Making Media Now

Returning guest Brandon Katz joins host Michael Azevedo on this episode to take a look at some compelling data that’s informing several film and television related stories he’s recently published.   As the Director of Insight & Content Strategy for Greenlight Analytics , Brandon—who’s also a former entertainment journalist and film critic—unpacks data analysis to reveal compelling trends withi...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Chelsea Greene and Rob Grobman, two of the three co-directors on Academy Award-winning filmmaker and activist Fisher Stevens's (The Cove) timely environmental documentary called "We Are Guardians" which he produced alongside Executive Producer and fellow Academy-award winner and activist Leonardo DiCarprio.   The film which follows Indigenous forest...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by Raúl O. Paz Pastrana, the director of a new documentary airing on PBS’ Independent Lens series on April 13. Raul’s film, "Backside: The Unseen Hands of Horseracing," set amidst the pageantry of horseracing’s premier event—The Kentucky Derby—goes behind the glamour to present a portrait of the unseen workers whose tireless efforts are key to the event’s success.  ...

Back in 2023, Making Media Now host Michael Azevedo was joined by filmmaker Bonnie Waltch and writer Sara Schley to talk about a film project for which Filmmakers Collaborative was the fiscal sponsor.   The film was called "Brainstorm" and it’s now complete and will be featured in a global virtual screening on March 30 as part of World Bipolar Day.   Bonnie is the film’s writer, director, and prod...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on episode is writer and director Andrew Goldberg, whose documentary "White with Fear" will premiere on PBS on March 24.    Told by the operatives in the rooms where it happened, "White With Fear" is an explosive deep dive into the decades-long quest by America’s conservative political machine to amass power by exploiting racial fault lines and stoking narratives of Wh...

On this episode host Michael Azevedo takes a dive into season three of the award-winning podcast series, The Big Dig, produced by GBH News and distributed by PRX. Season three is called "Catching The Codfather."   Joining Michael are series’ host Ian Coss and the GBH Managing Producer of Podcasts, Devin Maverick Robins.   Season Three of The Big Dig™ podcast, “Catching The Codfather,” goes down to...

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo chats with award-winning documentary filmmaker Lisa Olivieri about her film, "Recovery City," a raw exploration of what it means to be in recovery as seen through the eyes of four women whose lives share a common thread: addiction.   Set in the working class city of Worcester MA, the film is a real and honest portrait of resilience, grit and camaraderie presen...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Angela Lynn Tucker, the director of an inspiring and informative new documentary called "The Inquisitor," which tells the story of the life and career of Barbara Jordan.   As a young girl growing up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, Barbara Jordan was taught to defy expectations. She understood that to succeed, she would need to forge her own path.   With rel...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Miles Spencer, the co-founder of an innovative AI start-up called Reflekta . A few weeks back, Mile’s team reached out to me to say that they’ve enjoyed the conversations I've had with various types of storytellers…and how they especially liked how our conversations revealed the stories within the stories.   Miles has helped create over 1,100 jobs wh...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by first-time director Vivien Hillgrove and producer Deann Borshay Liem to discuss a truly engaging and poignant personal documentary called “Vivien’s Wild Ride,” which will premiere on PBS on January 26.    Vivien Hillgrove has been a film and sound editor all her adult life.    She's worked with many filmmaking greats including: Francis Ford Coppola...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Laura Varela and Andrew Gonzales, the producer and producer/director of "American Sons," a new documentary that follows a brotherhood of Marines a decade after their deployment to Afghanistan, as they struggle to overcome the trauma of combat and the loss of many of their comrades.   The film will premiere on PBS on January 12 and will stream simul...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Ben Loeterman, the writer and director of Bombshell, a new documentary that Explores How The U.S. government manipulated the narrative around the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   Ben’s film will premiere on PBS as part of the American Experience series on January 6 and will be available on the PBS app and the American Experience website...

On this episode host Michael Azevedo welcomes back Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Joshua Seftel to discuss his latest documentary, "All the Empty Rooms," which is currently available on Netflix and has been short-listed for the 2025 Oscars in the category of best documentary short.   Across America, bedrooms sit untouched — walls still covered in posters, clothes folded neatly in drawers — sile...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is first-time filmmaker Nivi Jaswal-Wirtjes, the director & executive producer of a powerful and thought-provoking new documentary called “Third Degree Burnout”   Narrated by renowned meteorologist John Morales, "Third Degree Burnout" uncovers the hidden connections between personal burnout and the climate crisis, revealing them as symptoms of a lar...

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo joined by long-time friend of the podcast Tim O’Donnell of Pixela Films and by first-time guest Mary Dague to discuss the just-completed film, "The Last Yztari."   This innovative and moving film tells the story of how after using her body as a shield to protect her unit from an IED in Iraq, Mary Dague is left medically retired, missing both arms from the elbo...

Director Daniel Masciari who joins host Michael Azevedo to discuss "Stationed at Home," his debut feature film.    Set on a clear and frigid Christmas Eve in 1998, in a small, forgotten city, "Stationed at Home" tells the tale of a solitary taxi driver on the graveyard shift breathlessly awaiting the sight of the International Space Station. As the hours count down, a parade of offbeat misfits der...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Jon Shenk co-director of a powerful documentary now streaming on Netflix called In Waves and War .   Blending observational scenes and animation, "In Waves and War" traces the journey of three Navy SEALs, tormented by trauma, to Mexico where they embark on a mission to rescue one another with powerful psychedelics whose effects shake them to the co...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Vicki Hughes and Holly Stadtler, two veterans of the documentary filmmaking world who’ve teamed up to produce The Green Box: At The Heart of War, a film based on a memoir by Jim Kurtz that tells the story of his decades long search to learn more about his father, 2nd Lt. Robert Kurtz, who died when Jim was just 2 years old.   All Jim knew of his fa...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Ben Flaherty, the director of Shuffle , a film that won the documentary jury award at the 2025 SXSW festival.  This powerful documentary provides a look into the lives of three Florida residents who struggle to free themselves from a predatory system of for-profit recovery centers that benefit from their reliance on substances. The film depicts a dep...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Rick Goldsmith, the director of the documentary “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink. Rick’s film offers a clear-eyed look at the current state of journalism in the United States with a focus on the insidious threat from a secretive hedge fund that has put America’s free press at risk.   Alden Global Capital, operating in the shadows...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode is Clay Tweel, director of a powerful new documentary called "The Bitter Pill."    Clay’s film—which debuted on PBS on 9/22 and will be available to stream on PBS digital until December 10-- follows the charismatic West Virginian plaintiff attorney Paul Farrell, Jr, as he wages a legal war against some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies i...

On May 8, 1970, “the Hard Hat Riot” erupted in lower Manhattan. At midday, construction workers, including those building the World Trade Center, violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War.   Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as p...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Andy DeMeo, the creator and host of the Granite Goodness podcast and Substack newsletter .   Andy has a belief that most news thrives on outrage, fear, and conflict. And he created "Granite Goodness" in order to take a different approach. The podcast and newsletter highlights what Andy calls real progress happening across New England in science, tech...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by veteran film and television director Rob Spera.   Rob’s been on the faculty at the American Film Institute for over 20 years. His feature films include The Sweet Life, Fathers and Sons, and the cult classic Leprechaun in the Hood.    His numerous television credits include Criminal Minds, Supernatural, Suspect Behavior, and Army Wives. During four seasons as Resid...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Jen Bradwell and Todd Boekelheide, the married co-directors of "Make A Circle," a new documentary that offers a rare, inside look at the lives of child care providers and early educators — the backbone of a child care system on the brink.   The film premieres Monday, September 1 streaming nationally on  PBS.org , the PBS app and on PBS TV stations (...