Filmmaker Cynthia Hill earned an Emmy for her work on the PBS show A Chef's Life, which gets over 4 million views per episode and is seen around the world. Her latest project is Road to Race Day, a documentary series executive produced by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) that offers unprecedented access into the world of Hendrick Motorsports the most successful stock car racing team in NASCAR history. The team is co-owned by Jeff Gordon and some of their other driver include Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, and Jimmie Johnson.

Some of the things that we discuss include

• Filmmaking as a way to bridge the divide
• How Cynthia earned the trust of exclusive, occasionally secretive, organization
• What it's like getting notes from a filmmaker like Peter Berg
• The appeal of NASCAR and what makes it a quintessential American past time
• What we can learn from the collaborations of top-performing race teams and pit crews
• Cynthia's unconventional directing approach that allowed for real-time storytelling in the midst of race-day whirlwind
• How Cynthia and her team was able to record crisp sound even in the midst of a noisy speedway 

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Sponsor for this Episode PODCAST SUCCESS STORY  I interviewed filmmaker Austin Alward during my Louisiana Film Prize 2016 coverage. After getting to know him, I felt like he might get along well with Sam Claitor, a producer friend over at Fable House. Austin and Sam hit it off and decided to partner on Le Grand Remix, one of the more ambitious short films I've come across. (It involves a crew larger than some feature films.) In April Sam and Austin were awarded a a $32,500 French Culture Film Grant from #CreateLouisiana and their partners.    Former podcast guests Austin Alward and Jolene Pinder pose with Sam Claitor after the award ceremony. Photo from CreateLouisiana's Facebook page.   At the time of this episode, they are finishing up the shooting for the film and are prepping a Kickstarter campaign to pay for the film's finishing touches. Congratulations to Austin, Sam, and the rest of the Le Grand Remix team for bringing your ambitious vision to life!     The nsavides Podcast made things a little better for Austin and Sam. How can it make things better for you?  [email protected]

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Related Things

• Cynthia's production company, Markay Media
• Composer Chuck Johnson's website
• Watch Road to Race Day on go90.com
• Cynthia on
  • Facebook, Twitter
• Chuck on
  • Facebook, Twitter
• Road to Race Day on
  • Facebook, Twitter
• Audio equipment used to record the series
  • Sanken COS-11D omni lavalier mics (paired with Lectrosonics SRb5P dual-channel wireless receivers and SMQV transmitters)
  • Sennheiser MKH-416 shotgun microphone
  • Zaxcom Maxx mixer/recorder

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Films & Shows Mentioned

• Boxing 24/7 
• Beasts of the Southern Wild 
• A Chef's Life
• Friday Night Lights 
• Patriot Day   
• Raw
• Road to Race Day

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