Based on a True Story

Nechama Tec was born in Lublin, Poland in 1931. When she was eight years old, her life would forever change as Nazis invaded her hometown. As a Polish Jew, she survived the Holocaust thanks to Polish Catholics who hid her from the Nazis.Over forty years later, in the 1980s, Nechama started doing research on the events that she had lived through. Her book, When Light Pierced the Darkness: Christian Rescue of Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland was published in 1986. It was while Nechama was researching for this book that she called up a man named Tuvia Bielski, who was living in Brooklyn at the time."He was very friendly and wanted to know what book I'm writing," Nechama recalled in an interview with NPR. After explaining that she was researching the story of a man who had helped over 300 Jews escape the Nazis, Tuvia replied: "Big deal. When you come to me, I will show you how people saved more than a thousand."And that's how Nechama found the topic for her next book, which would be published in 1993 titled Defiance: The Bielski Partisans.Nechama's book about the Bielski brothers never reached #1 on the New York Times Best-Seller's List, but it won numerous awards, including the International Anne Frank Special Recognition Prize.One of Edward Zwick's friends found the book and was so fascinated by it that he passed it onto the director. Initially, Edward was hesitant of doing yet another Holocaust movie, but he was so enthralled by the story that he couldn't resist. In 1999, Edward acquired the film rights and started work on the film.It took nearly a decade before it was ready to start shooting. And when it did, they had to act fast. Actor Daniel Craig was cast for the lead role in May of 2007, but they had to start shooting right away so he could move onto another obligation as James Bond in Quantum of Solace. So shooting for Defiance began in September of 2007 and wrapped up in just three months.On January 19th, 2009, Defiance was released to underwhelming box office numbers. With a budget of $32 million, the film would go on to only make back about $28 million in theaters. After Nechama saw the film, she was shocked by some of the changes Hollywood made.Let's find out just how much changed as we learn the true story behind Defiance.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/517162cf-8e8b-4016-8e66-07a2df16f818 Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/26 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The latest in the line of collaborations between actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese is 2013's The Wolf of Wall Street. It received positive reviews, and also held the honor of topping the most-pirated films list of 2014. That's according to copyright tracking firm Excipio, which puts out a list of the most pirated films each year. Their report indicated The Wolf of Wall Street was the most-pirated in 2014 with over 30 million illegal downloads.But that didn't stop The Wolf of Wall Street from raking in almost $400 million, about four times what it cost to make, and making it Martin Scorsese's highest-grossing film.Oh, and as a fun little fact, the movie also had variations on the F-word being said 569 times. Since the film clocks in at an even 180 minutes, or exactly three hours, that comes to 3.16 uses per minute.That's the most uses in a mainstream film, assuming you don't count 2014's Swearnet: The Movie and a documentary dedicated to the word. And the swearing is just part of it. The film was on the path to an NC-17 rating thanks to rampent use of explicit sex, drugs and, of course, the swearing. But that wouldn't work in theaters, so Scorsese agreed to remove a few scenes filled with sex and nudity so it could get an R rating.If you've seen the movie, you'll know how crazy the story is. Surely most of that was added for the big screen. Or was it?Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/ff3c5b0e-ab17-4285-a2ff-c3ce9e7abd1b Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/25 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Happy Halloween! I wanted to do something special this week. I thought it'd be fun to cover the true story behind something scary. But after starting to look for some movies to fit the bill, I quickly realized most of the scary movies that claim to be based on a true story also require a belief in something extraordinary—something supernatural.Some stories are simply strange, and we don't know the truth. The only thing we do know is what those who lived through the events claim. With that in mind, and in the spirit of Halloween, let's hear the tale of those who were involved and see how it compares to Hollywood's reinterpretation of The Conjuring.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/7039fdcd-c1a0-4f1e-8f55-76341af8a1a9 Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/24 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Few can debate the huge impact Steve Jobs had on the world. So it's no wonder that after Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, there was in influx of news and media surrounding the life of the outspoken Apple co-founder and CEO.If you listened to episode on The Social Network, you'll already know how Aaron Sorkin dropped the true story for a good story. So how did he do for his movie about Apple's famous CEO and co-founder? Let's find out as we compare Hollywood with history for 2015's Steve Jobs.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/10b68310-69ae-4aa3-a633-0539278ef0f4 Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/23 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You've probably heard of the song Amazing Grace. It's one of those Christian hymns that just about everyone has heard, or at least heard of, at some point. It was first published in 1779 by John Newton.While you may think the named after John's song is about John's life, it's not. Instead it's about a man who was perhaps the first to be influenced by John's moving life story and the song. It's about a man who was perhaps the single most influential man in the abolishment of slavery in Britain. Let's learn the true story behind the movie Amazing Grace.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/2bafe484-1bfc-4cb4-9d97-8fa9884744d7 Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/22 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a retelling of one of the greatest moments in U.S. Coast Guard's history, The Finest Hours is a feel-good movie of true heroism. When sitting down to write the film, screenwriters Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson had the chance to do something not everyone does: interview the actual people who lived the story.Since they had the chance to talk to the survivors, does that mean the story was historically accurate? Let's find out as we learn about the true story of The Finest Hours.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/564b2f6a-1ddc-4a7c-a8c2-4bbc66d0078c Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/21 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elizabeth Short's murder was considered to be the crime of the century. And it's a mystery that many are still fascinated by, decades later. So when Brian De Palma directed a 2006 movie of the same name, many moviegoers wanted to see a true crime story of The Black Dahlia.They were sorely disappointed. Let's dive into the real story of The Black Dahlia and find out just how accurate the movie was.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/ad3b4776-6d5d-4602-9a24-deaed455344a Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/20 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The movie Deepwater Horizon comes out on this Friday. So again we're going to take some time to look ahead at a movie. Before you go see the movie in theaters, let's take a few minutes to learn what happened before, during, and after the disaster so you'll know just how accurate Hollywood was during its retelling.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/ca08a419-7062-466f-8cc1-0e26faae9865 Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/19 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Despite having an all-star cast and being based on a true story, most of the characters in the film didn't actually exist. Instead, Hollywood opted to merge together multiple people into a single character to help push the story forward while not having to deal with an ensemble cast in the hundreds.As I'm sure you can guess, this also forced them to change the story around from the way things really happened.Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/711a0d24-bbfb-482e-9947-f2396710e48d Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/18 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Even though Argo starts off with text that says it's based on a true story, the movie was actually based primarily on two sources: a book by Tony Mendez, the CIA agent Ben Affleck plays, and a 2007 article on Wired by Joshuah Bearman.So how much of Argo is true? And how much of it was fictionalized for the film?Did you enjoy this episode? Leave a comment: https://galas.fm/episode/f6ae86e0-8a64-45d0-a2b3-c4931c3512cc Find the transcript and full show notes: https://links.boatspodcast.com/17 Support our sponsors: https://links.boatspodcast.com/advertisers Remove the ads by supporting the show: https://links.boatspodcast.com/support Leave a voicemail: https://links.boatspodcast.com/call Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.