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PODCAST

Making Media Now

Filmmakers Collaborative

Making Media Now, presented by Filmmakers Collaborative and hosted by Michael Azevedo, is a podcast dedicated to presenting informative and enlightening conversations with creators of all stripes--filmmakers, writers, directors, editors, technical experts--about their process, their vision, their joys and challenges. Listen in to meet visionaries crafting media in a range of genres and for the full spectrum of distribution platforms.

tv & film film interviews

All Episodes

62:01

"Hard Hat Riot" Foreshadows The Splintering of America

Making Media Now ·

2025/09/24

On May 8, 1970, “the Hard Hat Riot” erupted in lower Manhattan. At midday, construction workers, including those building the World Trade Center, violently clashed with students demonstrating against the Vietnam War. Workmen saw the protesting students as privileged “draft dodgers” disparaging the country and those who fought for it. On the other side, many student activists saw the workers as pawns, unwilling to see the changes that America needed. On this episode, host Michael Azevedo speaks

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66:39

Andy DeMeo's "Granite Goodness": News Stories of...

Making Media Now ·

2025/09/12

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Andy DeMeo, the creator and host of the Granite Goodness podcast and Substack newsletter.Andy has a belief that most news thrives on outrage, fear, and conflict. And he created "Granite Goodness" in order to take a different approach. The podcast and newsletter highlights what Andy calls real progress happening across New England in science, tech, sustainability, business, economics, infrastructure, and more. It’s Andy’s contention that when

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46:17

Rob Spera Wrote the "Anti-Textbook" of Film & TV...

Making Media Now ·

2025/09/05

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by veteran film and television director Rob Spera.Rob’s been on the faculty at the American Film Institute for over 20 years. His feature films include The Sweet Life, Fathers and Sons, and the cult classic Leprechaun in the Hood. His numerous television credits include Criminal Minds, Supernatural, Suspect Behavior, and Army Wives. During four seasons as Resident Director at the Tony award-winning Actors Theatre of Louisville, he directed over 75

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40:19

"Make A Circle" Shines a Light on the Joys &...

Making Media Now ·

2025/08/27

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Jen Bradwell and Todd Boekelheide, the married co-directors of "Make A Circle," a new documentary that offers a rare, inside look at the lives of child care providers and early educators — the backbone of a child care system on the brink.The film premieres Monday, September 1 streaming nationally on PBS.org, the PBS app and on PBS TV stations (check local listings) across the country. As Jen Bradwell says: “Make A Circle is a love letter to

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43:34

"Free Land for Free People": Jonathan Berman Presents...

Making Media Now ·

2025/08/18

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Jonathan Berman, director of the newly restored documentary "Commune." Originally released in 2005, the film has been newly restored with vibrant sound and picture quality and is currently making the rounds at movie houses across the US. Commune chronicles the story of Black Bear Ranch, launched in 1968 with help from luminaries like The Doors, Frank Zappa, and The Monkees. This abandoned goldmine transformed into a hub for radical living, fueled by

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12:58

A Brief Update on the State of Public Media

Making Media Now ·

2025/08/05

Here's a brief update on the current status of public media.In short: it ain’t good. If you’re a regular listener to MMN, you probably know that over the more than 150 episodes that we’ve produced a sizable chunk of them involved conversations with documentary filmmakers whose work was broadcast on public media outlets like PBS and NPR. Much of the reason that these documentaries have found a home at places like PBS is because they deal with important issues—issues that impact the health of

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58:05

"Slumlord Millionaire": Fighting for Tenants Rights &...

Making Media Now ·

2025/07/24

Documentary filmmakers Ellen Martinez and Steph Ching join host Michael Azevedo to discuss Slumlord Millionaire, winner of the Audience Award at the 2024 DOC NYC Film Festival. The film explores the rapid gentrification of New York City neighborhoods and the housing crisis sweeping not only New York but the nation.Told through the stories of a group of fearless residents, activists and nonprofit attorneys who fight corrupt landlords and developers for the basic human right to a home, the film

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01:02:47

Troy Farkas Delivers a Treasure Trove of "Seacoast...

Making Media Now ·

2025/07/11

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Troy Farkas, the creator, producer, and host of "Seacoast Stories," a podcast featuring compelling stories about the unique people, businesses, and newsmakers of New Hampshire and southern Maine.This weekly podcast takes on sometimes controversial issues, highlights local businesses, tells entertaining stories, and seeks to uncover what makes the northern NE Seacoast such a hidden gem. Prior to creating the "Seacoast Stories" podcast, Troy spent

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01:15:20

"Gone Guys" Reveals The Struggles Facing Boys and...

Making Media Now ·

2025/07/03

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by members of the team behind a compelling and eye-opening short documentary called “Gone Guys.” Chad Ervin is the film’s director & producer. Also joining the conversation is the film's executive producer, Lauren Curry, of the Richard E and Deborah L Tarrant Foundation.The documentary draws on the influential work of writer & social scientist Richard Reeves. Reeves is the author of the 2022 best seller “Of Boys and Men”, which illuminates these challenges

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44:50

Tracing the Roots & Rise of Totalitarianism in...

Making Media Now ·

2025/06/24

“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. And the people that no longer believe anything cannot make up its mind. It is deprived not only of its capacity to act, but also of its capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people, you can then do what you please.”Those are the words, written more than 6 decades ago, of political philosopher Hannah Arendt, whose life and work is vividly explored in

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41:36

Exploring "The Cinema Within"

Making Media Now ·

2025/06/16

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Chad Freidrichs, the director and editor of a fascinating and intriguing film called "The Cinema Within.""The Cinema Within," which is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and on Vimeo, is a feature-length documentary that delves into the psychology of film editing – the mystery of how and why an edited movie feels so natural and so effortlessly makes sense. Drawing on the insights of famed movie editor Walter Murch, scholar David Bordwell, and a

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39:52

"Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi" Dances into Season 7

Making Media Now ·

2025/06/06

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back Mickela Mallozzi, the four-time Emmy Award-winning host and executive producer of “Bare Feet with Mickela Mallozzi,” a PBS series that highlights the diversity of dance with episodes filmed around the world. A dancer since early childhood, Mickela has parlayed her lifelong passion into a popular PBS series that travels the world to celebrate the joy of movement.Making Media Now is sponsored by Filmmakers Collaborative, a non-profit organization dedicated to

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45:14

Counting the Cost of Cuts to the Arts & Filmmaking...

Making Media Now ·

2025/05/22

Host Michael Azevedo is joined by two guests to discuss recent funding cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the NEH, and the National Endowment for the Arts, the NEA. To provide insight into the topic, Michael is joined by documentary filmmaker and television producer Marisa Fox, who in a recent article in the Hollywood Reporter described what she and many of her peers have been going through as the Trump administration makes drastic cuts to the NEH and the NEA.Also joining the

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45:09

How Edwin Land ("Mr. Polaroid") Pictured The Future

Making Media Now ·

2025/05/16

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is writer/director Gene Tempest. Gene’s latest documentary is “Mr. Polaroid” and it will debut on PBS as part of the American Experience series on May 19. Following its broadcast premiere, the film will be available via the PBS app and on the American Experience YouTube channel. The film profiles Edwin Land, a pioneering tech disruptor and Inventor of the mid-century icon that transformed photography.Long before the iPhone, another inventive device

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40:43

"Water for Life": Stories of Courage and Determination

Making Media Now ·

2025/05/09

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode are Will Parrinello and Rick Tejada-Flores, the director and co-producers of a documentary that premiered on PBS in April called "Water for Life." The film, which is available to stream via the PBS app and on PBS.org, tells the story of three extraordinary individuals: in Honduras; Francisco Pineda, in El Salvador; and in Chile, who refused to let government supported industry and transnational corporations take their water and redirect it to mining,

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27:08

Joseph Mathew Takes Viewers on "The Long Walk of...

Making Media Now ·

2025/04/28

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is independent filmmaker Joseph Mathew, director of "The Long Walk of Carlos Guerrero," a feature film that was Inspired by real immigrant journeys and stories of survival set in the desert wilderness of the Arizona borderlands.In the film, we meet Carlos Guerrero, a New York City chef, who decides to visit his sick mother in Mexico, knowing full well he is taking the ultimate risk as an undocumented immigrant.The film follows his epic journey back to

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39:38

"It's Criminal": Dartmouth Students & Prison Inmates...

Making Media Now ·

2025/04/18

Joining host Michael Azevedo on this episode is Signe Taylor, the director of a documentary called It’s Criminal. "It's Criminal" highlights the economic and social inequities that divide the United States and offers a vision of how separated communities can learn to speak to each other. Poignant and personal, the 80-minute feature documentary shares the life-changing journeys of incarcerated women and Dartmouth College students working together to write and perform an original play that explores

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35:43

Brandon Katz on How IP Stifles Originality in Movies...

Making Media Now ·

2025/04/07

Host Michael Azevedo welcomes back journalist and media analyst Brandon Katz. Brandon’s recent article in The Observer, titled "The Decline of Originality in Hollywood: A Look at the Numbers" explores how original content, in TV shows and movies, have, over the past 15 years, lost out in a landslide to existing IP, meaning Intellectual Property. Existing IP is defined as anything based on pre-existing material such as comic books, novels, video games, podcasts and musicals and including remakes,

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44:34

"Change, Not Charity" Examines How Disabled Americans...

Making Media Now ·

2025/03/25

Curb cuts, ramps at building entrances, and braille on elevator buttons. All these seem commonplace today, but they were once the subject of a pitched battle that landed on the steps of Congress.A new American Experience documentary, Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act, which will premiere on PBS on March 25, tells the emotional and dramatic story of the decades-long push for equality and accessibility that culminated in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act

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39:40

PBS' Frontline Investigates "The Rise and Fall of...

Making Media Now ·

2025/03/21

Host Michael Azevedo speaks with acclaimed filmmakers Tom Jennings and Annie Wong, the co-producers and co-directors of "The Rise and Fall of Terrorgram," a FRONTLINE/ProPublica collaboration that investigates how an online network known as Terrorgram spread extremism and violence.The documentary traces the rise of a global community of white supremacists and the anonymous, loosely moderated platforms used to spread hate and promote terror attacks.premieres Tuesday, March 25, 2025, on PBS and

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153 results

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