Rick Carter’s credits as production designer are staggering: Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, A.I., Amistad, Cast Away, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the two that won him Oscars, Avatar and Lincoln, to name just a few. Yet he remains open-minded and recently mentored eight local artists for an amazing installation at the El Segundo Museum of Art, or eSMOA. That’s where Leonard and Jessie sat down with him to discuss his extraordinary career and the exceptional films he’s helped bring to life.  

Rick Carter

Legendary film critic Leonard Maltin and his daughter Jessie are the ultimate movie fans. They love talking about movies, especially with people who share their enthusiasm—from living legends like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Quincy Jones to such contemporary artists as Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Laura Dern, and Bryan Cranston. You’ll meet all kinds of interesting people and hear their recommendations of unsung movies you ought to know...

TV & Film

Comedy

Frank Marshall’s chance meeting with Peter Bogdanovich launched a career that led to him producing Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Jurassic Park movies, among many others, often in partnership with his wife Kathleen Kennedy. Now he’s released a record album that returns him to the world his father Jack Marshall inhabited: a long-forgotten session featuring two gifted jazz trumpeters. Chet Baker and Jack Sheldon In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album. It’s a treat to hear, on CD or limited-edition vinyl from Jazz Detective. Leonard and Jessie loved mining Frank’s memories of learning the film business from the ground up. Like many people of vast experience, he’s excited about the next project—and the one after that. Yet he can still spin an Orson Welles anecdote with aplomb.

Frank Marshall

Our guest is a five-time Oscar nominee for Best Costumes—most recently for Killers of the Flower Moon, although she is equally lauded for her work on Dune, parts 1 and 2. Her background in the fashion world, and as an art history major, gives her unique credentials for someone who provides costumes for movies. She also has world-class stories to share about her collaborations with such major directors as Philip Kaufman, Terence Malick, and David Fincher. Leonard and Jessie had a blast mining that treasure chest of memories and observations. The making of The Revenant could fill a one-hour podcast all by itself!  

Jacqueline West

Internationally renowned actress, model, and individualist Isabella Rossellini is charm personified. She has a supporting role in Alice Rohrwacher’s new import La Chimera,which opens in theaters March 29, and recently completed two seasons of Julia, playing Julia Child’s longtime friend and cooking colleague. She also carries with her the torch lit by her famous parents, Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini and does so with grace and ease. Leonard and Jessie only had a half-hour with her but were happy to have had the opportunity.

Isabella Rossellini

  His alter egos are world-renowned, but Leonard and Jessie didn’t focus on Miss Piggy or Yoda in this conversation, recorded in front of a live audience at Esther’s Follies in Austin. The main topic was directing movies, which Oz has done so well for so many years: The Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, In & Out, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Bowfinger, and What About Bob? are just a few of his credits. What is the through-line, if any, from puppetry to filmmaking? Listen and hear what the amazing Oz has to say.

Frank Oz at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas

In honor of the Academy Awards, we’re revisiting our 2017 interview with Keith Carradine, who won his Oscar for writing and performing the song “I’m Easy” in Robert Altman’s masterpiece Nashville (1975). Since we spoke, the actor has remained a familiar face on television as he and his siblings carry on the acting tradition that began with his prolific papa John Carradine. Like his dad, he eased into the niche of a “working actor,” starring on Broadway, logging 105 episodes of Madam Secretary—as the President of the United States—and even turning up in Jane Campion’s Oscar-winning The Power of the Dog. He’s a laid-back charmer who makes what he does look easy.  

Rick Carter

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