Anthony Russo and Joe Russo join the podcast this week to discuss the making of their feature film debut Pieces, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 1997. The film was shot in the brothers hometown of Cleveland, Ohio for a production budget of $30,000. During their press screening at Slamdance, a majority of the audience walked out of the divisive film except for one person who loved it: Steven Soderbergh. While Pieces never was released due to issues involving music rights, the brothers have gone on to direct four of the highest grossing Marvel films of all time, including Avengers: Endgame. Outside of James Cameron, Joe and Anthony are the only other filmmakers to have made two films that have earned over $2 billion dollars each. Their company AGBO is a great supporter of independent cinema, producing Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Since 2018, The Russo Brothers have set up an annual fellowship at Slamdance offering a $25,000 prize and mentorship to a filmmaker at the festival. Season 3 of the Russo Brothers "Pizza Film School" is out now on YouTube. Their latest feature film, The Electric State, will be streaming on Netflix starting on March 14th.

Links:

The Electric State | Netflix

Pizza Film School | YouTube

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Slamdance First Film Podcast is created and hosted by Michael Gallagher and Jana Gallagher. Produced by Peter Baxter. Edited by Daniel Angarita. QC by Max Brown & Tara Blossom. Music by Kevin MacLeod. Special Thanks to Paul Rachman, and the entire Slamdance Team.

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