IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit

When “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” premiered at Sundance last January it sparked a predictable conversation about what qualifies as a documentary. Bill and Turner Ross’ nonfiction story about the last night of a bar on the outskirts of the Las Vegas Strip was actually shot in a New Orleans bar, its patrons were bar flies the co-directors had met in an extensive casting process of visiting late nigh...

A fascinating filmmaking discussion about how echoes Truffaut, Scorsese, Peckinpah, and Bergman found their way into this intimate nonfiction drama. Ree and “the Painter” (Kysilkova) talk about their unique collaboration and what happened off-screen before filming, while the director also opens up about how he was mentally drained and ready to give up on the film before getting an important call f...

One of the most cinematically exciting, joyous, and sad films of the year, the director behind "Cameraperson" talks about her process of making a Netflix film with her father about his dementia and inevitable death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How ‘Son of Saul,' 'Lincoln' and other scripted narrative films Influenced this Documentary’s Up-Close and Widescreen Subjectivity. From casting to editing, a deep dive into the Grand Jury Prize winner for Best Documentary at Sundance 2020, and the frontrunner for the 2021 Oscar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Possibly the film of the year, Garrett Bradley takes us inside the creation of her poetic cinematic process in making a film about love, family, and incarceration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

'Succession' Deep Dive: Creator Jeremy Armstrong and His Craft Team Break Down the Season 2 Finale – "The Is Not for Tears." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Damon Lindelof and the ‘Watchmen’ nominated crafts team analyze Episode 6 “The Extraordinary Being" and the filmmaking behind Hooded Justice's origin story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

IndieWire is launching a new Craft podcast called Deep Dive on Monday with Watchmen creator Damon Lindelof and his creative team of artisans breaking down episode 6 "This Extraordinary Being." To learn more listen to this trailer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Hulu series' star and co-creator talks about stepping into the showrunner role and directing four episodes for Season 2. Also discussed: Editing during the pandemic, short films vs. formulaic TV structuring, and the letter he shared from "Ramy" parking coordinator Jon Johnson Sr. that went viral throughout the production world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gould on how he is approaching the end of “Better Call Saul” and his writers room tackles character on the series that is a prequel to "Breaking Bad.” We also discuss how the visual and aural language of the show has evolved from co-creator Vince Gilligan's original series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The executive producer and director of episodes 1, 2, and 8 breaks down how she translated the graphic novel's cynical tone and visual style for creator Damon Lindelof. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Good Fight" Creators Michelle And Robert King by Chris O'Falt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The reporter who got inside Fox News talks about adapting his definitive book on Roger Ailes into the limited series starring Russell Crowe and how Ailes was a real life Citizen Kane, who mixed the talents of Leni Riefenstahl and Louis B. Mayer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The "Ex Machina" and "Annihilation" director on his move to TV and his limited series "Devs." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spike talks about trying to capture the essence of Beastie Boys’ friendship and the unusual (and totally “unprofessional”) creative process he, the band, and editor Jeff Buchanan went through in creating this unique documentary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Real-time virtual sets are Hollywood’s future. These enormous (75 x 20 feet) curved LED walls serve as a live backdrop that eclipses the need for green screen. But what does that mean for filmmaking? We talked to Fraser about exactly that. The cinematographer has been pioneering “Stagecraft” with ILM for years and with "The Mandalorian" being its first large scale implementation, he saw firsthand...

One of the best reviewed films of 2020 is coming to VOD early (Apr 3), but before its theatrical run got cut short by COVID-19 I sat down with writer/director Eliza Hittman and one of her closest collaborators, her husband and editor Scott Cummings, to talk about the origins and making of this incredible film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sciamma talks about how to film desire, memory, and getting out of the conventions of a normal love story. She breaks down the creation of the incredible chanting song and bonfire scene, the laborious process of lighting the interiors, and how filming the ideas behind a movie can be the most rewarding type of cinema. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the help of translator Sharon Choi, director Bong talks about the careful construction of the Oscar winner “Parasite.” From his days of being a tutor and that feeling of infiltrating a wealthy family's home, to the careful construction of the house set in his film, to the profound influence of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How after over 40 years of working with Martin Scorsese, "The Irishman" offered something the 3-time Academy Award winning editor had never done before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wilde explains how Big Lebowski influenced Booksmart, being intimidated about not having gone to film school, advice she got from Clint Eastwood about directing herself (in her upcoming thriller/horror film), and building ultimate high school movie soundtrack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lulu Wang on learning not to compromise her voice, how and why she used widescreen long takes, shooting in China, her next sci-fi project, and her real life grandma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gerwig goes deep into the process, craft and inspiration behind her remarkable adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Deakins and Mendes talk about shooting their new WWI film so it was experienced as one-long take. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarantino talks about about falling in love with Richardson and the unusual circumstances in which he hired him to shoot "Kill Bill." While the two collaborators breakdown their most recent film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." Recorded at Camerimage in Poland, where Tarantino and Richardson were honored for their work together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices