The Directors Podcast

On this episode of The Directors Podcast, Emmy-winning DGC Director Jon Cassar sits down with DGC President Warren P. Sonoda to discuss the craft of his storied career in the Film & TV Industry as a director and producer. Their conversation ranges from working on 24 and building a strong relationship with Kiefer Sutherland, to becoming a producer-director and trying to lift up other filmmakers...

On the fifth episode of our Talking to Actors series, DGC Director Aubrey Arnason sits down with CSA-winning DGC Director Fab Filippo (Sort Of, A Time to Kill). Their conversation covers the inherent vulnerability of actors, learning to walk away from scenes unsatisfied, the art of shooting walk and talks, getting creative with ADR and tips for early-career directors working with actors. The DGC P...

Director Shannon Walsh sits down with fellow filmmaker Chase Joynt discuss her latest documentary feature Adrianne & The Castle , as well as her recent book The Documentary Filmmaker's Intuition: Creating Ethical and Impactful Non-fiction Films. Their discussion also weaves in topics like the tension between filmmaking and political organizing, the activist aesthetic, the industry's re...

On the second episode of the Talking To Actors series, DGC Director Aubrey Arnason sits down with DGC Director Stefan Brogren to talk about his transition from acting to directing, his early work on Degrassi webisodes, guiding first-time actors and why directors need to get their entire crew emotionally invested in every scene. The DGC Podcast is produced by the Directors Guild of Canada National...

This episode features an in-depth industry discussion between DGC Director Tiffany Hsiung (Sing Me A Lullaby, The Apology) and Nathalie-Anne Brassard, the Directors Guild of Canada's National Film Board and Documentary Director Labour Representative. Their conversation focuses on the latest agreement between the DGC and the National Film Board, which enshrines new economic and creative rights at t...

This episode features three directors who screened documentary features at TIFF 2023: Chelsea McMullan, Director of Swan Song Brigitte Berman, Director of Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got Robert McCallum, Director of Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe Guided by DGC Director Lisa Rideout, they discuss unique approaches to cataloguing footage for the editing room, whether or not to share d...

On this episode, Director Zach Lipovsky (Freaks, Kim Possible) is joined by a panel of five emerging filmmakers whose latest feature films played at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. The panel includes Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, director of When Morning Comes; Sophie Jarvis, director of Until Branches Bend; Ashley McKenzie, director of Queens of the Qing Dynasty; Gail Maurice, director of R...

On this episode, filmmaker and DGC Ontario Director Rep Lisa Rose Snow leads a panel of four distinct directors whose latest films played at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. The panel includes Sean Garrity, director of The End of Sex; Darlene Naponse, director of Stellar; Marie Clements, director of Bones of Crows and Lindsay MacKay, director of The Swearing Jar. Their conversation be...

This episode features Hubert Davis, Director of Black Ice, and Sally El Hosaini, Director of The Swimmers, in conversation about their latest films, which both revolve around athletes and the weight they bear beyond competition itself. Black Ice pulls the history of anti-black racism in hockey to the surface and examines the struggle of Black athletes from pre-NHL to the present day, while The Swi...

Koromousso, Big Sister is making its World Premiere at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto on March 9th as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. Tickets can be purchased on HotDocs.ca.  On this episode Joy Loewen, CEO of the National Screen Institute, sits down with Directors Habibata Ouarme and Jim Donovan to discuss their forthcoming documentary Koromousso, Big Sister. The film ce...

This episode features four emerging directors whose first feature films played at TIFF 2023. Their discussion is led by renowned DGC Director Zach Lipovsky and tackles the emotional and physical preparation for shooting a feature, how they turned production challenges into creative choices, the advice they wished they'd had from the beginning, and more. The filmmakers featured on this panel ar...

This episode features a panel of three brilliant directors in conversation about their latest films: Director and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Sarah Polley, whose film Women Talking has also been nominated for Best Picture at the 2023 Academy Awards; Clement Virgo, director of Brother, which was selected by TIFF as one of Canada's Top Ten Feature Films of 2022; and Tobias Lindholm, director of The...

On this episode, renowned DGC filmmaker Tiffany Hsiung guides a panel of three DGC Directors as they discuss their latest documentaries. Co-Directors Kathleen Jayme & Asia Youngman talk I'M JUST HERE FOR THE RIOT, their film about the 2011 riot which broke out following the Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup finals loss in Game 7, and Director Yasmine Mathurin discusses the sixth episode of the...

On the fourth episode of our Talking to Actors series, DGC Director Aubrey Arnason sits down with renowned Director-Actor Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Motherland: Fort Salem). Starting from her first experience transitioning behind the camera on Stargate SG-1, Tapping provides insight into what Directors can do if they lose an actor, how they should approach g...

On the third episode of the Talking to Actors series, DGC Director Aubrey Arnason sits down with Actor-Director Agam Darshi to discuss her work on both sides of the camera and her experience starring in and directing the feature film Donkeyhead.

This episode features Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams , Co-Directors of SATAN WANTS YOU, and Georges Hannan , Director of UNDERTAKER FOR LIFE!, in conversation with fellow DGC Director Reg Harkema (THE KIDS IN THE HALL: COMEDY PUNKS, SUPER DUPER ALICE COOPER). Their conversation explores the modern relevance of the satanic panic, the polarizing ways Adams and Horlor portrayed their subjects, how Ha...

Director and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Rian Johnson (Glass Onion, Knives Out, The Last Jedi) is joined by fellow filmmaker Vincenzo Natali (The Peripheral, Westworld, Splice) to discuss a suite of topics including learning to communicate with actors, Johnson's prep workflow, the movie he'd love to make and the changing landscape of film development and distribution.  The DGC Podcast is pro...

Prolific DGC Director and Screenwriter Atom Egoyan sits down with Executive Director of the Canadian Film Institute, Tom McSorley, for an extensive conversation about the thematic underpinnings of his work while also covering his early obsession with home movies, choosing niche filmmaking over Hollywood, the changing role of Film Festivals and how film criticism has evolved alongside technology. T...

On Earth Day 2022, we bring you a conversation between two storied and impactful Directors, Shelley Saywell (Kim's Story, A Child's Century of War) and Liz Marshall (Water on the Table, The Ghosts in Our Machine). Their discussion focuses on Marshall's latest documentary Meat the Future, which chronicles the rising "cultivated meat" industry and the possibilities it presents for an end to factory...

This episode features a panel of Documentary Directors whose films screened at the 2022 Hot Docs Festival. Phyllis Ellis, Director of Category Woman, Brishkay Ahmed, Director of Fatima in Kabul, Barri Cohen, Director of Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children and Andrew Moir, Director of Don't Come Searching are all guided in discussion by fellow filmmaker and Hot Docs Programmer, Aisha Jamal, as th...

On the first episode of the Talking To Actors series, DGC Director Aubrey Arnason sits down with famed Directing Coach Judith Weston to discuss the 25th Anniversary Edition of her bestselling book, Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television. Weston’s students include directors like Alejandro Iñárritu, Ava DuVernay and Taika Watiti, and on this episode she delves into...

This episode features a panel of Documentary Directors whose films screened at the 2022 Hot Docs Festival. Jennifer Baichwal, Director of Into The Weeds, Louie Palu, Director of Zero Position and Sara Dosa, Director of Fire of Love are joined by renowned film critic Johanna Schneller to discuss the notion of a "balanced" documentary, the experience of creating films in dangerous locales, the ethic...

This episode features a panel of Documentary Directors whose films screened at the 2022 Hot Docs Festival. Reg Harkema, Director of The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, Chase Joynt, Director of Framing Agnes and Shane Belcourt, Director of Beautiful Scars come together to talk about how they navigated the complexities of their subjects, the nature of Documentary as a format, the need for specificit...

This episode features Odario Williams, of CBC Radio’s Afterdark and the Hip-Hop Collective Grand Analog, in conversation with Questlove about the musician’s BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary feature, Summer of Soul. The acclaimed film represents Questlove’s directorial debut and tells the story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a major cultural event that has lived in obscurity for...

On this episode, friends and colleagues Mina Shum (Double Happiness, Ninth Floor, Meditation Park) and Don McKellar (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Last Night, Through Black Spruce) sit down to discuss their perspectives on the craft of directing. From the debate around authoritative directing styles, to the fundamental idea of being a director, these two storied artists provide insight into questions...