
Rough Cut
Conversations with documentary filmmakers and video journalists about their creative process—successes, failures, and what they’ve learned along the way. Created by the global filmmaking collective The Video Consortium, Rough Cut is a guide to navigating today’s ever-changing media landscape.
Latest episodes

Apr 17, 2019 • 36min
Dan Berger: Film Distribution 101
What exactly does a film distributor do? And do filmmakers even need a distributor? Dan Berger, the president of Oscilloscope films answers all our burning questions about documentary film distribution—from what to do with a short doc, to what distribution companies are looking for in a film, to why certain films do better on Amazon than iTunes.http://oscilloscope.netFor more info on Rough Cut visit https://www.roughcutpodcast.com/Jennie Butler on Instagram @jen_butSky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram @skydylanrobbinsRough Cut on Instagram @roughcutpodcast

Apr 3, 2019 • 32min
Mickey Duzyj & Mona Panchal: How to Bounce Back from Failure
Mickey Duzyj is a sports illustrator and director living in upstate New York. His award-winning ESPN 30 for 30 short "The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere" was adapted in to the Netflix Docu-series, “Losers”, which premiered in March 2019. Mickey was the Director, Illustrator and an Executive Producer on "Losers".Mona Panchal is the Vice President of Digital at First Look Media, primarily focusing on producing non-fiction programming for Topic Studios. She produced “The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere" and was an Executive Producer on “Losers”.For more info on Rough Cut visit https://www.roughcutpodcast.com/Jennie Butler on Instagram @jen_butSky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram @skydylanrobbinsRough Cut on Instagram @roughcutpodcast

Mar 20, 2019 • 38min
Nausheen Dadabhoy on Choosing the Right Team for your Film
Nausheen Dadabhoy is a Pakistani-American cinematographer from Southern California. She has been a Director of Photography on a handful of documentary features and spent 9 years making her own film, The Ground Beneath Their Feet.Nausheen was, at one time, the only female cinematographer in Pakistan, and she opens up about the challenges she faced working in a patriarchal environment. Nausheen also discusses why choosing the right collaborators and building a strong team is crucial to filmmaking.Learn more about Nausheen at http://www.dpdadabhoy.comFor more info on Rough Cut visit https://www.roughcutpodcast.com/Jennie Butler on Instagram @jen_butSky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram @skydylanrobbinsRough Cut on Instagram @roughcutpodcast

Mar 6, 2019 • 37min
Alexandria Bombach on how filmmakers should portray stories of trauma and why she edits her own films
Alexandria Bombach is a cinematographer, editor and director from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her feature-length documentary ON HER SHOULDERS follows Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi woman who survived genocide and sexual slavery by ISIS. Now free, Nadia must navigate the bureaucracy and fame of being a human rights figure.Bombach gives insight on how filmmakers and the media should portray stories of trauma. She also explains her decision to produce, shoot and edit all her own films.Follow Alexandria on Instagram @alexandriajbFor more info on Rough Cut visit https://www.roughcutpodcast.com/Jennie Butler on Instagram @jen_butSky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram @skydylanrobbinsRough Cut on Instagram @roughcutpodcast

Feb 20, 2019 • 36min
Jon Kasbe on shooting vs editing and what it's like to watch his own film in a theater
Jon Kasbe is a documentary filmmaker based in New York. His new film, When Lambs Become Lions won Best Editing in Tribeca Film Festival’s Documentary competition.Check out Jon’s work at https://jonkasbe.com/Learn more about When Lambs Become Lions at http://www.whenlambs.com/For more info on Rough Cut visit https://www.roughcutpodcast.com/Jennie Butler on Instagram @jen_butSky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram @skydylanrobbinsRough Cut on Instagram @roughcutpodcast

Jan 25, 2019 • 41min
Erin Lee Carr on how to pitch a documentary to HBO and lessons from her dad, David Carr
Erin Lee Carr is a New York-based director, producer and writer. Her debut film, Thought Crimes, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and Hot Docs in 2015 and aired on HBO that May. Her hit film Mommy Dead and Dearest had its world premiere at SXSW and Hot Docs Film Festival in 2017 and aired on HBO May 15, 2017. Variety named Erin one of 10 "documentarians to watch" in 2015, and she was included in Forbes 30 under 30 in media in 2018. Erin’s debut book “All That You Leave Behind” is set to be published June 2019. She is in post-production on a two-part HBO series about the Michelle Carter "murder by texting" scandal as well as for her fourth feature “At The Heart of Gold.”Follow Erin on Instagram @erinleecarrFor more info on Rough Cut visit https://www.roughcutpodcast.com/Jennie Butler on Instagram @jen_butSky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram @skydylanrobbinsRough Cut on Instagram @roughcutpodcast

Jan 25, 2019 • 32min
Spencer Chumbley on shooting in war zones and the benefits of being self-taught
Spencer Chumbley is a freelance non-fiction cinematographer and producer focused on news and documentary. He has extensive field experience working in hostile and sensitive environments for production focused on human rights, conflict and social justice. In 2018, segments Chumbley filmed for VICE News Tonight on HBO were nominated for the News and Documentary Emmy Awards. He was a segment director of photography for the program's coverage of Libya - nominated for Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a Newscast. Additionally he was a contributing cinematographer for their news special "The Inauguration of Donald Trump" nominated for Outstanding News Special.Follow Spencer on Instagram @spencerchumbleyFor more info on Rough Cut visit https://www.roughcutpodcast.com/Jennie Butler on Instagram @jen_butSky Dylan-Robbins on Instagram @skydylanrobbinsRough Cut on Instagram @roughcutpodcast