The Treatment

An actor, a talk show host... Joel McHale was first and foremost a comedian, as his work on the show Community shows. 

Laurence Fishburne has won an Emmy, Tony and been nominated for an Oscar. He moves from film to TV to the stage for these. He talks of transitions and playing Thurgood Marshall, both on stage and in the HBO filmed version.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: An editor is as important a component of a movie as the director. They often serve the function of sounding board and collaborator. Sally Menke was just that person... 

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Joel McHale , star of Community and host of The Soup , talks to Elvis Mitchell about being host of this year's Spirit Awards...

Despite the wide expanse of his films, from drama to goofball comedy, writer-director Gregg Araki ( Mysterious Skin, The Doom Generation, Smiley Face, Nowhere, The Living End ) set out to do something different with his newest, Kaboom . He discusses breaking with his tradition.

As part of the celebrations for Black History Month, Elvis hosts Thelma Golden , Director and Chief Curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem, to talk about the book, Harlem: A Century in Images , which was produced in association with the Studio Museum. Golden, who was one of the subjects interviewed on Elvis' documentary, The Black List , wrote the introduction to the book.

Elvis hosts director Derek Cianfrance ( Brother Tied, Black and White: A Portrait of Sean Combs, Run D.M.C and Jam Master J: The Last Interview ) to talk about his latest film, Blue Valentine , starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, for which she has received an Academy Award nomination.

From comedy to action drama, director David O. Russell ( Flirting with Disaster, Spanking the Monkey ) finds a way to make family the center of his films. In The Fighter he ads boxing to the mix.

Director Peter Weir ( The Truman Show, Witness, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Dead Poets Society, Gallipoli ) is a reader. Many of his films come from books, such as Mosquito Coast, Master and Commander and his newest, The Way Back . But he circles before committing to the material.  

Sundance Director of Programming Trevor Groth is a mainstay on the American independent film scene. With an eye outside the mainstream, he's brought his sensibility to Park City. He discusses the state of independent film with Elvis.

Finding the drama in real-life figures. Documentary director Alex Gibney Alex Gibney ( Taxi to The Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room ) has done that with several films, including his newest, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer .

Actor Paul Giamatti ( Sideways, American Splendor ) has had the most varied career of any actor of his generation. Comedy to drama, Howard Stern's boss to President John Adams. He discusses that and his new film, Barney's Version .

From Amores Perros to his newest film, Biutiful , director Alejandro González Iñárritu ( 21 Grams, Babel ) finds something new and fresh with each film. He tells us how.

What do the films Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Short Bus and Rabbit Hole all have in common? Honest comedy that heightens the drama. They also share director John Cameron Mitchell .

Animator and director, Bill Plympton ( Hair High, The Tune ) , has gone his own way. His absurdist work has earned him Oscar nominations ( The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger) and such fans as Matt Groenig and Kanye West. His new feature, Idiots and Angels , is both spiritual and silly.

Lee Unkrich ( A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo ) has been part of Toy Story from the very start. An editor of the first film, co-director on the second and director of the third, he shares what it's like to work on three classics.

The documentary Exit through the Gift Shop examines the street-art movement through one of its champions and an observer who fell in love with it. Producer Jaimie D'Cruz and editor Chris King discuss an unusual romance.

At a young age, writer-director-actor Lena Dunham has shown an exciting and subtle style in project after project. Her new film, Tiny Furniture , is the latest example. She explains her point of view.

Conan O’Brien or Jay Leno? New York Times television writer Bill Carter ( The Late Shift, Desperate Networks ) covers a different kind of war reporting, talk show wars. His new book, The War for Late Night , is news from the front.

The documentary Marwencol is about a man finding himself after a tragedy. The film was a similar journey for Jeff Malmberg . Elvis hosts director and editor Jeff Malmberg to talk about his award-winning documentary Marwencol , which tells the extraordinary story of Mark Hogencamp. Having survived a horrific beating by five men near his hometown of Kingston, New York in 2000, Hogencamp's long road...

The Amish, blind mountain climbers, fighting for nuclear disarmament... Director Lucy Walker 's ( Countdown to Zero, Devil’s Playground, Blindsight ) new film, Waste Land , is about waste becoming art. It's drama and non-fiction.

Between them, actor Danny McBride and director Jody Hill have brought the 70's anti-hero to comedy, first with the indie film, The Foot Fist Way , and now, with Eastbound &  Down on HBO. It's awfully...funny.

Mad Men 's creator Matthew Weiner discusses Midwestern manners, Carnal Knowledge and Jon Hamm.

With such films as The Puffy Chair and Cyrus , actress Katie Aselton has worked a lot in improvisation. With her new film, The Freebie , she also directs a film that doesn't rely a script.

The stark minimalism of Never Let Me Go might scare off most film directors. That very quality drew Mark Romanek ( One Hour Photo ; music videos, including Nine Inch Nails Closer & Hurt, Beck’s Devil’s Haircut ) to the material. He talks about making loneliness visual.