The No Film School Podcast

Before "Ramblin Freak'," Tacodeli employee Parker Smith had made only one movie featuring sound. The three three-time film school dropout was stuck between a rock and a hard place after realizing his internship at The Austin Film Society was little more than the theater job he had left in Boulder, Colorado to make a name for himself in Texas. Now, the task of making your first feature is a daunting one. Some would think that filming it entirely alone should make things a hundred times more difficult. For Parker, however, being the only member of his film crew provided him with exactly the freedom necessary to experiment, learn and shoot his movie right.   No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with Smith at SXSW to learn how he pulled off making a movie about a guy who doesn't know how to make a movie. From watching five documentaries a night to finding a producer through Instagram, he provides us with tremendous insight into the art of learning as you go. 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 Emily Buder dissect Netflix’s balancing act between the indie and studio worlds, and how indie theater guru Tim League threw down the gauntlet against the streaming giant. We also cover why getting your film graded F could be a good thing, according to IMDB, and a sad goodbye to indie film producer Robin O’Hara (‘Raising Victor Vargas’, ‘Gummo’). We hear from two directors whose films are hitting theaters this month, Alice Lowe of ‘Prevenge’ and Sarah Adina Smith of ‘Buster’s Mal Heart’. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including an app that lets you shoot in LOG mode on your phone and his review of the new Sigma Cinema Zoom lenses. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, 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

This week, we’re kicking off our SXSW coverage on a particularly high note. That’s because this interview features arguably the best voice we’ve ever had on the podcast in Nick Offerman, and also one of the best laughs we’ve ever had on the show in actress Trieste Kelly Dunn. They are joined by acclaimed indie director Bob Byington to discuss the creation of Infinity Baby, a film that premiered to uproarious laughter at the festival last week. The film is a convergence of three separate narratives surrounding a corporation that sells a highly unusual product: babies that never age. So while Byington may have made a name for himself with naturalistic movies like 7 Chinese Brothers, the surrealistic elements of Infinity Baby’s plot act as a springboard to the intricate dialogue of screenwriter Onur Tukel and grounded performances from Offerman, Kelly Dunn and the rest of the cast. We talk about how script supervising may be the best training ground for directors, how Nick Offerman overcame being a "sucky actor," and how sometimes if you want to get your break in Hollywood, all you have to do is make sure you have fresh laundry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Co-hosts Jon Fusco, Emily Buder, Oakley Anderson-Moore and 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 keynotes with the likes of Rogue One director Gareth Edwards and legendary Muppeteer Frank Oz, to interviews with festival award-winners, to the best advice from industry panelists. Of course, we ask the perennial question: What is this festival good for, anyway? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode of The New Film School Podcast, writer Oakley Anderson Moore talks with two DPs. Her guests are Andrew Ackerman, who shot the brilliant, colorful underwater documentary "Chasing Coral," and Ante Cheng who DPed the nuanced black and white narrative Gook, set during the 1992 LA riots. While the style of productions are practically polar opposites of each other, from underwater timelapse nightmares to stylized lighting for black and white, they find common ground in the joy of telling a story through the visual image. 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 Emily Buder give the secret to shots that smoothly pan from dark to light and introduce a filmmaker whose work has started a global conversation. We celebrate Women’s History Month with Ava DuVernay’s Twitter takeover. We also get advice from four-time Sundance director Tiffany Shlain. Later, we preview this week’s SXSW Film Festival, tech writer Charles Haine joins us with gear news, including our lens test comparing five different Anamorphics on RED Weapon vs. ARRI Alexa, and Dutch director Martin Koolhoven discusses his new film 'Brimstone'. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, 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

In this episode of the No Film School podcast, Emily Buder sits down with David Ethan Shapiro, CEO of Starlight Studios, and Jacob Schulsinger, editor ("Force Majeure," "Antichrist"), to discuss their Sundance premiere, "Come Swim," Kristen Stewart's experimental short film. We talk the merits of film school and why it's important to recreate that creative atmosphere in your career, the secret to raising money as a producer, why editors should help directors write movies, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 50th episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco and Emily Buder share our final conversation with Bill Paxton and advice on getting your actors to tear up on camera. We discuss what the Academy Awards can teach us about producing, along with this year’s indie-oriented results from both the Oscars and the Film Independent Spirit Awards, and how Netflix is already vying for next awards season with a Martin Scorsese pic. We also say goodbye to Seijun Suzuki and hear from director Ry Russo-Young about her film ‘Before I Fall,’ opening in theaters this weekend. Filmmaker and actress Christina Beck joins us for an Ask No Film School about making actors cry. And, as always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. http://nofilmschool.com/2017/03/indie-film-weekly-030217-podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a breakthrough year for virtual reality, No Film School’s Liz Nord sits down with four Sundance filmmakers who learned to get past convention and embrace creating in VR. Each of their fascinating projects are cinematic, but they're certainly not cinema—which didn’t stop them from premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Guests Lily Baldwin of 'Through You', Rose Troche of 'If Not Love', and Yasmin Elayat and Elie Zananiri of 'Zero Days VR' discuss how they brought their groundbreaking stories to life, and which filmmaking rules they had to throw out the window to do so. 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 Emily Buder weigh in on how "independent film" should be defined, and share results of our big shootout between the Alexa Mini and Epic-W Helium. We also discuss how the inaugural American Independent Film Awards are helping to redefine awards season, how indie cinemas are banding together nationwide for a cause, a surprising way to increase your film’s profitability, and SAG-AFTRA’s wading into political waters. Tech writer Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including our epic (and contentious) shootout between recent two popular cameras, and a new lens from Fujinon that marks the company’s venture into the world of indie film. In Ask No Film School, we advise on why your videos look so different on YouTube than in your editing system, and how to compensate. As always, we also bring you upcoming grant and festival deadlines, this week’s indie film releases, 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