The No Film School Podcast

Co-hosts Jon Fusco, Emily Buder, and Charles Haine discuss Kodak's big reveal at CES—the revival of color reversal film stock Ektachrome—and why trade shows are becoming irrelevant. They also delve into the awards season, which kicked off with Sunday's Golden Globes; George Lucas' new museum; and how to manipulate aperture and light sensitivity. As always, the show also brings news you can use abo...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder discuss how the death of America’s Section 181 filmmaking tax incentive will affect indie filmmakers. We also talk about the NoBudge Film Awards and say a sad goodbye to Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, and TIFF co-founder Bill Marshall. In Ask No Film School, we give some pointers on properly backing...

The Giant is a film that's nearly impossible to pin down. Director Johannes Nyholm describes it as a western, a cheesy sports movie, a drama, a surrealistic fantasy, and a dark comedy all rolled into one. It follows the daily life of an autistic and severely deformed little person named Rikard. His main ambition in life is to win the Scandinavian Championship of pétanque, a European bowling game m...

This week on The No Film School Podcast, Producer Jon Fusco sits down with Justin Kurzel, director of the new Assassin’s Creed movie. The film is, of course, based on the incredibly popular Ubisoft game series. There has yet to be a video game movie release that one could call "excellent," but it's easy to identify the factors that make these adaptations so challenging to do well.  This would cert...

This special, year-end episode of Indie Film Weekly reveals the best that 2016 had to offer while you were busy making films. This year was full of outstanding indie releases and gear innovations, and in our final episode of 2016, co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Emily Buder, and Charles Haine share our favorite films. We also unveil top camera choices and review the biggest gear news of the year, na...

On this week's episode of the No Film School Podcast, we lead a fascinating discussion on how directors can work with young actors to produce astounding performances. Our guests include director J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible), first-time screenwriter Patrick Ness, and 14-year-old Lewis MacDougall, the leading man of A Monster Calls. A Monster Calls, which hits New York and Los Angeles...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, we reveal your best budget 4K camera options, and tell a cautionary distribution tale from the indie doc ‘Do Not Resist.’ No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Emily Buder and Charles Haine also discuss The Black List’s annual ranking of the best unproduced screenplays and Emmy Rossum’s “shameless” battle for equal pay on the set of her hit Showtime ser...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, we hear from one of the greatest influencers of modern cinema, Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown, and give our take on how consent issues might affect your filmmaking. No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, Emily Buder, and Charles Haine also discuss Sundance 2017’s full lineup and the new movie app that has J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg and Tyler Perry o...

Cannes-Winning director Alice Rohrwacher was selected to be this year's prestigious Film Society of Lincoln Center Filmmaker in Residence. Rohrwacher grew up in the Tuscan countryside and never saw a moving image until she was an adult. No Film School's Emily Buder discusses faking her way into her first directing gig, boredom's role in producing creativity, and why we need to go into the void to...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, we ask why movie financiers are ignoring box office numbers, and divulge how math might help you tell the best stories on screen. No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder discuss recent studies on the six emotional arcs of storytelling and the surprising relationship between director age and box office returns, along with the Gotham Indepen...

Katie Says Goodbye is screenwriter/director Wayne Roberts' first feature. Unlike most first features, however, it had its world premiere earlier this year in front of a packed house in the middle of one of the world's biggest film events: Toronto International Film Festival. In the film, Olivia Cooke throws her name into the best actress ring starring as the titular Katie, an ever optimistic diner...

This episode of Indie Film Weekly celebrates Jackie Chan's just rewards and helps you get started on creating an indie film budget. Co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder discuss other early Oscar disclosures, the future’s best films as presented at last week’s American Film Market, and cinematic goodbyes to songwriter Leonard Cohen and actor Robert Vaughn. Tech writer Charles Haine joins u...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, we break down the potential impact of America’s new government on artists and the press. No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco and Emily Buder also cover an ambitious Election Day documentary-in-the-making and the Cinema Eye Honors and IDA Awards nominees, say goodbye to French cinematographer Raoul Coutard, discuss how YouTube is branching into HDR, and...

When No Film School's Liz Nord saw 'The Eagle Huntress' at TIFF this year, she wrote that she may have seen the perfect documentary. It’s got all the elements: incredibly charismatic protagonists, majestic landscapes, underlying social issues, and a classic David and Goliath tale. In this case our "David" is actually a 13-year-old girl named Aisholpan who is determined to learn the dangerous art o...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, we compare the releases of the new Macbook Pro and Microsoft Surface Studio to a high school popularity contest. Outside of the hardware battle for filmmaker allegiance, co-hosts Jon Fusco, Emily Buder and Liz Nord go to the front lines of the Dakota Access oil pipeline protests to find out why police are targeting journalists and shooting down drones. We also...

In this Halloween episode of Indie Film Weekly, we attack a scary question for many directors: how do I ask my cast to show some skin? No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder bring you an episode full of spooky surprises, like a visit from everyone’s favorite creepy documentarian, Werner Herzog. We also discuss our favorite horror flicks, a new direction for the series ‘Jessic...

With an imagination like Charlie Brooker's at your disposal, translating language into imagery is "like butter." If you aren’t familiar with the anthology show, Black Mirror got its start on Great Britain’s Channel 4 way back in 2011. It may best be labeled as “dystopian tech-fi,” in that it deals with technology that exists in our modern world, but could slide into some dark purpose. It's easy to...

With less than three weeks left until Americans vote for their next president, Indie Film Weekly discusses the film world’s take on the craziest election cycle on record. No Film School co-hosts Emily Buder, Charles Haine and Liz Nord investigate how the far left, the far right, and several creators in between are using film to respond to both the candidates and the issues. We also cover the recen...

Three cheers for RED! It seems the company has finally conquered its longstanding PR issues by managing to ship something—the new 8K Helium brains—when it said it would. But why is the highest resolution option called "full frame"? We discuss that, introduce your new favorite streaming service, and tell you how to get the film look digitally in this episode of Indie Film Weekly, co-hosted by Jon F...

Antonio Campos and his collective, Borderline Films, have released some of the most exciting independent films of the past ten years. The group, which also includes filmmakers Josh Mond and Sean Durkin, famously take turns in the roles of producer, writer, or director of each other's films. So far, the products of their efforts have included the equally dark and twisted 'Martha Marcy May Marlene,'...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Charles Haine reveal how virtual reality is being used to take down the last living Nazi war criminals, and give practical tips on starting your freelance production business. We also get into New York City’s groundbreaking film fund, the most exhaustive lens test we’ve ever seen, an update from Austin's Fantast...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder reveal companies, gear, and filmmakers that are changing the game for indie directors. You’ll learn about a new film incubation model from Pretty Ideas, a new level of financial transparency from distributors The Orchard, and a badass new drone from DJI. We also talk about Peacock Productions’ move t...

Nanette Burstein is well known for films like On the Ropes, American Teen, and The Kid Stays in the Picture. Part of her success likely comes from her insatiable curiosity and persistence in getting to the bottom of a story. But these same qualities can put her own life—and the lives of her subjects—at risk. In fact, the premiere screening of her latest film, Gringo: The Dangerous Life of John McA...

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder answer one of our most pressing Ask No Film School questions: what the hell is the difference between an agent and a manager? We also discuss Emmy and TIFF wins (and subsequent toppling of patriarchies), give an overview of last week’s incredible Camden International Film Festival, reveal a new indie filmmaker init...

In this special episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder come to you from North America’s largest film festival, where we interviewed Werner Herzog, Morgan Spurlock, Ana Lily Amirpour, and 30 other indie luminaries. We bring you news from the combined 60-plus films, filmmaker interviews, panels, and masterclasses that we covered at the influential...