IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit

Co-star Anna Konkle talks about the "half-therapy, half-masochist" process of reliving her middle school years through her "Pen15" character, writing the incredible “Vendy Wiccany" (witch) episode, and working with her 13 year-old stars.  And at the 27:26 mark, co-creator Sam Zvibleman, who directed all seven episodes of Season 2A, joins the podcast to talk the restraint of Season 2, the influence...

How did creator and star Michaela Coel make “I May Destroy You”? We go inside her process with two close collaborators, as we discuss Coel stepping into the role of Arabella through costume, visually adapting her 12 brilliant scripts, capturing the spirit of East London, the constantly evolving rewrite process, and that surreal final episode.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

McQueen and Kirchner go inside how they created the magic of the “Lovers Rock” dance scenes, how McQueen’s own life was saved by the heroic mothers featured in “Education,” the fight to shoot 16mm, and how they approached making 5 individual movies in this remarkable anthology.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barry Jenkins returns to the podcast with his long-time cinematographer James Laxton to discuss their epic journey in shooting all 10 episodes of the Amazon Original Series “Underground Railroad.”  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Why shouldn’t films look like this?” asks director Emerald Fennell, who believes diverse storytelling doesn’t just open the door to different stories and characters, but a diversity of craft. In talking about the colorful world she built around Cassie (Carrie Mulligan), Fennell breaks down how she constructed a film that tackles difficult issues in such entertaining and subversive ways. At the 24...

What Does a Childhood Memory Look and Sound Like? That's a question we explore with the "Minari" director, who revisited his memories of growing up on an Arkansas family farm in the 1980s to make this film. And for the second half of the podcast Isaac and I welcome his composer Emile Mosseri into the conversation to discuss their collaboration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

What does it feel like when your relationship to the world around you suddenly changes? Riz and Darius talk about the unique subjective experience they crafted for the audience as Ruben (Ahmed) looses his hearing, and the immersive way they shot ‘Sound of Metal.’ From putting mics down Riz’s throat, to learning drums, to the fascinating way sound design dictated editing and camera, we jump inside...

Zhao and Richards talk about how their process and filmmaking has evolved over 3 films, their spiritual connection to Terrence Malick, why Zhao decided to edit herself and Richards wanted to build Fern's van himself (and ended up with a production design credit), and marvels of Frances McDormand. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The only way Shaka King was going to get a film made about the Chicago leader of the Black Panthers, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), was to mask it as ‘Donnie Brasco’ genre film, and on this podcast we break down the incredible structure and ingenuity of this remarkable script. Shaka also talks about collaborating with DP Sean Bobbitt (after Bradford Young had to step away form the project...

The “Euphoria” creator talks about writing his new Netflix film around Zendaya’s persona and talents, throwing away the first two days of shooting, lacking confidence on set, finding the right needle drops, making the special “Euphoria” episodes, being aware of the audience’s (and his own) attention span, and severely restricting the number shots, angles, and lenses he uses. We also address (at th...

'Gunda' Director Victor Kossakovsky by Chris O'Falt Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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