The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Episode 52: Rogue One - A Star Wars Story With Gareth Edwards And Chris Miller

Director Gareth Edwards discusses his new film and the latest installment in the Star Wars saga, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The film takes place just before the first Star Wars film (Episode IV: A New Hope), and tells the story of a small group of rebel soldiers and their desperate gambit to capture the plans for the under-construction Death Star.

Episode 51: Julieta with Pedro Almodovar and Jonathan Demme

Famed Spanish Director Pedro Almodóvar discusses his newest film, Julieta. The film tells the story of a middle-aged woman who tries to reconnect with her estranged daughter who deserted her 12 years earlier after the death of their respective husband and father. Almodóvar’s 20th feature explores the complexity of fate, guilt, the mystery that leads us to erase people we love from our lives as if they had never existed, and a mother’s struggle to survive uncertainty. The director speaks in English and Spanish, with a translator.

Episode 50: Rules Don’t Apply with Warren Beatty and Robert Benjamin

Director Warren Beatty discusses his new film, Rules Don't Apply, with Robert Benjamin. Set during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the film tells the story a young, aspiring actress under contract by Howard Hughes who develops an attraction for her driver. Their mutual attraction violates Hughes' rule that no employee may have a relationship with a contract actress.

Episode 49: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk with Ang Lee and Robert Weide

Director Ang Lee discusses his new film, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, with Robert Weide. The film tells the story of Billy Lynn, a 19-year-old Army Private who is hailed as a hero in the US after a battle in Iraq. Brought home for a victory tour culminating in a spectacular halftime show at the Thanksgiving Day football game, Lynn experiences a series of flashbacks that reveal what really happened to his squad.

Episode 48: Nocturnal Animals with Tom Ford and Lee Daniels

Director Tom Ford discusses his new film, Nocturnal Animals, with Lee Daniels. A Los Angeles art dealer whose seemingly idyllic life is disturbed by the arrival of a manuscript written and dedicated to her by her ex-husband. As Susan reads and is drawn deeper into the story, its themes force her to examine her past and confront disturbing truths about her present.

Episode 47: Miss Sloane with John Madden and Jeremy Kagan

Director John Madden discusses his new film, Miss Sloane, with Jeremy Kagan. Elizabeth Sloane, a brilliant and ruthless lobbyist, is put to the test when she comes against one of the most influential powers in Washington D.C.

Episode 46: Fences with Denzel Washington and Bennett Miller

Director Denzel Washington discusses his new film, Fences, with Bennett Miller. Set in the 1950s, Fences follows the story of a former baseball player who struggles to come to grips with his current situation and hold his family together when events threaten to tear it apart.

Episode 45: Bleed for This with Ben Younger and Tod WiIlliams

Director Ben Younger discusses his new film, Bleed for This, with Tod Williams. Based on a true story, the film stars Miles Teller as Vinny Pazienza, a junior champion boxer forced to relinquish his title after breaking his neck in a serious accident. Determined to regain his crown, he and his trainer defied medical orders to make a return to the sport he loved.

Episode 44: Loving with Jeff Nichols and James Gray

Director Jeff Nichols discusses his new film, Loving, with James Gray. The film tells the true story of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who marry in Washington, D.C. in the late 1950s. When they are arrested and imprisoned in their hometown in Virginia, where their marriage was illegal at the time, they pursue a civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, which is ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Episode 43: Neruda with Pablo Larraín and Victoria Hochberg

Director Pablo Larraín discusses his new film, Neruda, with Victoria Hochberg. The film tells the story of the 1948 manhunt for the poet and politician Pablo Neruda, who is forced underground and into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with an ambitious police inspector when Communism is outlawed in Chile. The film is Chile's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Episode 42: Manchester by the Sea with Kenneth Lonergan and Bob Balaban

Director Kenneth Lonergan discusses his new film, Manchester by the Sea, with Bob Balaban. The film tells the story of a Boston janitor who becomes the sole guardian of his 16-year-old nephew after the sudden death of his brother. He reluctantly returns to his hometown and attempts to deal with the life and family he had left behind.
Mr. Lonergan was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2016 for directing this film.

Episode 41: Miss Sharon Jones! with Barbara Kopple and Shari Springer Berman

Director Barbara Kopple discusses her new film, Miss Sharon Jones!, with Shari Springer Berman. The film follows the R&B and soul singer Sharon Jones during the most challenging year of her life when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just before the release of her album, Give the People What They Want.

Episode 40: Hacksaw Ridge with Mel Gibson and John Polson

Director Mel Gibson discusses his new film, Hacksaw Ridge, with John Polson. The film follows the remarkable story of Desmond T. Doss, a World War II army medic, who saved 75 soldiers from the front lines of Battle of Okinawa without ever firing a single shot.

Episode 39: American Pastoral with Ewan McGregor and Mike Mills

Director Ewan McGregor discusses his new film, American Pastoral, with Mike Mills. Based on the 1997 novel by Phillip Roth, the film centers on Seymour "Swede" Levov, a successful businessman who lives an idyllic life with his wife and daughter. When a stunning act of violence is blamed on Swede's missing daughter, he must confront the consequences of her political activism as he searches for her.

Episode 38: The Birth of A Nation with Nate Parker and Jeffrey Byrd

Director Nate Parker discusses his new film, The Birth of a Nation, with Jeffrey Byrd. The film tells the true story of Nat Turner: a literate slave living on a Virginia plantation in the early 1800s who is forced to preach obedience to other slaves. When Turner witnesses atrocities committed against other slaves, he orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.
Mr. Parker was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director for 2016 for directing this film.

Episode 37: Command and Control with Robert Kenner and Chuck Workman

Director Robert Kenner discusses his new film, Command and Control, with Chuck Workman. The film chronicles the nine-hour ordeal that occurred at an Arkansas missile complex in September 1980. After a worker drops a socket and accidentally punctures the fuel tank of an intercontinental ballistic missile, drastic measures must be taken to avoid a deadly nuclear explosion.

Episode 36: Denial with Mick Jackson and Jeremy Kagan

Director Mick Jackson discusses his new film, Denial, with Jeremy Kagan. Based on the book History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier, the film follows Deborah Lipstadt's court battle against David Irving, who sues her for libel when she declared him a Holocaust denier.

Episode 35: Solitary with Kristi Jacobson and Nanette Burstein

Director Kristi Jacobson discusses her new documentary, Solitary, with Nanette Burstein. With unprecedented access, the film takes a disturbing look at one of the most controversial aspects of America’s modern prison-industrial-complex: solitary confinement.

Episode 34 Silver Skies with Rosemary Rodriguez and Arthur Seidelman

Director Rosemary Rodriguez discusses her new film, Silver Skies, with director Arthur Allan Seidelman. The film follows a group of eccentric retirees who find their lives turned upside down when they learn that their beloved apartment complex is being converted to condominiums.

Episode 33: Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You with Heidi Ewing, Norman Lear, & Chuck Workman

Director Heidi Ewing discusses her new film with Rachel Grady, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, with Director Chuck Workman and its subject Norman Lear. The documentary paints a dynamic portrait of the influential creator, writer, and producer, exploring his work and achievements through shows such as All in the Family, Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons.