This episode of BEHIND THE LENS looks at some more of the wonderful films playing at SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL this year thanks to our live guests, w/d ALEC TIBALDI and w/d MARK JACKSON. Plus, hear excerpts of our exclusive interview with Emmy award-winning producer/writer/director STEVE McCARTHY talking about his new HBO documentary BRESLIN AND HAMILL: DEADLINE ARTISTS.
But first, we take a brief look at this year’s Oscar nominations and SAG Awards, the joy of some nominations and wins, and heartache over some notable snubs. (Hello, Academy? No Oscar nod for WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? ? What were you thinking?)
First up is writer/director MARK JACKSON talking about his film, THIS TEACHER. Originally making its world premiere at Los Angeles Film Festival in September 2018 where it picked up the US Fiction Award, THIS TEACHER hit the slopes of Slamdance for not only another well-received screening but served as a Closing Night film. Take a listen as Mark talks about the journey and challenges of making THIS TEACHER, including finding the balance of visual and sound to hit a myriad of emotional beats.
Then writer/director ALEC TIBALDI joins us talking about his debut feature, SPIRAL FARM. Going in-depth about everything from natural lighting, research into commune living, casting, and the best advice his father, lauded Australian director Antonio Tibaldi, gave him during production, Alec’s enthusiasm for the film and his craft is upbeat and infectious.
Bookending the show are lengthy excerpts of our exclusive interview with Emmy award-winning producer/writer/director STEVE McCARTHY talking about BRESLIN AND HAMILL: DEADLINE ARTISTS.
Never more timely than in today’s era of “fake news” and challenges to freedom of the press, BRESLIN AND HAMILL dives into the history of two of the most acclaimed journalists of our time – Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill. Lifelong newsman/news producer Steve McCarthy, together with his co-directors Jonathan Alter and John Block, takes us into the world of hard-hitting news and the glory of the print press with the different reporting styles each of these legends brought to the forefront. Providing interesting biographical information about each man and their respective paths from childhood which led each to the newspaper world give us even greater context as to what made Breslin and Hamill so special and why their work is the standard bearer of reporting. Revolutionizing the idea of a newspaper column and columnist, Breslin was known for his style of unvarnished grit and truth, serving as a perfect counter to the more poetic, rhythmic atmospheric style of Hamill. At their core, though, both touched the public thanks to the personal angles they found within each story such as that about Mr. Pollard, the man who dug JFK’s grave. Reporting on some of the biggest stories of the day, McCarthy talks about the approximate 50 interviews gathered for the documentary, selecting which stories reported by Breslin and Hamill to feature in this documentary and the reasons for same, as well as the arduous archival research process and subsequent editing that went into the making of BRESLIN AND HAMILL. Plus, hear McCarthy’s thoughts on the future of journalism.
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