The No Film School Podcast

Here's Episode One of our new podcast series The First Feature. This is a step-by-step guide on how to get your first feature made, using Ryan Koo's new Netflix Original Film AMATEUR as a case study. In this episode, we get into: The three questions you can ask yourself to help decide which movie to make; when you need an agent; how Koo lied his way into MTV (and New York); Koo's DIY web series with Zack Lieberman, The West Side; how new platforms represent an opportunity because of decreased competition; how failure can be more instructive than success. AMATEUR will premiere on Netflix on April 6, 2018. You can find all episodes of The First Feature at nofilmschool.com/firstfeature Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some would say that Jim Cummings' journey to winning this year's SXSW Grand Jury Prize for best narrative feature started back in 2016 when his short film "Thunder Road" won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Yes, the short, which many consider one of the greatest of all time, was the source for their feature adaptation, but in reality, Jim's journey to SXSW royalty started long before "Thunder Road." And while he's certainly the star of this film, it would also be unfair to say that Jim made this journey alone. Between Jim, the film's creative director Danny Madden, and producer Ben Wiessner, the tight-knit crew behind the film have worked together on projects at SXSW for the last seven years in a row. In 2018, their production company ORNANA, wasn't only in Austin to represent "Thunder Road", but also for the Vimeo Staff Pick Award-winning short "Krista." Mere hours after winning their respective awards, the team was already at it again, creating a video and launching a Kickstarter for the feature-length version of Krista. Even with a Grand Jury Prize from Sundance at their disposal, Jim and crew found it impossible to find anyone who would produce their feature. But that didn't stop them. It just fueled the fire more. "Thunder Road", which tells the story of an eccentric police officer whose mourning over his mother's death leads to disastrous consequences, is the result of a decade of strong team building, work ethic, and an unrelenting desire to get stories told. Joining Producer Jon Fusco on the podcast today are several members of the producing team that made it happen, Ben Wiessner, Natalie Metzger and Matt Miller. cinematographer Lowell Meyer (who himself had three projects in competition at the festival) and of course: writer, director and actor, Officer Arnaud himself, Jim Cummings. We discuss all aspects of production which surround their mantra: "Don't wait for somebody to make your movie, do it yourself." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Fusco and Erik Luers are back from SXSW while Liz Nord has mysteriously disappeared, so get ready for a testosterone-fueled recap of the week's best news from the entertainment world! The resident men of the publication discuss the impact of what could be No Film's Greatest piece of original content ever, an intriguing new cut of Stanley Kubrick's classic The Shining, and how The Weinstein's Company bankruptcy could make things even worse for Harvey's victims. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including what could be a less expensive new alternative to the Alexa LF. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the best way to find clean, high quality archival footage for your documentaries. As always, the show also brings news you can use about gear, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The First Feature is a new in-depth podcast series on No Film School about the making of a single film: in this case, NFS founder Ryan Koo's first feature AMATEUR. AMATEUR is a Netflix Original and premieres April 6; the trailer was released today. Every episode of The First Feature will cover a different phase of production, from screenwriting, to prep, to production, to release. It's meant to be a step-by-step guide to everything Koo did to get his first feature made, and the lessons he learned along the way. Episode one coming soon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you imagine being pepper sprayed, pelted/bombarded with rubber bullets, or hit with water cannons while still managing to hold on to your camera and record? That’s what filmmaker Cody Lucich took on for eight months to document the Standing Rock protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline.  No Film School's Oakley Anderson Moore saw the first screening of Akicita: The Battle of Standing Rock at the Sundance film festival and sat down with Lucich and producer Ginger Shankar to talk about the process of making their feature. If you’ve wondered what it takes to film an uprising of civil disobedience in the face of a militarized police force, this conversation will put you right in the middle of one.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Co-hosts Jon Fusco, Erik Luers, Oakley Anderson-Moore and yours truly, Liz Nord have been running all over downtown Austin, Texas for the past week to bring you insights from America's coolest film event, the SXSW Film Festival and conference. In this episode, we forego our regular show format to share in-depth festival coverage, from news on the ground, to interviews with festival award-winners, to the best advice from industry panelists, to survival tips for navigating the massive event. We also talk about the value for filmmakers of a festival with as many non-film tracks and sections as this one has. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nash Edgerton, Tonya Glanz, and Cesar Mazariegos are three creators of shows that were featured in the new Indie Episodic section at Sundance 2018. They Join No Film School’s Liz Nord to discuss how the got their series off the ground, stretched production dollars across multiple episodes, and how much freedom they felt working in this burgeoning medium, unrestricted by duration, platform and traditional production rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers get pumped for America’s coolest film festival, SXSW, and share our fun-fact-filled awards season recap. Charles Haine joins us for gear news including new and improved versions of three useful tools. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about the best way to get those surprisingly tricky super slow shots. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you haven’t picked up on the hottest trend in film and TV right now, then you may be living under a rock. Of course, we're talking about the “80’s Revival” a movement seemingly spurred by the success of Stranger Things. In reality, however, the 80’s Revival may just be the sign of a new wave of filmmakers coming to fruition in the masses. 80’s babies who are looking to re-live their childhood on the big screen are having their moment at just the right time. They have an eager audience at their disposal and an even more eager group of producers looking for projects. Many movies of the revival deal with similar themes. You can usually bet that a group of suburban children will encounter some sort of supernatural force then band together to defeat it. Summer of 84 puts a spin on the trend, keeping many of the Stand By Me vibes, but committing to an antagonist that’s more grounded in reality. In the film, a group of kids begins to suspect that their neighbor is, in fact, a serial killer. As a result, the kids spend their summer gathering clues and spying on him to prove he’s responsible for the death of several other teens in the neighborhood. Summer of 84 is directed by the filmmaking trio that made Turbo Kid, which first started off as a short, before being picked up and greenlit for a feature. No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with the directing trio at Sundance and talked about how they used the “80’s Revival” to their advantage to strike while the iron was hot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Erik Luers preview the upcoming Academy Awards, ponder whether Netflix’s total dominance of original content is good for indie filmmakers, update you on the latest in the battle for Net Neutrality, and say a sad goodbye to veteran producer Benjamin Melniker. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including new camera offerings from Sony and Canon in the affordable 4K mirrorless space. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to rig a camera to a rollercoaster. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. https://nofilmschool.com/2018/03/indie-film-weekly-030118   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices