Filming Action Underwater - Award-winning DP IAN SEABROOK on Batman v Superman, Jungle Cruise, Deadpool 2 - Highlights

Filming Action Underwater - Award-winning DP IAN SEABROOK on Batman v Superman, Jungle Cruise, Deadpool 2 - Highlights

Award-Winning Underwater Director of Photography

It’s about leaving the planet in a better condition than it is currently. What you’re witnessing is years of neglect. It’s the humans who have screwed it all up, and the warming of the earth is no different. The oceans are changing. The topography is changing. Mussels are being fried when the tides recede. This is all unnatural. Or maybe it’s natural. I think it’s Mother Nature just being pissed off and saying, “This is what you get.” And so it’s up to everyone to change their ways. Their shopping habits, their eating habits, how much gas they use. All that stuff which people think “that can’t affect anything.” Well, you’re seeing the result of it now

IAN SEABROOK - Underwater Cinematographer of Batman v Superman, Deadpool 2, & Jungle Cruise starring Dwayne Johnson

IAN SEABROOK - Underwater Cinematographer of Batman v Superman, Deadpool 2, & Jungle Cruise starring Dwayne Johnson

Award-Winning Underwater Director of Photography

It’s about leaving the planet in a better condition than it is currently. What you’re witnessing is years of neglect. It’s the humans who have screwed it all up, and the warming of the earth is no different. The oceans are changing. The topography is changing. Mussels are being fried when the tides recede. This is all unnatural. Or maybe it’s natural. I think it’s Mother Nature just being pissed off and saying, “This is what you get.” And so it’s up to everyone to change their ways. Their shopping habits, their eating habits, how much gas they use. All that stuff which people think “that can’t affect anything.” Well, you’re seeing the result of it now

Feminist Perspectives in Performance & Art with MICOL HEBRON - Highlights

Feminist Perspectives in Performance & Art with MICOL HEBRON - Highlights

Interdisciplinary Artist, Curator & Feminist Activist

Now I think we’re in another culture war. I think we’re in, as we see the realm of cancel culture in social media and this very polarising war between the liberal left and the conservative right. I think that we’re in another culture and a lot of it is centering around gender and race. If you look at what’s happened to black women athletes in the last couples of months, the censuring of their bodies either because of hormones in the case of Caster Semenya or Naomi Osaka, there’s a lot of ways that our society has found to police black bodies for being too exceptional in a lot of ways. For performing in exceptional ways, and the white patriarchy doesn’t like to see that because it starts to diminish their power.


MICOL HEBRON - Interdisciplinary Artist, Curator & Feminist Activist

MICOL HEBRON - Interdisciplinary Artist, Curator & Feminist Activist

Interdisciplinary Artist, Curator & Feminist Activist

Now I think we’re in another culture war. I think we’re in, as we see the realm of cancel culture in social media and this very polarising war between the liberal left and the conservative right. I think that we’re in another culture and a lot of it is centering around gender and race. If you look at what’s happened to black women athletes in the last couples of months, the censuring of their bodies either because of hormones in the case of Caster Semenya or Naomi Osaka, there’s a lot of ways that our society has found to police black bodies for being too exceptional in a lot of ways. For performing in exceptional ways, and the white patriarchy doesn’t like to see that because it starts to diminish their power.


Alice Brooks - Cinematographer of In The Heights, Tick, Tick…Boom!…- Highlights

Alice Brooks - Cinematographer of In The Heights, Tick, Tick…Boom!…- Highlights

Award-winning Cinematographer
In The Heights, Tick, Tick…Boom!

There’s this children’s book called Miss Rumphius, and I’ve carried it around with me my entire life. It’s about a woman who grandfather tells her three things, and the last one is the most difficult thing of all and that’s to fill the world with beauty. And I give this book to every one of my friends who are having babies, I have a copy with me almost at all times, and I’m reminded of that feeling that Jonathan Larson had in Tick, Tick…Boom! Of how much time do we have to do something great.

ALICE BROOKS - Cinematographer of In The Heights, Tick, Tick…Boom!…

ALICE BROOKS - Cinematographer of In The Heights, Tick, Tick…Boom!…

Award-winning Cinematographer
In The Heights, Tick, Tick…Boom!

There’s this children’s book called Miss Rumphius, and I’ve carried it around with me my entire life. It’s about a woman who grandfather tells her three things, and the last one is the most difficult thing of all and that’s to fill the world with beauty. And I give this book to every one of my friends who are having babies, I have a copy with me almost at all times, and I’m reminded of that feeling that Jonathan Larson had in Tick, Tick…Boom! Of how much time do we have to do something great.

Championing Gender Equality in Hollywood: TEMA STAIG, ALLISON VANORE - Women in Media - Highlights

Championing Gender Equality in Hollywood: TEMA STAIG, ALLISON VANORE - Women in Media - Highlights

Tema Staig · Women in Media Executive Director & Art Director
Allison Vanore · WIM Secretary & Emmy-Winning Producer of After Forever

I started Women in Media in 2010 as a sort of community group. We talked about women above and below the line because there weren’t any organizations or conversations really happening about women in the below the line positions, meaning women in the crew who are in the camera, art, grip and electronics departments. There were only conversations happening about more women directors and, being a scenic artist and production designer, I knew that there are so many women in the crew and there’s only one director. So if we only aimed for one, we would never get to parity and there would never be room like myself who wanted to advance from these crew positions.

Women in Media - Exec. Director & Art Director TEMA STAIG & ALLISON VANORE - Emmy-Winning Producer

Women in Media - Exec. Director & Art Director TEMA STAIG & ALLISON VANORE - Emmy-Winning Producer

Tema Staig · Women in Media Executive Director & Art Director
Allison Vanore · WIM Secretary & Emmy-Winning Producer of After Forever

I started Women in Media in 2010 as a sort of community group. We talked about women above and below the line because there weren’t any organizations or conversations really happening about women in the below the line positions, meaning women in the crew who are in the camera, art, grip and electronics departments. There were only conversations happening about more women directors and, being a scenic artist and production designer, I knew that there are so many women in the crew and there’s only one director. So if we only aimed for one, we would never get to parity and there would never be room like myself who wanted to advance from these crew positions.

Academy Award Nominee BENH ZEITLIN on Directing Beasts of the Southern Wild & Wendy

Academy Award Nominee BENH ZEITLIN on Directing Beasts of the Southern Wild & Wendy

Writer, Director & Composer

I think it goes to this feeling of freedom, looking how freedom changes as you grow, being a very particular type of freedom that children have just by the nature of not having learned what the rules are. As we grow, we start to limit what we believe is possible. When you’re a kid, there isn’t a delineation between this is real, and this is my imagination. It’s all real. That’s your life experience.

Writer, Director ETGAR KERET on Dreams, Memory & Writing as a Healing Process - Highlights

Writer, Director ETGAR KERET on Dreams, Memory & Writing as a Healing Process - Highlights

Writer and Director

When I compare novelists to short story writers or very short story writers, I can’t compare them, but one thing for sure, the purpose is different. I think that someone who writes tries to create or document a world. And when you write very short fiction you try to document a motion, some kind of movement.

Writer/Filmmaker ETGAR KERET: A Voice for Humanity, Culture & Creativity

Writer/Filmmaker ETGAR KERET: A Voice for Humanity, Culture & Creativity

Writer and Director

When I compare novelists to short story writers or very short story writers, I can’t compare them, but one thing for sure, the purpose is different. I think that someone who writes tries to create or document a world. And when you write very short fiction you try to document a motion, some kind of movement.

Tony Award Winner JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY on The Normal Heart, The Big C & Beyond - Highlights

Tony Award Winner JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY on The Normal Heart, The Big C & Beyond - Highlights

Actor and Director

If you are thinking about too much, you're probably not doing it right. Some nights you do it and you're just like, that just felt like it was ten minutes long and I just was on cloud nine. What was I doing? A great, great American actor George C. Scott had a great quote once, he said, "Every actor worth their salt has one good show a week and spends those other seven shows wondering what they did that made them so good that night." And nobody knows. If you could figure that out and if you could bottle that then, of course, everybody could do it.

JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY - Tony & Obie Award-Winning Actor & Director

JOHN BENJAMIN HICKEY - Tony & Obie Award-Winning Actor & Director

Actor and Director

I've been so fortunate to work with such great actors over the years. Laura Linney, Joe Mantello and the entire company of The Normal Heart, Nathan Lane, who I consider one of my great educators. He was a real mentor to me. He was such a professional and he was so devoted to the character and worked tirelessly to make the character in the show as good as it could possibly be. Nathan never ever did it sitting down. He's always full steam ahead and there was a great lesson in that for me to watch somebody's work ethic. It taught me my work ethic.

Behind the Scenes: From 'Get Out' to 'The Luminaries' w/ Australian Cinematographer of the Year DENSON BAKER - Highlights

Behind the Scenes: From 'Get Out' to 'The Luminaries' w/ Australian Cinematographer of the Year DENSON BAKER - Highlights

Australian Cinematographer of the Year (ACS), Denson Baker’s credits include the feature film Ophelia starring Daisy Ridley & Naomi Watts, Measure of a Man with Donald Sutherland, Judy Greer and Luke Wilson, The Luminaries with Eva Green and Eve Hewson, and Domina with Kasia Smutniak and Isabella Rossellini, and the opening and final scenes of Jordan Peele's Academy Award winning Get Out.

Behind the Scenes at The Luminaries courtesy of Denson Baker

DENSON BAKER

One of the first things that we did when we did when we arrived in New Zealand to start pre-production was to travel to some of the actual locations where the story is set. One of them is Hokitika on the West Coast of the south island of New Zealand. And we discovered there’s an absolutely fantastic very small but a little museum that was full of so much incredible archival photography that you could not find searching the internet and the imagery just inspired so many thoughts and ideas and design. What was really interesting is it’s so unique to New Zealand.

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Anja Westhues. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown. 

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Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.

Australian Cinematographer of the Year DENSON BAKER on Creating Visual Narratives

Australian Cinematographer of the Year DENSON BAKER on Creating Visual Narratives

Australian Cinematographer of the Year (ACS), Denson Baker’s credits include the feature film Ophelia starring Daisy Ridley & Naomi Watts, Measure of a Man with Donald Sutherland, Judy Greer and Luke Wilson, The Luminaries with Eva Green and Eve Hewson, and Domina with Kasia Smutniak and Isabella Rossellini, and the opening and final scenes of Jordan Peele's Academy Award winning Get Out.

Behind the Scenes at The Luminaries courtesy of Denson Baker

DENSON BAKER

One of the first things that we did when we did when we arrived in New Zealand to start pre-production was to travel to some of the actual locations where the story is set. One of them is Hokitika on the West Coast of the south island of New Zealand. And we discovered there’s an absolutely fantastic very small but a little museum that was full of so much incredible archival photography that you could not find searching the internet and the imagery just inspired so many thoughts and ideas and design. What was really interesting is it’s so unique to New Zealand.

This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Anja Westhues. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown. 

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Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.

From Edward Scissorhands to The Addams Family - CAROLINE THOMPSON - Screenwriter & Novelist - Highlights

From Edward Scissorhands to The Addams Family - CAROLINE THOMPSON - Screenwriter & Novelist - Highlights

Award-Winning Screenwriter & Novelist

Tim Burton had just Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. He was at some point in the making of Beetlejuice. Our agency didn’t know what to do with either of us with our off-kilter sensibility, so they introduced us, and we immediately felt a kinship and became friends. It was pretty clear from pretty early on that we wanted to work together. We threw out ideas. Among the ideas we talked about Tim mentioned to me a drawing he had made in high school of a character who had scissors instead of hands. And I said, ‘Stop right there!; First of all, this may surprise you, it was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard in my life, so I knew it was brilliant. It was so simple and so stupid and such an obvious metaphor, I knew that it had power beyond belief. I said, ‘Stop, I know exactly what to do with that!’

Horror, Fantasy & the Art of Screenwriting with CAROLINE THOMPSON

Horror, Fantasy & the Art of Screenwriting with CAROLINE THOMPSON

Award-Winning Screenwriter & Novelist

Tim Burton had just Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. He was at some point in the making of Beetlejuice. Our agency didn’t know what to do with either of us with our off-kilter sensibility, so they introduced us, and we immediately felt a kinship and became friends. It was pretty clear from pretty early on that we wanted to work together. We threw out ideas. Among the ideas we talked about Tim mentioned to me a drawing he had made in high school of a character who had scissors instead of hands. And I said, ‘Stop right there!; First of all, this may surprise you, it was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard in my life, so I knew it was brilliant. It was so simple and so stupid and such an obvious metaphor, I knew that it had power beyond belief. I said, ‘Stop, I know exactly what to do with that!’

From Siracusa to You've Got Mail with Author, Screenwriter, Producer DELIA EPHRON

From Siracusa to You've Got Mail with Author, Screenwriter, Producer DELIA EPHRON

Author, Screenwriter and Producer

So the great thing about being a writer is you can take the pain of your life and make something out of it. And you can mix it up with the happier parts and make something even better out of it. I mean, it's kind of all these things end up being gifts when you're older.

The Mysterious World of Lemony Snicket: Daniel Handler on Storytelling for All Ages - Highlights

The Mysterious World of Lemony Snicket: Daniel Handler on Storytelling for All Ages - Highlights

Writer

I think what is most exciting is that it is a very passionate readership. You never love a book the way you love a book when you are ten. And I think to be a part of that sacred space and that kind of sacred exchange between a reader and literature is very exciting.

A Series of Unfortunate Events author Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler on The Art of Writing

A Series of Unfortunate Events author Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler on The Art of Writing

Writer

I think what is most exciting is that it is a very passionate readership. You never love a book the way you love a book when you are ten. And I think to be a part of that sacred space and that kind of sacred exchange between a reader and literature is very exciting.