Writer-director Adam McKay is known for his Will Ferrell comedies like Anchorman and Talladega Nights. He’s gone a different direction with The Big Short, and now the film about the 2008 financial collapse is up for five Oscars. 

Director Lenny Abrahamson didn’t expect author Emma Donoghue would choose him to make a film based on her bestselling novel Room. Abrahamson tells us how he made his pitch to Donoghue -- and she explains why it worked.

First-time director László Nemes knew it would be tough to find funding for his intensely realistic Holocaust film, but he had no idea the level of resistance he'd face. He tells us how he went from having the movie no one wanted to touch to being a Cannes darling and Oscar contender.

Filmmaker Andrew Haigh had a difficult time funding his first film, a small indie drama called Weekend. When that movie charmed critics, everything changed. He tells us about his new film 45 Years.

Kim Masters, Michael Schneider of TV Guide Magazine and Matthew Belloni of the Hollywood Reporter, join forces for a 2015 year-in-review. They take on the year of the woman (or not), the fight over the future of Viacom, feast or famine at the box office, peak TV and more.

Rapper, actor and producer Ice Cube long hoped to make a movie about N.W.A., the hip hop group that gave him his start. Straight Outta Compton faced hurdles and backlash but that was no surprise to Cube. He tells us how he finally got the story to the screen.

Creed director Ryan Coogler wasn't even born when most of the Rocky movies were made, but he fell in love with the franchise thanks to his father. Coogler tells us how he went from football player to filmmaker, and how he convinced Sylvester Stallone to go another round with Creed.

Bill Pohlad has spent the past decade producing award-winners like Brokeback Mountain and 12 Years a Slave. With Love & Mercy, a unique Brian Wilson bio-pic, he comes back to directing after a 24 year hiatus.

KCRW's Saul Gonzalez checks in on the headshot -- still a staple of the industry despite changing technology. And executive producer Betsy Beers tells us why she's sick of talking about diversity and how an all-woman producing duo locked down Thursday nights on ABC.

Despite a shrinking budget and difficult subject matter, director Tom McCarthy pulled together a stellar ensemble including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams to portray the unglamorous work of investigative reporting for his new movie Spotlight.