The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

If Beale Street Could Talk with Barry Jenkins and Paul Thomas Anderson (Ep. 176)

Director Barry Jenkins discusses his film, If Beale Street Could Talk, with fellow director Paul Thomas Anderson. Based on the acclaimed novel by James Baldwin, the film tells the story of Tish, a Harlem woman who strives to prove the innocence of her fiance while pregnant with their first-born child.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/BealeStreet_QnA_1118.aspx

Outlaw King with David Mackenzie and Jeremy Saulnier (Ep. 175)

Director David Mackenzie discusses his film, Outlaw King, with fellow director Jeremy Saulnier. The film follows legendary warrior Robert the Bruce, who claims the throne in 14th-century Scotland and leads a band of outlaws in an uprising as they attempt to win back the crown from English rule.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/OutlawKing_QnA_1118.aspx

Widows with Steve McQueen and Dee Rees (Ep. 174)

Director Steve McQueen discusses his film, Widows, with fellow director Dee Rees. Set in Chicago, the film stars Viola Davis as Veronica, who is widowed after her husband is killed by police following an armed robbery attempt. Veronica soon joins forces with three other widows to enact a heist that her husband had been planning.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/Widows_QnA_1118.aspx

Roma with Alfonso Cuarón and Alejándro G. Iñárritu (Ep. 173)

Director Alfonso Cuarón discusses his film, Roma, with fellow director Alejándro G. Iñárritu. Set in the early 1970s, the film recalls Mr. Cuarón's own upbringing in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City, and serves as a love letter to the women who raised him during a time of domestic strife and social hierarchy.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/Roma_QnA_1118.aspx

At Eternity’s Gate with Julian Schnabel and Lee Daniels (Ep. 172)

Director Julian Schnabel discusses his film, At Eternity's Gate, with fellow director Lee Daniels. The film is a journey inside the world and mind of the tortured artist who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world's most beloved and stunning works.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/AtEternitysGate_QnA_1118.aspx

A Private War with Matthew Heineman and Jeremy Kagan (Ep. 171)

Director Matthew Heineman discusses his film, A Private War, with fellow director Jeremy Kagan. Based on Arash Amel's Vanity Fair article "Marie Colvin's Private War," the film follows the extraordinary life of celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin, whose fearless desire to give voice to the voiceless and show the true cost of war drove her to the front lines of conflicts all across the globe.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/APrivateWar_QnA_1018.aspx

Boy Erased with Joel Edgerton and Gavin O’Connor (Ep. 170)

Director Joel Edgerton discusses his film, Boy Erased, with fellow director Gavin O'Connor. Based on the memoir of the same name by Garrard Conley, the film tells the true coming of age and coming out story of Jared, who is viciously outed to his parents. Pressured into attending a church-supported gay conversion program, he butts heads with its head therapist and begins to find his own voice and accept his true self.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/BoyErased_QnA_1018.aspx

The Hate U Give with George Tillman Jr. and Greg Berlanti (Ep. 169)

Director George Tillman Jr. discusses his film, The Hate U Give, with fellow director Greg Berlanti. Based on the best-selling young adult novel by Angie Thomas, the film tells the story of Starr Carter, a sixteen-year-old African-American girl who witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer and faces pressure from her community.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/HateUGive_QnA_1018.aspx

22 July with Paul Greengrass and Brian Helgeland (Ep. 168)

Director Paul Greengrass discusses his film, 22 July, with fellow director Brian Helgeland. The film dramatizes the true story of Norway's worst terrorist attack, following the survivors and grieving families as they rally the country for justice and healing.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/22July_QnA_1018.aspx

Itzhak with Alison Chernick and Robert Weide (Ep. 167)

Director Alison Chernick discusses her film, Itzhak, with fellow director Robert Weide. The film follows celebrated violinist Itzhak Perlman, looking beyond his performances to see the polio survivor whose parents emigrated from Poland to Israel, and the young man who struggled to be taken seriously as a music student when schools saw only his disability.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/DocSeries_Itzhak.aspx

Beautiful Boy with Felix Van Groeningen and Mike Mills (Ep. 166)

Director Felix Van Groeningen discusses his film, Beautiful Boy, with fellow director Mike Mills. Based on the pair of memoirs by father and son David and Nic Sheff, the film chronicles the heartbreak experienced by a family coping with addiction over many years -- including survival, relapse, and recovery.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/BeautifulBoy_QnA_1018.aspx

Mid90s with Jonah Hill and Bennett Miller (Ep. 165)

Director Jonah Hill discusses his film, Mid90s, with fellow director Bennett Miller. The film follows thirteen-year-old Stevie, who spends summer in 90s-era LA navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/Mid90s_QnA_1018.aspx

A Star Is Born with Bradley Cooper and Jason Bateman (Ep. 164)

Director Bradley Cooper discusses his film, A Star is Born, with fellow director Jason Bateman. The film features Cooper as a seasoned musician who falls in love with a struggling singer and actress named Ally, played by Lady Gaga.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/AStarIsBorn_QnA_1018.aspx

Bad Times at The El Royale with Drew Goddard and Matt Reeves (Ep. 163)

Director Drew Goddard discusses his film, Bad Times at the El Royale, with fellow director Matt Reeves. The film follows seven strangers who meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. As secrets come out and lives are entangled over the course of one night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/BadTimes_QnA_1018.aspx

First Man with Damien Chazelle and Darren Aronofsky (Ep. 162)

Director Damien Chazelle discusses his film, First Man, with fellow director Darren Aronofsky. The film tells the riveting stories of NASA's mission to land the first human being on the moon, and of Neil Armstrong, the astronaut chosen to make the one small step for man and giant leap for mankind on July 20, 1969.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/FIRSTMAN_QnA_1018.aspx

Private Life with Tamara Jenkins and Mike White (Ep. 161)

Director Tamara Jenkins discusses her film, Private Life, with fellow director Mike White. The film stars Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti as a couple struggling to conceive who undergo multiple fertility therapies. But the process of trying to add to their family challenges their relationship with each other as they descend deeper and deeper into the world of assisted reproduction and domestic adoption.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/PrivateLife_QnA_0918.aspx

Life Itself with Dan Fogelman and Ron Howard (Ep. 160)

Director Dan Fogelman discusses his film, Life Itself, with fellow director Ron Howard. The film centers on the story of a young New York couple who experience unexpected twists in their journey from their college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, creating reverberations that echo across continents and through lifetimes.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/LifeItself_QnA_0918.aspx

White Boy Rick with Yann Demange and John Singleton (Ep. 159)

Director Yann Demange discusses his film, White Boy Rick, with fellow director John Singleton. Set during the height of the crack epidemic and the War on Drugs in 1980s Detroit, the film tells the true story of Rick Wershe, Jr., a teenager who was convinced by federal agents to become an undercover drug informant in exchange for keeping his gun dealing father out prison. Seduced by the lure of easy money, he gets in too deep and becomes a notorious drug dealer himself.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/WhiteBoyRick_QnA_0918.aspx

The Land of Steady Habits with Nicole Holofcener and Greg Mottola (Ep. 158)

Director Nicole Holofcener discusses her film, The Land of Steady Habits, with fellow director Greg Mottola. The film tells the story of Anders Hill, a man who feels trapped in the wealthy enclave of Westport, Connecticut. Seeking to renew his lust for life, he quits his job in finance and leaves his wife and family, but is quickly confronted with the harsh reality of his choices.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/LandOHabits_QnA_0918.aspx

Colette with Wash Westmoreland and Scott McGehee (Ep. 157)

Director Wash Westmoreland discusses his film, Colette, with fellow director Scott McGehee. Set in the dawn of 20th century, the film tells the story of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, a talented young writer who moves from her childhood home to Paris after she weds a writer known commonly as "Willy." Convinced by Willy to ghostwrite for him, Colette pens a bestselling semi-autobiographical novel that becomes a cultural sensation and spawns sequels. But her fight to regain creative ownership drives her to overcome societal constraints and challenge gender roles.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/Colette_QnA_0918.aspx