Weekly filmmaking news you might have missed while you were out making films. Or videos. Or branded content. Or Instagram stories. Or...

The No Film School Podcast

How do you ensure you’re getting beautiful footage that tells a story, without controlling any of the elements involved? That’s the challenge of being a documentary cinematographer — and with over 100 films between them, Martina Radwan and Nick Higgins have learned to thrive under that challenge. NFS writer and doc filmmaker Oakley Anderson-Moore hosts from the Canon Creative Studio at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

Nick, whose work includes The Crash Reel and Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon, was at the festival with the new seven hour series O.J.: Made in America. Martina, whose previous work includes Watchers of the Sky and Hot Coffee, was at the festival with The Eagle Huntress and Trapped.

No Film School's podcasts from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival are sponsored by Canon and Rode Microphones. 

Documentary Cinematography Tips with Nick Higgins and Martina Radwan

The collaboration between the Cinematographer and Production Designer is what gives a film its "look" (along with the director, of course). In this episode, NFS Founder Ryan Koo talks with Cinematographer Wolfgang Held (Particle Fever, Brüno, American Teen) and production designer Darcy C. Scanlin (Final Recipe, The Presence). They discuss their collaboration to build the visual language of the Sundance 2016 premiere Sophie and the Rising Sun.

Directed by Maggie Greenwald (Songcatcher), Sophie and the Rising Sun takes place in small-town South Carolina in 1941 and profiles the relationship between a local woman and a Japanese-American man new to town. At nofilmschool.com we also publish a clip of the film for visual reference; the first email Wolfgang sent Darcy after his initial scouting trip; and the 1913 color photographs they reference in the conversation.

No Film School's podcasts from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival are sponsored by Canon and Rode Microphones.

How a Cinematographer and Production Designer Collaborate to Set a Look

In our SXSW wrap-up, Founder Ryan Koo and Editor-In-Chief Liz Nord bring tales of Audience Award winners; reactions to some of the festival films that we caught, including the Jury-Award-winning documentary TOWER; and all sorts of other filmmaker-worthy buzz and info from the ground. 

No Film School's coverage of the 2016 SXSW Film Festival is brought to you by SongFreedom.

Indie Film Weekly 3.22.16: What is a Filmmaker Anyway? SXSW 2016 Questions the Very Definition

What makes a guerrilla film shoot guerrilla? Sure, there are the circumstances that surround the act itself; limited resources, communication breakdowns, language barriers, nowhere to get a sandwich, not to mention the personal, emotional and creative risks attached. The most important ingredient, however, is one that is almost entirely paradoxical to the word guerilla itself: sensitivity. It's the delicacy with which you navigate these obstacles—to fulfill the responsibility you owe to your film's subjects—that makes a successful venture. 

Everyone wants to travel for work, but this week's guests tell us that documentary filmmaking is no vacation. From carrying your own food into terrorist compounds to dealing with drunken, racist Serbs, No Film School’s Jon Fusco sat down with filmmakers Arianna LaPenne, Alex Mallis, and Brian Chang to get a complete rundown of the prospective challenges a filmmaker could face filming abroad.


Going Guerrilla: How to Successfully Shoot Documentary Abroad

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School Editor-in-Chief Liz Nord and Producer Jon Fusco ponder the impact on indies of Amazon's new Video Direct service, which allows anyone to upload content and choose how to get paid for it. The show also covers a federal investigation into gender discrimination in Hollywood, two awesome new female cinematographer collectives and Sundance's FilmTwo Initiative, as well as updates from the epicenter of international cinema: the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.&nbsp; As always, Indie Film Weekly includes our Ask No Film School segment, plus grant and festival deadlines, gear news, upcoming indie film releases, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films.

Indie Film Weekly 5.19.16: Has Amazon Changed Self-Distro For Good?

In today's episode of The New Film School Podcast, writer Oakley Anderson Moore talks with two DPs. Her guests are Andrew Ackerman, who shot the brilliant, colorful underwater documentary "Chasing Coral," and Ante Cheng who DPed the nuanced black and white narrative Gook, set during the 1992 LA riots. While the style of productions are practically polar opposites of each other, from underwater timelapse nightmares to stylized lighting for black and white, they find common ground in the joy of telling a story through the visual image.

DP Roundtable: From Brilliant Color to Black and White, Lensing a Sundance Award-Winning Film

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco and Emily Buder get excited about the 16th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival opening this week, and discuss whether (finally!) Netflix might let us see its films in theaters. We also say goodbye to the genius cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and remember his storied career working with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola. Tech writer Charles Haine joins us to share more previews of the big NAB gear expo that starts this weekend. He also answers an Ask No Film School question about creating Digital Cinema Packages for your movie. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com  http://nofilmschool.com/2017/04/indie-film-weekly-042017-podcast

Indie Film Weekly 4.20.17: Tribeca Must-Sees & How to Create a DCP the Right Way

Ashley McKenzie is the type of director that does it all. The Canadian multi-hyphenate runs her own production company, writes her own scripts, and directs all of the company's films. When she’s on set, however, she gives up almost all notions of planning and control to make her shots as organic and in the moment as possible.

For her debut feature, Werewolf, which has won awards at almost every regional Canadian festival she’s brought it to, this included throwing the actors into real-life situations, adding events into scenes without telling them, keeping the camera rolling after the scene had cut, and even casting non-actors as key characters at locations on the fly.

The film itself follows a pair of outcast methadone users who push a rusty lawnmower door-to-door to cut grass for money to feed their addiction. No Film School’s Jon Fusco sat down with McKenzie and her two lead actors Andrew Gillis and Breagh MacNeil to discuss their intensely real collaboration.

How Starting a Production Company Can Help You Make Your First Film

The quality of this summer’s offering of independent films has just been utterly ridiculous. There have already been so many new voices, new perspectives, and unique stories hitting the big screen and now we can add Matt Spicer’s Ingrid Goes West to the list as yet another standout title. The film, which earned the coveted Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance follows Ingrid Thorburn, an unhinged social media stalker, frenetically brought to life by Aubrey Plaza, who moves to LA in an attempt to make friends with her latest obsession, the boho-chic social media influencer, Taylor Sloane, a character that’s oh-so convincingly played by Elizabeth Olson. Even with a hilarious cast and chuckle-worthy premise, it's hard to call Ingrid Goes West a comedy, in the truest sense of the word, because, well, it is really, really, creepy. The disturbing tone carefully planted beneath the film's shimmering Los Angeles foreground will stick with you long after you've left the theater.&nbsp; For Spicer, who penned the film along with David Branson Smith, this was the culmination of a ten-year journey from screenwriter to director. He joins us this week to discuss the steps he took to make this film happen, the pros and cons of social media’s new role in the film industry, and how making a film is the only thing that can ever really prepare you for making a film.

Why Making a Film is the Only Thing That Can Ever Really Prepare You for Making Your First Film

Ruben Östlund has never been one to shy away from difficult themes. That's not to say that the themes he presents his audiences are controversial or difficult to watch. It's more that they're difficult to fully comprehend. Östlund's ability to translate his thoughts to screen, however, is unrivaled among his contemporaries. "The Square" is certainly one of these pictures. Östlund explores what exactly the concept of 'trust' means in a modern society where paranoia is the dominant human emotion and catastrophe seems to await us around every new corner. The Palmes d' Or winning film centers on Christian, a curator at a renowned modern art museum in Sweden. One day he is robbed in blind daylight and his ensuing decision to track down the thieves sets off a series of events that cause his life to descend into chaos. No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with Östlund at the New York Film Festival to discuss his mind-bending new feature. They cover everything from how to make a two-and-a-half hour movie breeze by at a lightspeed pace to what Östlund (a teacher himself) feels is the most important part of film school.

How to Master the Art of Satire: Ruben Östlund on 'The Square'

To say that it’s tough to play your short at Sundance is an understatement. In 2018, 69 shorts were picked from 8,740 submissions. While there’s no simple formula on how to make a short film will get into Sundance, programmer Dilcia Barerra told No Film School that there is one important guiding principle for filmmakers that do get in: be authentic to your reality and your style. Anything contrived is obvious to programmers. While at Sundance, Oakley Anderson Moore sat down with five filmmakers whose short films embody just that authentic quality that you instantly recognize in a really good short. Their conversation can offer you insight on how to make a good film that’s authentic to your voice.

Why You Need to Stop Making Excuses and Make a Short Film

Some would say that Jim Cummings' journey to winning this year's SXSW Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature started back in 2016 when his short film "Thunder Road" won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Yes, the short, which many consider one of the greatest of all time, was the source for their feature adaptation, but in reality, Jim's journey to SXSW royalty started long before "Thunder Road." And while he's certainly the star of this film, it would also be unfair to say that Jim made this journey alone. Between Jim, the film's creative director Danny Madden, and producer Ben Wiessner, the tight-knit crew behind the film have worked together on projects at SXSW for the last seven years in a row. In 2018, their production company ORNANA, wasn't only in Austin to represent "Thunder Road", but also for the Vimeo Staff Pick Award-winning short "Krista." Mere hours after winning their respective awards, the team was already at it again, creating a video and launching a Kickstarter for the feature-length version of Krista. Even with a Grand Jury Prize from Sundance at their disposal, Jim and crew found it impossible to find anyone who would produce their feature. But that didn't stop them. It just fueled the fire more. "Thunder Road", which tells the story of an eccentric police officer whose mourning over his mother's death leads to disastrous consequences, is the result of a decade of strong team building, work ethic, and an unrelenting desire to get stories told. Joining Producer Jon Fusco on the podcast today are several members of the producing team that made it happen, Ben Wiessner, Natalie Metzger and Matt Miller. cinematographer Lowell Meyer (who himself had three projects in competition at the festival) and of course: writer, director and actor, Officer Arnaud himself, Jim Cummings. We discuss all aspects of production which surround their mantra: "Don't wait for somebody to make your movie, do it yourself."

Don't Wait for Somebody to Make Your Movie, Do it Yourself: The Winning Mantra Behind 'Thunder Road'

Here's Episode One of our new podcast series The First Feature. This is a step-by-step guide on how to get your first feature made, using Ryan Koo's new Netflix Original Film AMATEUR as a case study.

In this episode, we get into: The three questions you can ask yourself to help decide which movie to make; when you need an agent; how Koo lied his way into MTV (and New York); Koo's DIY web series with Zack Lieberman, The West Side; how new platforms represent an opportunity because of decreased competition; how failure can be more instructive than success.

AMATEUR will premiere on Netflix on April 6, 2018.

You can find all episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature

How Do You Know Which Idea to Pursue? The First Feature: AMATEUR [Episode 1]

Here's Episode Two of our new podcast series The First Feature. This is a step-by-step guide on how to get your first feature made, using Ryan Koo's new Netflix Original Film AMATEUR as a case study. In this episode, we get into: Whether or not your short should be a proof-of-concept for a feature, how to make production manageable and cost-effective for a short film, auditioning, casting, and finding crew for a short without a lot of personal connections, production prep, how much money you need to make your short, and how to distribute it once its done. AMATEUR will premiere on Netflix on April 6, 2018. You can find all episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature

How Do You Turn a Short into a Feature? The First Feature: AMATEUR [Episode 2]

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, we dive into the screenwriting process on No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur (out now!). This episode covers many screenwriting tips and tricks, including: Tracking your hours to ensure you prioritize screenwriting in your life; Brainstorming out loud and recording yourself so you don't forget a lightbulb moment; Writing your first draft by hand to ensure you finish it and you can't go back and edit; Spending >50% of your time NOT in screenwriting software — researching, outlining, breaking the story; Why applying for grants can be helpful even if you don't win them; The Sundance Screenwriters Lab (which we did an entire podcast on at Sundance); Doing entire drafts from the perspective of supporting characters; Apps like Workflowy, Final Draft, and WriterDuet; and Workshopping your script with actors at table reads. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature.

How Do You Become a Screenwriter? The First Feature: AMATEUR [Episode 3]

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, we dive into the pitching and financing processes on Ryan Koo's Netflix Film AMATEUR. This episode covers his experiences pitching Amateur eighty (!) times and eventually getting it to Netflix, including the following points: Making a pitch into a back-and-forth conversation as early as possible; What goes into a pitch packet other than the script, including a rip-o-matic/multimedia lookbook; Using CRM software to track producers and financiers (Ryan used Streak); How rejection can be a development process unto itself; Why "producer" is an amorphous term and how to identify producers with complementary skill sets; Who his producers were (Jason Michael Berman, Chip Hourihan, and Mark Moran) and what their roles were; and finally, How he got the film to Netflix. Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature.

This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license with coupon code "FirstFeature20."

How Do You Pitch Your Film and Find Financing? The First Feature: AMATEUR [Episode 4]

In this episode of our step-by-step podcast on how to get your first feature made, using No Film School founder Ryan Koo's Netflix Film Amateur as a case study, we dive into how to cast your movie—and what to expect when you go into prep. This episode covers Ryan's experiences attaching cast to Amateur, including Michael Rainey Jr. (POWER, LUV), Josh Charles (THE GOOD WIFE, SPORTS NIGHT), Sharon Leal (ADDICTED, DREAMGIRLS), and Brian White (RAY DONOVAN, SCANDAL). We then move into the prep process on the film, and  touch on: How a short film can help with attaching cast; The two-part process of auditioning Michael Rainey Jr. (who came us to via Jason Berman, who had produced a film with Michael in it, LUV); The value of a casting director (in Amateur's case, Jessica Kelly and Kate Geller; What an "offer" is and why you can only offer the part to one actor at a time; Doing street casting to find "real people," in this case, several basketball players who had never acted before; Location scouting and tax credits; Scheduling and what a "company move" is (and why we needed to avoid them); The challenges of working with a child actor and the resulting limitations on shooting hours; Rehearsing and read-throughs; Tech scouts... and more. Thank you to the Panavision New Filmmaker Program, Sony, G-technology, and Vision Research for their help in providing equipment on the film (which we'll cover more of in our forthcoming production episodes). Watch Amateur on Netflix, available now worldwide at netflix.com/amateur. You can find all other episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature. This episode of The First Feature is sponsored by Music Bed. Get 20% off you next on-site license at musicbed.com/new with coupon code "FirstFeature20."

How Do You Attach Cast and Prep a Film? The First Feature: AMATEUR [Episode 5]

We’ve discussed many different tactics for getting your short films into film festivals on this podcast, but at SXSW last month we decided to head straight for the source: the people in charge of selecting the films themselves. That’s right we’re talking about the all-powerful festival programmer. And to get the inside scope there’s no one better than SXSW Senior Film Programmer Claudette Godfrey. On today’s program, Claudette and NFS Producer Jon Fusco run through exactly what it is that attracts a festival programmer to a certain short. She also gives us a rundown of the things a filmmaker should focus on when submitting, as well as what they should attempt to avoid when working on a project they hope will be selected. Claudette makes a powerful case for the value of festivals like SXSW for all filmmakers and if you’re in the middle of planning a festival run, you better listen close.

What a Festival Programmer Looks for in a Short Film

With only $7K, fourteen days, and no crew, Alejandro Montoya Marín made a chockablock action-comedy feature. If you're wondering why these parameters, here's the reason: it took $7000 bucks for Robert Rodriguez to shoot his breakout film El Mariachi. And since it’s the 25th anniversary of that film, Rodriguez decided to host a show with El Rey called Rebel Without a Crew where he picks five filmmakers to each make a feature using the same arsenal. Marín was one of those filmmakers! The contingency of being on the show was that you would make a feature film with $7K and only fourteen shooting days -- with only a plus-one as your crew. In this conversation, NFS contributors Oakley Anderson Moore and Chris Boone talk to Marín about how he was able to pull all this off, and how ultimately, this experience was the perfect way to get past the hurdle where he can now himself a filmmaker.

How to Shoot a Feature Film for Only $7000

A short film is a tricky thing, you don’t know how much time or money to invest in such a personal thing that nobody may even end up seeing, so a lot of people don’t even try. The point of this podcast is to get you to stop worrying and just try. 

In this episode, No Film School Producer Jon Fusco identifies the key crew you'll need to get started and how to them on your project, how to create a proper lookbook, what to plan for on a location scout, strategies in collaborating with your DP in pre-production and how to obtain the best gear for your project.

How Do You Make a Film with Zero Experience? The First Short: THE GUY [Episode 1]

Hayley Pappas (Head of RYOT Films), Caroline von Kuhn (Director of Artist Development at SFFILM), and Leah Giblin (Head of Grants at Cinereach) are responsible for getting millions of dollars to independent filmmakers each year through grants and financing. They join No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss the many ways independent films are being funded today, and how you can access these various funding sources for your films.

One Hundred Different Ways to Get Your Film Funded

If you've seen any of Yorgos Lanthimos' films, then you know the Greek director isn't afraid to put anything on the screen. Like many famous surrealists, Lanthimos isn't interested in exploring stories where things go right, he wants his audience to see what's wrong in the world. 

To him, nothing is off limits and any dark side of the human psyche is worth exploring. In surrealist film, any image can be too much or too little. It's a delicate balance, but one that Lanthimos has truly mastered with his latest film The Favourite.

A period piece set in early 18th century England, a frail Queen Anne Olivia Colman, occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead. When a new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, however, her charm endears her to Sarah and a competition to be the queens favorite emerges.

In this interview, Lanthimos is joined by screenwriter Tony McNamara to discuss how commercial work early in his career ended up steering him in the complete opposite direction, not conforming to filmic norms, and breaking every possible rule you can.

Yorgos Lanthimos on How to Shoot Surrealist Film

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 Sundance mentor and attend special Sundance Ignite events that advance their films and careers. For the rest of the year, the fellows will work with their mentors, attend select Sundance Institute programs, enjoy eligibility for internships, and receive additional creative and professional development opportunities as they develop their craft. 

The fellows also receive a complimentary subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud,and lets not also forget that they have a pretty sweet shot at getting their films into Sundance at some point in their burgeoning careers.

Joining us today are four short filmmakers who did just that: Matthew Puccini and Tyler Rabinowitz with Lavender; Crystal Kayiza with Edgecombe; and Vasilis Kekatos with The silence of dying fish. Together with mentor Lacey Schwartz we talk about the benefits of fellowships like the Ignite Program  for young filmmakers and how you can be accepted to opportunities like this yourself.

How Young Filmmakers Can Take Advantage of Fellowships

Adam Egypt Mortimer's latest feature, like many others currently on the festival circuit, is the result of an enormous amount of careful planning and obsessing over details. About thirty-two pages or so's worth to be precise.

In pre-production for Daniel Isn't Real Mortimer created what he calls a "style guide", which is essentially a heavily detailed look book that breaks down every single aspect of production for the key members of his crew. This includes not only notes on how the film should look aesthetically, but also the reasoning behind the choice of gear for each shot and how each scene relates thematically to the broader arc of the story. The guide played an essential role in both keeping the crew on the same page and allowing key production members to keep Mortimer on track if they saw him straying from the mission.

The mission, in this case, was to convey the harrowing story of a troubled college freshman named Luke who, after undergoing a violent family trauma, resurrects his childhood imaginary friend Daniel to help him cope. The film features a few young members of Hollywood royalty in it's cast with both Patrick Schwarzenneger and Miles Robbins playing the schizophrenic duo. 

NFS sat down with Mortimer for a case study of sorts back at SXSW. We discuss the process and components involved in creating the perfect look book, using his own work as a guide.

How to Build the Perfect Lookbook with Adam Egypt Mortimer

Today is a very special episode of The No Film School Podcast and perhaps a momentous occasion in the history of the universe itself. The very balance of the cosmos hangs at a thread as Academy Award Nominated screenwriter John Fusco and former No Film School Producer Jon Fusco finally meet to discuss their craft.

John Fusco is, of course, the legendary screenwriter who dropped out of high school at age 16 to travel the south as a blues musician before returning to the Northeast and attending Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He later went on to write such hit films as Young Guns, Hidalgo, and most recently Netflilx's The Highway Men, which made its debut at 2019's edition of the SXSW film festival. 

The man has been writing films for over thirty years and has a wealth of knowledge to share with us all including practices on how to become disciplined (and stay that way), getting yourself into the screenwriting zone, and ways to retain control of your script once it hits the production stage.

The Ultimate Screenwriting Masterclass with John Fusco and Jon Fusco

In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, we sit down with writer-director-actor Justin Chon, whose latest film Ms. Purple hits theaters this week.

How to Take Advantage of Your Low Budget (and Get Into Sundance… Twice)

Director of Photography Lawrence Sher takes us through his career from the early days (he calls his first day "the worst first day in the history of first days") to how he lensed the most successful R-rated movie of all time, offering insights as well as practical tools.

How Larry Sher Shot 'Joker', Built a Career, and Almost Got Fired on His First Day of Filmmaking

The Department of Justice is working to rescind the Paramount consent decrees, we break down what those are and how it could impact film and the entertainment industry at large. 

Charles also gives us further insights into the new MacBook Pro, what he loved about it and what he'll have to learn to live without.

11.21.2019: A Potential Movie Distribution Game-Changer plus The New MacBook Pro

There may not be NAB in Vegas this week, but that didn't stop Canon from releasing several new products!  We take a look at the new cameras from Canon, chat about what film sets and filmmaking may look like when we return to work, breakdown the new update from Blackmagic, and tackle an age-old question through an Ask No Film School:  What do I do after I finish my script?

4.24.20: When Can Production Resume in the Time of Coronavirus?

Justin Roiland is best known as the co-creator and lead vocal talent behind the immensely popular show 'Rick and Morty'.  

Mike McMahan went from a 'Rick and Morty' writer's assistant to a showrunner along with Roiland. Now they've got a new show 'Solar Opposites' (May 8 on Hulu).  

We won't sugar coat it... this interview gets strange. But you should expect no less from these guys. 

After warming up a bit, we get into the conceit and intent behind 'Solar Opposites', what properties they'd both love to reboot or work with, how they got started creating things, how to keep humor fresh and edgy in an era with so many topics off-limits, and more.

'Rick and Morty' Creator Justin Roiland Gives Us a Tour of His New Show and His Twisted Mind

This week, we “Follow The Cheese” towards Netflix’s new on-set rules in the times of Covid-19, dig into Ken Burn’s burns of the Michael Jordan documentary "The Last Dance," share Frame.io’s new features, and we wonder: did Apple finally make a 13-inch laptop for filmmakers?  Plus, deep cuts!

5.8.20: How will Netflix Get Back On Set?

Our guest this week is the unique and legendary Jonathan Frakes. He was a lead on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' before he transitioned to the directing chair. To get his shot at directing he had to learn a ton from the craftspeople around him. But he also applied his history as an actor to his process, resulting in an ability to be an extremely economical actor's director.

Jonathan Frakes Shoots to Thrill

In a world full of real artists, why not create a virtual one?  We chat about CAA’s newest signing, the digital Lil Miquela, whether folks are saying Qui-bye to Quibi, and Aputure’s new 600d along with a new round of Deep Cuts.

A heads up as you dive into this week's conversation: we've been adjusting some of our sound settings and piloting our podcasting software.  Our voices may sound a little different but we swear we're still entertaining to listen to.

5.15.20: Fake Artist... Real Weirdness. What Do We Make of Lil Miquela?

This week brings a lot of questions.  Will Christopher Nolan’s 'Tenet' be movie theater's savior?  Will we adopt 8K into our workflows?  How does Red Komodo’s PDAF change the game?  And, what can we learn from the extremely talented team that wrote 'The Sopranos'?

5.26.20: Will 'Tenet' bring movie goers back to theaters?

We are living in interesting times, to say the least.

Prior generations have fought similar battles and faced similar challenges. Ashamedly, they faced this very battle time and again. But there is something very different about this time right now and it relates to you. You, the filmmaker.

6.5.20: What Is the Role of the Filmmaker in a Time of Unprecedented Upheaval?

A Christopher Nolan rumor makes us consider on-set rules and philosophies and Fuji's new update makes us ponder how this will change upcoming cameras.  Plus we time travel (not through a Nolan film) to see if we can answer a No Film School question that dates back more than 100 years ago.

7.3.20: To Sit Or Not To Sit?

It seems improbable or impossible to the more seasoned (or jaded) among us. A man, outside of the system and outside of the major cities like New York and LA, built a thriving indie production company with a full growing slate of movies and content... but that's not even the crazy part. 

The crazy part is that the stories he's telling reflect his worldview, and a specific vision for humanity and the future. It sounds as bold as it sounds unlikely. Yet it is a reality. 

BK's story is not just one of perseverance and making your own success, but it's a story of the type of self-education we love at No Film School.

It all sounds great... but how come it actually works? Listen to BK tell you in his own words.

This is How One Man Created a Thriving Indie Production Company with Hope

We’re not throwing away our shot to talk about Hamilton.
Disney+ and Hamilton change the game and the conversations around streaming platforms, Broadway musicals, and awards. Plus, this week, AMC heads to church (murch?), Zoom brings out an "Octo" monster, and...will filmmakers be "satisfied" with a recent camera announcement?

7.10.20: Revolutions, Revelations, and Resolutions

We're feeling hot, hot, hot as Canon cameras heat up and Palm Springs is a hit from the desert.  Plus, we dive into a new app with a confusing name and the newest codec on the block.

7.17.20: Is Canon feeling burned?

This week, Charles, George, and Michelle reflect on a recent conversation around terminology.  Plus, Blackmagic's big news, a case for theaters to look like the Star Wars' Galactic Senate, and we have Tenet's new release date... kind of.

7.24.20: Ks For Days

7.31.20: Did Filmmakers Finally Get What They Wanted?

Two years ago, Matt Enlow and Oren Kaplan started the Just Shoot It Podcast with a key question:  What does a director do?  Now, we come to them with our own key question in mind:  What does a director do...during a pandemic?   

Listen in as we learn more about how to use this time creatively, how to shoot in the time of COVID, and other secrets of the trade.

How Do You 'Just Shoot It' During a Pandemic?

Unlike Hamilton, Mulan will hit Disney+ VOD... at a cost. Plus, 12-bit raw is coming for the a7S III through Atomos and we answer a question about master fees and a YouTube clip.

8.6.20: Will families pay $30 for Mulan?

Back to the future...of Vertical Integration. The Paramount Decrees are officially over...so what does that mean for filmmakers?  Plus, a Deakins inspired chat about focus groups and decisions, we also talk about the new Sigma lens.

8.14.20: How will the end of the Paramount Decrees affect theaters and filmmakers?

In an informative new episode featuring guest Katherine Tolentino, we tackle the history of foreign influence in Hollywood, pay equality across departments, working overly long days, and what might be the birth of a new filmmaking manifesto á la Dogme 95. Plus, a new augmented reality software from FXhome and the pros and cons of crowdfunding.

8.20.20: A Middle-Class Moviemaking Manifesto?

***As of 2020 the No Film School Podcast is no longer hosted on Soundcloud. Please subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, or the podcast app of your choice. Thank you!*** A podcast about how to build a career in filmmaking. No Film School shares the latest opportunities and trends for anyone working in film and TV. We break news on cameras, lighting, and apps. We interview leaders in screenwriting, directing, cinematography, editing, and producing. And we answer your questions! We are dedicated to sharing knowledge with filmmakers around the globe, “no film school” required.

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