Supporting Characters

Bill speaks to lecturer, editor and film programmer Abraham Castillo Flores about his path in film, from directing short films and cutting promos for the Independent Film Channel to programming for Mexico's Mórbido Film Fest and hosting The Morbido Crypt's Guide to Mexican Fantasy and Horror Cinema events. Topics include: Luz María Rojas, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Luchador films, Liliana V. Blum, the...

Bill speaks to film programmer Nellie Killian about her pursuits in film, from attending Orson Welles and Fritz Lang retrospectives as a child to co-founding the Migrating Forms Film Festival and teaching film courses at the Pratt Institute. They discuss her career in programming, from her work with venues like Brooklyn Academy Of Music to such recent efforts as the acclaimed TELL ME: WOMEN FILMMA...

Bill speaks to writer, producer/screenwriter and professor Ashlee Blackwell about her various endeavors, from organizing events like Philly Loves Women In Horror and developing the Graveyard Shift Sisters website to teaching film at St. Joseph's University and co-writing, co-producing and appearing in the documentary HORROR NOIRE: A HISTORY OF BLACK HORROR. Topics include: James Bond III, the valu...

Bill speaks to film historian, preservationist and filmmaker E. Purchell about their various endeavors, from programming and creating pre-screening short films for the Florida Avalon microcinema to the development of ASK ANY BUDDY, their Artforum 'Best of 2018' Instagram feed and acclaimed collage film companion. Topics include: Gregg Araki, Man Parrish, the Don't Look In The Closet podcast, the f...

Bill speaks to author, broadcaster and film historian Emma Westwood about her many creative endeavors, from co-founding film societies and writing freelance criticism to hosting Triple R's Plato's Cave and developing her recent monograph on David Cronenberg's THE FLY. Topics include: Fatal Visions, Lee Gambin, the differing approaches of American and Australian film schools in the early 1990s, ALI...

Bill speaks to writer/director, Trailers From Hell guru and podcaster Josh Olson about his many endeavors, from writing screenplays like the Oscar-nominated A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and the audio drama BRONZEVILLE to co-hosting shows like The Movies That Made Me and The West Wing Thing. Topics include: Harlan Ellison, Werner Herzog and the German New Wave, NIGHT WATCH, Randy Frakes, landing professio...

Bill speaks to author, screenwriter and fanzine publisher Mike "McBeardo" McPadden about his various endeavors, from creating the fanzine Happyland in 1991 to developing books like HEAVY METAL MOVIES and TEEN MOVIE HELL. Topics include: Rick Sullivan's Gore Gazette, approaching 1980s teen sex comedies in the #MeToo era, writing as Selwyn Harris for Screw and Hustler, Danny Peary, 1990s fanzine cul...

Bill speaks to writer, filmmaker, and New York Film Festival director Kent Jones. They discuss his path from writing film reviews as a teenager to directing the new film DIANE. Topics include: William Wyler, collaborating with Martin Scorsese on documentaries like MY VOYAGE TO ITALY and A LETTER TO ELIA, programming at venues like Film Forum and Film Society Of Lincoln Center, moderating Q & As, J...

Bill talks to filmmaker and film programmer Chris O'Neill. They discuss his experiences in film culture, from childhood movie rental rituals to directing short films, working in distribution and programming for theatres like Kino Cinema and Triskel Christchurch. Topics include Irish cinema, tape trading, STRAW DOGS, Brad Stevens, the changes William Friedkin made to CRUISING and the impact of pare...

Bill talks to film critic Manuela Lazic. They discuss her experiences in film culture, from reading Cahiers du Cinema with her sister in middle school to writing for publications like Little White Lies, The Ringer, Vague Visages, RogerEbert.com and Birth. Movies. Death. Topics include: Erotic thrillers, influential teachers, Christopher Nolan, writing about performance, podcasts, BLOW UP, drawing...

Bill talks to film programmer and historian Sergio Mims about some of his many pursuits in film culture, from working on the set of films like PENITENTIARY to co-founding the website Shadow And Act and festivals like Blacklight and Black Harvest Film Festival. Other topics include: influential books, classical music, tips for conducting celebrity interviews, J. Lee Thompson, the L.A. Rebellion fil...

Bill speaks to author and musician Stephen Thrower about some of his contributions to film culture, from his earliest film criticism for Shock Xpress and his film journal Eyeball to the development of books like BEYOND TERROR: THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI, NIGHTMARE USA: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE EXPLOITATION INDEPENDENTS and MURDEROUS PASSIONS: THE DELIRIOUS CINEMA OF JESS FRANCO. Other topics include:...

Bill speaks to artist and exploitation film preservationist Lisa Petrucci about her experiences in film culture, from childhood encounters with horror movies at the drive-in to running Something Weird Video. Topics discussed include: Mike Vraney, working at Michael Weldon's original Psychotronic Store in the East Village, early 90s exploitation film fan culture, Reel Wild Cinema, the evolution of...

Bill speaks to Peter Biskind about his various endeavors in film culture, from editing for publications like American Film and Premiere to writing books like THE SKY IS FALLING, DOWN AND DIRTY PICTURES and EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS: HOW THE SEX-DRUGS-AND-ROCK-'N'_ROLL GENERATION SAVED HOLLYWOOD. Topics discussed include: Biskind's work as a documentarian, Brandon Films, getting reprimanded by Fran...

Bill speaks to author and film critic Adrian Martin about how a childhood interest in science fiction fanzines lead him towards a rich and varied life in film culture, from teaching film at age 19 and working as a freelance film/arts critic to writing books, co-editing online journals like Rouge and collaborating with fellow critic Cristina Álvarez López on audiovisual essays. Topics include: writ...

Bill speaks to writer Rachael Nisbet about her creative endeavors, from developing the website Hypnotic Crescendos to writing booklet essays for Dario Argento and Sergio Martino home video releases. Topics discussed include: Umberto Lenzi, Edinburgh film culture, research practices, erotic thrillers, Kat Ellinger, DON'T LOOK NOW, Scalarama and how to apply the aesthetic of an Italian giallo to one...

Bill speaks to film critic Ela Bittencourt about her many pursuits, from past programming efforts like the Neither/Nor Polish retrospective at True/False Film Fest and the LGBTQ Brazil series at the Museum Of The Moving Image, to writing for publications like Slant and Film Comment and creating the website Lyssaria to call attention to the work of young filmmakers. Other topics include: Polish Cin...

Bill speaks to writer and film programmer  Eric Allen Hatch about his many endeavors, from writing criticism for Baltimore's City Paper to his years serving as director of programming for the Maryland Film Festival. Topics discussed include the Filmmaker Magazine piece "Why I Am Hopeful", The Red Room Collective, Video Americain, Skizz Cyzyk and MicroCineFest, Beyond Video, Baltimore Museum Of Art...

Bill speaks with filmmaker and Blue Underground CEO Bill Lustig about his many experiences in film, from his childhood experiences on 42nd Street regular to directing cult favorites like MANIAC and VIGILANTE and working in home video with companies like Anchor Bay Entertainment. Topics discussed include Netflix, ALICE SWEET ALICE, filming car chases with Randy Jurgensen, character actors, the diff...

Bill speaks with critic and author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas about her many pursuits, from co-founding Fiend Magazine and writing books like RAPE-REVENGE FILMS and FOUND FOOTAGE HORROR FILMS to editing for Senses Of Cinema and co-curating the Pioneering Women program on Australian women filmmakers of the 1980's and 1990's. Topics covered include: Carol Clover, Plato's Cave, date movies, masks, MEG...

Bill speaks with film writer and DVD/Blu-Ray producer Michael Brooke about his various endeavors, from his years at Hampstead's Everyman Cinema and the BFI to producing Blu-Ray releases for labels like Arrow Video and Indicator. Topics covered include: London repertory cinemas of the 1980s, Béla Bartók, revisionist video transfers, Ken Russell, video label economics and limited editions, Mehelli M...

Bill speaks with author, critic and publisher Maitland McDonagh about her creative pursuits, from the origins of books like THE 50 MOST EROTIC FILMS OF ALL TIME and the landmark BROKEN MIRRORS/BROKEN MINDS: THE DARK DREAMS OF DARIO ARGENTO to blogging for TV Guide and founding 120 Days Books. Topics covered include: ballet, COLUMBIA FILM REVIEW, Times Square grindhouse culture, Dennis Gifford's A...

Bill speaks with film journalist, critic and film festival programmer Alan Jones about some of his many endeavors, from writing childhood film diaries to co-directing the UK's largest International genre film festival. Topics covered include: Dario Argento, The Portobello Hotel, punk rock, auditioning for Russ Meyer, CARRIE, The BFI, Guillermo del Toro, disco and Jones' forthcoming book DISCO MANI...

Bill speaks to The Rialto Report's Ashley West. West explains how his ongoing documentary project detailing the birth of the adult film industry in New York put him on the path to recording audio commentaries with figures like Radley Metzger, consulting on the HBO series THE DEUCE and co-founding The Rialto Report, a collection of podcasts, articles and photographs chronicling the history of the g...

Bill talks to author and film critic Molly Haskell about some of the many contributions she's made to film culture, from writing film criticism for publications like The Village Voice and Vogue to developing books like her landmark FROM REVERENCE TO RAPE: THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN THE MOVIES and the recent STEVEN SPIELBERG: A LIFE IN FILMS. Other topics covered include: Feminism, Andrew Sarris, Le...