Time, a new online marketplace for lenses, an indie distributor making bold moves, and how one filmmaker is changing the entire advertising industry. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about whether or not you need to buy a cage for your small camera. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, a slew of 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

Three directors who have been invited to and attended some of the most elite labs and fellowships in the business join No Film School's Liz Nord to define pitch forums, labs, retreats, and fellowships, and let other filmmakers know why participation in these opportunities can be extremely rewarding. Guests Sierra Pettengill ('The Reagan Show'), Sabaah Folayan ('Whose Streets’), and Jeff Unay (‘Cage Fighter’) share their own filmmaking journies and pitching processes, and also elaborate the value of fellowships to anyone trying to get a film made—everything from relationships to mentorship to feedback to simply having space to cry. 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 Charles Haine discuss the lifesaving info that every filmmaker can learn from recent Radiohead and NARCOS shoots, and a dirty debacle threatening the beloved indie institutions in the Alamo Drafthouse family. In gear news, we get a first look at Sony’s full-frame VENICE, and we answer an Ask No Film School question about what you can do in 8K that you can’t do in four. As always, we also bring you the latest filmmaking tools, 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 week’s guests have heard over 10,000 pitches between them and, in this episode, they reveal what works and what doesn't when you're trying to raise money for your films. No Film School’s Liz Nord is joined by Molly O’Brien (Chief Business Development Officer of Fork Films), Daniel Chalfen (Co-founder of Naked Edge Films), and Jose Rodriguez (Director of Documentary Programs at the Tribeca Film Institute) to discuss the art of the pitch. 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 why the Emmys are actually worth noticing this year and what we should make of all the hubbub around Darren Aronofsky’s latest film, ‘mother!’. We also share wrap-ups from the Toronto and Camden International Film Festivals, including the movie made with 10,000 hours of surveillance footage. In Ask No Film School, we answer the perennial question of why your film isn’t getting into festivals. 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

Why do theater when you can do film? Why do film when you can do theater? Why do one when you can do both? Why do both when you can do VR? Director Dan Hasse and director/actor Taylor Myers are an ambitious pair of artists based in New York City who grappled with these pressing questions at length before finally coming to a conclusion. The answer? Just do all three. The duo went abroad earlier this year after conceiving the idea to fly to Ireland, rent a castle, and perform an immersive theater adaptation of Shakespeare’s immortal play Hamlet. Then they thought, well why would we limit this experience to just a few people? So the theater makers, brought along a crew and decided to become filmmakers as well. The result is Hamlet in the Golden Vale, a feature-length film that will be appearing on the festival circuit next year. All of this output from a single independent film production is made even more impressive considering that In the process, they also managed to secure funding for a companion VR piece as well. Dan and Taylor sit down with No Film School Producer Jon Fusco to discuss their multi-pronged effort to make the most of their eleven days in Ireland and the difficulties in translating from stage to the screen in all different aspects of production. From screenwriting to acting to directing they share a few tips on how to keep things running smoothly across every medium. 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 Charles Haine bring you a fall gear preview. We discuss all the latest gear news coming out of Amsterdam's IBC expo, including more details of Panasonic's EVA-1 and major Resolve upgrades, plus the multiple Apple announcements made at the company's annual launch event and how they affect indie filmmakers. We also cover a bevy of indie acquisition news out of TIFF, Louis CK’s top-secret DIY movie, the Creative Arts Emmys, and Disney's latest Star Wars shakeup. As always, the show also brings Ask No Film School, plus news you can use about 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. 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

When Israeli journalist Maya Zinshtein took on a four-day assignment to cover the arrival of two foreign players to a local soccer club, she had no idea that it would turn into a year-long making of a feature documentary that dramatically reveals the skeletons in her own country’s closet. But this was no ordinary soccer team—and this is certainly not your average sports documentary. The team at the center of the film is Beitar Jerusalem, which had been historically known for the right wing politics and even racist tendencies of its fan base. In fact, It was the only team in Israel’s premier league never to sign an Arab player. When two Muslim players from Chechnya were brought onto the team, the resulting backlash exposed the ugliest parts of Israeli society, and threatened to tear the team and country apart. Rarely does a documentary—especially about something as apparently innocuous as soccer—expose so many layers of one society, from race to class to politics to economics. But it didn’t come without Zinshtein’s own battles. In her conversation with No Film School's Liz Nord, she is very candid about how she overcame the challenges she faced making the film, especially in trying to convince people to let her turn vérité cameras on them in the midst of personal and national crises. 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 Emily Buder jump into fall festival season with reports from Venice, Telluride, and TIFF. We also share some positive financial news for indies against the backdrop of the summer blockbuster fail. For her very last episode ever, Emily shares a compendium of all the best filmmaking advice she's received from dozens of interviews with groundbreaking filmmakers. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the world's highest capacity microSD card, and answers a pressing Ask No Film School question about lens adapters and flange focal distance. 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

Making a short should be an easy thing, right? That’s what No Film School Producer/Editor Jon Fusco thought when he decided he would finally shoot his own. He was wrong. Making any film, no matter the length is certain to be an ordeal. In both pre-production and on set, many more things are bound to go wrong than right. Fusco sits down with award-winning short director Hughes William Thompson to discuss some of the more common struggles first-time filmmakers face and the steps that you can take to ensure your production goes as smooth as possible. 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 Charles Haine reveal the best anamorphic lens test we've ever seen and ponder the future of indie stalwart Fox Searchlight. We also discuss how one actor is proving that Hollywood really can change how it does casting, and say a sad goodbye to influential horror director Tobe Hooper. In gear news, we discuss ShareGrid's comprehensive new anamorphic lens test, and Charles answers an Ask No Film School question about how to best pull off a multi-user workflow in post-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

Director Janicza Bravo and actor Brett Gelman were 'covered in blood' while trying to get their film ‘LEMON’ made, but now it's theatrically released by Magnolia Pictures. The pair are rising stars in both TV and independent film—she directed a Sundance-winning short and an episode of Emmy-winning ‘Atlanta’ and he has appeared in dozens of shows and his own Adult Swim comedy specials—but ‘LEMON’ was born out of the same creative frustrations and anxiety that plague the rest of us. The real-life married couple co-wrote the film, which Janicza directed. In it, Brett plays Isaac, a bit of an unlikable sad sack in the middle of one of life’s downward spirals. In this episode, No Film School’s Liz Nord sits down with the couple on the night before the film's New York premiere, and they share very candid details about the six-year struggle to get the film made, how they overcame each hurdle, and how the industry actually works. 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 Emily Buder discuss the CineFamily controversy that's shaking up LA's underground film scene, how much cash exactly is made by the films of top-grossing indie directors, and an update on last week's record-breaking story about whether or not MoviePass will mean the end of theater-going as we know it. We also say sad goodbyes to editor Eric Zumbrunnen, comedian and filmmaker Jerry Lewis, and the print edition of the Village Voice. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the death of Final Cut 7, and answers an Ask No Film School question about how to create a fog effect in your 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The reigning families of modern American movies are household names: the Coppolas, the Gyllenhaals, the Afflecks. But what about the Kaufmans? If you are a filmmaker, they have very likely affected your life. Dad is Lloyd Kaufman, creator of the Toxic Avenger and king of B-movies, whose independent studio Troma Entertainment has produced and distributed more than 1,000 films. Mom is Pat Swinney Kaufman, who was the deputy film commissioner for New York State for 20 years. Their daughter is Lisbeth Kaufman, co-founder of KitSplit, which is now the biggest online camera rental company. Liz Nord speaks with the family and between the three of them, there’s a veritable treasure trove of industry gold. 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 Emily Buder ponder whether or not cameras have reached peak resolution, and debate the merits of MoviePass’s new plan to let you see unlimited movies in theaters for $10 a month. We also discuss Facebook's aim to become the new YouTube and Apple's billion-dollar content investment. I answer an Ask No Film School question about what the heck to do with your short film once it's finished, and we hear from the Safdie Brothers about their new film ‘Good Time’, which opens in theaters this week. 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

The quality of this summer’s offering of independent films has just been utterly ridiculous. There have already been so many new voices, new perspectives, and unique stories hitting the big screen and now we can add Matt Spicer’s Ingrid Goes West to the list as yet another standout title. The film, which earned the coveted Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance follows Ingrid Thorburn, an unhinged social media stalker, frenetically brought to life by Aubrey Plaza, who moves to LA in an attempt to make friends with her latest obsession, the boho-chic social media influencer, Taylor Sloane, a character that’s oh-so convincingly played by Elizabeth Olson. Even with a hilarious cast and chuckle-worthy premise, it's hard to call Ingrid Goes West a comedy, in the truest sense of the word, because, well, it is really, really, creepy. The disturbing tone carefully planted beneath the film's shimmering Los Angeles foreground will stick with you long after you've left the theater. For Spicer, who penned the film along with David Branson Smith, this was the culmination of a ten-year journey from screenwriter to director. He joins us this week to discuss the steps he took to make this film happen, the pros and cons of social media’s new role in the film industry, and how making a film is the only thing that can ever really prepare you for making a film. 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 Emily Buder discuss two new and very different industry studies: one about the use of swear words in movies, and the other about the future of the documentary film industry. We also talk about the new President of the Academy of Motion Pictures, updates from the Locarno, TIFF and NYFF festivals, and Netflix’s first acquisition of another company. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the Panasonic EVA-1 specs and an embarrassing moment for Apple. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to assess and buy tripods in a range of budgets. 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

The experienced cast of ‘In the Radiant City’ joins No Film School’s Liz Nord to dish on how (and how not) to direct actors. 'In the Radiant City’ is directed by Jeff Nichols protégé Rachel Lambert and co-written by Lambert and Nathan Gregorski. The film is a quiet but very tense family drama about a man who testified against his brother in a murder trial when they were kids, and his return to their rural Kentucky hometown twenty years later to face the family that was left behind. Its talented ensemble cast includes Marin Ireland ('Hell or High Water’), Michael Abbott Jr. (‘Loving'), Madisen Beaty ('The Master'), and Celia Weston, who has over 60 credits to her name but may be best recognized as Barb Tucker from 'Modern Family.’ On this lively episode, that entire group, plus Lambert and Gregorski, discuss what you should *not* do on set as much as they give constructive tips for directing actors. Lambert also shares the details of how she got her debut feature off the ground, including great advice like "Get to know every goddam bartender in the area,” as well as the most important things she learned from mentor Jeff Nichols, who produced the film. 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 Emily Buder wonder if DSLR filmmaking is finally dead, and whether Soderbergh's new production model can revive indies. We also discuss a former Google Android exec who extols iPhone filmmaking, Netflix's $20.5 billion in debt, and say a sad goodbye to Pulitzer-Winning writer, director, and actor Sam Shepard. We hear from video essay guru Kogonada about his debut feature ‘Columbus,’ which hits theaters this week. In gear news, Fusion gets a VR toolset and big price break, the TSA adds filmmaker-unfriendly travel rules, and lens mount options grow for the Fujfilm MK zooms. Ask No Film School fields a question about what extent you should involve an author in your film when it's based on their book. 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

Back at Sundance, No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with a few of the teams behind a few of this summer's best independent films while they were still fresh off their premiere highs. Brigsby Bear, which came out July 28, obtained a $5 million deal from Sony Pictures Classic for Distribution rights. Director Dave McCary and screenwriter Kevin Costello join the podcast to discuss the journey each of them took to get that deal. From stupid YouTube sketches with their comedy group Good Neighbor to Saturday Night Live Digital Shorts and now full-length features, their process is a great model for collaborative filmmaking. Through a lethal combination of non-linear storytelling, gender reversals, and Deliverance type thrills, director Damien Power successfully toys with audience expectations all the way throughout his debut feature, Killing Ground, which we might add took 11 years to make. We discussed how Australia's film scene helps to foster artists who take greater risks, the lengths Power went to to get his film made, and the strategies he put in place to create the script for Sundance's most mind-bending horror film. 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 Emily Buder discuss the new rules for breaking into Hollywood and why "constantly reminding people you exist is now part of the job." We also share what we learned from last week's Comic-Con and the 38th News and Docs Emmy nominations, which were announced this week. We bid farewell to both Adobe Flash and the YouTube editing tool. Our rundown of this week's indie film releases is particularly robust, with no less than six festival favorites hitting theaters. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including Canon's latest camera fail, and answers an Ask No Film School inquiry about the differences between online and offline 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

‘Landline’ co-writers, Director Gillan Robespierre and Producer Elisabeth Holm join No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss how they overcame the typical hurdles to get their second feature made and theatrically released. The pair first collaborated on 'Obvious Child', which premiered at Sundance 2014, where Holm won the Red Crown Producer’s Award, and went on to critical and audience acclaim and theatrical release. They joined efforts again for ‘Landline', which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2017 and opened in theaters last Friday. In this episode, Robespierre and Holm talk about how they avoided the "Sophomore slump", writing authentic dialog and getting equally authentic performances out of your actors, and how filmmaking is like polyamory. 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 Emily Buder discuss George Romero's DIY Legacy, what filmmakers should note about last week's Emmy nominations, and a trio of stories about crucial on-set safety issues. We also share the best advice we've gotten from some of summer's biggest indie directors, and hear from ‘Killing Ground’ director Damien Power about his 11-year journey to get his newly released film made. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, and answers an Ask No Film School question about whether your production company should accept credit cards. As always, we also bring you the latest 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

You may know Steve Ellison better by his beat-making alias Flying Lotus, or perhaps even as Flying Lotus' MC alias, Captain Murphy. Music, however, was not his first love. The director, who now simply goes by "Steve" actually went to film school far before he laid down his first mixtape. Just don't call him a product of the cinematic education system. Steve's debut feature Kuso truly goes against every single rule his teachers may have taught him back in his days as a student. In fact, Steve says he had to consciously take some time off to unlearn film school, where he believes things were taught to be done in a certain, almost factory-like way. He is a staunch believer that if you limit yourself to what you learn there, you may miss out on crucial organic discoveries. Instead, Kuso plays out more like his music: free-form, chaotic, jazz-like. It is comprised of four horrifying shorts, woven together, but separated by a series of animated hip-hop freak-outs that, when put together, form some sort of grotesque psychedelic tapestry. No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with Steve to talk about what scares him about being a filmmaker, erasing all self-doubt, and jumping into your first project with a punk rock, let's do this attitude. 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 Emily Buder discuss how even indie movies aren't safe from Russian interference, updates in the indie box office, the battle to save net neutrality, and a too-early goodbye to actor Nelsan Ellis. We also hear from director David Lowery about the challenges of making his summer indie hit ‘A Ghost Story.’ Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including RED’s incessant product teases and a TV that might replace movie screens for good. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about which affordable monitors to buy. 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

No Film School's Emily Buder sits down with prolific indie filmmaker Nathan Silver and the stars of his latest movie, Thirst Street, Lindsay Burdge and Damien Bonnard. Silver has made a movie every year for the past 8 years. Last year, he had the film Actor Martinez at Tribeca. Needless to say, Silver is a staple in the New York indie film scene. In their conversation, they discuss how Silver manages to get his micro-budget projects off the ground, some tips for shooting with limited resources, Thirst Street's distinctive '70s psychodrama aesthetic, and the extreme emotional risks some of the main actors had to take for their roles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, Emily Buder, Jon Fusco and Charles Haine discuss Hollywood studios' beef with Rotten Tomatoes and what the highest-grossing films of the year so far have to do with it all. They also talk about Canon's latest misfire with the 6D Mark II, Christopher Nolan's 70mm Dunkirk release, and Emily's favorite movie of the year thus far: David Lowery's A Ghost Story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Liz Nord spoke with first time Palestinian filmmaker Maysaloun Hamoud back at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, her narrative feature In Between (or Bar Bahar in Arabic) was just about to premiere. As with any new director, she had no idea what the response would be or what the coming year would bring. But her film’s path has been particularly unpredictable, leading to three awards in San Sebastian, Hamoud being hand-chosen by Isabelle Huppert to receive the Young Talents Award at Cannes, and being issued the first religious Fatwa in Palestinian history. In their fascinating conversation, Hamoud shares her methods for trying to make audiences see themselves in her characters, working with non-actors, and what it was like to make the first film of its kind in her community. 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, Charles Haine and Emily Buder discuss the real problem with Lucasfilm's firing of Lord & Miller, and how to protect yourself from a cyberattack. We also reveal why a promising streaming subscription was killed before it even had a chance to live, and why you might never see Albert Maysles’ final film. In Ask No Film School, we outline the best color grading software for Premiere Pro. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s 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

Ashley McKenzie is the type of director that does it all. The Canadian multi-hyphenate runs her own production company, writes her own scripts, and directs all of the company's films. When she’s on set, however, she gives up almost all notions of planning and control to make her shots as organic and in the moment as possible. For her debut feature, Werewolf, which has won awards at almost every regional Canadian festival she’s brought it to, this included throwing the actors into real-life situations, adding events into scenes without telling them, keeping the camera rolling after the scene had cut, and even casting non-actors as key characters at locations on the fly. The film itself follows a pair of outcast methadone users who push a rusty lawnmower door-to-door to cut grass for money to feed their addiction. No Film School’s Jon Fusco sat down with McKenzie and her two lead actors Andrew Gillis and Breagh MacNeil to discuss their intensely real collaboration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices