The No Film School Podcast

When Israeli journalist Maya Zinshtein took on a four-day assignment to cover the arrival of two foreign players to a local soccer club, she had no idea that it would turn into a year-long making of a feature documentary that dramatically reveals the skeletons in her own country’s closet. But this was no ordinary soccer team—and this is certainly not your average sports documentary. The team at the center of the film is Beitar Jerusalem, which had been historically known for the right wing politics and even racist tendencies of its fan base. In fact, It was the only team in Israel’s premier league never to sign an Arab player. When two Muslim players from Chechnya were brought onto the team, the resulting backlash exposed the ugliest parts of Israeli society, and threatened to tear the team and country apart. Rarely does a documentary—especially about something as apparently innocuous as soccer—expose so many layers of one society, from race to class to politics to economics. But it didn’t come without Zinshtein’s own battles. In her conversation with No Film School's Liz Nord, she is very candid about how she overcame the challenges she faced making the film, especially in trying to convince people to let her turn vérité cameras on them in the midst of personal and national crises. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder jump into fall festival season with reports from Venice, Telluride, and TIFF. We also share some positive financial news for indies against the backdrop of the summer blockbuster fail. For her very last episode ever, Emily shares a compendium of all the best filmmaking advice she's received from dozens of interviews with groundbreaking filmmakers. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the world's highest capacity microSD card, and answers a pressing Ask No Film School question about lens adapters and flange focal distance. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Making a short should be an easy thing, right? That’s what No Film School Producer/Editor Jon Fusco thought when he decided he would finally shoot his own. He was wrong. Making any film, no matter the length is certain to be an ordeal. In both pre-production and on set, many more things are bound to go wrong than right. Fusco sits down with award-winning short director Hughes William Thompson to discuss some of the more common struggles first-time filmmakers face and the steps that you can take to ensure your production goes as smooth as possible. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Charles Haine reveal the best anamorphic lens test we've ever seen and ponder the future of indie stalwart Fox Searchlight. We also discuss how one actor is proving that Hollywood really can change how it does casting, and say a sad goodbye to influential horror director Tobe Hooper. In gear news, we discuss ShareGrid's comprehensive new anamorphic lens test, and Charles answers an Ask No Film School question about how to best pull off a multi-user workflow in post-production. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Janicza Bravo and actor Brett Gelman were 'covered in blood' while trying to get their film ‘LEMON’ made, but now it's theatrically released by Magnolia Pictures. The pair are rising stars in both TV and independent film—she directed a Sundance-winning short and an episode of Emmy-winning ‘Atlanta’ and he has appeared in dozens of shows and his own Adult Swim comedy specials—but ‘LEMON’ was born out of the same creative frustrations and anxiety that plague the rest of us. The real-life married couple co-wrote the film, which Janicza directed. In it, Brett plays Isaac, a bit of an unlikable sad sack in the middle of one of life’s downward spirals. In this episode, No Film School’s Liz Nord sits down with the couple on the night before the film's New York premiere, and they share very candid details about the six-year struggle to get the film made, how they overcame each hurdle, and how the industry actually works. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder discuss the CineFamily controversy that's shaking up LA's underground film scene, how much cash exactly is made by the films of top-grossing indie directors, and an update on last week's record-breaking story about whether or not MoviePass will mean the end of theater-going as we know it. We also say sad goodbyes to editor Eric Zumbrunnen, comedian and filmmaker Jerry Lewis, and the print edition of the Village Voice. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the death of Final Cut 7, and answers an Ask No Film School question about how to create a fog effect in your film. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The reigning families of modern American movies are household names: the Coppolas, the Gyllenhaals, the Afflecks. But what about the Kaufmans? If you are a filmmaker, they have very likely affected your life.  Dad is Lloyd Kaufman, creator of the Toxic Avenger and king of B-movies, whose independent studio Troma Entertainment has produced and distributed more than 1,000 films. Mom is Pat Swinney Kaufman, who was the deputy film commissioner for New York State for 20 years. Their daughter is Lisbeth Kaufman, co-founder of KitSplit, which is now the biggest online camera rental company. Liz Nord speaks with the family and between the three of them, there’s a veritable treasure trove of industry gold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco, and Emily Buder ponder whether or not cameras have reached peak resolution, and debate the merits of MoviePass’s new plan to let you see unlimited movies in theaters for $10 a month. We also discuss Facebook's aim to become the new YouTube and Apple's billion-dollar content investment. I answer an Ask No Film School question about what the heck to do with your short film once it's finished, and we hear from the Safdie Brothers about their new film ‘Good Time’, which opens in theaters this week. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The quality of this summer’s offering of independent films has just been utterly ridiculous. There have already been so many new voices, new perspectives, and unique stories hitting the big screen and now we can add Matt Spicer’s Ingrid Goes West to the list as yet another standout title. The film, which earned the coveted Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance follows Ingrid Thorburn, an unhinged social media stalker, frenetically brought to life by Aubrey Plaza, who moves to LA in an attempt to make friends with her latest obsession, the boho-chic social media influencer, Taylor Sloane, a character that’s oh-so convincingly played by Elizabeth Olson. Even with a hilarious cast and chuckle-worthy premise, it's hard to call Ingrid Goes West a comedy, in the truest sense of the word, because, well, it is really, really, creepy. The disturbing tone carefully planted beneath the film's shimmering Los Angeles foreground will stick with you long after you've left the theater.  For Spicer, who penned the film along with David Branson Smith, this was the culmination of a ten-year journey from screenwriter to director. He joins us this week to discuss the steps he took to make this film happen, the pros and cons of social media’s new role in the film industry, and how making a film is the only thing that can ever really prepare you for making a film. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Indie Film Weekly, No Film School co-hosts Liz Nord, Jon Fusco,and Emily Buder discuss two new and very different industry studies: one about the use of swear words in movies, and the other about the future of the documentary film industry. We also talk about the new President of the Academy of Motion Pictures, updates from the Locarno, TIFF and NYFF festivals, and Netflix’s first acquisition of another company. Charles Haine joins us for gear news, including the Panasonic EVA-1 specs and an embarrassing moment for Apple. Charles also answers an Ask No Film School question about how to assess and buy tripods in a range of budgets. As always, we also bring you the latest gear news, upcoming grant and festival deadlines, new indie film releases, weekly words of industry wisdom, and other notable things you might have missed while you were busy making films. You can see all the links from this show in this week’s podcast post at nofilmschool.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices