A Take on the Academy

Matthew sits down with actor John Hemphill for a wide-ranging conversation about his life, career, and experience working on David Fincher’s Zodiac.

John discusses playing Donald Cheney, the man whose account helps lead Robert Graysmith toward Arthur Leigh Allen, and pushes back against the long-standing image of Fincher as an intimidating or unpleasant director. From John’s experience, Fincher was prepared, collaborative, funny, and a genuine delight to work with.

The conversation moves beyond Zodiac as John recalls growing up in Tacoma, Washington, pursuing acting in Los Angeles, and later making the move to New York, where he found success on Broadway and met his wife. He also reflects warmly on several of the actors he has worked with, including Anthony Edwards and Josh Duhamel.

More than anything, the episode reveals the person behind the résumé. John is accomplished without ever seeming impressed by his own accomplishments, generous in his praise of others, and determined to spread positivity wherever he goes. Matthew came away from the conversation not only admiring John’s career, but feeling fortunate to have spent time with one of the kindest people in the industry.

What was supposed to be a focused conversation about Jack Lemmon winning Best Actor for Save the Tiger somehow turned into a tour through nearly every one of the 26 films we watched for this episode.

That is probably what happens when you invite Sam Ludwig and Alana Gibson from Kael Your Idols onto the show. They know New Hollywood, they love New Hollywood, and they were more than willing to hold my hand while I wandered through one of the most exciting periods in American film.

We talk about Lemmon’s weary, morally compromised businessman and the performances that challenged him, including Al Pacino in Serpico, Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris, and Ryan O’Neal in Paper Moon. But we do not stop with the official nominees. We also get into Elliott Gould in The Long Goodbye, Lee Marvin in The Iceman Cometh, Gene Hackman and Pacino in Scarecrow, Joe Don Baker in Walking Tall, Robert Blake in Electra Glide in Blue, Walter Matthau in Charley Varrick, Paul Le Mat in American Graffiti, and plenty of others.

Some performances impressed us. Some movies frustrated us. Some actors forced us to separate what is happening onscreen from everything we now know about them offscreen. And at least one musical made me wonder how many times a person can scream “Jesus” before I am allowed to leave.

At the end, we each rank our five best performances of 1973. Fifth place earns one point. First place earns five. The votes are totaled, a winner is crowned, and we finally answer the question at the center of the episode.

Did Jack Lemmon deserve the Oscar, or did we find somebody better?

Listen to find out, and then check out Sam and Alana on Kael Your Idols. Read what films they are covering, watch along, and let them guide you further into New Hollywood. Most of the movies are worth it.

Except maybe Love Story.

Sometimes you have a conversation on somebody else’s podcast that feels so perfectly suited for your own listeners that you have to bring it home. Kyle Bruehl invited me onto I Know Movies and You Don’t to discuss Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night, and he has graciously allowed us to share that conversation here on A Take on the Academy.

Together, we dig into the film that became the first to win the Academy Awards for Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. But beyond its historic Oscar sweep, we explore why the movie remains so funny, romantic, and surprisingly meaningful more than ninety years later. We talk about Robert Riskin’s screenplay and how much of the celebrated “Capra touch” may have originated on the page; Clark Gable’s combination of swagger, vulnerability, and terrific comic timing; Claudette Colbert’s runaway heiress discovering a world beyond privilege; and how their increasingly intimate road trip helped establish the blueprint for generations of romantic comedies.

We also examine the Great Depression surrounding the story, the division between wealth and poverty, the communities Ellie encounters along the road, the film’s position on the edge of the Hays Code era, and how the famous “Walls of Jericho” allowed Riskin and Capra to create enormous sexual tension with little more than a blanket. It is a conversation about one of Hollywood’s most charming films—and the enormously talented writer whose contribution to its success deserves to be remembered.

Listen to I Know Movies and You Don’t w/ Kyle Bruehl on Spotify

Before Hollywood, before the Oscars, before movies even knew what they were going to become, there was a race.

On this episode of A Take on the Academy's Quickie History, we pick up where our first history episode left off: moving pictures exist. Now somebody has to figure out what to do with them.

In America, Thomas Edison and the criminally under-celebrated W.K.L. Dickson build the Kinetoscope, the Black Maria, and an entire business around charging people a nickel to watch photographs refuse to sit still.

Across the Atlantic, Auguste and Louis Lumière have a different idea.

What if movies weren't something you watched alone through a peephole?

What if we watched them... together?

It's Edison versus the Lumières. Business versus art. Patents versus possibility. The Inventor of the Light Bulb racing the Brothers of Light.

Along the way we'll visit the world's first movie studio, a Paris basement where moviegoing was born, the train that terrified (or probably didn't terrify) an audience, and Thomas Edison's attempt to control a rapidly growing industry.

And somehow, all those patents, lawyers, and lawsuits will send filmmakers running toward a dusty little community in Southern California.

You may have heard of it.

Hollywood.

Season Seven begins with a look back at what A Take on the Academy was—and a declaration of what it’s becoming.

The show started by rewriting Oscar history: calling out snubs, questioning winners, and asking people to defend who they would remove from the ballot, not just who they would add.

Now, the question is bigger.

If the Academy Awards are supposed to identify the “best” in film, is the system actually designed to do that?

Matthew looks at Oscar eligibility, voting, campaigning, awards-season politics, and the impossible task of asking thousands of people to fairly evaluate an entire year of movies.

And then comes the challenge:

Stop rewriting the results.

Start redesigning the process.

Seven seasons in, A Take on the Academy is getting ready for one last traditional August-to-December run.

Season Seven looks back at where the show started, revisits some old favorites, welcomes new guests, opens up the Spro and Lee Take on the Academy interview vault, and makes a special announcement about where the podcast goes next.

This season: another Quickie Histie with Edison vs. Lumière, It Happened One Night with I Know Movies and You Don't, Jack Lemmon and Save the Tiger with Kael Your Idols, a conversation with actor John Hemphill about working with David Fincher, and the return of interviews from Spro and Lee Take on the Academy.

The podcast isn't ending. But after seven seasons, it may finally be time to live up to the name.

So come spend one last season with the Oscars we love, before we figure out what they could become.

The 98th Annual Academy Awards have come and gone, the envelopes have been opened, and the takes are officially flying. But today, we’re keeping it light.

Matt is joined by special guest Rudy for a laid-back, post-show conversation about the 2026 Academy Awards: the moments, the looks, the people, what could have been tweaked, the In Memorium, and the stories that defined the night. From the Academy's use Sinners to drive viewers to the wins of One Battle After Another, we break down the history written in gold.

No outrage. No blame game. Just two guys who love movies, talking about Hollywood’s biggest night.

Because at the end of the day, it’s still about the movies (and two dudes trading mustaches...)

It’s Oscar Nomination Day, and Matt is joined by Cleveland’s own powerhouse Location Manager Mike Wendt to break down the biggest surprises, the expected frontrunners, and the early predictions for who might take home gold this year. From record-setting nomination totals to category-by-category picks, Matt and Mike dive into the movies, performances, and behind-the-scenes craft that defined the year in film.

Mike also teases his upcoming documentary project as well, giving listeners a look at what’s next for him in the local film scene.

Tune in for film-lover energy, and the perfect blend of industry insight and Oscar-season chaos.

Greater Cleveland Film Commission

Mike's Instagram

Mike's Letterboxd

For the Season 6 finale of A Take on the Academy, Matthew sits down with acclaimed Casting Director Angela Boehm, whose work has helped shape film and television across the Midwest and beyond. 

Angela’s career spans more than 25 years — from her early days building Olmsted Performing Arts into a cultural hub, to founding Angela Boehm Casting, a company that has become a trusted source for authentic talent in major studio films, independent features, and national commercial campaigns. As a member of the Casting Society of America, Angela has contributed to projects such as Cherry, White Boy Rick, My Friend Dahmer, and Fast 8, helping elevate Ohio as a serious force in casting.

In this episode, Angela opens up about building a casting company from the ground up, how she approaches matching talent to story, the growing recognition of casting as a vital part of filmmaking, and what the new Oscar for Best Casting means for the industry.

This finale closes out the season with an insightful look into the art of finding the right actor, the evolving landscape of casting, and the people behind the decisions that shape the stories we see onscreen.

1st Team Actors Studio

In this episode of A Take on the Academy, host Matthew Sprosty is joined by special guest Jenna Messina to revisit one of the most iconic — and debated — Oscar wins of the 21st century: Julia Roberts’ Best Actress victory for Erin Brockovich at the 2001 Academy Awards.

Jenna comes in unconvinced, worn down by Hollywood’s ongoing Roberts reverence. Matt, on the other hand, has loved Julia Roberts since Pretty Woman and will defend her smile, charm, and courtroom monologue to the end. Together, they revisit the race, reassess the nominees, and try to determine whether Oscar got it right… or if history deserves a rewrite.

Debate, nostalgia, disagreement, and surprise fill the episode — and by the end, despite opposing instincts, Matt and Jenna agree on a new Best Actress winner for 2001.

Did Julia deserve gold? Or was someone else robbed?