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PODCAST

We Need to Talk About Oscar

We Need to Talk About Oscar offers in-depth interviews with filmmakers, actors, and industry professionals. Although inspired by titles you expect to be represented at the Oscars, our conversations extend to buzzy indie projects and TV shows, exploring both the technical aspects of filmmaking and the personal stories behind them.

tv & film social sciences

All Episodes

19:43

Madison Young faces her younger selves in 'By the Roots'

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/04/20

Writer-director Madison Young adapts her memoir 'Daddy' into 'By the Roots,' her feature directorial debut. Madison traces the adaptation process and the stages the script went through in transforming such deeply personal material into cinema.We explore the casting process, from how much Madison overthought who would play her to the challenge of putting different stages of her life on screen together. Madison opens up about casting both her kid and teenage selves, navigating the complexity of seeing

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22:22

Chandler Levack on distance, exposure, and doubling...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/04/17

Canadian filmmaker Chandler Levack follows up her critically acclaimed debut 'I Like Movies,' with not one but two films releasing on the same day: 'Mile End Kicks,' her most personal work yet, and 'Roommates,' her first time directing someone else's script for Netflix. She reflects on whether there's a recognizable signature that shows up in both regardless of whose story she's telling or what the budget looks like.We explore the distance Chandler found through gender reversal in 'I Like Movies'

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27:42

Katarina Zhu and Daisy Zhou on seeing and being seen...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/04/10

‘Bunnylovr’ is out in theaters today. Premiering at Sundance in January 2025 as part of the US Dramatic Competition, writer-director-star Katarina Zhu’s debut feature follows Becca, a Chinese-American cam girl in New York navigating a toxic relationship with a mysterious client while quietly trying to reconnect with her estranged, dying father.This is our conversation with Katarina and her cinematographer Daisy Zhou, their first collaboration together. The admiration between them is palpable

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23:52

BriTANicK is turning from sketches to features

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/04/03

Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher, the comedy duo known as BriTANicK, brought two feature films to SXSW 2026: 'Pizza Movie,' which they wrote and directed, and 'Over Your Dead Body,' which they adapted for Jorma Taccone to direct. They reflect on their sketch comedy roots and whether anything they'd done before approached narrative filmmaking, plus how they regard sketches within the broader realm of cinema. The pair also share how their festival weekend turned out, juggling two premieres and a live

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19:31

Matthew Shear explores the personal and cultural in...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/03/27

Writer-director-star Matthew Shear took home the SXSW Audience Award for 'Fantasy Life,' with Amanda Peet earning a Special Jury Award for her performance. Matthew reflects on what this double recognition means for a film drawn so directly from his own experience, and whether the script could have been directed by anyone else given how personal it is.Drawing on his acting background with directors like Noah Baumbach and M. Night Shyamalan, Matthew identifies where he consciously chose his own path

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23:06

Aisha Evelyna lives between roles in 'Seahorse'

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/03/20

Writer-director-star Aisha Evelyna builds on her 2024 short 'Nola' with 'Seahorse,' expanding the story of the same titular character to feature length. Aisha reflects on the jump from short to feature and her evolving collaboration with Natalie Remplakowski, who co-directed the short and now produces the feature. She shares how they navigated dividing responsibilities as their partnership transformed.We explore the challenge of balancing roles in front of and behind the camera. Aisha discusses how

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18:53

Will Ropp and Matthew Pothier on anxiety,...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/03/17

Director Will Ropp and cinematographer Matthew Pothier stob by to talk about 'Brian,' a character-driven teen comedy with a dramatic edge that feels almost extinct in today's IP-driven landscape. Will opens up about recognizing his own high school anxiety in the script and what it means to make a film about a kid whose inner life operates at a volume the rest of the world can't hear.Our conversation explores how Will invited collaborators into such a personal world, and how Matthew entered that

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18:55

Brian Tetsuro Ivie on faith, celluloid, and the leap...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/03/13

‘Anima,’ premiering at SXSW this week, is Brian Tetsuro Ivie’s narrative feature debut. An acclaimed documentarian, Brian now turns to a sci-fi road movie following an impulsive young woman and a reclusive older man on a cross-country trip to preserve his failing consciousness at an experimental facility.We open with what the leap from documentary to narrative actually feels like and what each form demands that the other doesn’t, before getting into the decision to shoot on film and why the

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25:58

Emily Robinson on the art of breaking down in 'Ugly Cry'

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/03/12

Emily Robinson brings 'Ugly Cry' to the screen as writer, director, producer, and star, exploring the vulnerable act of crying as an actor and what it reveals about performance and authenticity. She reflects on the decision to take on all these roles simultaneously, navigating the challenges of being both in front of and behind the camera while maintaining perspective on the story.Our conversation delves into the institution of auditioning and how it's evolved over the years in the industry. Emily

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19:48

Millicent Hailes on what it took to make ‘Perfect’

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/03/11

Writer-director Millicent Hailes takes ‘Perfect,' her feature directorial debut, to SXSW. Millicent opens up about whether feeling ready to take the leap of making your first feature is essential to actually doing so, sharing her own experience of moving forward despite uncertainty and what that taught her about the creative process.Our conversation goes into Millicent's transition from music videos to feature length filmmaking, examining how she navigated the shift from short to long form

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27:54

We Need to Talk About Emmy #30: ‘Bridgerton’ every...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/27

Director and executive producer Tom Verica and cinematographer Jeffrey Jur discuss their work on 'Bridgerton,' tracing their collaboration back nearly two decades. They share how their creative partnership was formed and has evolved over countless projects, building the trust and shorthand that allows them to tackle ambitious productions like the Bridgerton universe.Our conversation explores their journey through the world of 'Bridgerton,' from the different stages they've worked on across each

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25:18

Jessica Barr and Sarah Whelden on making a film with...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/25

‘The Plan’ premiered at this year’s Slamdance last Sunday. One location, one day, one unbroken take: a group of disillusioned young adults inside a modest Los Angeles apartment, preparing for a radical act they believe will change the world.This is our conversation with writer-director Jessica Barr and cinematographer Sarah Whelden. We open with the nature of their collaboration and how the project came to life, before getting into what it actually means to conceive a film like this from the ground

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24:14

Lucy Sandler and Mechi Lakatos embrace spontaneity in...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/23

Lucy Sandler and Mechi Lakatos discuss 'Danny Is My Boyfriend,' their debut feature premiering at Slamdance, where they serve as both co-directors and stars. Lucy and Mechi trace the origins of their creative partnership, revealing how their collaboration evolved from initial connection to making this story about two women who discover they're dating the same man.Our conversation explores their approach to improvisation and how it shaped every aspect of the film. They discuss the ripple effects of

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20:46

Autumn Best on what ‘Woman of the Hour’ unlocked and...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/21

Autumn Best made her feature film debut in Anna Kendrick’s ‘Woman of the Hour,’ and it announced her as someone worth watching. In this conversation, we start there, with what the experience of landing that role, shooting it, premiering at TIFF in 2023, and releasing it on Netflix did to her sense of what she was capable of and what she might expect from her career going forward.From there we get into ‘BRB,’ a Kate Cobb directed tender and chaotic coming of age road trip film premiering at this

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21:21

Revenge on Repeat: Kevin & Matthew McManus on grief,...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/19

Twin brothers Kevin and Matthew McManus have been making films together since they were kids, and Redux Redux is their third feature as a writing and directing duo. We open the conversation talking about what it means to put a film like this into the world and how you go about pitching a multiverse revenge thriller to festivals in the first place.From there, Kevin and Matt walk us through where the idea originally came from, what finally unlocked the story for them, and how they think about the

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26:16

Patrick Jones on blurring the line between subject...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/17

Five features into their collaboration, cinematographer Patrick Jones and director Amanda Kramer have developed a creative shorthand that makes projects like 'By Design' come together with surprising speed. Patrick opens up about his first reaction to the concept and the foundation that makes their collaboration so instinctive and enduring.'By Design' presented a fascinating cinematographic challenge at its core: the similarities and differences in framing, lighting, and handling human beings versus

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26:40

We Need to Talk About Emmy #29: Ashley Barron...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/13

Growing up across multiple continents gave cinematographer Ashley Barron a unique visual perspective that shapes her work today. In discussing 'How to Get to Heaven from Belfast,' Ashley reflects on how her childhood experiences of constant movement and cultural adaptation inform her approach to crafting images and telling stories through the camera.Our conversation explores Ashley's experience joining a tight-knit group of filmmakers who previously collaborated on the highly successful 'Derry

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26:29

James Whitaker captures man versus machine in 'Good...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/10

We sit down with cinematographer James Whitaker discuss 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die,' Gore Verbinski's sci-fi thriller. James opens up about the challenge of shooting science fiction on a relatively low budget, revealing how constraints pushed the team toward inventive visual solutions that serve the story's themes.Our conversation delves into how James and Gore merged their respective references to create the film's distinctive look. He discusses the collaborative process of finding a shared

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15:45

Breathing new life into horror, with 'Whistle'...

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/02/06

Director Corin Hardy joins us to discuss 'Whistle,' exploring how he connected to the script and the differences between working with someone else's screenplay versus directing his own material. Corin reveals how each approach shapes his creative process and the unique challenges and freedoms that come with interpreting another writer's vision.Our conversation delves into assembling the group of young talented actors for the film, including Dafne Keen, Sophie Nélisse, and Percy Hynes White. Corin

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27:29

Sook-Yin Lee revisits a shared past in ‘Paying for It’

We Need to Talk About Oscar ·

2026/01/30

Director Sook-Yin Lee joins us to discuss ‘Paying for It,’ her adaptation of Chester Brown’s graphic novel about their former relationship. The film represents a unique creative challenge: adapting a graphic novel that was already based on their shared life together.Sook-Yin reflects on how she came to collaborate with Chester on the project and how the three layers (the lived experience, the graphic novel, and the film) compare and diverge from one another. She walks us through translating the

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166 results

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