Making Media Now

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Alexi Cohan, news producer from Boston’s PBS station, ‘GBH. Alexi joined me to talk about a new video series, "Politics IRL."    "Politics IRL" is a video series produced by GBH News that engages young voters from all over the region. Each video in the series features young people meeting to discuss their different perspectives on important political...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is former television journalist and documentary producer turned digital media entrepreneur Bob Bowdon. Bob is the founder of VidaFair , a video streaming platform that is disrupting subscription models by giving creators a new way to monetize — think pay-per-view, but for videos.    Before VidaFair, Bob built an impressive career as a journalist, docume...

Unidentified Flying Objects have long captivated the imagination of the public, but for decades most scientists treated the subject as taboo. Now, these mysterious phenomena are moving out of the shadows and into the light, as NASA pledges to study them scientifically. So, what exactly does science have to say on the matter?   Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Terri Randall, the writ...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by Nicholas Bruckman the writer, producer, and director of a new documentary called Minted , which provides an insider’s look at the rise and fall of the NFT (non-fungible token) phenomenon and how technology transformed the traditional art world, for better and worse. Featuring verité footage and candid interviews with groundbreaking artists at the c...

We’re using this episode of the podcast to promote a special event sponsored by the Boston International Kids Film Festival taking place on December 27, 2024 at 1pm at the Capitol Theatre in Arlington, MA with a FREE screening of a delightful and entertaining feature film called Magnetosphere , written and directed by our guest Nicola Rose .    In Magnetosphere, Maggie Campion, a shy and imaginati...

On the eve of Black Friday and the holiday shopping season, host Michael Azevedo is joined by Nic Stacey and Flora Bagenal, the filmmakers behind a new Netflix documentary called Buy Now! The Shopping Conspirac y.   The film explores how targeted advertising, one-click purchase options, and mass production from some of the world’s largest companies are driving a new era of overconsumption, rapidly...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Amy Schatz the Emmy and Peabody award-winning director of a soul-stirring musical documentary called "Stand Up & Shout: Songs from a Philly High School." The film, which is now streaming on Max, tells the tale of an annual music program in the city’s Hill-Freedman World Academy. The 54-minute documentary, which was executive produced by the award...

The underpinnings of maneuvers and machinations by aggrieved white citizens and business owners of the south reached a boiling point in North Carolina in 1898 and culminated in the events depicted in "American Coup: Wilmington 1898," an American Experience film that will be broadcast on November 12. Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are the film’s co-directors Yoruba Richen and Brad Lic...

Does this sound familiar to you: you settle in for the night hoping to find something to watch on one of the half dozen streaming services you somehow subscribe to and can’t seem to find something that appeals to you?     Or you’re chatting with friends about what they’re watching but no one can seem to remember exactly what their new favorite program is on? Deciphering viewing options among vario...

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back Dr. Paul Heinzelmann to the podcast to talk about his debut documentary, "Safe Sets: Dying to Work in the Film Industry," which will premiere at the New Hampshire Festival on October 19.     Over the past few years, Paul, who is a physician and former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School has taken his interest in on-set safety and turned it into a compel...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Josh Levin the writer and host of "Slow Burn: The Rise of Fox News", a 6-episode series that takes listeners back to a crucial inflection point in American history: the moment between 2000 and 2004 when Fox News first surged to power.   When the Fox News Channel launched in 1996, critics called it disorganized, incompetent, and laughably inept. But i...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Michelle Ferrari, an award winning documentary filmmaker whose latest film “The American Vice-President” will debut on PBS’ American Experience series on October 1.    The film explores the little-known story of the second-highest office in the land, tracing its evolution from a constitutional afterthought to its current position of enormous politica...

A few weeks the NewYork Times published an article , written by Emily Labor-Warren, that examined the practice of conducting something called a life review.    It was in the article that host Michael Azevedo learned about the life and work of Jodi Wellman, his guest on this episode of Making Media Now.   The Times’ article begins by laying out a bit of Jodi’s story: Jodi Wellman was devastated whe...

If you’re a college football fan here’s something you already know: the 2024 NCAA College Football season kicked off this past weekend! The college football season goes from now until the end of the regular season on Dec. 14, with the national championship game slated to be played in late January. And Michael Azevedo's  guest on this episode of Making Media Now is 6-time Emmy winning live sports p...

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo is joined by filmmaker Stebs Schinnerer to discuss his career as a director, cinematographer, and editor as well as his work as one of the founding members of a group called Crews for a Cause .   Crews for a Cause is a 100% volunteer run nonprofit production group made up of production assistants, producers, makeup artists, directors, cinematographers and ever...

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo is joined by the makers of a new three-part documentary series called “Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine” which premiered on US Public Television stations in late July. Joining Michael are co-director Chun-Wei Yi and series producer Brian Skerry . “Sea Change” explores a body of water that is warming 97 percent faster than the global ocean, and what that means for...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are documentary filmmakers Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes. Tom and Kathleen join Michael to discuss their latest film for PBS’s Frontline series called "Two American Families, 1991-2024." The film follows two Milwaukee families, one black, one white, over the last thirty-odd years.  Two American Families 1991-2024 premiered on Frontline on July 23 but...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Sarah T. Schwab and Brian Long, the co-founders of Cardinal Flix, an independent film production company, seeking to change the film industry for the better by creating authentic & personal narrative films, while also maintaining a determined commitment to social responsibility in the filmmaking industry.   Cardinal Flix produces films in a vari...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is filmmaker Rob Apse. Rob was on the podcast way back in 2021 to talk about his beautifully made documentary The Last Lightkeepers, which chronicles the preservation of New England lighthouses and profiles some of those who have taken on the responsibility of caring for and occupying them. You can still check out that documentary on Amazon Prime.    Ro...

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo is joined by Bill Lichtenstein and Brooke Lewitas, the team behind a documentary-in-process called "Broken," a film which intends to identify and expose the underlying systemic problems in the child welfare system, nationally, and more specifically in the state of MA.  "Broken" follows Brooke as she investigates and exposes the fatally-flawed child protection,...

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back journalist Susan Zalkind. Susan joined us back in late 2022 to talk about the Hulu documentary series, "Murders Before the Marathon," which she created, wrote, and co-produced. The springboard for that documentary series was actually a book proposal about a triple murder that took place in Waltham mass on 9/11/11 and that horrific crime’s eventual connection to t...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Sarah Perkins and Josh Sabey, the co-directors of "The Basement Talks," a riveting documentary series now available on Amazon Prime and Apple TV  that tells the story of two murders, secret meetings, and impossible friendships. On December 30, 1994, a man carrying a black duffel bag entered an abortion clinic in Brookline, Massachusetts. By the day’...

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by Stephen Ujlaki, the director of "Bad Faith, " a new documentary exploring the roots and the growing reach of Christian Nationalism. It’s a film that Ken Burns has called  “a great and powerful and timely film," filled with the dread this moment engenders; the cynical misuse of religion to advance aims diametrically the opposite of Christianity’s mission.    BAD FA...

Host Michael Azevedo speaks with Ido Mizrahy, the director of "Space: The Longest Goodbye," which will be broadcast on PBS on May 6 as part of the Independent Lens series.    In 1994, with the building of the International Space Station under way, NASA formed a psychological unit. Now, NASA astronauts may soon embark on even longer trips into deep space. Long-distance relationships are hard enough...

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is former Olympian and award-winning documentary filmmaker Mary Mazzio to talk about her latest film, "Bad River."    "Bad River" chronicles the Wisconsin-based Bad River Band, which is a group within a tribe of native Americans, and their ongoing fight for sovereignty, which unfolds in a groundbreaking way through a series of shocking revelations, deva...