Calling in from a hotel in Greece, we have the phenomenally talented actor and director Romola Garai on the show this week. She’s chosen to discuss Ali Abbasi’s 2018 troll romance, Border. Romola opens up about the creative process and how every actor is striving to be truly seen by a director. She chats about the difficulty she had finding the perfect house for her new film Amulet, and how she wishes she’d started looking for it the moment she began writing the script. She and April also talk at length about the unusual, yet beautiful, sex scene between the trolls in Border, and how it could have been silly in another director’s hands.

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You can watch Amulet on VOD now.

If you haven’t seen Border, you simply must.

With April Wolfe and Romola Garai.

We have two wonderful guests today, both from HBO’s excellent show, Room 104 – executive producer & director Sydney Fleischmann, and executive producer, writer, director, & president of Duplass Brothers Productions, Mel Eslyn. They join April to discuss Tim Burton’s, Beetlejuice. Both Mel and Sydney chat about writing dark material and keeping it rooted in character. They discuss the creative fulfillment that comes with being a producer. Plus, they also chat about their show, Room 104, and how it has allowed them to exercise their personal creative fantasies.

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You can watch Room 104 on HBO.

If you haven’t seen Beetlejuice, then you are an odd person.

With April Wolfe, Mel Eslyn, and Sydney Fleischmann

We have the wonderful actor Sheila Vand on the program today to talk about Andrzej Żuławski’s 1981 bizarro nightmare, Possession. Sheila and April really dig into the process of acting, being in touch with your emotions, and infusing your performance with real-life experiences. Sheila also talks about improvising a key moment in A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. And she elaborates on the necessity for directors to have an open line of communication with their actors. This is such a funny, heartfelt, and fascinating interview with a truly talented artist.

Please join us for a live watch along of The Apple on Saturday, July 25th at 2:00 pm PT. You can find all the info right here.

Also, please consider financially supporting our show by becoming a Maximum Fun member at Maximumfun.org/join

You can watch The Rental on VOD on July 24th.

If you haven’t seen Possession, you simply must!

With April Wolfe and Sheila Vand

We recorded this episode back in February and have been anxiously waiting to release it since. On this week’s episode, we had the good fortune to talk with one of the greatest directors of the 21st century, Kelly Reichardt. She is on to discuss the obscure 1967 French film, Pillaged. She also discusses her newest film, First Cow. Kelly takes April through the adaptation process and explains how she made First Cow a unique story from the novel. She also chats about making westerns and utilizing the tropes of the genre. Kelly is a true master of cinema, but she’s also genuinely hilarious. This is one of our most entertaining episodes and one you should not miss.

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You can watch First Cow on VOD now.

If you haven’t seen Pillaged, you can watch this crappy version on YouTube.

With April Wolfe and Kelly Reichardt

This week we are so lucky to be joined by the groundbreaking and phenomenal director, Gina Prince-Bythewood. You may know her from any one of her wonderful films – Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees, and Beyond the Lights. She’s on the show to discuss Tony Scott’s Man on Fire. During the discussion Gina reveals that she has a “No Asshole” policy for working with people on set. She even details how she goes about determining an individual’s “asshole status” ahead of time. Gina talks about the importance of casting and how that is 70% of directing. She discusses her working relationship with her longtime editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, and how it is so unique and special for there to be a black female director and editor team like that. Lastly, she discusses the importance of Patty Jenkins’ success with Wonder Woman, and how that opened up the doors for her to make her new action/fantasy film The Old Guard.

You can watch The Old Guard on Netflix on July 10th.

If you haven’t seen Man on Fire…get on it!

AND, if you want to check out April’s Staff Pick – watch Chinonye Chukwu’s Clemency

With April Wolfe and Gina Prince-Bythewood

We have another amazing Australian director calling in this week. Natalie Erika James is on the program to talk about Park Chan-wook’s vampire classic, Thirst. She also discusses her newest film, the Sundance hit, Relic. Natalie reveals that after production wrapped, she was surprised to learn from her actors that she was a demanding director when it came to performances. She talks about how she created the sensation of being trapped in her film Relic. And she elaborates on the importance of realistic reactions in horror films.

You can watch Relic on VOD on July 3rd.

If you haven’t seen Thirst…get on it!

AND, if you want to check out April’s Staff Pick – watch Lee Kyoung-mi’s The Truth Beneath

With April Wolfe and Natalie Erika James

We have the wonderful director of the new neo-noir Stray Dolls on the program, Sonejuhi Sinha. She’s calling in from New York to talk about a very Los Angeles movie – Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. Sonejuhi talks all about subverting the typical noir leading man with a female protagonist of color. She discusses creating a “mysterious city” for her film to take place in, much like the movie Drive. Plus, she elaborates on her obsession with motels. And she reveals why she sets a timer to write for 90 minutes.

You can watch Stray Dolls on VOD now.

If you haven’t seen Drive…get on it!

AND, if you want to check out April’s Staff Pick – watch Alice Winocour’s Disorder

With April Wolfe and Sonejuhi Sinha

We have the legendary director Catherine Hardwicke on the show this week. In light of her upcoming Quibi show Don’t Look Deeper, she has decided to discuss the “near future” film Gattaca. Catherine talks about her start in the film industry as a production designer and how that influenced her directing career. She elaborates on the techniques she used with Twilight and Thirteen to get the actors comfortable with one another. Plus, she reveals the minor regrets she has with a few of her films.

You can watch Don’t Look Deeper on Quibi this summer.

If you haven’t seen Gattaca…it’s quite good

AND, if you want to check out April’s Staff Pick – watch Kristina Buozyte’s Vanishing Waves

With April Wolfe and Catherine Hardwicke

We have another fantastic director calling in, all the way from Australia. This week we’ve got Babyteeth director Shannon Murphy on to discuss Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers. Shannon talks about the use of music in Korine’s film and how she used music when directing Killing Eve. She discusses motivating her actors to take interesting risks in their performances. She also chats about casting Ben Mendelsohn against type. And she reveals how she obsessively stalked a band until they gave her the rights to their song.

You can watch Babyteeth on VOD June 19th.

If you haven’t seen Spring Breakers…check it out!

AND, if you want to check out April’s Staff Pick – watch Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here

With April Wolfe and Shannon Murphy

A tender, hilarious, thoughtful, and illuminating conversation with transgender actress Zoey Luna. She’s on the show to talk about Kristen Stewart’s recent nautical sci-fi film, Underwater. Zoey compares her own struggles in dealing with her mother, her abuser, and having to suppress her emotions to move forward, with the struggle of Kristen Stewart’s character in the film. Zoey also discusses how she made herself cry on the set of the upcoming The Craft remake (it was by watching a scene from The Fox and the Hound). And she reveals why she doesn’t like other people doing her hair. Zoey is a star. You will know that as soon as you hear her. Also, she says she’s a star in the episode.

You can watch Pose now to catch some of Zoey’s work.

If you haven’t seen Underwater…it’s really good!

AND, if you want to check out April’s Staff Pick – watch Claire Denis’ High Life

With April Wolfe and Zoey Luna