

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast
Directors Guild of America
Brought to you by the Directors Guild of America, ”The Director’s Cut” will bring you the behind-the-scenes stories of today’s most talked about films. Each episode features a different director interviewed by one of their peers, leading to revealing conversations about the grueling, but rewarding process of bringing their films to life.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 20, 2018 • 32min
Mid90s with Jonah Hill and Bennett Miller (Ep. 165)
Director Jonah Hill discusses his film, Mid90s, with fellow director Bennett Miller. The film follows thirteen-year-old Stevie, who spends summer in 90s-era LA navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/Mid90s_QnA_1018.aspx

Oct 20, 2018 • 40min
A Star Is Born with Bradley Cooper and Jason Bateman (Ep. 164)
Director Bradley Cooper discusses his film, A Star is Born, with fellow director Jason Bateman. The film features Cooper as a seasoned musician who falls in love with a struggling singer and actress named Ally, played by Lady Gaga.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/AStarIsBorn_QnA_1018.aspx

Oct 12, 2018 • 32min
Bad Times at The El Royale with Drew Goddard and Matt Reeves (Ep. 163)
Director Drew Goddard discusses his film, Bad Times at the El Royale, with fellow director Matt Reeves. The film follows seven strangers who meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. As secrets come out and lives are entangled over the course of one night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/BadTimes_QnA_1018.aspx

Oct 12, 2018 • 35min
First Man with Damien Chazelle and Darren Aronofsky (Ep. 162)
Director Damien Chazelle discusses his film, First Man, with fellow director Darren Aronofsky. The film tells the riveting stories of NASA's mission to land the first human being on the moon, and of Neil Armstrong, the astronaut chosen to make the one small step for man and giant leap for mankind on July 20, 1969.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/FIRSTMAN_QnA_1018.aspx

Oct 5, 2018 • 33min
Private Life with Tamara Jenkins and Mike White (Ep. 161)
Director Tamara Jenkins discusses her film, Private Life, with fellow director Mike White. The film stars Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti as a couple struggling to conceive who undergo multiple fertility therapies. But the process of trying to add to their family challenges their relationship with each other as they descend deeper and deeper into the world of assisted reproduction and domestic adoption.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/PrivateLife_QnA_0918.aspx

Oct 5, 2018 • 32min
Life Itself with Dan Fogelman and Ron Howard (Ep. 160)
Director Dan Fogelman discusses his film, Life Itself, with fellow director Ron Howard. The film centers on the story of a young New York couple who experience unexpected twists in their journey from their college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, creating reverberations that echo across continents and through lifetimes.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/LifeItself_QnA_0918.aspx

Sep 28, 2018 • 43min
White Boy Rick with Yann Demange and John Singleton (Ep. 159)
Director Yann Demange discusses his film, White Boy Rick, with fellow director John Singleton. Set during the height of the crack epidemic and the War on Drugs in 1980s Detroit, the film tells the true story of Rick Wershe, Jr., a teenager who was convinced by federal agents to become an undercover drug informant in exchange for keeping his gun dealing father out prison. Seduced by the lure of easy money, he gets in too deep and becomes a notorious drug dealer himself.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/WhiteBoyRick_QnA_0918.aspx

Sep 28, 2018 • 27min
The Land of Steady Habits with Nicole Holofcener and Greg Mottola (Ep. 158)
Director Nicole Holofcener discusses her film, The Land of Steady Habits, with fellow director Greg Mottola. The film tells the story of Anders Hill, a man who feels trapped in the wealthy enclave of Westport, Connecticut. Seeking to renew his lust for life, he quits his job in finance and leaves his wife and family, but is quickly confronted with the harsh reality of his choices.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/LandOHabits_QnA_0918.aspx

Sep 21, 2018 • 26min
Colette with Wash Westmoreland and Scott McGehee (Ep. 157)
Director Wash Westmoreland discusses his film, Colette, with fellow director Scott McGehee. Set in the dawn of 20th century, the film tells the story of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, a talented young writer who moves from her childhood home to Paris after she weds a writer known commonly as "Willy." Convinced by Willy to ghostwrite for him, Colette pens a bestselling semi-autobiographical novel that becomes a cultural sensation and spawns sequels. But her fight to regain creative ownership drives her to overcome societal constraints and challenge gender roles.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Nov2018/Colette_QnA_0918.aspx

Sep 21, 2018 • 44min
Blaze with Ethan Hawke and John Patrick Shanley (Ep. 156)
Director Ethan Hawke discusses his film, Blaze, with fellow director John Patrick Shanley. Adapted from Sybil Rosen's memoir, Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze, the film tells the story of Blaze Foley, a songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw music movement that spawned superstars like Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson.
See photos and a summary of this event below:
https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Oct2018/Blaze_QnA_0918.aspx