Writers on Film

This week I'm talking to Jake Cunnigham and Michael Leader of Ghibliotheque about their new guide to Anime. There are a ton of film recommendations in here for the beginner and some great depth for the devoted fan. I've just launched a substack related to the podcast John Writes on Film: click here for the first post. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

As one of the world’s most dynamic and recognised celebrity icons, Eddie Murphy has been present in comedy and music for the last five decades and has dominated our big screens since his debut feature film, action comedy, 48hrs. some forty years ago. Delivered from a never-seen-before viewpoint, ‘Eddie Murphy; Deliriously Funny’ is an immersive account of Murphy’s entire comedy genius that spans t...

Scotland’s greatest export. The world’s first super spy. Voted the sexiest man on the planet. Sir Sean Connery was a titanic figure on screen and off for over half a century. Author A. J. Black delves into Connery’s life for more than mere biography, exploring not just the enormously varied pictures he made including crowd pleasing blockbusters such as The Untouchables or Indiana Jones and the Las...

A review of Meg Gardiner and Michael Mann's Heat 2 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alistair Owen is author of Smoking in Bed: Conversations with Bruce Robinson (one of David Hare’s Books of the Year in the Guardian), Story and Character: Interviews with British Screenwriters , Hampton on Hampton (one of Craig Raine’s Books of the Year in the Observer) and The Art of Screen Adaptation: Top Writers Reveal Their Craft . He has written original and adapted screenplays and stageplays...

I speak to Gian Piero Brunetta, author of The History of the Venice Film Festival and Jack King, the GQ writer who is the Harry Styles to my Chris Pine. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I talk to Hanna Flint, critic, broadcaster and author of Strong Female Character , a personal and incisive reflection on how cinema has been the key to understanding herself and the world we live in. A feminist of mixed-race heritage, Hanna has succeeded in an industry not designed for people like her. Interweaving anecdotes from familial and personal experiences – episodes of messy sex, introspec...

It’s April 2016. Stephen Bradley has just spent a very hectic year and a half promoting his latest film,  Noble , as it was released across the world from Los Angeles to Cannes to New Zealand. What he doesn’t know, until now, is that during the same period he was also developing a Stage IV cancer that has now spread to vital organs. Shooting and Cutting: A Survivor's Guide to Filmmaking and Other...

Instant #1  New York Times  Bestseller! Michael Mann, four-time-Oscar-nominated writer-director of  The Last of the Mohicans ,  The Insider ,  Ali ,  Miami Vice ,  Collateral , and  Heat  teams up with Edgar Award–winning author Meg Gardiner to deliver Mann’s first novel, an explosive return to the universe and characters of his classic crime film—with an all-new story unfolding in the years befor...

Dav Columbo  was arguably the most popular and most unique television mystery series ever—even though, within two minutes of the titles, the audience already knew the murderer’s identity. The show captivated tens of millions of viewers for 69 adventures produced over 35 years. Yet if star Peter Falk had gotten his way, it would have run far longer. Columbo  was never formally cancelled, just subtl...

I speak to Sarajevo Festival director Jovan Marjanovic and Edin Forto, the Prime Minister of the canton of Sarajevo about cinema in a time of war. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Formed in early 2015 by film scholars Dario Llinares and Neil Fox,  The Cinematologists   is a podcast and film clu b that aims to bring fans, filmmakers, critics and academics together to watch, discuss and engage with cinema of all forms, genres and eras.  The podcast is often based on a live event film screening where contributions from the hosts and audience members are recorded and edited tog...

John Bleasdale travels to the 75th Locarno film Festival where he talks to writers Leonardo Goi, Joseph Owens and Nanna Frank Rasmussen as well as first time film director Tom Hardiman about their festival experiences and their favourite film books. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.co...

“Movie Speak won’t guarantee you a job, but having a knowledge of the industry terms will fool everyone into thinking you own the place.” — Steven Spielberg   “Finally a book that celebrates the process—the dynamic web of people, technique, and artistry—underneath every foot of celluloid.” —Jodie Foster   Uncover the secret language of movie-making in a handbook for film buffs and language-lovers,...

Award-winning filmmaker Dan Mirvish directed the critically-acclaimed features Bernard and Huey, Between Us, Open House and Omaha (the movie). He's the author of The Cheerful Subversive's Guide to Independent Filmmaking (Focal Press /Routledge), occasional journalist, frequent film school guest lecturer and cofounder of the Slamdance Film Festival. Dan is a former Washington, DC, speechwriter to U...

In 1888, Frenchman Louis Le Prince shot the world’s first motion picture. In 1890, he boarded a train in his home country and vanished — never to be seen again. Just a few months later, Thomas Edison announced “his” own groundbreaking motion picture device — one Le Prince’s family thought looked unsettlingly familiar… The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures pulls back the curtain on Louis Le Prince’s...

Morris Mike Medavoy is an American film producer and business executive. He is the co-founder of Orion Pictures (1978), former chairman of TriStar Pictures, former head of production for United Artists (1974–1978), and the current chairman and CEO of Phoenix Pictures. He is also the author two books: You're Only As Good As Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films and 100 For Which I Should B...

James Peaty is the writer and director of three short films. He has also written extensively for DC Comics, 2000AD, and Doctor Who. Lo3O82Mhd7jkQWSlVain Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Released in 1946,  The Best Years of Our Lives  became an immediate success.  Life  magazine called it “the first big, good movie of the post-war era” to tackle the “veterans problem.” Today we call that problem PTSD, but in the initial aftermath of World War II, the modern language of war trauma did not exist. The film earned the producer Samuel Goldwyn his only Best Picture Academy Award. It off...

Guests from Cannes: Luke Hicks, Savina Petkova, Staphanie Zacharek, and Jason Solomons. Listeners and guests: Cai Ross and Ian Killick. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sean Hogan is a critic, screenwriter and film director, but I'm talking to him mainly about his two books of metafictional nightmares: England's Screaming and Twilight's Last Screaming . Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data...

Buy the book here. In this genre-defying work of cultural history, the chief film critic of  Slate  places comedy legend and acclaimed filmmaker Buster Keaton’s unique creative genius in the context of his time. Born the same year as the film industry in 1895, Buster Keaton began his career as the child star of a family slapstick act reputed to be the most violent in vaudeville. Beginning in his e...

I talk to writer, film producer and academic about screenwriters and screenwriting. Here's some information from Neil's own webpage: My award-winning film work includes the short film It’s Natural To Be Afraid (2011), viewable here , and the feature film ‘Wilderness’ (2017) , currently out for sale following a successful festival run.  You can find my filmmaking site  here .  I am the co-founder a...

A full-speed-ahead oral history of the nearly two-decade making of the cultural phenomenon  Mad Max: Fury Road —with more than 130 new interviews with key members of the cast and crew, including Charlize Theron, Tom Hardy, and director George Miller, from the pop culture reporter for  The New York Times , Kyle Buchanan. It won six Oscars and has been hailed as the greatest action film ever, but it...

The son of a celebrated Hollywood director emerges from his father's shadow to claim his own place as a visionary force in American culture. George Stevens, Jr. tells an intimate and moving tale of his relationship with his Oscar-winning father and his own distinguished career in Hollywood and Washington. Fascinating people, priceless stories and a behind-the-scenes view of some of America's major...