MovieMaker

Andrew DeYoung is the director of the magnificent Friendship, starring Tim Robinson as a suburban dad who becomes platonically smitten with a cool new neighbor played by Paul Rudd. We talk about men's struggle to stay connected, a dark theory about one of the central relationships in the film, and something audiences have guessed at but that wasn't intentional. Friendship is his directorial featur...

A lot of things have happened to Freddy MacDonald that aren't supposed to happen anymore. His short film "Sew Torn" got him into AFI and scored him a meeting with Joel Coen, who urged him to turn it into a full-length film. He did. Sew Torn, out now, is the story of a seamstress who comes across a drug deal gone awry on a beautiful, isolated Swiss road. She must decide on one of three courses of a...

Joe List and Tom Dustin both started out as Boston-area comedians more than 20 years ago. They quickly became friends, drinking buddies and roommates, with a shared dream of moving to New York City to pursue comedy greatness.   List followed through on the dream. He got sober, scored a slew of TV appearances and standup specials, and started a thriving podcast, Tuesdays With Stories, with his frie...

Sail away with us as we discuss 'Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary,' the new film from director Garret Price. Part of Bill Simmons' Music Box series, the doc explores the rise—and modern-day reevaluation—of the breezy, easy-listening rock that emerged from Southern California in the late '70s and early '80s. Actual Facts is hosted by Eric Steuer Guest co-host: Jason Betrue Send us a note at actualfactspo...

We discuss ‘The House From …,’ a fun new documentary about iconic homes from movies and TV shows like ‘Home Alone,’ ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Friday,’ ‘The Outsiders,’ ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’, ‘A Christmas Story,’ and many more. The film looks at the lives of the homeowners who navigate the unique challenges and joys of living in pop culture landmarks. We wrap up the episode with an interview with the fi...

We talk with Benjamin Ree about his documentary 'The Remarkable Life of Ibelin' (2024). The film tells the story of Mats Steen, a young man in Norway born with a severe form of muscular dystrophy that left him physically isolated for most of his life. Through the online multiplayer game 'World of Warcraft,' however, Mats found connection with a community of people around the world. Unbeknownst to...

Joining us is Nicholas Ma to discuss his documentary 'Leap of Faith' (2024), which follows twelve diverse Christian leaders from Grand Rapids, Michigan, as they gather for a series of retreats led by Michael Gulker, organizer of a project called the Colossian Forum. Over a year, these pastors—five women and seven men from various denominations and with differing beliefs and approaches—engage in de...

We speak with Nick August-Perna about his documentary 'Tell Them You Love Me' (2023). The film explores the complex and controversial case of Anna Stubblefield, a former Rutgers ethics professor who was convicted in 2015 for the sexual assault of Derrick Johnson, a nonverbal Black man with cerebral palsy. Stubblefield, a white woman, met Johnson while working to improve his communication skills us...

Damien Leone is the director of four films that star the mugging, murdering Art the Clown — All Hallows Eve and Terrifer , Terrifier 2 and the new Terrifier 3. Even if you've never seen his films, you've probably read about them, because of the hype that surrounds the walkouts and episodes that inevitably accompany screenings. We talk about making a $250,000 movie that earns $15 million, the Terri...

Ed Pressman was one of Hollywood's most impressive producers — a man who worked on films from American Psycho to The Crow to Wall Street to cult classics like The Phantom of the Paradise and Bad Lieutenant . His son Sam Pressman took over Pressman Films when his father died last year at 79.  Sam Pressman has bold ideas about how to keep making daring films, and one of those ideas is turning to a f...

Clair Titley joins to discuss her documentary 'The Contestant' (2023). The film tells the surreal story of Nasubi, an aspiring Japanese comedian who, in 1998 at the age of 22, was selected for a reality TV show produced by the team behind the popular series 'Denpa Shonen.' Stripped of his clothes and placed in a tiny apartment, Nasubi was tasked with surviving solely on magazine sweepstakes winnin...

We talk to filmmaker Elisa Levine about her documentary 'Sweetheart Deal.' The film tells the story of four women—Kristine, Krista, Tammy, and Sara—who navigate life on Seattle's infamous Aurora Avenue, a street packed with traffic, motels, and liquor stores, and known for being one of the city's main hubs for street-based sex work. 'Sweetheart Deal' explores the women’s complex relationships with...

Micah Khan is one of our favorite people in moviemaking. After years of making shorts and writing his own scripts, he's making his directorial debut on The Weekly World News film THE ZOMBIE WEDDING, the story of the first ever human-zombie wedding, with an ensemble cast that includes Cheri Oteri, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Seth Gilliam, Heather Mattarazo, Vincent Pastore, and many more. We talk with Mi...

Jeremy Saulnier has done it all with Rebel Ridge. It's an action thriller Netflix hit... but also a smart indictment of a law enforcement policy almost everyone hates. And a movie for grown-ups. And a win for the kind of mid-budget movies that aren't supposed to be hits any more. But as we talk about Saulnier's rise as a filmmaker, we see that he's very much paid his dues in the micro-budget indie...

We speak with filmmaker Alice Gu about her 2020 documentary 'The Donut King.' The film tells the story of Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee who escaped the Khmer Rouge and built a donut empire in California in the 1970s. Ted's success helped hundreds of fellow refugees start their own shops, transforming the West Coast's donut industry. But as Ted enjoyed the American Dream, personal struggles with ga...

We talk with acclaimed filmmaker Ondi Timoner about her deeply personal 2022 documentary, 'Last Flight Home.' The film chronicles the last days of Ondi’s father, Eli Timoner, a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded a successful airline in the 1970s. 'Last Flight Home' captures the final weeks of 92-year-old Eli’s life after he decides to end it under California’s End of Life Option...

We’re joined by sister-and-brother filmmaking duo Rebecca and Pete Davis, whose new documentary, 'Join or Die,' examines the pivotal role that joining clubs and civic groups plays in shaping the future of our society. Drawing on the work of renowned social scientist Robert Putnam, whose groundbreaking book 'Bowling Alone' exposed the alarming decline of community connections, 'Join or Die' offers...

Elgin James, co-creator and showrunner of the FX hit Mayans MC, is a former member of an anti-racist gang whose Hollywood rise coincided with a prison sentence. He'll share his insights next week at the Austin Film Festival's Ghost Ranch Writer's Retreat , open to rising writers who want to seek inspiration in the same land that was the longtime home of Georgia O'Keeffe and provided crucial locati...

Hit Man star Glen Powell and director Richard Linklater talk about co-writing their story of a quiet college professor who goes undercover to impersonate a hitman and catch people looking for hired killers. He ends up falling in love. We talk about Steely Dan, submitting to passion to become the person you want to be, thinking, overthinking, and sex scenes. You can read our print version of this i...

Vera Drew is the creator of The People's Joker , which evolved from an attempt to re-edit Todd Phillip's 2019 into its own completely original work of art — a very affectionate parody of Batman mythology and all the ideas it takes for granted. Combining comedy, animation, and Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher's flair for cartoonish drama, it's a punkish, dreamy dismantling and rebuilding of Gotham as...

Some people think of virtual reality as an escape from actual reality. But helping you escape reality is the opposite of what Felix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël hope to do through their immersive virtual reality company, Felix & Paul Studios. The Emmy-winning Montreal-based studio takes audiences to places they might otherwise never go — to the International Space Station, inside the Oval Office, e...

Coss Marte created a prison-based workout program in solitary confinement, then turned it into a thriving business called Conbody that employs ex-inmates. Their recidivism rate is zero. Debra Granik, the brilliant Oscar-nominated director of films including Winter's Bone and Leave No Trace, tells the story in Conbody vs Everybody, premiering today at Sundance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...

MovieMaker Magazine's documentary podcast Actual Facts is back to talk docs! Eric and Jason discuss 'American Pain,' a film that tells the story of twin brothers and bodybuilders Chris and Jeff George, who operated a notorious network of pain clinics in Florida, raking in millions by prescribing and dispensing large quantities of opioids with reckless abandon. The film's director, Darren Foster, s...

Cory Choy's Esme, My Love is a mother-daughter thriller, set in the wilds of upstate New York and powered by visual and auditory experimentation. Choy relied not just on his extensive experience as a sound designer (he runs NYC's Silver Sound ) but also on his own life experiences, from recording music with his friends in his early teens to being a parent to listening to supernatural stories. Esme...

Brian Helgeland has won an Oscar for the screenplay of L.A. Confidential and was nominated again for Mystic River . He wrote and directed films including Payback , A Knights Tale and 42 . But the film he always wanted to make is Finestkind , inspired by his experience on a fishing boat off the coast of his Massachusetts hometown. It's now out on Paramount+. Photo by Maarten De Boer. Hosted on Acas...