IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit

Director Daniel Roher takes us behind the scenes of making his thrilling documentary, the story of the fearless opposition leader to Vladimir Putin's oppressive regime. A social media master and fierce public speaker, Alexei Navalny was so effective at rallying the people of Russia against the Kremlin, they attempted to assassinate him in the summer of 2020. Roher describes what it was like to film Navalny while he recovered in Germany and planned his fateful return, and why making this movie felt as much like a thriller as his subject's life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Creator Tony Gilroy and editor John Gilroy join Toolkit to discuss the joys of worldbuilding inside the Star Wars universe, structuring the first season of "Andor," and how score influenced the show's writing and editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Ryan White takes us inside the making of this delightful documentary chronicling the journey of Mars rover Opportunity, which had a planned 90 day mission but ended up surviving fifteen years. Hear how the crew brought Oppy's groundbreaking mission to life using hundreds of hours of archival footage from NASA, and partnering with the VFX powerhouse Industrial Light and Magic to create a digital Mars from scratch. And learn about the deep bonds that formed between this intrepid rover and her human operators millions of miles away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Mark Mylod discusses channeling Ralph Fiennes' character to create the look and feel of his "eat the rich" satirical thriller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The director of the Netflix limited series “Unorthodox” talks about adapting New York Times journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s book to the big screen. Schrader discuss how her experience telling the real life story of “Unorthodox” and being an actress in Germany helped her tackle the all-too-real story of reporting the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal, and why she doesn’t buy the media’s comparisons between “She Said” and other journalist classics like “All The Presidents Men” and “Spotlight.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Shaunak Sen goes inside how he found and created the most innovative visual language of any film this year. A process that involved throwing away a year’s worth of footage, and starting over, all in an effort the avoid to pitfalls that so many films with touch upon ecological or political issues fall into.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Sara Dosa and producer Shane Boris join Filmmaker Toolkit to discuss the formal and tonal choices they made in order to capture the adventurous spirits of Katia and Maurice Krafft in "Fire of Love."  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Film scholar and public radio fixture Elvis Mitchell speaks about directing "Is That Black Enough for You?!?" and why the 1970s were the greatest decade ever for Black film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Directors Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes join Toolkit discuss the creative pillars holding up their documentary "The Janes," why it was important to make Chicago a character in the story, the extensive challenge and surprising finds of using archive material from the period, and their and the film's relationship to the modern politics of abortion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Filmmaker Toolkit, Field talks about how he turned his unusual script about a famous conductor in personal and professional free fall into a riveting character study, with help from star Cate Blanchett, collaborating during the height of the pandemic, thematic ideas like the corrupting nature of power and practical concerns like casting the other parts, and both Field's and Blanchett's delight in sharing their growing excitement about the milieu in which the film takes place. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices