Making Media Now

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 (...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Jonathan Berman, director of the newly restored documentary "Commune." Originally released in 2005, the film has been newly restored with vibrant sound and picture quality and is currently making the rounds at movie houses across the US.    Commune chronicles the story of Black Bear Ranch, launched in 1968 with help from luminaries like The Doors, Fr...

Here's a brief update on the current status of public media.   In short: it ain’t good.   If you’re a regular listener to MMN, you probably know that over the more than 150 episodes that we’ve produced a sizable chunk of them involved conversations with documentary filmmakers whose work was broadcast on public media outlets like PBS and NPR.    Much of the reason that these documentaries have foun...

Documentary filmmakers Ellen Martinez and Steph Ching join host Michael Azevedo to discuss Slumlord Millionaire, winner of the Audience Award at the 2024 DOC NYC Film Festival. The film explores the rapid gentrification of New York City neighborhoods and the housing crisis sweeping not only New York but the nation. Told through the stories of a group of fearless residents, activists and nonprofit...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Troy Farkas, the creator, producer, and host of "Seacoast Stories," a podcast featuring compelling stories about the unique people, businesses, and newsmakers of New Hampshire and southern Maine.   This weekly podcast takes on sometimes controversial issues, highlights local businesses, tells entertaining stories, and seeks to uncover what makes the...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by members of the team behind a compelling and eye-opening short documentary called “Gone Guys.”   Chad Ervin  is the film’s director & producer. Also joining the conversation is the film's executive producer, Lauren Curry, of the Richard E and Deborah L Tarrant Foundation.   The documentary draws on the influential work of writer & social scientist Richard R...

“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. And the people that no longer believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act, but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people, you can then do what you please.” Those are the words, written more tha...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Chad Freidrichs, the director and editor of a fascinating and intriguing film called "The Cinema Within." "The Cinema Within," which is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and on Vimeo, is a feature-length documentary that delves into the psychology of film editing – the mystery of how and why an edited movie feels so natural and so effortlessly make...

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back Mickela Mallozzi, the four-time Emmy Award-winning host and executive producer of “Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi,” a PBS series that highlights the diversity of dance with episodes filmed around the world. A dancer since early childhood, Mickela has parlayed her lifelong passion into a popular PBS series that travels the world to celebrate the joy of movement....

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by two guests to discuss recent funding cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the NEH, and the National Endowment for the Arts, the NEA. To provide insight into the topic, Michael is  joined by documentary filmmaker and television producer Marisa Fox, who in a recent article in the Hollywood Reporter described what she and many of her peers have been goi...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is writer/director Gene Tempest. Gene’s latest documentary is “Mr. Polaroid” and it will debut on PBS as part of the American Experience series on May 19. Following its broadcast premiere, the film will be available via the PBS app and on the American Experience YouTube channel. The film profiles Edwin Land, a pioneering tech disruptor and Inventor of t...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Will Parrinello and Rick Tejada-Flores, the director and co-producers of a documentary that premiered on PBS in April called "Water for Life."    The film, which is available to stream via the PBS app and on PBS.org , tells the story of three extraordinary individuals: in Honduras; Francisco Pineda, in El Salvador; and in Chile, who refused to let g...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is independent filmmaker Joseph Mathew, director of "The Long Walk of Carlos Guerrero," a feature film that was Inspired by real immigrant journeys and stories of survival set in the desert wilderness of the Arizona borderlands.   In the film, we meet Carlos Guerrero, a New York City chef, who decides to visit his sick mother in Mexico, knowing full wel...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Signe Taylor, the director of a documentary called It’s Criminal. "It's Criminal" highlights the economic and social inequities that divide the United States and offers a vision of how separated communities can learn to speak to each other. Poignant and personal, the 80-minute feature documentary shares the life-changing journeys of incarcerated wome...

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back journalist and media analyst Brandon Katz. Brandon’s recent article in The Observer, titled "The Decline of Originality in Hollywood: A Look at the Numbers" explores how original content, in TV shows and movies, have, over the past 15 years, lost out in a landslide to existing IP, meaning Intellectual Property.   Existing IP is defined as anything based on pre-ex...

Curb cuts, ramps at building entrances, and braille on elevator buttons. All these seem commonplace today, but they were once the subject of a pitched battle that landed on the steps of Congress.   A new American Experience documentary, Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act, which will premiere on PBS on March 25, tells the emotional and dramatic story of the decades-long push f...

Host Michael Azevedo speaks with acclaimed filmmakers Tom Jennings and Annie Wong, the co-producers and co-directors of "The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram," a FRONTLINE/ ProPublica collaboration that investigates how an online network known as Terrorgram spread extremism and violence. The documentary traces the rise of a global community of white supremacists and the anonymous, loosely moderated pla...

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back Tim Molloy, editor in chief of Moviemaker . MovieMaker is a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking, with a special emphasis on independent film. The publication, in all its forms, offers profiles, advice, insider tips, and product reviews that readers can use to make informed decisions about what they watch..and create...