The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Episode 76: City of Ghosts with Matthew Heineman and Chuck Workman

Director Matthew Heineman discusses his new film City of Ghosts with fellow Director Chuck Workman. The film tells the story of the Syrian citizen journalist collective, Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, who banded together to reveal the truth about the ISIS occupation of the city of Raqqa.

Episode 75: The Drowning with Bette Gordon and Maggie Greenwald

Director Bette Gordon discusses her new film The Drowning with fellow Director Maggie Greenwald. The film follows child psychologist Tom Seymour who spots a young man trying to commit suicide by jumping off a pier. After rescuing him from the water, Tom realizes he and the young man have met before and their present situation is no mere coincidence.

Episode 74: Aftermath with Elliott Lester and Gregory Plotkin

Director Elliott Lester discusses his new film, Aftermath, with fellow Director Gregory Plotkin. Inspired by actual events, the film tells a story of guilt and revenge when a devastating plane crash causes two men's lives to be inseparably bound together.

Episode 73: Salt and Fire with Werner Herzog and Kevin Smith

Director Werner Herzog discusses his film, Salt and Fire, and prolific career with fellow director Kevin Smith. The film follows a scientific delegation who, after being tasked by the U.N. with investigating an ecogical disaster in South America, is kidnapped by the CEO of the Corporation responsible for the problem.

Episode 72: The Promise with Terry George and Tony Gilroy

Director Terry George discusses his new film The Promise with fellow Director Tony Gilroy. The film tells the story of a love triangle between Mikael, a brilliant medical student, Ana, a dance instructor, and Chris, an American photojournalist during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire and during the Armenian genocide.

Episode 71: The Lost City of Z with James Gray and Matt Reeves

Director James Gray discusses his new film, The Lost City of Z, with fellow director Matt Reeves. The film tells the incredible true story of Col. Percival Fawcett, a British explorer who discovers evidence of an advanced civilization deep in the Amazonian jungle in the early 20th century. Though ridiculed by his peers, Fawcett and his followers return to the jungle in an attempt to prove his case.

Episode 70: The Discovery with Charlie McDowell and Zal Batmanglij

Director Charlie McDowell discusses his new film, The Discovery, with fellow director Zal Batmanglij. The film examines the near future where a doctor discovers scientific evidence of an afterlife, an announcement that causes people to commit suicide in droves. While people search for meaning in the life they inhabit, the doctor's son falls for a troubled woman.

Episode 69: The Zookeeper’s Wife with Niki Caro and Lesli Linka Glatter

Director Niki Caro discusses her film The Zookeeper's Wife with fellow director Lesli Linka Glatter. The film stars Jessica Chastain as Antonina Zabinska, who runs the Warsaw Zoo alongside her husband Jan in 1939. When their peaceful lives are threatened after their zoo is razed during the German occupation of Poland, the Zabinskis find themselves creating elaborate plans to save hundreds of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto.

Episode 68: Fist Fight with Richie Keen and Seth Gordon

Director Richie Keen discusses his film Fist Fight with fellow director Seth Gordon. The film follows Andy (by Charlie Day), a high school teacher who is challenged to a fight by another high school teacher Ron (played by Ice Cube) after Andy inadvertently gets Ron fired.

Episode 67: Logan with James Mangold and Gavin O’Connor

Director James Mangold discusses his new film, Logan, with Director Gavin O'Connor. The film tells the story of Logan as he cares for his ailing friend, Professor X. They are approached by a young mutant who is being pursued by a villain connected to Logan's past and must rise again to protect an innocent.

Episode 66: Meet the Nominees Documentary Symposium

James Moll moderates the Meet the Nominees: Documentary Symposium featuring Otto Bell, Ezra Edelman, Josh Kriegman, and Roger Ross Williams on their nominated films. Nominees Raoul Peck, the director of I Am Not Your Negro and Elyse Steinberg, the co-director of Weiner were not available to participate.
The discussion covers a variety of topics including editing and interacting with the subjects of their films.

Episode 65: Meet the Nominees Feature Film Symposium: Part 3 of 3

Jeremy Kagan moderates the 26th Annual DGA Meet the Nominees: Feature Film Symposium featuring Damien Chazelle, Garth Davis, Barry Jenkins, Kenneth Lonergan, and Denis Villeneuve on their nominated films.
Topics for part three include the nominees' approach to pivotal scenes within each film and how they deal with the pressures of directing.

Episode 64: Meet the Nominees Feature Film Symposium: Part 2 of 3

Jeremy Kagan moderates the 26th Annual DGA Meet the Nominees: Feature Film Symposium featuring Damien Chazelle, Garth Davis, Barry Jenkins, Kenneth Lonergan, and Denis Villeneuve on their nominated films. Topics for part two include how the nominees' approach casting and found the right actor for each films' pivotal roles.

Episode 63: Meet the Nominees Feature Film Symposium: Part 1 of 3

Jeremy Kagan moderates the 26th Annual DGA Meet the Nominees: Feature Film Symposium featuring Damien Chazelle, Garth Davis, Barry Jenkins, Kenneth Lonergan, and Denis Villeneuve on their nominated films. Topics for part one include the nominees' thoughts on the challenging stage of editing and how each of their films portray time.

Episode 62: The Salesman with Asghar Farhadi and Victoria Hochberg

Director Asghar Farhadi discusses his new film, The Salesman, with fellow director Victoria Hochberg. The film follows a young couple as they rent a new apartment from a fellow performer in a local production of Death of a Salesman, unaware that the previous tenant allegedly pursued a career in prostitution.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film of 2017.

Episode 61: 20th Century Women with Mike Mills and Marc Webb

Director Mike Mills discusses his new film, 20th Century Women, with Marc Webb. Loosely based on his own childhood, the film follows Dorothea, a single mother raising her adolescent son in Santa Barbara, CA during the cultural revolution of late 1970s. To help steer him through the chaos, Dorothea calls on the help of a punk photographer, a mellow handyman, and her son's best friend to serve as role models.

Episode 60: Patriots Day with Peter Berg and Ed Zwick

Director Peter Berg discusses his new film, Patriots Day, with Edward Zwick. The film tells the story of the Boston Marathon bombings of April 15, 2013. The film weaves together the stories of the heroic first responders and investigators who raced against the clock to hunt down the bombers before they could strike again.

Episode 59: The Founder with John Lee Hancock and Jonathan Mostow

Director John Lee Hancock discusses his new film, The Founder, with Jonathan Mostow. The film tells the story of Ray Kroc, a floundering Illinois salesman, who connects with Mac and Dick McDonald, two brothers running a burger operation in southern California in the 1950s. When Kroc realizes the franchise possibilities, he maneuvers himself into a position to buy them out and create a fast-food empire which would eventually become McDonald's.

Episode 58: Lion with Garth Davis and James Ponsoldt

Director Garth Davis discusses his new film, Lion, with James Ponsoldt. Based on the nonfiction book A Long Way Home, Lion tells the incredible story of Saroo Brierly, a five-year-old boy who gets lost on a train hundreds of miles away from his family. After surviving on the streets of Calcutta, he is eventually adopted by an Australian couple. Twenty-five years later, Saroo uses Google Earth to reunite with his family in India.
Mr. Davis was nominated for the DGA Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement for Feature Film, as well as, Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director for directing this film.

Episode 57: Hidden Figures with Theodore Melfi and John Patrick Shanley

Director Theodore Melfi discusses his new film, Hidden Figures, with John Patrick Shanley. Based on the nonfiction book of the same name, the film tells the story of Katharine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan, three African-American female mathematicians who were the brains behind the launch that sent astronaut John Glenn into orbit around the Earth and safely back home.