This one is from the vault. If you haven't seen Mad Hot Ballroom from director Marilyn Agrelo, stop now and go check it out. It's a classic and a masterpiece. Centered around a ballroom dancing competition for fifth grade dance teams in New York City elementary schools, Agrelo captures a genuine and life-affirming transformation as a group of children evolve from reticent novices to confident contestants versed in the Latin styles of foxtrot, merengue and rumba. Agrelo shares with Tiller the challenges of capturing the spirit of New York City (4:25), casting the right teachers and kid dancers (14:10), the mechanics of verité filming and simultaneous editing (21:22), the art of directing kids (28:50), being validated by local criminals (32:45), and the film's shocking critical reception (42:00).

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

"The Space Race", a new film by directors Lisa Cortés and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, profiles the pioneering Black pilots, scientists, and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight’s quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station. In today’s discussion, Lisa and Diego share their paths to documentaries (1:40), their co-directing process (5:30), the injection of “Afro-Futurism” (12:00), the impact of George Floyd’s death on the International Space Station (21:48), and the experience of screening the film with the astronauts themselves (35:30).

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

Season 3 kicks off with one of the great nonfiction filmmakers working today, Brett Morgen - the director, writer and editor of the film "Moonage Daydream", which explores David Bowie's creative, spiritual, and musical journey. In his discussion with Tiller, Brett shares how a speech impediment led him to make documentaries (2:45), determining the visual style for each film (6:25), the making of his 2002 film "The Kid Stays in the Picture" (9:10), the origin of "Moonage Daydream" (18:45), the two-year process of personally screening David Bowie's entire video archive (29:00), how Homer's "Illiad" inspired the structure of the film (37:50), when he knows a project is finished (45:30), and Sean Penn's single note that saved the film (49:20). 

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

Seth Porges and Chris Charles Scott’s darkly comedic hit film “Class Action Park” skirts the trappings of 1980s nostalgia and chronicles the unbelievable rise and fall of the most insane – and possibly the most dangerous – amusement park that ever existed. In his discussion with Tiller, Seth reflects on the universality of doing idiotic, dangerous things as kids (2:08), the vital tonal shift in the film from hilarity to death (6:40), creating the film on their own dime (19:05), the editorial process (23:20), landing the film at HBO right at the onset of Max (26:15), how the first outline barely changed (31:30), and the choice to feature himself as an on-screen interview as well as incorporate voice-over narration (36:10).

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

Filmmaker Steve James burst onto the scene in 1994 with his iconic documentary, "Hoop Dreams", a film that is widely considered one of the great works of American nonfiction cinema. His latest film, "A Compassionate Spy", tells the incredible story of Manhattan Project scientist Ted Hall, who, fearing the post-war risk of a nuclear holocaust, shared classified nuclear secrets with the Soviets. In today's episode, Steve discusses with Tiller the lasting legacy of "Hoop Dreams" (2:30), why he's made films outside of the streamer system (5:15), why he chose to make "A Compassionate Spy" (10:35), trusting his gut instinct (17:50), the production plan for "A Compassionate Spy" (22:40), how Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" helped revitalize this time period for storytelling (34:40), and the shocking misconceptions he uncovered about WWII, Ted Hall, and the Military Industrial Complex (40:00).

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

Kathryn Ferguson’s 2022 film “Nothing Compares” follows the career of celebrated singer Sinéad O'Connor through her rise to fame and explores the ways her iconoclastic personality led to exile from the pop mainstream. In today’s episode, Kathryn shares with Tiller the origin for the film (2:00), her writing process (10:00), interweaving archival with audio-only interviews (14:00), creating a visual iconography through original cinematic photography (20:45), screening the film for Sinéad (33:05), and honoring Sinéad’s legacy (36:30). 

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: James Carroll, Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

SNL directors and co-creators of the cult favorite Documentary Now! Rhys Thomas and Alex Buono join Tiller to discuss their mockumentary series starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader, in which each episode is a masterful homage to a classic documentary film style. They reflect on their start at SNL (2:20), the blend of documentary and narrative storytelling (9:20), how much is improvised (13:50), the challenges of making totally unique episodes (20:30) how pressure lends itself to creativity (28:30), turning far-fetched hilarious ideas into reality (32:40), the benefit of having great writers (38:30), and how legendary documentarians have received their work (44:10).

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

The two-part docuseries “San Francisco Sounds”, helmed by directing duo Alison Ellwood and Anoosh Tertzakian, celebrates the musical and artistic renaissance that exploded in the Bay Area from the mid-sixties into the mid-seventies. Featuring the music of Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Steve Miller, and many more, it’s a glimpse into a time and place that changed the world of music, love, and culture forever. Anoosh and Alison talk with Tiller about transitioning from editing to directing (2:00), the journey from “Laurel Canyon” to “San Francisco Sounds” (7:00), the benefit to using audio-only interviews (14:00), why it took over a year to make this movie (19:05), finding a fresh approach to telling the story of Janis Joplin (22:10), how they craft performances from their key interviews (25:08), the parts of the story that surprised them the most (30:20), and how money changes even the best art (34:00).

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

Kartiki Gonsalves is the first Indian Film Director to have ever won an Academy Award in the history of India, which she received for her 2022 short film “The Elephant Whisperers”. Available on Netflix, this film follows a a couple in South India who devote their lives to caring for an orphaned baby elephant, forging a family like no other that tests the barrier between the human and the animal world. Kartiki shares with Tiller the experience of winning an Oscar (1:45), the origin of the film (5:30), the process of following her artistic instinct (11:05), intertwining the various love stories (16:40), finding the editorial structure (25:30), and the most special moment of the entire filmmaking process (31:00). 

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions

Editor Chris Passig’s latest work, HBO’s “Telemarketers”, follows the 20-year journey of two telemarketers as they vow to expose the scam behind the American telemarketing industry. This three-part documentary takes you from an anarchic, seedy New Jersey call center filled with booze, drugs, and debauchery to the halls of the United States Senate as the world's unlikeliest journalists uncover a deep, nation-wide billion-dollar racket. Tiller speaks with Chris about how the series evolved from years of raw tapes into an HBO series with high-profile EPs (5:05), constructing multiple cohesive storylines in the edit (11:00), his shared background with director Sam Lipman-Stern (15:15), developing Sam and Pat Pespas’s friendship on screen (20:00), screening the series for Pat (25:10), pacing the series (28:35), the lead characters’ borderline stupid bravery (32:30), clarifying the complexity of the scam without including outside experts (37:20), and the reverberating effect of the series in the world (41:10). 

Produced by: Jacob Miller

Executive Producer: Tiller Russell

Music by: Graham Tracey & Zydepunk

Distributed by: Jake Brennan & Brady Sadler, Double Elvis Productions