The No Film School Podcast

How SNL goes from Wednesday night table read to a finished prerecorded sketch airing Saturday

What happens when footage begins arriving from set on Friday morning

Why Mak creates “line-by-lines” containing every take of every scripted line

How organizing footage early allows editors, writers, and directors to make decisions quickly

Finding the visual language of “MAHAspital” while parodying HBO’s The Pitt

Using the structure and pacing of a trailer to increase the energy of a parody

Why Mak watched The Pitt during the edit to understand its characters and visual style

How Premiere Pro’s transcription and search tools make it easier to locate specific dialogue

Using the Essential Sound panel, EQ, reverb, panning, and the audio track mixer during picture editing

Why sound design can be essential to making comedy work

Building tension with heart monitors, ventilators, overlapping dialogue, and strategic silence

Keyboard shortcuts that speed up multicam editing and navigation through massive stringouts

How a longer commercial schedule can actually create new challenges by allowing editors to second-guess decisions

Editing Kate McKinnon’s Zoom commercial and balancing comedy with the need to sell a product

Why editors can function as storytellers, collaborators, and sometimes even therapists during long-form projects

Mak’s “puzzle-solving” approach to rearranging footage until a scene or story unlocks

Why trust, openness to feedback, and leaving ego outside the edit room matter on collaborative projects

How SNL’s dress audience functions as a real-time test screening

Why editors should continually learn new software, techniques, graphics, sound, and VFX tools

How YouTube tutorials and experimentation can help editors expand their skills and become more valuable

“There’s a real intuition you have to have and there’s a real understanding of rhythm and of, you know, how the shoot’s going to make this happen.”

“I feel like sometimes when you have too much time, it becomes almost more difficult.”

“And so, like, it really is about, like, finding each little bit that, like, will match with this little bit that, like, will actually tell a story.”

“As the tools change and as younger generations find newer ways to edit, it’s really important to just stay up to date and not get locked into your old ways.”

Christopher Salerno

Mak Makower

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How Kirk’s acting training at DePaul University led him toward screenwriting and directing

Learning story structure through John Truby’s 22-step approach and The Anatomy of Story

How Chris Messina encouraged Kirk to direct his first feature, The Giant Mechanical Man

Why an acting background can help directors understand how to communicate with performers

How Billie Joe Armstrong approached Kirk with the initial premise for Nimrods

Reverse engineering a feature screenplay from a predetermined Green Day concert ending

Using real stories from Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool as inspiration for the screenplay

Drawing from movies like The Goonies, Vacation, Footloose, and Risky Business to establish the film’s tone

Making a contemporary movie feel nostalgic through vinyl, cassettes, camcorders, old cars, and other analog textures

What Kirk looks for when hiring department heads and why collaborative problem-solving matters

Turning an Oklahoma City junkyard into a convincing punk venue

Casting Mason Thames, Mckenna Grace, and the rest of the young ensemble

Using actors’ existing talents to add specificity and production value to a movie

Conducting chemistry reads over Zoom when the budget made in-person auditions impractical

Why rehearsal is less about locking down performances and more about making actors comfortable enough to play on set

Helping actors get out of their heads by giving them time, space, and permission to experiment

Using long pauses as a directing tool to help actors access emotion

Why Kirk deliberately maintains a calm demeanor on set, even when production is stressful

Finding unexpected moments through ad-libs and improvisation, including a spontaneous Fred Armisen scene

Shooting 28 days in Oklahoma City before moving to Los Angeles for four additional days

Capturing the Green Day concert with four cameras and roughly 2,000 real Green Day fans

Why Kirk specifically budgeted for large numbers of extras after lessons learned on previous productions

Kirk’s advice for emerging filmmakers on studying story structure, watching films analytically, writing frequently, and taking advantage of accessible filmmaking tools

“I listen to these tapes and everything changed for me then.”

“I feel like that's kinda like when the best stuff happens because now everyone's out of their comfort zone, but everyone's prepared so everyone can do, make that pivot.”

“Even if I'm not calm, even if I'm feeling so stressed out on the inside, I just put forward this feeling like I'm good. I know what I'm doing. Everything's fine.”

“Story is everything.”

Lee Kirk

Nimrods on IMDb

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How Playhouse went from winning Fantastic Pitches to premiering at Fantastic Fest in just one year

Designing a $100,000 movie around limitations like one location, a small cast, and practical aesthetics

Why microbudget filmmakers need a creative “hack” that makes their limitations work for the movie

How filmmakers can make a live pitch memorable with props, costumes, trailers, and a strong presentation

Why being selected for Fantastic Pitches can create opportunities even if you don't win

The ambitious Technocrane strategy behind this year’s winning pitch, Father Figure

What Ryan and Jordan noticed about the DIY films, filmmaking collectives, and genre community at Fantastic Fest

Why festivals can have a bigger impact by supporting filmmakers before their movies are made

“With filmmaking it's always good, fast, cheap. Pick two. And with Fantastic Pitches, they're trying to do all three.”

“You've gotta have a hack to make your pitch audience-friendly.”

“The best route is the one that's available to you probably.”

“It's easy to select things that turned out well. It's much harder to bet on them at the beginning and to actually help them bring something to fruition.”

Fantastic Fest

Fantastic Pitches

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How Drew and Evan became filmmaking collaborators after spending hours together shooting a Method soap commercial in a tiny shower

Evan’s experience making Sun Belt Express and the long gap between his first and second features

Why Drew kept returning to the alien-abduction concept that eventually became Into the Sky

Revisiting old material after years of becoming better writers and filmmakers

How strong Black List evaluations gave the filmmakers psychological momentum to commit to the project

Spending roughly two years rewriting the script and assembling financing

Why casting director Kate Geller became an important part of building the movie’s cast

How attaching Sam Richardson helped the project gain momentum

The pressures created when an in-demand actor gives an independent production a narrow shooting window

Walking away from a “turnkey” production-services solution that would have forced most of the movie onto a single estate

Finding the town of Catskill, New York, and rebuilding their location strategy around what the movie actually needed

Why filmmakers sometimes have to reject the easiest logistical solution when it threatens the film creatively

Shooting the movie in 25 days while managing frequent company moves

How Drew and Evan divided directing responsibilities according to their complementary strengths

Drew’s focus on visual storytelling, camera placement, and spectacle versus Evan’s focus on performance, character, and dialogue

Using iPhone LiDAR scans and Polycam to create digital models of locations

Printing location blueprints and using custom Lego figures and a Lego camera to block scenes with the AD and cinematographer

Building detailed storyboards and turning them into rough animatics for complicated sequences

Trying to create an “indie blockbuster” without a blockbuster budget

The challenge of completing approximately 500 visual-effects shots with an extremely small VFX team

Why extensive preparation became a starting point for improvisation once production problems appeared

Delaying a cornfield sequence until the final day of photography so the corn would be tall enough for the scene

How rain, heat, scheduling problems, and other uncontrollable factors reshaped the production

Watching dailies and determining whether scenes needed to be reshot

Why a scene they believed needed a reshoot ultimately used mostly material from the original shoot

Working 12-hour shooting days followed by another four or five hours of preparation each night

Splitting up the first stages of post-production so Drew could eventually watch the assembly with fresh eyes

Why comedy becomes difficult to judge after watching the same material dozens of times

Screening cuts for friends and family to measure real laughter and audience energy

Using QR codes and Google Forms to collect individual reactions before a group discussion could influence everyone’s opinions

Measuring character likability and other audience responses between different test screenings

Asking test audiences to respond to major VFX sequences while those sequences were still extremely unfinished

The moment completed visual effects and music finally made the filmmakers feel that the movie was working

Their goal of making large, entertaining movies with heart on an independent scale

Why Drew and Evan believe their filmmaking education ultimately came from making things, making mistakes, and “touching the stove”

“If I have any takeaway from that, it's that, like, in those moments of extreme pressure when you have a lot of competing interests that have started rolling down on you, you've just gotta trust your gut.”

“We always called this movie an indie blockbuster. You know, we were trying to make an indie film that felt like a blockbuster.”

“We went in with a great plan, and then you get hit in the fucking face. And your plan becomes the launching point for an improvisational new plan.”

“We learned by making mistakes and doing things out in the world. We learned by touching the stove.”

Drew Mylrea

Evan Buxbaum

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How McKendrick went from pursuing a career as a pop singer to discovering filmmaking and directing at Chapman University

Why writing and directing her own projects became a way to create opportunities instead of waiting for permission

How Destroy the Alpha Gammas and M.F.A. helped establish her as a writer, producer, actor, and filmmaker

The reality of working as a studio screenwriter and spending years writing projects that may never reach production

The original inspiration for Voicemails for Isabelle and why McKendrick wrote the first draft in only a few weeks

How the screenplay quickly sold, landed on the Black List, and attracted major talent before spending years in development

Why repeated studio regime changes and canceled projects ultimately pushed McKendrick toward directing

The breaking point that inspired her to write, finance, and direct Scrambled rather than wait for another studio green light

Why filmmakers need to understand their own taste rather than believing a director must personally master every technical department

How McKendrick's collaboration with cinematographer Julia Swain helped her translate emotion and instinct into a visual language

Why directors need to communicate and reiterate their vision differently for every department head

How Scrambled allowed McKendrick to demonstrate through her actions that she was no longer interested in being only a writer-for-hire

Why McKendrick avoids reading reviews and instead focuses on whether she made the film she intended to make

How the success of Scrambled changed the industry's perception of McKendrick as a director

How Netflix approached Sony about Voicemails for Isabelle and Sony agreed to move forward with McKendrick directing

Why years of studio relationships that once seemed fruitless ultimately became valuable when McKendrick was ready to direct

The importance of betting on yourself, embracing the unusual parts of your voice, and refusing to assume that following the traditional path will eventually lead to the work you want to make

“The most beautiful thing that it gave me was this realization that I could create my own work and that I didn't have to ask for permission.”

“All you need to know is what you like, and be a student of film, and be a student of your own taste.”

“Every time that I have gotten rebellious and that I have put my foot down, that is when something fruits.”

“If anybody could walk away from my interviews with one piece of wisdom or advice, it would always be to bet on yourself and to not wait for permission, and to believe in your weirdest stories and the weirdest parts of yourself.”

Leah McKendrick

Having Indie Discipline at Studio Scale: How Julia Swain Shot 'Voicemails for Isabelle'

How to Build a Pitch Deck

Indie Filmmakers: You Don't Need Julia Roberts to Make Your Indie Comedy

How To Cut Like an Anthropologist from 'Scrambled’ & ‘Alpha’ Editor Sandra Granovsky

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How Greco went from studying film at Boston University to editing for digital media, Nickelodeon, and feature films

Why filmmakers like John Cassavetes and the mumblecore movement changed the way she thought about feature filmmaking

How Lockjaw evolved organically from a 25–30 page short into Greco’s first feature

Planning the production a year in advance so winter’s early sunsets would make an entirely nighttime shoot more manageable

Building the film around an existing Los Angeles creative community of actors and crew members

How producer Abbie Jones helped secure a house where the production could shoot for eight of its 11 days

Deciding to move forward with the movie after Greco lost her job during the Hollywood strikes

Developing Rayna as an active, magnetic, self-destructive protagonist rather than a passive victim

How Blu Hunt approached Rayna without judging the character’s choices

Using Rayna’s wired jaw as both a physical filmmaking constraint and a source of conflict, comedy, and miscommunication

Why Greco wanted Rayna’s accident to complicate her behavior rather than simply justify it

Shooting an 80-page feature in 11 days using two Canon XF605 cameras, small crews, autofocus, and minimal lens changes

Rehearsing and blocking scenes before sunset so the production could begin shooting immediately once it was dark

How Greco, Blu Hunt, and Colin Burgess reworked a breakup scene on set when its original tone stopped working

Learning when a director needs to stop rushing, reconsider a scene, and ask collaborators for help

How Greco’s editing background helped her know which shots were essential and which material could be sacrificed

Cutting entire storylines that were not serving Rayna’s central story

Bringing in co-editor Neal Wynne when Greco needed fresh ideas, then returning to the film for the fine cut

The process of getting Lockjaw into Slamdance and finally watching audiences respond to the film

What Greco learned about LLCs, paperwork, and production infrastructure that she applied to her next project

Why making a feature reinforced the importance of trusting collaborators instead of believing the director has to solve everything alone

“I’m going to make this happen no matter what.”

“But it would be so much more fun if it was the opposite.”

“Take a step back. You need to figure this out. Like, it’s okay if it takes 10 minutes away from shooting.”

“Anything’s on the chopping block. I don’t care what it is. Like, if it’s, it’s not working, it’s not working.”

Sabrina Greco

Lockjaw on IMDb

Lockjaw on Instagram

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How graduating from film school during the pandemic pushed the team toward making an independent feature

Raising the initial micro-budget through unconventional investors, personal connections, and community support

How Florida State University’s alumni equipment package made a $30,000 feature possible

Why paying crew something—even on an extremely limited budget—was important to the producers

Discovering in the edit that the first version of It Ends wasn’t working

Why indie filmmakers should stop thinking of reshoots as a sign of failure

Using test screenings to identify pacing problems, missing emotional beats, and scenes that needed additional coverage

Designing a contained film that could be affordably reconstructed for multiple rounds of pickups

Balancing the film’s horror and hangout-movie elements through pacing and visual language

Cutting a Jeep Cherokee in half to get it onto an LED volume stage

Rebuilding the Jeep interior and using the removable vehicle to create otherwise impossible camera angles

Why the filmmakers pulled out of Fantasia to continue improving the movie

Maintaining continuity when returning to the same actors and characters two years after principal photography

The editing workflow Alex developed to compare multiple performances of the same line

Using low-pass filtering, bass, sound design, and close-ups to create production value on an indie budget

What Alex learned from an extremely disorganized Premiere timeline

Premiering at SXSW during an especially difficult independent film distribution market

Why strong festival reviews and sold-out screenings didn’t automatically lead to a distribution deal

The changing economics of minimum guarantees for independent films

How online horror creators helped generate new momentum for It Ends

The film’s path from Letterboxd’s video store program to a theatrical release with Neon

Why filmmakers should focus on making the strongest movie possible rather than designing a project specifically for a major festival

How the lessons from It Ends changed the team’s approach to their next features

Previsualizing an entire movie before production to eliminate setups and solve story problems

Using executive producer credits strategically when raising additional financing

Practical advice for protecting hard drives, feeding a small crew, and building a trusted filmmaking community

“I'm a huge advocate for reshoots.”

“And on that Saturday we got it onto the stage and it, and it fit through that hallway with a literal quarter of an inch clearance on either side, and that's like, that's not an exaggeration.”

“I hope that this film can live kinda like when I first saw Slacker for the first time, and it was just like, oh, all you really need is a camera and two faces talking to each other.”

“At the end of the day, surround yourself, your entire crew with people you trust creatively.”

Alex Ullom

Carrie Carusone

Evan Barber

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How the image of a glowing pool at night became the foundation for Pools

Writing characters with specific actors like Michael Vlamis, Odessa A'zion, and Tyler Alvarez in mind

Building chemistry within an ensemble cast on a limited indie prep schedule

The complications of filming overnight pool scenes and shooting underwater

How a breath coach helped Odessa A'zion increase her underwater breath hold from roughly 15 seconds to a minute and a half

Why Sam turned down disappointing traditional distribution offers and pursued a more hands-on service deal

Creating pool-party premieres that made screenings feel like events rather than another movie release

How Sam became a top 0.01% Partiful user while organizing approximately 25 promotional events

Why filmmakers need to actively build relationships with festival programmers, distributors, critics, and other members of the indie film community

The mistake of delaying Pools' TVOD release in hopes of benefiting from the attention around Odessa A'zion's other projects

Why maintaining momentum and giving audiences an immediate way to watch a film matters after theatrical release

How the crowded TVOD marketplace makes discoverability especially difficult for independent movies

The wine-fueled cold email Sam wrote to Letterboxd after feeling like the film was running out of distribution options

Why Letterboxd's curated Video Store offered Pools a way to stand apart from algorithm-driven platforms

How the film's Letterboxd rating improved as more viewers discovered it

Michael's experience moving between Pools, his indie feature Crossword, and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey

Why a giant production can still feel surprisingly scrappy and responsive on set

The difference between a film's production budget and the marketing budget needed to actually break through

Why indie filmmakers cannot build their entire distribution strategy around getting acquired by a major streamer

How real-world relationships can turn previous distribution passes into new opportunities

Why Sam recommends budgeting for marketing before production begins

The danger of submitting a rough cut to major film festivals before the movie is truly ready

Michael's approach to finding grounded comedy without forcing jokes or overthinking a performance

“You need something fun, especially for an indie movie, to, like, build community around the film and with each other and make it about more than just the movie itself.”

“As soon as the people start watching the movie, you want people to be able to see the movie.”

“You can't rely on it. You have to find ways to, like, find your own audience with an indie film.”

“Build in a marketing budget before you shoot. Like, have that be a part of the money that you raise.”

Sam Hayes

Michael Vlamis

Pools on Letterboxd

Rent Pools on the Letterboxd Video Store

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How Tribeca’s founding mission of community, connection, and celebrating movies has endured across 25 years

Cara’s path from attending the first Tribeca Festival as a film student to becoming Festival Director and SVP of Programming

Why networking is really about building relationships with your contemporaries and growing together throughout your careers

How programmers view filmmakers and why they are actively looking for work to champion rather than trying to keep filmmakers out

What makes a project feel distinctly right for Tribeca, from independent storytelling to memorable audience experiences

How Tribeca manages and evaluates nearly 14,000 film and project submissions

Why passionate advocacy inside the programming room can matter even when programmers disagree about a film

Why festival feedback is complicated and how programming decisions can depend on the composition of the entire lineup, not simply the quality of an individual film

How Tribeca expanded beyond features and shorts into television, podcasts, games, VR, immersive work, and creator-driven storytelling

The value of human curation as an alternative to algorithmic discovery

Why Tribeca is interested in projects that blur the boundaries between film, games, immersive media, podcasts, and other formats

How the role of film festivals is changing as selling an independent film directly out of a festival becomes more difficult

Why festivals increasingly function as places for talent discovery, career building, networking, and demonstrating audience demand

How the in-person festival experience can create moments that cannot be replicated through individual at-home viewing

How emerging filmmakers can participate in Tribeca through programs like the Storytelling Summit even if their work is not selected

Why Cara hopes Tribeca remains flexible enough to respond to new forms of storytelling that do not yet have an established industry category

Her advice to stop waiting for the perfect moment, keep collaborating, and make work because of the story rather than its potential festival or distribution outcome

“It's building a relationship with your contemporaries, and then you all grow. Like anyone who I know who has a position of power is only 'cause we were in the trenches as assistants 20 years ago.”

“Programmers want to discover films. They live in fear of missing something amazing. They want to build those relationships.”

“The industry player's coming less to buy completed projects than they are to scout future talent.”

“There's never a perfect moment and, and it- the more that you can be creating and collaborating, and don't think about, like, what festival is this going to get into or what's the distribution going to be?”

Cara Cusumano on IMDb

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How fiscal sponsorship allows filmmakers to fundraise through a nonprofit while maintaining the ability to operate commercially once the film is completed

Why tax-deductible donations can give filmmakers a different fundraising pitch than traditional equity investment

How in-kind donations can help cover production needs such as equipment, food, catering, and crafty

How fiscal sponsorship can add legitimacy when approaching companies and potential partners

New Hollywood's requirements for sponsored productions, including reasonable workdays, adequate turnaround times, and real meal breaks

Why sustainable set culture and crew wellbeing can improve both the production experience and the finished film

How table reads, storyboards, and strong pre-production planning can help filmmakers avoid long shoot days and burnout

Why directors should communicate with department heads early and build schedules that make their jobs easier

The importance of considering the emotional demands placed on actors when scheduling difficult scenes

Why cast and crew members should understand their rights, establish boundaries, and read their contracts even on non-union productions

How a more competitive grant landscape and changing corporate priorities are affecting independent film financing

Why filmmakers raising larger budgets should research production tax credits and rebates as part of their financing strategy

How to approach potential donors by focusing on genuine relationships rather than treating every conversation as a one-time ask

Why filmmakers should present their projects as already having momentum rather than appearing dependent on a single donor

How getting the first company, donor, or organization to say yes can make additional partnerships easier to secure

“So you get to fundraise as a nonprofit when you're starting, and then still operate as a for-profit entity once you have a film that you're ready to take to market.”

“Just for our listeners, like if somebody is pushing you in a way that is not okay, you can say no, even if it's non-union.”

“But like nobody is going to advocate for you on those sets except yourself, so it is good to know your rights.”

“The first yes is the hardest one to get. Once you get that yes, the other yeses just start coming.”

Lindsay St. Laurent

Ian Mark

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