Behind The Lens

It's a mix and match of movie goodness on BEHIND THE LENS this week thanks to DAVID POAG and his film SPIRIT HALLOWEEN: THE MOVIE, and TARUN VERMA and his new film CONCEPTION. If you missed us live, you definitely want to catch up and take a listen now!

Kicking off the show is our exclusive interview with director DAVID POAG talking about his new film SPIRIT HALLOWEEN: THE MOVIE. (It's a terrific family film for the holiday!) How would you like to shoot a film in a Halloween store AND in real underground caves AND work with Christoper Lloyd? Well, that's just what David did and he tells us all about it. Can you imagine the challenge of lugging cast, crew, and equipment underground? It's an interesting and fun interview and perfect for Halloween month.

Then writer/director TARUN VERMA is with us live discussing his new film, CONCEPTION. With his prior filmmaking experience in comedy, this is Tarun's first stab at a narrative drama and he's got a winner here. A narrative drama based on Tarun's own experiences as a fertility pharmacist and the individuals and couples he encountered over the years as they struggled with IVF, you can hear his passion for this film and for shining a light on what couples go through with IVF and the toll it takes physically, mentally, financially, and often maritally. Listen as Tarun talks about the decision to focus the story on one happily married and thriving couple and build out around that.

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A purr-fectly meow-velous week on BEHIND THE LENS thanks to writer/director MYE HOANG and her new documentary CAT DADDIES! If you missed the show live on Monday, take a listen and catch up now as Mye and I spend the entire hour talking about cat cuteness and CAT DADDIES.

MYE HOANG's documentary CAT DADDIES is the cat's meow! And as it breaks out across the country on a staggered theatrical release schedule, you want to claw your way to the theatre if need be because you don't want to miss all of this cuteness.

Already a longtime friend and admirer of her husband Dave Boyle's work as a writer and director, it was a thrill to now speak with Mye about her filmmaking and storytelling skills.

CAT DADDIES follows the journeys of feline-loving "Cat Daddies" and their precious fur babies around the country. Such personalities – both the dads and the cats! But no matter who they are or where they are, there is the inexplicable bond of unconditional love that ties dad and cat together. Honing in on eight cat dads – a homeless man named David, a cat rescuer, an actor and social media influencer, a stuntman, a teacher, an engineer, a truck driver, and a group of firefighters – Mye delivers a beautiful film that breaks down myths about men and cats while focusing in on the emotional support, strength, and joy cats provide each of their humans.

Listen as the ever-exuberant and effervescent Mye talks about the birth of the story idea, the process of cat daddy and cat selection, filming logistics and cross-country travel associated with the filming, editing (which was done by Dave Boyle), self-distribution, a charming score, how CAT DADDIES made Mye a true lover of documentary filmmaking, and so much more.

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It's another hot topic week on BEHIND THE LENS as filmmakers YUVAL DAVID and MARK McDERMOTT talk about their new documentary WONDERFULLY MADE-LGBTQ+R(eligion), plus our exclusive interview with director AGNIESZKA SMOCZYNSKA talking about THE SILENT TWINS.

You've got to hear it to believe and understand as we dive head first into WONDERFULLY MADE-LGBTQ+R(eligion), a documentary that explores the challenges and aspirations of LGBTQ+ Catholics and the hurdles that religious doctrine presents to full acceptance of LGBTQ+ people everywhere. An interesting, enlightening, and educational documentary that began as a photo art project and bloomed into this well-rounded engaging film thanks to the passion and vision of director and narrator YUVAL DAVID and his husband and executive producer MARK McDERMOTT who, as a person of faith, expanded the need for this conversation.

Going chapter and verse through the "making of" WONDERFULLY MADE, hear Yuval and Mark talk about the need for not only LGBTQ+ individuals to be welcomed into and embraced by the Catholic church, but the need for religious iconography that goes beyond the centuries-old traditional Christian iconography of Christ and be more inclusive. As we learn from Yuval and Mark, it is that belief that gave rise to the fine art photo project which Yuval then took to the next level, using the photo project as the "spine" of the documentary and then building around that with interviews of voices within the Catholic church and the LGBTQ+ community.

But first, take a listen to my exclusive conversation with director AGNIESZKA SMOCZYNSKA as she delves into her process for delivering the cinematic stunner THE SILENT TWINS based on the real-life story of twins June and Jenny Gibbons.

One of the most technically proficient and knowledgeable filmmakers of this generation, as you'll hear, AGNIESZKA SMOCZYNSKA's understanding of sound and editing are key to the telling of this story, that of the twins June and Jenny Gibbons, while staying true to the authenticity of their lives and yet bringing the creativity within their minds' eye to life through vivid stop-motion animation. What makes the story of June and Jenny so fascinating is that they didn't speak to people; only to themselves and unless cloistered behind the doors of their bedroom, in tones so hushed as to be barely audible to anyone but each other.

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We wrap up "summer" with this episode of BEHIND THE LENS with writer/director MICHAEL MANDELL talking about THE MOVIE, plus my exclusive prerecorded interview with writer/director ABI DAMARIS CORBIN talking about the powerful John Boyega-led film, BREAKING.

Writer/Director ABI DAMARIS CORBIN has taken one true story involving a veteran and the failures of the VA system and society and delivers the emotionally charged drama, BREAKING. Led by John Boyega and Michael K. Williams in his final film role, BREAKING is the story of former Marine Lance Corporal Brian Brown-Easley and the challenges he faced mentally and emotionally as he tried to reintegrate into civilian life on leaving the military only to have his efforts end in tragedy.

As part of the fallacies with veterans' benefits, there is a law on the books that the VA is entitled to recover money directly from a veteran who stops attending classes or drops too many courses. Despite dealing with extreme PTSD and mental issues, in an effort to retrain himself and help provide for his beloved daughter Jayla, Brian had enrolled in computer classes. But he stopped attending and the government garnished his entire veteran's monthly benefit of $892 while claiming he still owed repayment of $271. As a result, Brian decided to showed up at a Wells Fargo bank branch outside of Marietta, Georgia and slipped a note to a teller that he had a bomb in his backpack. Brian allowed all employees except two to leave and called 911 and a local TV news outlet himself, apprising them of the situation.

Working with the Brown-Easley family, Corbin delivers a film that is undeniably riveting and heartbreaking as we are with Boyega as Brown-Easley inside the bank during the hostage situation, getting into his head and his heart.

And then we welcome the fun-filled writer/director MICHAEL MANDELL to the show to talk about his narrative feature debut, THE MOVIE, a film that truly does stand by the mantra "It's Only Compelling If It's Real!". A dark and twisted tale rooted in reality, it's irresistible and irresistibly funny. Dark and twisted, THE MOVIE draws us in ever deeper with every passing frame as we meet former child actor Janet Gillespie and obsessed fan and wannabe filmmaker Walter. It's no holds barred as Michael discusses the idea for the story, film's location (his own house!), production design, cinematography and the challenges of shooting within the confines of the house and its furnishings, and above all, the performances of Jarrod Pistilli and Bonnie Root, the latter who shot the entire film with hands tied and body strapped upright to a dolly!

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It's raining men on this week's episode of #BTLRadioShow thanks to THE UMBRELLA MEN and producer DAN JAWITZ, MATT ESKANDARI talking WIRE ROOM, and a sneak peek into the world of Netflix's WENDELL & WILD from stop-motion guru HENRY SELICK.

Writer/Director John Barker was originally slated to join us to talk about THE UMBRELLA MEN, but as things often are during a film festival, especially the hectic nature of #TIFF, John was unavailable at the last minute so producer DAN JAWITZ very kindly stepped in. Quite honestly, it is always a treat to speak with the boots-on-the-ground producer who has been involved in the process through acquiring the script, casting, working with the writers and director to solidify ideas and vision, location selection, hiring of department heads and more. A South African heist film to rival the fun and exploits of Danny Ocean and his Ocean's crews, Dan came to #BTLRadioShow to talk about THE UMBRELLA MEN fresh off its sold-out International Premiere at #TIFF. Listen as we dive into all things THE UMBRELLA MAN, including some breaking news about THE UMBRELLA MAN 2, a tiny hint about the story and returning cast, AND an upcoming soundtrack!

But before you hear from Dan, take a listen to my exclusive interview with director MATT ESKANDARI talking about his latest action thriller WIRE ROOM starring Kevin Dillon and Bruce Willis. Breaking down WIRE ROOM and its directorial logistics as well as casting and some incredible performances by Dillon, Oliver Trevena, and Cameron Douglas, the work of production designer David Dean Ebert, cinematographer Will Barratt, and editor Chris Patterson, Matt also talks about working with Bruce Willis in three of his final films and Willis' constant professionalism.

And you'll hear from exclusive interview with writer/director HENRY SELICK who gives us a sneak peek into the stop-motion animated world of Netflix's WENDELL & WILD. I've seen the first 30-minutes of W&W and I am just wild about it!

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We wrap up "summer" with this episode of BEHIND THE LENS with writer/director MICHAEL MANDELL talking about THE MOVIE, plus my exclusive prerecorded interview with writer/director ABI DAMARIS CORBIN talking about the powerful John Boyega-led film, BREAKING.

Writer/Director ABI DAMARIS CORBIN has taken one true story involving a veteran and the failures of the VA system and society and delivers the emotionally charged drama, BREAKING. Led by John Boyega and Michael K. Williams in his final film role, BREAKING is the story of former Marine Lance Corporal Brian Brown-Easley and the challenges he faced mentally and emotionally as he tried to reintegrate into civilian life on leaving the military only to have his efforts end in tragedy. Working with the Brown-Easley family, Corbin delivers a film that is undeniably riveting and heartbreaking as we are with Boyega as Brown-Easley inside the bank during the hostage situation, getting into his head and his heart. Balancing that with what is happening on the outside with law enforcement and bureaucrats and it’s a heart-wrenching nail-biter.

And then we welcome the fun-filled writer/director MICHAEL MANDELL to the show to talk about his narrative feature debut, THE MOVIE, a film that truly does stand by the mantra "It's Only Compelling If It's Real!". A dark and twisted tale rooted in reality, it's irresistible and irresistibly funny. Dark and twisted, THE MOVIE draws us in ever deeper with every passing frame as we meet former child actor Janet Gillespie and obsessed fan and wannabe filmmaker Walter. It's no holds barred as Michael discusses the idea for the story, film's location (his own house!), production design, cinematography and the challenges of shooting within the confines of the house and its furnishings, and above all, the performances of Jarrod Pistilli and Bonnie Root, the latter who shot the entire film with hands tied and body strapped upright to a dolly!

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Another week of embracing history and WWII on BEHIND THE LENS thanks to director ADRIENNE HALL talking about INTO FLIGHT ONCE MORE while director BIANCA STIGTER talks about THREE MINUTES: A LENGTHENING.

We open this week's show with my exclusive conversation with writer/director BIANCA STIGTER who makes her feature documentary directorial debut with THREE MINUTES: A LENGTHENING. One of the most fascinating documentaries you will ever see, thanks to 3 minutes 33 seconds and 28/100ths of a second of denegrated Kodak film footage from 1938, shining a light on a small Polish community just one year before the start of WWII. Originally catching Bianca's attention thanks to a Facebook post about this little home movie, three minutes gradually becomes 69 minutes as we see shriveled and barely discernible footage start to come to life through restoration and then analysis of buildings, signs, trees, architecture, clothing, fabric, buttons, caps, and faces by religious, cultural, historical, and even scientific experts, all the while keeping the film images on screen, constantly sharpening in focus with each new detail discovered.

Then we take to the skies with ADRIENNE HALL who is on hand live discussing her documentary directorial debut with INTO FLIGHT ONCE MORE which follows the "D-Day Squadron" — 15 groups of airplane and history enthusiasts who decided to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day by locating and restoring vintage DC-3 planes in order to recreate the original D-Day flight from North America to Normandy. It's easy to get swept up in Adrienne's enthusiasm for not only this project but for historic preservation of events that helped shape our world. Listen as she talks about how the project came to her (talk about being at the right place at the right time and shooting from the hip!), flying with the crews during legs of the journey, researching archival footage and then doing match editing with the past and recreations in the present, the experience itself, working with Gary Sinise who narrates portions of the documentary, and so much more.

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We're dipping our toes into new waters with this episode of BEHIND THE LENS as we welcome director CHARLOTTE MIKKELBORG to discuss - and explain - the exciting new multisensory Augmented Reality game TIME DETECTIVES: THE MYSTERY OF THE MARY ROSE, while actor THEO ROSSI talks about his terrific new film EMILY THE CRIMINAL.

A first of its kind from Picture This Productions, TIME DETECTIVES: THE MYSTERY OF THE MARY ROSE is a multisensory augmented reality game designed to bring history to life through partnerships with key cultural heritage sites across the UK and overseas. With this first app, the game explores the sinking of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's favorite ship!  A fascinating concept and even more fascinating game app (which I subsequently was able to download and "play"), it's almost like playing Nancy Drew in history as you try to ascertain what caused the sinking of the Mary Rose.  Venturing into new territory herself with this multisensory augmented reality, take a listen as director CHARLOTTE MIKKELBERG talks about how the project came to be, the considerations when selecting the piece of history to explore, the museums and trusts available and interested in this multisensory experience (you can go to the Mary Rose Museum and with your phone and this app, experience the smells and sounds of the ship as you walk through the exhibits), selection of artifacts to include, how the skulls found in the wreckage were used to recreate the actual faces of some of the crew adding new levels of reality to this experience,  "player" options as they move through the experience leading to the final presentation to the King with their theory on the sinking, and more. 

And then we turn a bit criminal but with a lot of fun and laughs with my prerecorded exclusive interview with THEO ROSSI talking about EMILY THE CRIMINAL, the story of Emily, a young woman saddled with student debt and unable to get a decent job due to a minor criminal record.  Desperate to make her loan payments, she signs up to be a "dummy shopper", buying big ticket items like big screen televisions, appliances, and even cars with stolen credit cards, all under the tutelage and watchful eye of the oh-so-handsome and charismatic Youcef.  Craving more and more edge-of-your-seat thrills thanks to the cash and the adrenaline-fueled exhilaration that comes with pulling off black market capitalism, Emily soon finds herself not only deeper in the crime but falling for Youcef. Take a listen as Theo talks about the appeal of the project, digging into the character of Youcef and breathing life and resonance into him, finding notes of sympathy, collaborating with Plaza and director Ford in developing their characters and the progressing dynamic between them, Theo's research into credit card fraud and this kind of black market capitalism and the most interesting things he learned about it, and more.

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An interesting meld of films today thanks to our guests TONY AHEDO talking his film ICON, and STEPHEN EDWARDS discussing at length his "must see" documentary, SYNDROME K.

First up is writer/director/editor TONY AHEDO who makes his narrative feature directorial debut with ICON, a coming of age story focused on high school students Sam and Ana and the effects of an unplanned pregnancy. While we have seen plenty of films, tv movies, reality shows, etc. with a theme of teen pregnancy, ICON is one of the rare instances where the story is told from the POV of the young father-to-be.

And then we jump right into a conversation with documentarian and acclaimed composer STEPHEN EDWARDS talking his new documentary, SYNDROME K. One of my "must see" documentaries of the year, SYNDROME K is fascinating. Showcasing a little-known aspect in the history of WWII and Italy, in October 1943, three dedicated doctors at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital on Tiber Island across from the "Jewish Ghetto" of Rome saved dozens of Jews from the Nazis, hiding them in the hospital as patients in isolation due to suffering from the highly contagious disease SYNDROME K; a fake contagion designed to keep the Nazis away.

Comprised of extremely rare archival footage from the Nazi roundup in the ghetto, an interview with Dr. Adriano Ossicini – the last surviving doctor who conceived the SYNDROME K plan, interviews from the SHOAH archives, period images, recreations, interviews with survivors and their descendants, as well as present-day footage, the result is stunning. And adding a final layer of poignancy as narrator is Ray Liotta in his final narration prior to his death. Listen as Stephen goes into detail about the story, the research process, working with his co-writer Gregory Ballard, developing a throughline and the editing process as a whole, score and the cinematic lyricism of the project, and more.

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BEHIND THE LENS kicks off the last month of 'summer' with a lot of laughs as we take a look at two very different but very funny films thanks to GENEVIEVE ADAMS and JONO McLEOD.

First up, our exclusive interview with writer/director JONO McLEOD talking about his hybrid live action-animated feature documentary MY OLD SCHOOL. It's long been said that truth is stranger than fiction and Jono shows us just that as he takes a trip back in time to his high school days as he and his former classmates reflect on one of the greatest frauds in Glasgow's history thanks to their classmate Brandon Lee. A wild story, a fun and entertaining film, and a very fun interview with Jono.

Then writer/director/actor GENEVIEVE ADAMS joins us talking about her feature directorial debut – and in which she stars – the fun, funny, and sweet SIMCHAS AND SORROWS. The tale of Agnes, an atheist actress with 13 years of Catholic school to her credit, who attempts to convert to Judaism to marry the man she loves…and she's pregnant. The film is charming and you can't help but fall in love with Genevieve's Agnes. And once you hear what Genevieve has to say about drawing from her own life experiences and bringing that to life on the screen, you'll quickly put her on your cinematic radar. From script to casting to directing herself to finding those comedy beats, Genevieve tells all about SIMCHAS AND SORROWS.

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