Making Media Now

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is MovieMaker magazine editor-in-chief Tim Molloy.    MovieMaker is a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking, with a special emphasis on independent film. The publication, in all its forms, offers profiles, advice, insider tips, and product reviews that readers can use to make informed decisions about what they watch..and create!   The magazine has featured pretty much every prominent moviemaker you can think of on its cover. Its print edition is published quarterly, while its digital home, MovieMaker.com is continually updating its features and late-breaking content. Tim and Michael discussed this year’s Oscar nominations, revisited the Barbie and Oppenheimer phenomenons, pondered what constitutes cinematic television and Tim laid out how MovieMaker magazine distinguishes itself among other publications covering the entertainment industry. Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Documentary filmmaker and engineer Arthur Musah joins host Michael Azevedo on this episode. Arthur is director of "Brief Tender Light," which will be broadcast as part of the POV series on PBS on January 15. Check your local listings for times.   "Brief Tender Light" follows the lives of five African-born MIT students, including the director himself, who were driven to study in the U.S. and create change at home.   Even as their dreams are anchored in the societies they left, their daily realities are defined by America. Each must refine their ideas about the world and about themselves, and ultimately, how to transform youthful ideals into action as adults.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

For the first episode of 2024, host Michael Azevedo is joined by filmmaker Michael Maglaras to talk about his latest film “Ralph Waldo Emerson: Give All to Love,” An impassioned and endearing documentary about one of America’s greatest thinkers. 2023 marked the 220th anniversary of Emerson’s birth, and Maglaras' film will introduce him to an entirely new audience.”    Trained as an opera singer in the United States and Europe, Michael Maglaras has performed widely as a singer and opera director. He also has founded a well-respected international business-consulting firm headquartered in Stamford, Conn., one of several businesses he has formed.   He has directed and acted in two films, produced three albums of rock and alternative jazz, lectured in art museums across the country. In 2003, he and his wife, Terri Templeton, formed 217 Films with the mission to celebrate the unique character of our nation’s cultural heritage. Their “essays in film” explore the impact of American art and cultural life and its unique place on the world stage.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Host Michael Azevedo is joined on this episode by video producer and content strategist Fei Wu. Fei is the very embodiment of a modern media maker! She was a podcasting pioneer, launching her Feisworld podcast in 2014, which has gone on the have well over 200k downloads. Shortly thereafter she established herself on YouTube with a monetized channel that has nearly 25k subscribers and more than 100k views per month. In 2019, she produced and hosted a 10 episode documentary series, available on Prime video, called Feisworld: an intimate look into the lives of a diverse group of business leaders and creative professionals.    Having come to America from China as a teenager, Fei has carved out a life as a successful entrepreneur and mentor. Most recently, Fay has been putting to use her skills and experiences to help inform and guide other media creators in the area of AI integration.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by director Denny Tedesco to talk about his enthralling music documentary "Immediate Family," which is a follow-up to his acclaimed 2008 documentary “The Wrecking Crew.”  That earlier film followed the first wave of studio musicians in the 1960s, including Denny’s father, guitar virtuoso Tommy Tedesco. “Immediate Family” takes up the story where “The Wrecking Crew” ended, taking a deep dive through some of the most famous and influential session musicians from the 1970s.  To that end, the new documentary includes commentary from the likes of Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, Keith Richards, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, and Phil Collins.  In addition to talking to those music legends, “Immediate Family” tracks the rise and collaborations of session musicians Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, and Waddy Wachtel as they help craft some of the decade’s most enduring hits.  Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Oscar-nominated director Elaine McMillion Sheldon. Elaine joins Michael to discuss her very personal--and mesmerizing--documentary "King Coal."   A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, "King Coal" meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created. Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking in a spectacularly beautiful and deeply moving immersion into Central Appalachia where coal is not just a resource, but a way of life.   Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Director / Producer / Co-Editor) is an Academy Award-nominated, and Emmy and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker. Sheldon is the director of two Netflix Original Documentaries - HEROIN(E) and RECOVERY BOYS- that explore America's opioid crisis.   She has been named a Creative Capital Awardee, Guggenheim Fellow, a USA Fellow by United States Artists, and one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film,” by Filmmaker Magazine. KING COAL, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and is currently enjoying a successful theatrical run. The film will be available for VOD and streaming in early 2024.   Elaine McMillion Sheldon was raised in West Virginia and lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Filmmaker and social activist Owen Dubeck joins host Michael Azevedo to discuss an organization called Farmlink and his documentary about Farmlink’s origins and mission.    During the largest food crisis in a century, a group of college students stepped up to help those facing hunger. Their small local effort, called Farmlink, inspired hope nationally and motivated 600+ students to drop everything to help feed millions of families. Within months, the project scaled larger than anyone could have imagined and the students found themselves on the front lines of fighting hunger and ending food waste on a national level.   In addition to being a founding member of Farmlink, Owen Dubeck is also a documentary film director, specializing in telling stories that catalyze lasting social change. His films follow character-driven storylines and often amplify the messages of young people leading disruptive movements. His short documentary about Farmlink is called "Abundance."   You can now view Abundance on the Farmlink website at Farmlinkproject.org and on YouTube.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by director Beth Murphy to discuss the documentary film and podcast "Our Turn to Talk," which will kick off the 11th annual Boston International Kids Film Festival on November 10.  The "Our Turn to Talk" multi-media initiative focuses on teenagers who say they’re the generation to put an end to mental health stigma. To do it, they’re telling their own stories – raw and unfiltered. From skyrocketing rates of anxiety and depression to the impacts of racial and intergenerational trauma, these teens share their struggles and triumphs and carry a powerful message: Storytelling saves lives. A little later in the episode, Michael chats with Laura Azevedo, the director of the BIKFF--and his sister--about what attendees can expect to see and experience at this year’s festival. Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

On this episode, host Michael Azevedo welcomes back filmmaker Paula Apsell to discuss her new documentary, "Resistance: They Fought Back".   Paula’s film is a vivid refutation of the inaccurate idea that during the Holocaust, the Jews of Europe meekly submitted to Nazi atrocities, like so-called lambs to the slaughter.    Told by survivors, their children, and scholars from the U.S. Israel, and Europe, the film reveals how the Jews fought back, uncovering evidence of non-violent methods which served as crucial tools of resistance and evolved into Jewish armed revolts in ghettos, forests and death camps.    Today, almost eighty years after the Holocaust, this story remains largely unknown to the general public. Without it, Paula believes, our understanding of this genocide, which wiped out two-thirds of European Jewry, remains incomplete, giving rise to renewed antisemitism, hatred, and denial of the Holocaust itself.   Paula Apsell spent 35 years as the Senior Executive Producer of the PBS NOVA science series responsible for more than 650 documentaries about the sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine and which won every major broadcasting award including the Emmy; the Peabody; and an Academy Award nomination for Special Effects. She has been recognized with numerous individual awards including the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Emmy of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Currently she is CEO of Leading Edge Productions.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead 

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is documentary filmmaker Sonia Kennebeck to discuss her latest film, "Reality Winner", a documentary that presents the incredible true story of Reality Winner in her own words. Filmed over five years, this is the only documentary about the young NSA whistleblower who exposed Russian interference in U.S. elections - and went to jail for it.    With exclusive access to Reality Winner and the media outlet involved in her arrest, this film also reveals FBI evidence never before released. Pointedly, the film poses the question: Would you risk your freedom to protect democracy?   Sonia Kennebeck is an independent documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist with more than 15 years of directing and producing experience. She has directed eight television documentaries and more than 50 investigative reports.   Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting media makers from across the creative spectrum. From providing fiscal sponsorship to presenting an array of informative and educational programs, Filmmakers Collaborative supports creatives at every step in their journey.   About the host: www.writevoicecreative.com and https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-azevedo/   Sound Engineer: A.J. Kierstead