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PODCAST

The Filmumentaries Podcast

The Filmumentaries Podcast – Exploring the Unsung Heroes of Cinema. Go beyond the credits and uncover the untold stories of the filmmakers, artists, and craftspeople who bring your favorite movies to life.Hosted by filmmaker, author, and film historian Jamie Benning, The Filmumentaries Podcast offers in-depth conversations with the behind-the-scenes legends of Hollywood and beyond. Each episode features exclusive interviews with art directors, production designers, VFX artists and supervisors,

tv & film film interviews

All Episodes

63:55

144 - Randy Thom - Director of Sound at Skywalker Sound

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2026/02/10

In this episode, I chat with Academy Award-winning sound designer Randy Thom about his journey from college radio to shaping the soundscapes of some of cinema’s most iconic films.We discuss:Growing up loving movies and discovering sound via college radio in OhioMaking a cold call to Walter Murch and landing a job on Apocalypse NowEarly sound experiments at Skywalker RanchRecording effects for The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost ArkCollaborating with Robert Zemeckis and David LynchWhy

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5:56

BONUS - Crowdfunding for the LA Trip

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2026/02/05

This is a short bonus episode with a very specific purpose. Patrick Tyndall and I are in the middle of a GoFundMe campaign to get us back to Los Angeles to finish filming Not Your Average Joe, our documentary about legendary production designer Joe Alves. This episode is me explaining where the project is at, what we’ve already achieved, and why this upcoming LA trip feels so important. We’ll be in Los Angeles from 22–28 February 2026, filming interviews and B-roll that cover some key chapters of

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37:22

143 - The Farmer and the Shark - with John Campopiano...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2026/01/27

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m joined by filmmaker John Campopiano and producer Jim Beller to talk about their new documentary, The Farmer and the Shark. The film centres on Craig Kingsbury, a farmer from Martha’s Vineyard who appeared in Jaws (1975), playing Ben Gardner, the local fisherman whose abandoned boat is discovered by Chief Brody early in the film. From that small but unforgettable role, the documentary explores Craig’s life, his connection to the island, and how his

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57:53

140 - Lucas Wars - With Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/12/09

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m joined by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche, the writer and artist behind the acclaimed graphic novel Lucas Wars, which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the making of Star Wars from a deeply personal, human perspective. Laurent shares his background as an entertainment journalist and how years of research, interviews, books and documentaries fed into the script. Renaud talks about coming from a traditional animation and storyboarding background,

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69:45

139 - Art Directing from Titanic to House of the...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/11/25

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I speak with art director and supervising art director Dominic Masters, whose decades-long career spans some of the biggest films and series of the last 40 years. He grew up around movie sets thanks to his father, the legendary production designer Tony Masters (2001: A Space Odyssey, Papillon, Dune), and started his own journey at 19 when he spent eight months in China on Tai-Pan — the first Western movie ever shot there. Dom talks about learning the

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40:03

138 - Jay Glennie on "The Making of Quentin...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/11/11

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast I speak with author and film historian Jay Glennie about his new book, The Making of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time ...In Hollywood. Jay has a real gift for pulling together people, memories and materials, and this book is packed with insight from the cast and crew, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Quentin himself.We get into how long Quentin carried the idea for the film, the script secrecy following The Hateful Eight

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32:13

BONUS - John Walsh on Writing The Art And Making of...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/11/05

In this bonus episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, host Jamie Benning, that's me... talks with author and filmmaker John Walsh about his new book The Art and Making of Gladiator II. Walsh discusses how he was approached by Abrams Books and Paramount Pictures to chronicle the creation of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator sequel, offering rare insights into the production design, visual effects, and creative collaboration behind one of the most ambitious films of the decade. The conversation explores how

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72:38

137 - The Long Road to "Cleanin’ Up the Town" with...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/10/28

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I sit down with sibling filmmakers Claire and Anthony Bueno, the creative team behind Cleanin’ Up the Town: Remembering Ghostbusters - a feature documentary more than a decade in the making, and the definitive oral history of one of the most beloved comedies of all time. The Buenos spent years interviewing dozens of cast and crew members from the original Ghostbusters, including Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and the late Harold Ramis. The

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39:32

136 - Martha's Vineyard - Special Report

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/10/07

Episode 136: A Martha’s Vineyard special report on the Joe Alves Documentary shoot. This week’s episode is a little different. It is a behind the scenes update on our ongoing feature documentary about production designer and director Joe Alves (Jaws, Close Encounters, Escape from New York, Jaws 2, Jaws 3D). I take you through our trip to Martha’s Vineyard in June 2024 to capture Joe’s return to the island for the 50th anniversary of Jaws. Thanks to your generosity, we raised over £7,000 to cover the

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50:32

134 - Inside the Movie Novelizations of the ’80s with...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/09/09

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I talk with James Kahn, the novelist behind some of the most iconic movie novelizations of the 1980s, including Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and Poltergeist. James shares how a chance encounter while working as an ER doctor in Santa Monica led him onto the set of ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, where he met Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg, an opportunity that set his writing career in motion. We discuss:How

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74:14

133 - From The Blob to Pan’s Labyrinth: Tommy...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/08/27

In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I sit down with Tommy Williamson, a visual effects artist, prop maker, and lifelong creator whose career spans more than three decades. Tommy has worked on films including Spider-Man 2, Sin City, The Mist, Dune: Prophecy, and the modern masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth. Tommy shares his journey from building paper-craft UFOs as a kid to working alongside Guillermo del Toro and becoming one of the artists helping to bridge the worlds of practical effects and

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78:26

132 - Dave Barclay - My Life With Animatronics....

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/08/12

Episode 132 - Dave Barclay - My Life With Animatronics. Movies, Puppets and Beyond!At just 19 years old, Dave Barclay found himself stepping into the role of chief puppeteer for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back. It was the start of an extraordinary career in animatronics and puppetry that would see him bringing to life some of cinema’s most beloved and memorable characters. In this episode, Dave takes us back to his creative beginnings, growing up in a family of puppeteers, and the serendipitous

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14:51

BONUS - Propstore's Stephen Lane and Tim Lawes on...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/08/06

In this special bonus episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I take you behind the scenes of Propstore’s upcoming Los Angeles auction, featuring some truly jaw-dropping pieces of movie history. I was invited to a press preview at London’s Dorchester Hotel, where I spoke with Propstore’s Tim Lawes (Director of Consignment) and Stephen Lane (CEO and Founder) about some of the headline items, including:A screen- and photo-matched Darth Vader hero lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of

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84:04

131 - Phil Hawkins - From Fan Films to Features.

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/07/22

In episode 131 of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I sit down with director Phil Hawkins to talk about his journey from a kid obsessed with Jurassic Park and Star Wars to a filmmaker directing commercials, indie features, and ambitious projects like Star Wars: Origins and the Sky Original Robin in the Hoods. Phil shares how he taught himself filmmaking as a teenager, cutting together VHS tapes and roping in friends to create homemade sci-fi adventures. We discuss how this DIY approach evolved into making

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22:33

130 - Jaws @ 50 with Director Laurent Bouzereau

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/07/08

Episode 130 – Laurent Bouzereau on “Jaws at 50” In this special episode, I catch up with the legendary documentary filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau to discuss his latest project, Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story, premiering Friday 11th July at 8pm on National Geographic and streaming the same day on Disney+. Laurent, whose behind-the-scenes work on Jaws, Indiana Jones, and Spielberg has inspired me for years, reflects on the challenges of revisiting Jaws 30 years after his original 1995

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27:56

BONUS - Director Paul King on Beneath London - The...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/06/04

In this bonus episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I catch up with returning guest Paul King, who you might remember from our previous conversation about his Shining locations documentary, Shine On. This time, Paul’s back with another nostalgic deep-dive — his new short documentary Beneath London: The Story of Alien War. We talk about the origins of the Alien-themed walkthrough experience that terrified visitors to London’s Trocadero in the early 1990s, how Paul tracked down rare archive footage

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87:25

"Suddenly Something Clicked" - With Walter Murch

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/04/22

Episode 125 – Walter Murch: Suddenly Something Clicked (And 5 Years of Filmumentaries!) In this special 125th episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m joined once again by the legendary Walter Murch — editor, sound designer, director, author, and true philosopher of cinema. This also happens to mark five years since I launched the podcast, so it felt only fitting to celebrate with someone whose insights have shaped not only cinema itself but how we understand it. Walter and I discuss his new book,

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11:46

BONUS - Star Wars Celebration Japan - Day 3 Report...

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/04/22

Hi all,Here's Rachel's second and final report from Star Wars Celebration Japan.We hope you enjoy it!

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87:01

Push the Button - The Curious Career of Jeff Okun

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/04/08

Episode 124 Like many visual effects artists of a certain vintage, Jeff Okun didn’t plan on a career in VFX. In fact, by his own account, he didn't even plan to work in film at all. "I’m a completely accidental human being," he told me with a chuckle. His ambitions began on a very different stage — as a stand-up comic — until a sharply atheistic routine delivered at home earned him a lifetime ban from performing in front of his parents. Instead, Okun’s creative outlet took the form of magic tricks,

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72:33

The Art of Dialogue Editing - With Vickie Sampson

The Filmumentaries Podcast ·

2025/03/25

Episode 123: Vickie Sampson – Dialogue, Detail, and the Art of Sound In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I speak with sound editor, dialogue and ADR supervisor, and filmmaker Vickie Sampson. Vickie’s career began in the early 1970s, and she’s since built up a mighty list of credits including Romancing the Stone, The River, Tank Girl, The Fifth Element, Ordinary People, and Return of the Jedi. She’s also the daughter of the trailblazing Kay Rose – the first woman to win an Oscar for sound

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32 results

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