Film Stories with Simon Brew

It's a Martin Scorsese special episode of the Film Stories podcast, kicking off with the tale behind 1980's immense Raging Bull. This is the film the Scorsese for a long time didn't want to make, but Robert De Niro did. It was also the film that involved some trading off with Rocky II to get the money to make in the first place. And it'd involve De Niro going to extreme lengths to get his Oscar-winning performance right. Martin Scorsese is also the subject of five-part Apple TV documentary series Mr Scorsese, that's been directed by Rebecca Miller. She joins Simon to chat about how the documentary came together, the five year path to getting it made, and nuns... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oscar-winner Edward Berger joins us for a very special episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew. The pair meet to chat about Edward's new release, Ballad Of A Small Player, starring Colin Farrell. And the chat also goes back to Edward's early years making films for German television, through to finding himself on the awards circuit with All Quiet On The Western Front and Conclave. As we'll discuss, not a bad journey for someone who took a huge gamble and turned down a safe job with Ang Lee's company... Ballad Of A Small Player is on Netflix now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was a bit of a bidding war when an upcoming writer called Kevin Williamson penned an idea called Scary Movie. It'd change its name to Scream a little way down the road, but having been inspired by a creepy night when he was housesitting, Williamson went with a lower offer, and the company most likely to actually make the film. The problem? Nobody wanted to direct Scream. At first, including the man who did. The brothers Strause meanwhile had huge successes in visual effects, and made their directorial debut with the, er, 'less successful' Aliens Vs Predator - Requiem. For their next film as directors? They wanted something they had more control over - Skyline - and it turned out it was really useful one of them had just bought a new apartment... Stories of both are told in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quite the story, this. Phil Johnston, in a special episode of Film Stories, takes us through his own tale, and how it led to a nomination at the Academy Awards. He and Simon chat through the struggles to get The Twits - an adaptation of Roald Dahl's book - off the ground, and how for a few weeks it all looked like it'd fallen apart. Plus, how he landed at Disney with Wreck-It Ralph, how Ralph Breaks The Interest earned him an Oscar nomination, and a bit of Cedar Rapids too... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a time travel theme to this latest episode of Film Stories with Simon Brew, starting with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Quite the story behind this, too. The distributor going bankrupt just as the movie was being finished, the year-long delay to its release, the audition that threw Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter together...? There's quite the story behind it all. In the early 2010s too, one interview ignited a whole conversation about a possible Doctor Who movie, around the era when Matt Smith was in the TARDIS. In theory, this would have been made in America, seperate to the TV show that was being put together in Wales. Things, er, went awry... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a very special episode of the Film Stories podcast, writer/producer/director David Zucker joins Simon for a conversation about his work. Amongst the films that come up in the chat? Airplane!, which is shortly getting as we'll hear an unusual director's cut, Top Secret!, the original The Naked Gun trilogy, My Big Fat Important Important (better known as An American Carol), Baseketball and more. Plus: a pair of books, bring excluded from the latest The Naked Gun film, trees, The Star Of Malta and a whole lot more. You can find David Zucker on social media at @TheDavidZucker, and you can find MasterCrash Comedy at www.mastercrash.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It started as a magazine article, and ended up as a global phenomenon. Yet the journey to 1986's Top Gun wasn't a straightforward one. You have cast members unsure if they wanted to commit and a studio that took a long time to decide it wanted the film. Then, director Tony Scott started shooting the movie in a way that, er, Paramount Pictures wasn't keen on. For the second half of this episode, it was a thrill to be joined by Embeth Davidtz. Primarily known for her acting work - and Matilda comes up! - she chats about writing and directing Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight, and the six year journey to get it to the screen. Plus, a bit on fonts, too... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Now here's a man with a whole bunch of stories. Malcolm McDowell joins the Film Stories podcast for a special episode, where we go through his stories. The conversation takes us from ITV's Crossroads to his latest release - The Partisan - which is in cinemas now (and on digital from 27th October.) We find out where Burscough comes into his life, there are stories about Peter Sellers, a bit of Michael Caine, and his work on The Partisan too... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first screen adaptation of The Running Man saw four different directors fired, the final director come in once filming had begun (while Arnold Schwarzenegger and his lycra were away from the set). Schwarzenegger would lament the final film, and Stephen King - who penned the original novel (as Richard Bachman) - wouldn't be hugely impressed either. But still: there's a reason it's still talked about today. In development for decades at Walt Disney Animation Studios, meanwhile, was an animated feature surrounding videogaming. Yet it took three attempts to get there, and some pretty complex negotiations too... Stories of both are told in this episode... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, where do you start? Michael Kurinsky is a man whose built a career that saw him drawing enormous pictures of The Beatles, to a dream of working for Warner Bros, to years with Disney, years with Sony Pictures Animation, and then the jump to the place he was in awe of. His Warner Bros experience saw him working on the film Scoob!, and then he was offered his lifelong ambition: the director's chair. The film in question was Scoob! Holiday Haunt. The film was weeks away from completion when Michael saw a trade press article: his film was being effectively deleted, so Warner Bros could claim a tax rebate. Here, he tells his story. The longform version. It's not always easy, but it's a man whose career has some incredible stories in it, and a career moment nobody should have to go through... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices