Because We Love Making Movies: Recent Episodes
W!ZARD Studios
Eren Celeboglu welcomes Directors, Actors, Production & Costume Designers, Cinematographers, Editors, Producers and many other members of the filmmaking community to sit down and have incredibly revealing conversations. Not only does Eren illuminate many of the invisible artists behind the scenes, but his passion for filmmaking and cinema inspires his guests to open up about their craft and lives in ways that will surprise and captivate listeners.
Today we welcome back one of my favorite guests, Film Editor BRETT BACHMAN. Last time he was on we spoke about his entire career including MANDY & PIG! But today is a special Halloween episode, and I wanted to do a deep dive into a film he edited…called THE VIGIL. It’s a masterful folk-horror tale — written & directed by Keith Thomas , photographed by Zach Kuperstein with amazing performances by Dave Davis & the late, great Lynn Cohen. It’s a wonderfully unique movie and if you love horror movies like I do, please go check it out. We talk about how Brett approached cutting scenes in Yiddish when he didn’t speak it, how he worked with Keith Thomas to build tension and dread, and how horror should always be about people and emotions if it’s going to work. It’s a great conversation about the joys and pains of making a film and how every single movie is a custom job and a life experience unto itself. Dig it! RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The Vigil, Jaws, Don’t Look Now, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, and oh, the movie that pulled Brett kicking and screaming into the genre: Drag me to Hell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today we welcome back the legendary ERIC ROTH. An Oscar-Winning Screenwriter & Producer. We talk about how he writes, and blends craft with pure inspiration. He talks about working with Robert Redford. We re-visit MUNICH & THE GOOD SHEPARD. He talks about being re-written, and his unique creative partnership with Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga on A STAR IS BORN. And last but not least, we talk about writing the new DUNE film which he thinks just might be something very special. It’s a wonderful conversation with one of the very best working in Hollywood today, whose generous not only with his talent, but his spirit. Dig it! RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The Horse Whisperer, Munich, The Good Shepard, A Star is Born (2018), and DUNE (See it in IMAX on 10.22.21) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today on the program, we’re talking to RICH FRIEDLANDER & GLENN ALLEN—Award-winning Visual Effects Artists who seem to prefer their work to be invisible, which if you ask me, is how it should be. We talk about how they started out in New York City as film editors, made the jump from film to digital, and how they saw the future of VFX as the future of storytelling! It’s an incredible conversation with two wonderful artists who have worked with some of Hollywood’s great directors—old & new! Dig it! RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Boardwalk Empire & The Wolf of Wall Street, Lost City of Z, Hereditary, Midsommar, Uncut Gems, The Lighthouse, Harriet, Trial of Chicago 7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I talk to ANDREA CHLEBAK…an amazing artist whose craft is one of the most unsung in all of movies… she’s a Film Colorist. She’s worked with some amazing cinematographers and directors on some really terrific movies. To name a few: Bad Hair, American Pickle, Elysium and Chappie, Prospect, HBO’s Watchmen… and the hallucinatory action-horror film MANDY. Most recently, she worked Netflix’s NAOMI OSAKA, which is a beautifully poignant and hopeful docuseries from the wildly talented Director Garrett Bradley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I’m talking to OLGA MILL. An incredibly talented Costume Designer. She’s worked on modern classics like HEREDITARY & FIRST REFORMED… as well as some beautiful indie films with Writer/Director Eliza Hittman, and most recently, the highly anticipated Y: THE LAST MAN created by Eliza Clark for FX. She talks about not being afraid to find your way into show business, finding friends in the arts who can be your lifelines, and how the best creatives are open but decisive. It’s a great conversation with a great artist and an even greater spirit. Dig it! RECOMMENDED VIEWING: DOG EAT DOG, BEACH RATS, FIRST REFORMED, HEREDITARY, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS, TIGERTAIL, BREAKING NEWS IN YUBA COUNTY, & Y: THE LAST MAN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today is a very special episode in honor of the recent MANDYversary. We sit down with Brett Bachman…a Film Editor and a guy I like to call the Walter Murch of SpectreVision. His credits are many, but to name a few — RAZE, COOTIES, BITCH…the psychedelic Barbarian Opera MANDY, THE COLOUR OUT OF SPACE, and most recently, the new critically acclaimed film PIG — also starring Nicolas Cage and Alex Wollf in a completely unexpected film that’s as much a meditation as it is a movie. We talk about how Brett started out making videos of barnyard animals, what he learned at the AFI, and how he chooses projects based on the script and director, but also on the journey of a making a film versus the end result. It’s a great conversation with a funny, passionate filmmaker who also happens to be a genuinely great dude. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I'm talking with the Emmy Nominated Cinematographers of Netflix's zeitgeist Documentary THE SOCIAL DILEMMA. It's a hybrid film that blends documentary footage with a narrative film seamlessly, and pulls back the curtain on the insidious business of social media. We talk about their very different paths to becoming filmmakers, how collaboration with their director and actors is really what sets filmmaking apart from any other art form, and how they didn't meet each other until the premiere of the film! It's a great talk, enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I talk with BENJAMIN LOEB. A wonderful Cinematographer & Filmmaker who shot two of my very favorite films...the beautifully cathartic PIECES OF A WOMAN...and the insane fever dream otherwise known as MANDY. We get into how every project with a director is a custom job…from entering the strange world of @PanosCosmatos, to the cinematic troupe of #KornelMundruczo. We talk about using paintings and life as reference as opposed to films…and how the mood and vibe of a film set might be one of the most important ingredients to making a great movie… Hope you all have as much fun listening to this as I did recording it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today, I sit down with legendary screenwriter. We talk about his life and his craft and why we should all be more generous of spirit. Truth be told, Eric has been involved in creating so many iconic films that it would have been impossible to try...so I asked him about the films of his that meant the most to me, and he held court and digressed in the loveliest of ways. I hope you have as much fun listening as I did recording this interview. Enjoy!
Eric's credits include- The Nickel Ride - the Drowning Pool - The onion Field…Forrest Gump (for which he won an Oscar) The Postman (for which he won a Razzie), the Horse Whisperer…and then one of my favorite films ever - THE INSIDER - followed by ALI, MUNICH…the Good Shepard, and THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON — he’s also worked in Television - and seen not one but two sea changes - first with HBO, and then with NETFLIX and HOUSE OF CARDS…and much more recently he wrote A STAR IS BORN, DUNE, and the new Western being Directed by Martin Scorsese, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON…he was also a producer on the Oscar nominated MANK (directed by David Fincher, from a script by Fincher’s father). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I talk with Gigi Williams, an Oscar Nominated Makeup Artist, and longtime collaborator with the brilliant David Fincher. Her credits are very long, but to name a few: Rock N’ Roll High School, The Howling, The Professional, as well as Single Man, Argo, The Master & Inherent Vice, not to mention her work with Fincher: Gone Girl, Mindhunters, and now Mank. We talk about going through doors in life when they open, how her craft is misunderstood, how she cherishes working with Actors, and how she doesn’t do personal makeup, she does the movie. We also talk about Gigi’s incredible beginnings in the New York fashion world before she became a Makeup-Artist, which included working with Andy Warhol & Diane Von Furstenberg…she’s had quite a journey, and she’s still on it. It’s an amazing talk so check it out and share! RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Rock N’ Roll High School, The Howling, The Professional, as well as Single Man, Argo, The Master & Inherent Vice, not to mention her work with Fincher: Gone Girl, Mindhunters, and now Mank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hey Everybody…sometimes when I have a guest on…there’s just too much to cover…which means we need a sequel…another chapter…a rematch…and that’s why today on the program, I’m talking once more to the fantastic Cinematographer, Thomas Newton Sigel…when I first had him on, the film he shot with the Russo Brothers, CHERRY, had not yet come out. I wanted to have him back to talk about that film, but I also wanted to dig deeper into his beginnings as a Documentarian, and also Da 5 Bloods...which Tom shot…because I wanted to talk about his relationship with Spike Lee, and also remember the extraordinary Chadwick Boseman…and Tom doesn’t disappoint…let’s get to it, enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I sit down with my old friend Christine Romero. For many years she worked and lived alongside the iconic George A. Romero who created Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, among others. But what you don’t know is Chris made those movies alongside him. We get into Chris’s humble beginnings in Pittsburgh, to acting, to producing, to working with horror legends like Tom Savini & Stephen King…and we also get into her very beautiful and complicated relationship to George Romero. Chris is brutally honest about her life, and I’m very grateful for her deeply personal perspective on her legendary life. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On this episode I speak with Production Designer Grace Yun. We get into her work on Hereditary with Ari Aster, collaborating with Master Filmmaker Paul Schrader, working in Television and being yourself. She has wonderful advice for anyone who wants to become a filmmaker, and talks about how we have to try and tell stories about who we are and why we’re here. It’s a great talk! RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Beach Rats, Hereditary, First Reformed, RAMY (“Princess Diana” Season One, Episode Two). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I sit down with a legendary cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel. We talk about how documentaries taught him to be in the moment, and the relationship between non-fiction and narrative filmmaking. It's a very interesting talk with a fascinating artist and man. Enjoy! RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The Usual Suspects, Three Kings, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, X-Men 1 & 2, Drive, Bohemian Rhapsody, Da 5 Bloods, Cherry Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today, we have a special treat…Production Designer Donald Graham Burt returns to talk about designing and making MANK…David Fincher’s love letter to old Hollywood & California, and the portrait of a man in conflict with everyone. It is a masterclass in filmmaking and the power of limitations from the most humble of masters. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard, Mank Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today I sit down with Producer Mollye Asher and she takes us on her journey from dancer to filmmaker, and reminds us that we love making movies because of the people we make them with. She talks about her very special relationship with Writer/Director Chloe Zhao, working with non-actors, and the incredible amount of craft it takes to turn reality into cinema. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider, Nomadland, Swallow and Bicycle Thieves (1948) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the very first episode of my podcast, I sit down with Production Designer Donald Graham Burt. We explore the role of the Production Designer, a life in the arts, working with David Fincher, and learn to talk less and listen more. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The Joy Luck Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gone Girl, The Girl with Dragon Tattoo, and Mank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices