PART TWO! Director R.J. Cutler returns to the show to discuss his two latest biopic documentaries, “Martha” and “Elton John: Never Too Late.” In Part Two, R.J. discusses with Tiller about how Elton John walked into his life (0:35),  the theme of mortality in the film (4:30), exploring the most raw emotional moments of Elton’s life (12:00), and how Elton's relationship with John Lennon fundamentally changed his life (18:00). Produced by: Jacob Miller Executive Producer: Tiller Russell Music...

PART ONE! Director RJ Cutler returns to the show to discuss his two latest biopic documentaries, “Martha” and “Elton John: Never Too Late.” In Part One, RJ will share with Tiller how he and Martha first connected (3:00), creating a film around a potentially unreliable narrator (9:00), why Martha was the only on-camera interview in the film (12:00), how he prepared Martha to be vulnerable (14:30), why nothing surprises him when making documentaries (18:30), and what it means to be in search of...

Directors Daniel Roher and Edmund Stenson’s latest film “Blink”, the follow-up to their Academy Award winning feature “Navalny”, follows a family taking their three children on an epic journey to see the beauty of the world before they lose their eyesight to an incurable condition. Edmund joins Tiller to discuss the nuances of capturing cinematic moments with verité (3:30), editing scenes in your mind as you film them (9:00), how to decide what to shoot as a team (13:00), how his editing...

Maciek Hamela’s minimalist debut film, “In the Rearview” is an expansive road trip through the Russian invasion of Ukraine that drove more than 15 million refugees — more than one-third of Ukraine’s population — in out of their homes and country. In this film, Maciek drives a van of Ukrainian refugees as they encounter numerous military checkpoints while trying to make their way to Poland. Maciek shares with Tiller how and why he made this film (2:00), his thought process in framing the film...

Director Nenad Cicin-Sain’s latest film “Kiss the Future” covers the incredibly dire yet uplifting stories of underground art and music, which culminated in a live concert by the band U2, during the brutal four-year siege of Sarajevo. Nenad opens up about about his connection to Sarajevo and researching this story (2:30), creating a war film first and a concert film second (12:45), what made Matt Damon such a great producer (18:30), the path to filming interviews in a bombed out former Red...

Actor, Producer, and Director Fisher Stevens is the creative force behind Netflix’s Emmy-nominated docuseries “Beckham”, which follows David Beckham's rise from humble working-class beginnings to football stardom, as well as all his personal turbulence along the way. Fisher shares with Tiller why he pivoted from acting to documentaries (2:00), the backstory behind his unlikely partnership with the Beckhams (7:30), building trust with David (12:00), figuring out the story structure in the edit...

Director, photographer, interviewer, and yes, amateur skateboarder Sam Jones reflects on the winding journey of directing “Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off”, a definitive, no-holds-barred look at the life and iconic career of skateboarding’s greatest to ever do it. Tiller and Sam discuss why Tiller is envious of Sam’s career (2:45), the backstory behind Sam’s debut documentary from 2002 about the band Wilco (9:50), how Tony Hawk truly lives as hard as he can (21:00), Sam’s decision to...

Director Jeff Zimbalist returns to the podcast to discuss his second feature film of the year, “Skywalkers: A Love Story”, a thrilling tale about a daring couple that performs acrobatics atop the world’s last super skyscraper. Jeff talks with Tiller about blending the genres of heist and romance (3:30), why this film had to be independently financed (11:00), interweaving the themes of love, risk and trust (17:00), directing Angela and Ivan’s camerawork on top of skyscrapers (27:00), how the...

Director Jeff Zimbalist’s latest film, HOW TO COME ALIVE WITH NORMAN MAILER, explores the rollercoaster life of America’s most controversial and bestselling author of the 20th Century, Norman Mailer. Prophet, hedonist, violent criminal, literary outlaw, and social provocateur, Mailer’s ideas about love, anger, fear, and courage cut to the core of human nature, are more relevant than ever today, and point to a prescription for waking ourselves up, shaking free of society’s expectations, and...

Academy and Emmy Award winning director Alex Gibney, head of the prolific doc studio Jigsaw Productions, has a new film about an old legend, Paul Simon. “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon”, is a look back on Paul Simon's extraordinary six-decade career as well as an intimate glimpse into his creative process as he is in the studio creating his newest album, Seven Psalms. In his discussion with Tiller, Alex reflects on capturing both the practical and mystical method of Paul’s...

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s newest film, “The Grab”, is an earth-shattering revelation. Over six years in the making, it follows the incredible work of an investigative journalist who uncovers the money, influence and alarming rationale behind covert efforts to control the most vital resource on the planet. In her discussion with Tiller, Gabriela reflects on her journey of starting to go down this treacherous rabbit hole (1:00), making a complicated global plot feel like a digestible,...

Acclaimed filmmakers Rory Kennedy and Mark Bailey join Tiller to discuss their latest hit documentary “The Synanon Fix”, a four-part series that tracks the rise and fall of an organization that began as a rehab for heroin addicts and devolved into an egalitarian community that mandated vasectomies, shaved heads, partner swapping, bizarre social experiments, and ultimately, child abuse and attempted murder. Rory and Mark share how they’ve balanced marriage, co-parenting and running a film...

Director Avi Belkin’s masterful 2019 film “Mike Wallace is Here” offers an unflinching look at the legendary reporter, who interrogated the 20th century’s biggest figures in his over fifty years on air. Unearthing decades of never-before-seen footage from the 60 Minutes vault, the film explores what drove and plagued Wallace, whose storied career, marked by aggressive reporting style and showmanship, was entwined with the evolution of journalism itself. In his discussion with Tiller, Avi...

Renowned cinema verité filmmaker Chris Hegedus, along with her late husband and co-director D.A. Pennebaker, was nominated for an Academy Award in 1993 for “The War Room”, a fleet-footed and entertaining documentary following the brainstorming and bull sessions of Bill Clinton’s crack team of campaign consultants, especially James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, who became media stars in their own right. In her discussion with Tiller, Chris reflects on first getting connected with...

Director Bao Nguyen’s new documentary “The Greatest Night in Pop” chronicles the dreamlike recording session for “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity single sung by a motley crew of America’s biggest pop stars. In his conversation with Tiller, Bao reveals why he questioned if he was the right person to tell this story (3:00), his journey to find the long sought-after archival footage (8:40), the practice in ‘80s nostalgia (15:00), why he insisted on filming interviews at the same studio in...

Artist-turned-filmmaker (and old friend of Tiller’s) Jill Magid joins the show to discuss her brilliant 2018 film “The Proposal”, which tracks her journey to recover the works of famed Mexican architect Luis Barragán from a Swiss bunker. Jill discusses with Tiller her artistic voyage from sculptor to filmmaker (3:40), her fascination with incorporating herself as a subject in her art (8:15), the project’s organic evolution from art proposal to feature film (15:00), learning the medium of...

In his new film “Sly”, filmmaker Thom Zimny offers an intimate perspective of the great Sylvester Stallone by delving into his Hollywood successes, personal pitfalls, underdog story and its parallels with the characters he brought to life. In his conversation with Tiller, Thom discusses finding the rhythm of the film (5:45), the dream space of editing an archival-based film (9:10), letting the themes speak to him organically (15:00), the dramatic imagery of Sly moving homes (23:52), writing...

This one is from the vault. If you haven't seen Mad Hot Ballroom from director Marilyn Agrelo, stop now and go check it out. It's a classic and a masterpiece. Centered around a ballroom dancing competition for fifth grade dance teams in New York City elementary schools, Agrelo captures a genuine and life-affirming transformation as a group of children evolve from reticent novices to confident contestants versed in the Latin styles of foxtrot, merengue and rumba. Agrelo shares with Tiller the...

"The Space Race", a new film by directors Lisa Cortés and Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, profiles the pioneering Black pilots, scientists, and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight’s quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station. In...

Season 3 kicks off with one of the great nonfiction filmmakers working today, Brett Morgen - the director, writer and editor of the film "Moonage Daydream", which explores David Bowie's creative, spiritual, and musical journey. In his discussion with Tiller, Brett shares how a speech impediment led him to make documentaries (2:45), determining the visual style for each film (6:25), the making of his 2002 film "The Kid Stays in the Picture" (9:10), the origin of "Moonage Daydream" (18:45), the...

Seth Porges and Chris Charles Scott’s darkly comedic hit film “Class Action Park” skirts the trappings of 1980s nostalgia and chronicles the unbelievable rise and fall of the most insane – and possibly the most dangerous – amusement park that ever existed. In his discussion with Tiller, Seth reflects on the universality of doing idiotic, dangerous things as kids (2:08), the vital tonal shift in the film from hilarity to death (6:40), creating the film on their own dime (19:05), the editorial...

Filmmaker Steve James burst onto the scene in 1994 with his iconic documentary, "Hoop Dreams", a film that is widely considered one of the great works of American nonfiction cinema. His latest film, "A Compassionate Spy", tells the incredible story of Manhattan Project scientist Ted Hall, who, fearing the post-war risk of a nuclear holocaust, shared classified nuclear secrets with the Soviets. In today's episode, Steve discusses with Tiller the lasting legacy of "Hoop Dreams" (2:30), why he's...

Kathryn Ferguson’s 2022 film “Nothing Compares” follows the career of celebrated singer Sinéad O'Connor through her rise to fame and explores the ways her iconoclastic personality led to exile from the pop mainstream. In today’s episode, Kathryn shares with Tiller the origin for the film (2:00), her writing process (10:00), interweaving archival with audio-only interviews (14:00), creating a visual iconography through original cinematic photography (20:45), screening the film for Sinéad...

SNL directors and co-creators of the cult favorite Documentary Now! Rhys Thomas and Alex Buono join Tiller to discuss their mockumentary series starring Fred Armisen and Bill Hader, in which each episode is a masterful homage to a classic documentary film style. They reflect on their start at SNL (2:20), the blend of documentary and narrative storytelling (9:20), how much is improvised (13:50), the challenges of making totally unique episodes (20:30) how pressure lends itself to creativity...