The Video Essay Podcast

This week's guest is Grace Lee, who operates the popular video essay channel, What's So Great About That? on YouTube. Grace and host Will DiGravio talk about how Grace's fine art background influences her video essays, what it is like having one's video essay go viral, how to please the YouTube algorithm, and discuss her essay, "Feathered Foes: Birds in Horror." They also discuss the desktop documentary "Reading//Binging//Benning" by Chloé Galibert-Laîné and Kevin B. Lee.

Music via: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Mela/Mela_two/MELA_-_Mela_Two_-_05_Brain_Power

Will DiGravio sits down with Philip Brubaker, formerly one of the principal video essayists at Fandor. Philip is also an experimental filmmaker with a background in documentary filmmaking and an alumnus of Werner Herzog’s Rogue Film School. His video essays have screened at numerous film festivals and his work has appeared regularly in Sight and Sound’s annual list of the best video essays.

In the first true episode of The Video Essay Podcast, host Will DiGravio sits down with Catherine Grant, one of the leading video essay makers working today. In the episode, the two talk about Katie's first introduction to the form, her philosophy when it comes to making video essays, and her latest video essay, "The Haunting of THE HEADLESS WOMAN." They also discuss "Cotton - The Fabric of Genocide," an essay by Cydnii Harris. Learn more about the show and the homework for next week at www.thevideoessay.com.

In the pilot for "The Video Essay Podcast," host Will DiGravio discusses the show's origins, his background, the format of the podcast, and previews the next episode, which will feature an interview with Catherine Grant.