The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Director Peter Hedges discusses his film, Ben is Back, with fellow director Craig Johnson. The film tells the story of Ben Burns, a young man who unexpectedly returns home on Christmas Eve after spending time in a treatment center following a heroin overdose. While his mother is happy to see her son returned, she is worried about his ability to remain clean and ready to do everything in her power to keep him and the rest of her family safe. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Feb2019/BenisBack_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Adam McKay discusses his film, Vice, with fellow director Gus Van Sant. Inspired by true events, the film follows Dick Cheney as he moves from being a Washington insider and a bureaucrat to George W. Bush's Vice President and one of the most powerful men in the world, creating policies that changed the country and world in ways that are still felt today. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Feb2019/VICE_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Brady Corbet discusses his film, Vox Lux, with fellow director John Krokidas. The film tells the story of Celeste, a young singer who had a meteoric rise to fame after she survived a violent tragedy as a teenager and captured the nation's attention when she sang at the memorial service. Years later, the now superstar celebrity must deal with the aftermath of a scandalous incident which could derail her career. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Feb2019/VoxLux_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Susanne Bier discusses her film, Bird Box, with fellow director Alison Maclean. Based on the novel by Josh Malerman, the film takes place in a world where an unseen force has decimated Earth's human population, and the only thing the survivors know for sure is if you see it, you die. Against these odds a woman and her children attempt a perilous journey though the woods and down a river to find sanctuary, but in order to stay alive, they must complete the trip while blindfolded. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Feb2019/BirdBox_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Mimi Leder discusses her film, On the Basis of Sex, with fellow director Sacha Gervasi. Inspired by the true story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the film weaves together her career as an attorney fighting for equal rights with her storybook romance with her husband, Martin Ginsburg, and her life as a new mother. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Feb2019/OntheBasisofSex_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Karyn Kusama discusses her film, Destroyer, with fellow director Christopher Nolan. The film stars Nicole Kidman as LAPD detective Erin Bell, whose undercover assignment when she was a young cop - the infiltration of a gang in the California desert - ended tragically. When the leader of that gang re-emerges years later, she seeks to finally lay to rest her personal demons from that case. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/Destroyer_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Rob Marshall discusses his film, Mary Poppins Returns, with fellow director Ron Howard. Drawn from the Mary Poppins stories by P.L. Travers, the film takes place in depression-era London during the 1930s, where the adult Jane and Michael Banks find themselves in need of Mary Poppins' magical abilities once again after the family suffers a devastating loss. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/MaryPoppinsReturns_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Suzi Yoonessi discusses her film, Unlovable, with fellow director Alethea Jones. The film tells the story of Joy, a woman who joins a 12-step program to take control of her sex and love addiction after losing her boyfriend and her job and surviving a suicide attempt. After seeking help, she finds a sponsor and discovers the beauty of platonic friendship when she begins making music with a socially inept musician named Jim. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/Unlovable_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Fede Alvarez discusses his film, The Girl in the Spider's Web, with fellow director Sam Raimi. Based on the best-selling novels by David Lagercrantz, the film follows Lisbeth Salander as she hacks a computer program that can access nuclear weapons across the globe. Soon she and journalist Mikael Blomkvist find themselves caught in a web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt government officials. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/GirlInSpidersWeb_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Peter Farrelly discusses his film, Green Book, with fellow director Dan Gilroy. The film tells the true story of Tony Lip, an Italian-America bouncer from the Bronx who is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley, a world-class African-American pianist on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South in 1962. During the trip, they must rely on "The Green Book" to guide them to the few establishments that were safe for African-Americans. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/GreenBook_QnA_1118.aspx