The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast Teenage Wasteland with Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss and Alice Gu (Ep. 621)
Sep 25, 2026
Alice Gu, a filmmaker who explores nonfiction storytelling, joins Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, the documentary directors behind Boys State and Girls State. They discuss shaping 500 hours of VHS into Teenage Wasteland, tracing a 1990s student investigation, rebuilding a classroom as a memory portal, blending archival footage with cinematic images, and finding the balance between humor, nostalgia, mystery, and civic courage.
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Fred’s Basement Archive Sparked The Film
- Jesse Moss discovered Fred’s story through a 2020 profile and his long-running blog.
- Fred’s organized basement archive, including digitized VHS tapes, gave the filmmakers an unusually rich starting point.
The Class Chose Its Own Cast
- Casting depended on emotional connection as much as archival visibility.
- Jeff repeatedly returned to Fred’s class, while Mike attended despite not being enrolled because the classroom mattered to him.
Let Archive Scenes Lead The Story
- Build an archival documentary from complete scenes rather than using old footage as mere coverage.
- Assemble and understand the archive before filming subjects so present-day conversations respond to what the material reveals.