The Business

Filmmaker Matt Reeves knew his new film, War for the Planet of the Apes, had to work even without any help from computer-generated effects. He tells us about shooting whole film first with his actors in special motion capture suits, and shares early thoughts on his next project, The Batman.

Filmmaker Allen Hughes has been friends with music moguls Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine for years. But when he set out to make the new HBO documentary series The Defiant Ones -- about their careers -- Hughes found that getting them to open up on camera wasn't easy.

When Norman Lear decided to reboot the classic sitcom One Day at a Time, this time with a Latino family, he wanted a writer-producer who could offer an authentic voice to the project. He found that person in Gloria Calderón Kellett, who incorporated much of her own background into the show, including making the family Cuban.

As a Muslim comedian, Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj found he could relate to political reporters when he agreed to the daunting challenge of doing the first White House Correspondents' Dinner of the Trump administration. Minhaj tells us about crafting his routine in just three weeks, and the far slower process of creating his new and very personal Netflix special, Homecoming King.

For the past two seasons, former Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm writer David Mandel has been showrunning HBO's Veep. And while the show can have eerie parallels to reality, Mandel tells us that more often than not, it's real life that ends up imitating Veep.

Director Shawn Levy built a career on the ‘Night at the Museum’ franchise, but wanted to break out of his box. He set out to produce, and this past year scored with the Oscar-nominated movie ‘Arrival’ and the Netflix megahit ‘Stranger Things.’ He tells us how he went about getting the industry to reconsider him.

Scott Silveri has written and produced sitcoms for more than 20 years. In all that time, he never encountered a TV family that looked anything like the one he grew up in -- with a mom, a dad...and a brother with cerebral palsy. He changed that with his show Speechless on ABC. Silveri tells us about looking to his own past for stories, and why he was determined to make a family comedy and not just a "disability show."

Steven Bochco, the writer-producer behind record-breaking Emmy winners Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue, fought battles with everyone from out-of-control actors to network censors in his long career. He isn’t afraid to tell those tales in his memoir, Truth Is a Total Defense. This week we revisit the conversation where he shared some of his favorite stories with us.

The novel American Gods features countless mythological characters gearing up to fight an epic battle. The writer-producers of the new adaptation on Starz were determined to do justice to the book -- even if that meant constantly moving production and pushing the budget. Showrunners Michael Green and Bryan Fuller tell us why they're not worried about critics who say the show is confusing, and go into the thinking behind an especially memorable, explicit sex scene.

After selling out stadiums in India, comedian and actor Vir Das is looking to break through in the US with his new Netflix special, Vir Das: Abroad Understanding. He tells us about making the jump from Bollywood to Hollywood and how he hopes his pointed humor can redefine expectations in India and America.