The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Jonathan Baker and Josh Baker discusses their film, Kin, with fellow director James Ponsoldt. Based on the Baker brothers' 2014 short film Bag Man, the film tells the story of an ex-con named Jimmy and his adopted teenage brother Eli, who are forced to flee their home after Jimmy lands in trouble with a local crime boss. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Oct2018/Kin_QnA_0918.aspx

Director Daniel Adams discusses his film, An LA Minute, with fellow director Bill Fishman. In a satirical look at fame, the film tells the story of Ted Gold, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who gave up being a serious writer to cash in by penning trashy bestsellers, His world is shaken when he meets Velocity, a young beautiful and homeless performance artist, whose passion and integrity inspires him to follow her example. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Oct2018/AnLAMinute_QnA_0818.aspx

Director Rob Reiner discusses his film, Shock and Awe, with fellow director Jeremy Kagan. Based on a true story, the film takes us back to the time after 9/11 when the Bush-Cheney administration claimed that then-President of Iraq Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, during their push to ramp up support for the invasion of Iraq. However, journalists at the Knight-Ridder news agency were skeptical of the evidence and stayed in pursuit of the real story while their colleagues mistakenly fed the American people news based on faulty and fabricated intelligence. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Sept2018/ShocknAwe_QnA_0818.aspx

Director Eugene Jarecki discusses his film, The King, with fellow director Marilyn Agrelo. The King explores the legacy of Elvis Presley forty years after his death by taking viewers on a musical road trip across America in his 1963 Rolls Royce during the 2016 presidential election. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Sept2018/NYDocSeries_TheKing.aspx

Director Jon M. Chu discusses his film, Crazy Rich Asians, with fellow director Jon Turteltaub. Adapted from the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, the film tells the story of Rachel, an American-born Chinese professor, who travels to Singapore to accompany her boyfriend Nick to his best friend's wedding. She soon discovers that Nick is from a family so wealthy that he is considered one of the most eligible bachelors in Asia, which puts a target on Rachel's back as she meets his family and attempts to navigate his ultra-rarefied social class. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Oct2018/0818_QnA_CrazyRichAsians.aspx

Director Spike Lee discusses his film, BlacKkKlansman, with fellow director John Singleton. Set in the early 1970s amid the ongoing struggle for civil rights, the film tells the true story of Ron Stallworth, the first African-American detective on the Colorado Springs Police Department. Ron's arrival is greeted with skepticism and open hostility by the department's rank and file, but he soon makes a name for himself with a dangerous undercover mission to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Oct2018/BlacKkKlansman_QnA_0818.aspx

Director Rawson Marshall Thurber discusses his film, Skyscraper, with fellow director Joe Carnahan. The film tells the story of Will Sawyer, a U.S. war veteran who now assesses security for skyscrapers. When the tallest building in the world is set ablaze, Will finds himself framed for the crime of arson. Now he must use all his skills to both clear his name and rescue his family who are trapped inside the burning structure. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Sept2018/Skyscraper_QnA_0718.aspx

Director Shana Feste discusses her film, Boundaries, with fellow director Jake Kasdan. The film tells the story of Laura, a single mother who always puts the needs of others before her own. When her pot-dealing, carefree father Jack is kicked out of yet another nursing home, Laura agrees to drive him to Los Angeles to live with her sister Jojo. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Aug2018/Boundaries_QnA_0618.aspx

Director Lauren Greenfield discusses her film, Generation Wealth, with fellow director Marina Zenovich. The film continues Ms. Greenfield's examination of wealth culture and the pathologies that have created the richest society the world has ever seen by examining materialism, celebrity culture, and social status.

Director Jim McKay discusses his film with fellow director Rebecca Miller. The film examines the plight of undocumented immigrants by focusing in on a pivotal week in the life of Jose, a delivery man who works long hours six days a week trying to survive and make it in America.