The No Film School Podcast

Big Time Adolescence is a feature close to director Jason Orley's heart, and why shouldn't it be? In addition to making its world premiere at Sundance back in January, the film has the unique distinction of being the first screenplay he ever wrote. It's not often that the first thing you write ends up being your first feature. But the fact that this is Orley's first feature is not from lack of try...

For his new film Olympic Dreams, filmmaker Jeremy Teicher was granted unprecedented access to one of the most exclusive residences in the world. This is a location so rare that it's only available once every four years. A place where pheromones course through the veins of some of the most beautiful and physically talented people alive: The Olympic Village. Teicher and his partner Alexi Pappas were...

Introducing the No Film School Podcast a weekly show devoted to catching you up on all the notable things you may have missed while you were making films. Host Charles Haine dives into the current state of the WGA - ATA conflict, discusses the perceived darkness of the most recent episode of Game of Thrones, and gives us some insight into a new LED cube light. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

Mariam Webster defines "democratization" as to make (something) available to all people: to make it possible for all people to understand (something). So when we talk the democratization of filmmaking, in a way we're talking about the evolution of filmmaking itself.  Over the past decade or so we have seen some radical changes in both the type of video content that is being created and the industr...

Barry Jenkins once said, "Art is inherently political. Even trying to make a film that has nothing to do with politics is, in and of itself, a political act." Unfortunately for filmmakers, not everyone these days will jump at the chance to see a movie that advertises its own inherently political nature. So how do you subvert an audience's expectations with a film like The Wall of Mexico? The title...

Will Forte never met Mike Ahern or Enda Loughman before jumping on board the pair of Irish director's debut feature. He didn't need to. The script for Extra Ordinary was just that good. All he needed to know was that they'd be directing. Why? Because according to Forte, in comedy, writing and directing go hand in hand. In that respect, writing and acting may go hand in hand as well. While Forte an...

Making a coming of age film can be a tricky thing. There's a delicate line between teenagers keepin' it real and overly nostalgic reminiscing. Even though it's his first feature, it's clear that Ninian Doff will never have a problem toeing that line and is truly a master of keepin' it real. SXSW Midnight standout Boyz in the Wood follows a group of kids as they set off deep in the Scottish Highlan...

This week on the No Film School Podcast, we’re going to talk about one of the most largely undiscussed nuances of filmmaking: the portrayal of masturbation on film. Specifically, of the female kind. 'Yes, God, Yes' is a film unlike any you’ve seen before. In it, a Catholic teenager in the early aughts discovers masturbating and struggles to suppress her new urges on a religious retreat. But this a...

Greener Grass is a project that has been on a whirlwind path to success since the very beginning. Directors Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe's first iteration of the surreal comedy turned heads as a short film back in 2016, when it won awards at major festivals like SXSW and the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. Upon its release online, it also achieved viral status and e...

For Lee Cronin, getting to the point where he could make his debut feature "The Hole in The Ground" was like climbing a greasy pole. For every step he took upwards it always seemed like he’d have to slip down a bit as well. His three horror shorts helped to boost his leverage, especially the 2014 award winner "Ghost Train", but none seemed to elevate him to a point where he could leave commercial...

Some filmmakers get their starts late, and some filmmakers get their starts early. Our guests on today’s roundtable fall under the latter. Since 2015, Sundance and Adobe have held the Sundance Ignite Fellowship a year long program for 18-to-25-year-old emerging filmmakers from around the world. Their fellowship kicks off with a free trip to the Sundance Film Festival, where they are paired with a...

Johannes Nyholm, director of Sundance standout Koko-Di Koko-Da takes the whole wearing many hats thing to a whole other dimension. If you're looking for a filmmaker who has complete command over his material, then look no further than this Swedish auteur. It would take too long to list all of his credits on this film, but how about Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, Colorist, VFX Artist, and Shad...

“In the rugged wilderness of Appalachia, the members of an isolated community of Pentecostal snake handlers led by Pastor Lemuel risk their lives to attest themselves before God.” This is a much different type of log-line than the others entries you’d find scrolling down the list of Dramatic Competition entries in Sundance’s program. It is the plot of Them That Follow, the feature film debut for w...

The documentary cinematographer is a special kind of cinematographer. Whereas in narrative, the role is more defined, DP’s of the more truthful persuasion may find themselves piling on more hats than their fiction bound counterparts. Take it from David Paul Jacobson of Ask Dr. Ruth and Kristy Tully of Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins, two Sundance caliber cinematographers who join us on...

Emily Buder, Erik Luers, George Edelman, Ryan Koo and Jon Fusco are all together again in Park City to give you a rundown of everything that happened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. It's been a crazy week full of screenings, interviews, and generally just trying to stay alive, so you best believe they've got more than a few hot takes to throw your way. In addition to sharing their favorite...

Taking its rightful place at the very beginning of the 2019 festival circuit, the Sundance Film Festival is often an unpredictable beast. But Jon Fusco, Erik Luers, and George Edelman are live from Park City, Utah to try and make some sense of it all for you. In this special episode of The No Film School Podcast, they take an early stab at predicting what features end up as festival favorites, run...

It's not all about big names and big projects here on the No Film School Podcast. Some of our best conversations take place with artists who are just starting to find their way in the world. Really, all of should be able to relate to these guests on a deeper level since we hear problems that many of us are still struggling with as we make our own way through the industry. On today's, final install...

We had some of the biggest directors of the year on the show in 2018 and this batch of best ofs proves it. Yorogs Lanthimos, Debra Granik, Jeremy Saulnier, and the legendary Mike Leigh all make an appearance as does Denis Villeneuve and Steve McQueen's go-to-editor, Joe Walker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liz Nord, Erik Luers, Charles Haine and (kind of) Jon Fusco are all together for the last time on this special, final episode of our long-running independent film news series Indie Film Weekly. There are three years worth of huge industry and gear stories to remember, but on this show, we identify a few that stand out that will forever change the future of filmmaking. We look back at some of our f...

Depending on what stage of your career you’re at, you can learn as much from someone who's gotten a couple shorts into some major festivals as you can from a director like Yorgos Lanthimos. It’s in this realization where The No Film School Podcast really shines. For that reason, we treat our guests with the same level of respect across all boards, no matter who they are or how prestigious their fi...

It is with a heavy heart that today we are announcing that Indie Film Weekly will be entering an indefinite hiatus in 2019. We will have one final show airing Thursday, January 9th with the whole gang back together for the last time. There is a distinct possibility that the show will return in some form later on, but for now, it’s time to say goodbye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

Jon Fusco, Erik Luers, and Liz Nord are back together for the final show of 2018. It was an amazing year for film, but a recent study found that there was one key ingredient for the biggest box office successes. And yes, that ingredient may surprise you. Plus how MoviePass may be making a come back and the Oscars are off to a horrible start. Charles Haine joins us for gear news where he breaks dow...

Filmmaker Alyssa Bolsey didn’t discover until she was in film school herself that her great-grandfather had invented the iconic Bolex 16mm camera. She spent the next decade-plus researching her enigmatic ancestor and interviewing several influential filmmakers who used his cameras, including Barbara Hammer, Wim Wenders, and Jonas Mekas, for a film called BEYOND THE BOLEX. Bolsey and the film’s pro...

Sundance's own Liz Nord joins the show to give Jon Fusco and Erik Luers the down and dirty on all Sundance's Feature and Shorts selections for 2019 and what they could mean for future filmmakers. Plus what Lars Von Trier has done to upset the entire MPAA. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, where he gives us his full thoughts on Blackmagic's new Pocket Cinema Camera 4K. In what was a busy week f...

While Cristina Gallego was busy working as a producer on her partner Ciro Guerra's magnificent film "Embrace of the Serpent", she caught wind of a story from one of the many indigenous non-actors onset. That story was one that perhaps many of us have heard before, a Colombian man finds partners in America that he can sell drugs to, becomes fantastically wealthy and ends up abandoning his morals as...