Episodes

  • THE IDEA OF YOU: How Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway Created a New Kind of Romantic Comedy

    THE IDEA OF YOU: How Nicholas Galitzine and Anne Hathaway Created a New Kind of Romantic Comedy
    May 8 2024
    Writer/Director/Producer Michael Showalter recounts the journey of this year's romance THE IDEA OF YOU, recently released on Amazon and making waves for its grounded but fantastical portrayal of a 40 year old woman embarking on a whirlwind romance with a 24 year old pop star (Nicholas Galitzine). Showalter was a huge fan of both Anne Hathaway and romcoms, so when the book was presented to him to adapt and direct, he jumped at the opportunity. It was important to him to depict a confident woman who doesn't need to "find herself," but ends up finding love in the most unexpected of places.



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    42 mins
  • CHALLENGERS: How Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist Make Tennis Sexy in Luca Guadagino's Unabashed Film

    CHALLENGERS: How Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist Make Tennis Sexy in Luca Guadagino's Unabashed Film
    May 1 2024
    [WARNING: This content contains spoilers]

    When Producer Rachel O'Connor first read the script for CHALLENGERS, she was immediately intrigued. The character of Tashi, brought to life brilliantly by Zendaya, captivated her attention, as did a movie set in the world of tennis with an unabashedly sexy subplot. Once she got the writer on board with the producing team and approached Zendaya, the star knew this script would need a visionary filmmaker at the helm. Enter Luca Guadagino, the Italian director whose bold films have launched the careers of many young actors. The dynamic trio of Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist spent weeks training as true tennis pros, and Luca's singular vision resulted in a film that is wowing audiences across the country.

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    52 mins
  • FATHER OF THE BRIDE: How Steve Martin and Martin Short's Improv Led to Comedy Gold

    FATHER OF THE BRIDE: How Steve Martin and Martin Short's Improv Led to Comedy Gold
    Apr 24 2024
    When Steve Martin first approached Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers about rewriting the script for a modern take on the 1950 Spencer Tracy film FATHER OF THE BRIDE, Charles wasn't sure. He thought the script was truly awful, but he took the meeting and told Steve the script wasn't good enough for him. Charles and Nancy proved a dynamic duo behind the scenes, creating scenes full of heart and humor for the dynamic duo of Steve and Martin on screen. Their comedy chops were matched by the wits of Kimberly Williams and the iconic Diane Keaton, whose role almost went to Goldie Hawn because the studio was nervous that Diane's last movie was a flop.

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    34 mins
  • BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: How an Oscar Nominated Hit Was Crafted By a Team of Industry Outsiders

    BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD: How an Oscar Nominated Hit Was Crafted By a Team of Industry Outsiders
    Apr 17 2024
    Producer Josh Penn recalls leaving the Obama campaign to try his hand at movie producing, and striking gold with 2012's BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD. Not only was the film nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, it grossed nearly 10x its budget at the box office. Not having much film experience served the filmmaking team well because their optimism, ingenuity, and confidence is what lended an air of true grit and authenticity to the film. From writer/director Ben Zeitlin writing a script in two weeks in order to get into the Sundance labs to producers insisting a local baker audition for the co-lead, a series of fortunate events led to the pure magic of the film.











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    56 mins
  • BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE: How Ziggy Marley and the People of Jamaica Blessed the Film

    BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE: How Ziggy Marley and the People of Jamaica Blessed the Film
    Apr 10 2024
    Director Reinaldo Marcus Green recalls the challenges of making a film about the legendary Bob Marley. One of the hardest tasks was finding the right actor to embody Marley mind, body, and soul. Rei and the producers reviewed many audition tapes and almost lost hope when Kingsley Ben-Adir entered the picture. Not only did he look like Marley, he dedicated himself to learning to sing in Bob's accent, play his songs on the guitar, and speak Patois. The production, shot in both the UK and Jamaica, was not easy between language barriers, perfecting the songs, and feeling the pressure of honoring Bob's legacy, but the support of the Marley family helped guide the film to great success.


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    54 mins
  • BLADES OF GLORY: How Ben Stiller Passed the Baton to Will Ferrell and Jon Heder Broke His Ankle

    BLADES OF GLORY: How Ben Stiller Passed the Baton to Will Ferrell and Jon Heder Broke His Ankle
    Apr 3 2024
    Directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon glide us through the making of 2007's hit comedy BLADES OF GLORY. Having made their mark directing a few iconic commercial campaigns, the duo went into directing their first feature film with a little too much confidence, and hit their first big challenge when Ben Stiller decided the role felt too repetitive for him and stepped away from the leading role. Will and Josh flew the script to Will Ferrell since he was shooting another movie, and he signed on. A fun crew of comedians assembled to round out the cast and months of ice skating training and true collaboration led to comedy gold.

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    58 mins
  • MAJOR LEAGUE: How Producers Didn't Need to Give Away a Car to Get 27,000 People to Fill the Stands

    MAJOR LEAGUE: How Producers Didn't Need to Give Away a Car to Get 27,000 People to Fill the Stands
    Mar 27 2024
    Writer/Director (and Daniela's stepdad) David Ward recounts how he hit a box office home run with 1989's MAJOR LEAGUE. At a time when both baseball movies and baseball as a sport were struggling, he managed to create the perfect formula for a sports underdog story. Performances from Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, and Tom Berenger combined to make the perfect cast of quirky characters that everyone wanted to see beat the odds. Add in a will they/won't they romance and a delicious villian, and a sports movie structure was born that is emulated to this day.




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    55 mins
  • LEGALLY BLONDE: How Reese Witherspoon Learned to Bend & Snap

    LEGALLY BLONDE: How Reese Witherspoon Learned to Bend & Snap
    Mar 20 2024
    Writer Kiwi Smith recalls the making of the 2001 classic LEGALLY BLONDE. Fresh off of her first hit 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, Kiwi and her writing partner Karen McCullah were eager to find a story centered on female empowerment that was fun, fresh, smart, and accessible. She found all that and more in an unpublished manuscript about a sorority girl going to Stanford Law. Kiwi remembers wearing pink to their studio pitch and being fully committed to bringing Elle's story to the screen in the right way. A huge part of that was the casting. Among many others, Britney Spears was floated as a possible idea, but it was undeniably Reese Witherspoon's part. Reese emerged as a true leader and her turn as Elle is the stuff of movie legend and inspired a generation of beautiful, smart, and successful women.













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    57 mins