Behind The Lens

BTL Radio Show - 03/31/2025 with special guest AMI CANAAN MANN

This week, we’re talking about a very special film about a very special woman which was made by another special woman.
The film is AUDREY’S CHILDREN and that special woman is pioneering pediatric oncologist Dr. Audrey Evans and her groundbreaking work in the 1960s and 70s at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP as it is more commonly known.  And that special filmmaker is director AMI CANAAN MANN.
AUDREY’S CHILDREN tells the untold true story of visionary British physician Dr. Audrey Evans, who burst onto the scene in 1969 as the first female Chief of Oncology at the world-renowned Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Battling sexism, medical conventions, and the subterfuge of her peers, Evans developed the first Neuroblastoma Staging System, co-founded the first Ronald McDonald House with the Philadelphia Eagles for families of CHOP cancer patients, and, ultimately, impacted the lives of millions of children and families around the world.
And it’s director, AMI CANAAN MANN, who brings Dr. Evans's story to life with AUDREY’S CHILDREN. Written by Julia Fisher Farbman, AUDREY’S CHILDREN stars Natalie Dormer as Audrey Evans, Clancy Brown as C. Everett Koop, Jimmi Simpson as Dr. Dan D’Angio, Brandon Michael Hall as Dr. Faust, and a scene-stealing performance by young Julianna Layne as young cancer patient Mia, who will just capture your heart. And for all of you Eagles fans out there, look for a nice cameo from Jim Murray, Jr. who plays his dad Jimmy Murray, former General Manager of the Eagles and co-founder of the Ronald McDonald House with Dr. Evans. Did you know that there are now over 685 Ronald McDonald Houses around the world? And it all started with Audrey Evans, the Eagles, and Philadelphia.
Production values of AUDREY'S CHILDREN are first-rate thanks to cinematographer Jon Keng, along with editor Matt Ramsey, composer Genevieve Vincent, production designer Amber Unkle, set dresser Kimitha Cashin, and costume designer Sarah Maiorino.
It was wonderful to reconnect with AMI CANAAN MANN after more than a decade since we last spoke about her work with “Texas Killing Fields”. And as you’ll hear in this exclusive conversation, we cover everything from Mice to Ronald McDonald as Amy emphasizes the importance of capturing Audrey Evans's story, particularly her groundbreaking research in pediatric oncology. Mann praises the cast, particularly Natalie Dormer and Jimmi Simpson, for portraying Audrey and Dan.
Diving deep, we discuss the film's visual style, using vintage lenses and natural lighting to create an authentic 1960s atmosphere. The production design, including Audrey's vibrant wardrobe and the deliberate use of patterns, enhances the film's emotional depth. And let’s not forget the film’s editing and Genevieve Vincent’s beautiful musical score, inspired by jazz and boasting a lot of the musicians from the renowned Baked Potato here in Los Angeles, all further enhancing the narrative's impact.  When you see the film, it’s hard to believe it was shot in only 23 days.
With a female star, director, writer/producer, and more, the story of one of the nation’s most significant female physicians is hitting theaters during Women’s History Month. March 6th also would have been the late Dr. Audrey Evans’s 100th birthday. After years of collaborating and supporting the film, Evans passed away two weeks into the start of physical production.
So, take a listen to my exclusive interview with director AMI CANAAN MANN discussing AUDREY’S CHILDREN.

BTL Radio Show - 03/24/2025 with special guest COLIN HENNING discussing APPALACHIAN DOG

 
This week on BEHIND THE LENS is my exclusive interview with writer/director/costume designer/producer and actor COLIN HENNING as he talks about his feature directorial debut, the beautifully moody and metaphoric APPALACHIAN DOG. Not only am I enchanted by this sultry, post-WWII, Southern Gothic delight, but by Colin himself who is already one of my favorite filmmakers of the next generation. He is articulate and thoughtful both in discussing the film and with the film itself. Every frame shows Colin's care, thought, and purpose in the production and his performance.
Written & Directed by Colin Henning, APPALACHIAN DOG stars, among others, Georgia Morgan, Hayleigh Hart Franklin, Brooke Elizabeth, Colin Henning, and Aaron J Stewart and was shot on location in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina and, as you will see on watching the film, in the dead of winter.
APPALACHIAN DOG is a Southern Gothic tale about husband and wife, Marion and Teddy, and Marion’s friends Peggie, Cate, and Andrew. It’s post-war 1946 and Teddy has just returned after 5 years in the war. A tailor by trade, suffering from PTSD and poor eyesight, Teddy is unable to return to his work and must rely on Marion to support them. Marion, a seamstress who worked with Teddy before the war, has honed her skills and built up the tailoring business in his absence, bringing on her friend Peggie as her assistant and fellow seamstress.
With Teddy’s return, Marion believes that everything can return to exactly what it was before Teddy went to war. But life has moved on. Although she doesn’t want to admit it, Marion has moved on as an independent woman with new hopes, dreams, and interests while Teddy must look for another kind of work due to his trauma and a broken pair of glasses (See the film and you’ll understand the significance and true meaning of the broken glasses.)
Struggling to navigate their tense reunion and build a future, be it together or apart, Teddy’s return impacts not only Marion but Peggie and their friend Cate along with Cate’s husband Andrew who also returned from the war a different man. What will it take for each to confront the truth that it’s not only the world and life that has changed, they have as well?
In this extended exclusive conversation, COLIN HENNING and I dig deep into this moody, metaphoric film and its character study exploration, with the Appalachians very much as one of the main characters. As you’ll hear, the strength of APPALACHIAN DOG lies in its location, Aidan Macaluso’s exquisite cinematography, and Chad Hylton’s magnificent sound design, which immerses viewers in the claustrophobic, isolated setting. By the way, Chad also served as the film’s editor. Emphasizing the importance of character development and the region's traditions and Colin’s insistence on authenticity, vintage costume design - which Colin also handled for the film - is a big part of our discussion as it informs each character, economic status, cultural placement, time and place, while also speaking metaphorically to the unfolding tension among our group of four.
Going beyond the production elements of the film, Colin also talks about wearing so many hats and how he maintained an emotional separation between his roles, including as a main actor, while staying true to the story's meaning. APPALACHIAN DOG is also the feature debut of Colin and Chad’s company and what a debut it is!
 

BTL Radio Show - 03-17/2025 with special guests NIC COSTA and ROB TAYLOR

Hilarity ensues this week on BEHIND THE LENS thanks to director/co-writer/actor ROB TAYLOR and co-writer/producer/actor NIC COSTA as they discuss their wild and wacky new comedy film RAGING MIDLIFE in this exclusive interview! And what a wild and wacky ride it is!
RAGING MIDLIFE is the story of Mark and Alex (wonderfully played by Matt Zak and Nic Costa, respectively), two fanboys who are on a quest to recover a cherished 80s wrestling tank top worn by their idol, "Raging Abraham Lincoln," after Tyler, a grieving daughter determined to fulfill her late father’s wish to be torched in the shirt, outbids them in an online auction. Hilarity ensues as Mark and Alex will stop at nothing to find and retrieve this beloved tank top they lost as children, except maybe romance, as sparks fly between Alex and Tyler, forcing Alex to choose between love and the ultimate piece of wrestling memorabilia, not to mention his lifelong BFF Mark.
As you will quickly hear, it’s not just RAGING MIDLIFE that’s wild and wacky, but so are its creators NIC COSTA and ROB TAYLOR who bring so much laughter to this exclusive interview. Listen as we break down the entire film starting with its inception back in 2002 and the decade-long process to bring it into the present of 2025. Highlighting its unique blend of nostalgia and pop culture references, RAGING MIDLIFE features a large cast and approximately 20 different locations. Something that you may not hear any other filmmakers talk about are the challenges involved with securing a federal courthouse as a shooting location. Nic, who is also an attorney (although it didn’t really help him in getting the courthouse) gives all the ins and outs and hoops he had to jump through for this important location. Rob dives into the cinematography and working with cinematographer Eric Macey and developing a visual grammar inspired by 1980s filmmakers. Similarly, composer Lisa Molinaro’s score and the 1980s-influenced needledrops featured licensed tracks and original compositions which Nic discusses in terms of licensing challenges and costs. Another interesting topic that we touch on is film tax credits and their impact on productions, especially with lo budget/no budget/micro budget indie films. Of course, we spend quite a bit of time talking about casting and character development, most notably with Paula Abdul’s Mary Todd. BTW, Paula delivers a really strong performance that is far different from “cameos” she has had in other films. And Star Trek fans will be tickled to hear what Nic and Rob have to say about Trek legend Walter Koenig and his role in RAGING MIDLIFE.

BTL Radio Show - 03/10/2025 with exclusive interviews with ATOM EGOYAN and PETER BROWNGARDT

We go from one end of the spectrum to the other this week as we take a look at writer/director Atom Egoyan’s dramatic new thriller SEVEN VEILS and everyone’s favorite (and looney) pig and duck, Porky and Daffy, in writer/director Peter Browngardt’s feature animated directorial debut LOONEY TUNES: THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP.  I love both films and think you will, too - especially LOONEY TUNES!
First up today is my exclusive interview with one of my longtime favorite directors - ATOM EGOYAN.  I will see anything and everything that Atom does and am thrilled that he now presents us with SEVEN VEILS, an exquisite blend of cinema and theatre, opera to be specific, that will have you mesmerized by the visual beauty and intensity of the film, and leave you breathless with the power of the story which is built around the acclaimed opera, Salome.
Written & Directed by Atom, SEVEN VEILS stars Amanda Seyfried who reunites with Atom after their 2015 film CHLOE, as well as Rebecca Liddiard, Douglas Smith, Mark O'Brien, Vinessa Antoine, Ambur Braid, Michael Kupfer-Radecky
Premised on the biblical tale of Salome, which has been told in countless ways over the years, most notably as a 19th-century opera by Richard Strauss and written by Oscar Wilde, Atom has taken his love for the tale which he has directed on the stage numerous times since 1996 and now explores what a production of Salome would mean in our current culture. This led him to write SEVEN VEILS about a remount of Salome that he filmed at the same time the opera was being performed on stage by the Canadian Opera Company in 2023,  using the opera singers from Salome in the film. 
With the opera at its core, Atom wrote a modern tale around the opera production as we meet theater director Jeanine played by Amanda Seyfried, who re-enters the opera world to stage her former mentor’s most famous work. Haunted by dark and disturbing memories from her past, Jeanine allows her repressed trauma to color the present as her personal and professional lives begin to unravel.  
Visually stunning, seductive, sensual, and even jarring, Atom beautifully blends cinema with theatricality.  Take a listen as we break down the SEVEN VEILS...from creation to cinematography to editing to score
Switching gears now, we go from the seductive and sensual to sarcasm, satire, slapstick, and pure unadulterated joy with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck in LOONEY TUNES: THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP and my exclusive conversation with writer/director/animator PETER BROWNGARDT.
This is everything you could want and more not just in an animated film, a hand-drawn 2D animated film to be precise, but in animation and particularly in the world of LOONEY TUNES.  Timeless and iconic, this buddy comedy starring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck marks the first fully animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history!  Those legends of Warner Bros Termite Terrace would be so proud of what Peter Browngardt and his team have done with LOONEY TUNES: THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP.
Porky Pig and Daffy Duck are unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot.  Faced with cosmic odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)... that is if they don’t drive each other totally looney in the process.
Voice acting is perfection thanks to the work of acclaimed actors Eric Bauza, Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Wayne Knight, and Laraine Newman which help bring the laugh-out-loud gags, vibrant visuals, and beloved characters to life.
Listen as Peter talks about animation and dialogue going hand in hand aka what came first the pig or the duck egg and working with 11 writers/animators to develop the emotion through drawing, dialogue and voicing, the classic hand-drawn visuals, paying homage to the past - including many classic films - while adding some contemporary notes, melding genres, music and score, getting a greenlight from Warners to make the film, and of course Peter’s own learning curve with his first feature after hundreds of Looney Tunes shorts. Take a listen.

BTL Radio Show - 03/03/2025 with guest TIFFANY KIM STEVENS plus my exclusive interview with DITO MONTIEL

 
It's a fun episode of BEHIND THE LENS as writer/director TIFFANY KIM STEVENS joins me in discussing her new dark comedy TRIGGER HAPPY, plus my exclusive interview with director DITO MONTIEL talking about his latest dysfunctional family comedy RIFF RAFF.
First up is my exclusive interview with director DITO MONTIEL talking about the brilliantly conceived RIFF RAFF.  Boasting an A-list cast led by Jennifer Coolidge and Ed Harris, along with Gabrielle Union, Lewis Pullman, Miles J. Harvey, with Pete Davidson and Bill Murray, RIFF RAFF is laugh-out-loud chaos with a wife, an ex-wife, a disowned son with a pregnant girlfriend, an innocent teen on the cusp of college, and a couple of gangsters names Leftie and Lonnie coming for them all.  Needless to say, Leftie and Lonnie are played by Murray and Davidson, respectively.
Listen as we break down the film and Dito's creative process covering everything from casting and character development to storyboards and cinematography to editing, as well as the film's kinetic energy and strong ensemble performances.
Then I'm joined by writer/director TIFFANY KIM STEVENS talking about her outrageously fun and darkly comedic TRIGGER HAPPY; the tale of poor George Decker who dreams of escaping his boring and humdrum life and escaping to the Bahamas.  But to do so means getting rid of his wife, crushing debt, his 9-to-6 job, and everything else that he believes has held him back and prevented his true bliss. 
A clever story that melds decades to create a timeless feel, Tiffany and I discuss character, story, production design, color palette, editing, and more.
 
 
 

BTL Radio Show - 02/24/2025 with exclusive interviews with JULIUS ONAH and ELLA THOMAS

 
A terrific BEHIND THE LENS for you this week to finish off Black History Month as you’re about to hear my exclusive interview with director JULIUS ONAH talking about CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, as well as my interview with actor turned writer/producer/and lo budget no budget micro-budget filmmaker ELLA THOMAS talking KNOW MERCY.
CAPTAIN AMERICA is a first for Julius as while he is already an accomplished director, with BRAVE NEW WORLD he joins the high-octane world of the MCU. And for Ella, KNOW MERCY also marks a first as she ventures from acting into producing/writing as well as acting. And we’re looking at two ends of the financial spectrum with these films - big budget and spectacle Marvel versus a lo budget/no budget/micro-budget indie.
First up is ELLA THOMAS with KNOW MERCY, a film that is rooted in faith while exploring good versus evil, immortality versus mortality, and what it means to be human. Many of you are already familiar with Ella, notably for her most recent role in "Nightbitch".
What I love about this conversation with Ella is not only how we break down the film from her perspective as a writer and producer, but we delve into casting and performance - including her own - and the emotional depth of the characters, along with emphasizing the importance of grounded motivation and real interpersonal dynamics.
Reflecting on her collaboration with Perdell Richardson with this project, Ella also speaks to the challenges of guerrilla filmmaking, the necessary flexibility required due to funding constraints, and the support from the film’s distributor, Gravitas Ventures.
Then, I bring out the big guns and my exclusive interview with director JULIUS ONAH discussing CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD which has taken the world by storm as Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, finds himself in the middle of an international incident and must discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan.
What I particularly appreciate with BRAVE NEW WORLD is that Julius gives us thoughtful dramatic moments that allow us to get to know Sam as his own person and not part of an entire group of personalities (aka Avengers) but see him wrestle with his own conscience and self-worth, trying to step out of Steve Rogers shadow and make Captain America his own. I love that Julius stayed true to himself as a filmmaker with the dramatic personal aspects of the story and then cocooned that with some explosive razzle dazzle action.
Now don’t expect to hear Julius and I rave about Anthony Mackie or Harrison Ford or Danny Ramirez or Giancarlo Esposito or Sebastian Stan in this interview. Their excellence goes without saying. We really went technical with the meticulous production values such as the production design, cinematography, editing, score, the use of negative space and strategic color schemes, and fight choreography, along with how all of these elements served the emotional growth and empathy of Sam Wilson and the tension with Thaddeus Ross. And we also talk about the power, delicacy, and beauty of cherry blossoms.
 

BTL Radio Show - 02/17/2025 - A Slamdance Special with filmmakers CAMERON MITCHELL and CORY SANTILLI

It’s a Slamdance Special on BEHIND THE LENS this week as we take a look at two films marking their world premieres at Slamdance Film Festival (www.slamdance.com) this week and chat with their respective filmmakers. First up is my exclusive interview with Cameron S. Mitchell talking about his documentary DISPOSABLE HUMANITY, followed by Cory Santilli discussing the wonderfully quirky narrative feature IN THE MOUTH.
Kicking things off is my interview with CAMERON MITCHELL writer/director/cinematographer and co-editor of DISPOSABLE HUMANITY, an eye-opening documentary about how the Nazis used disabled people to train killing staff and design the concentration camp apparatus for the Holocaust. Listen as Cameron discusses "Disposable Humanity" and exploring the Action T4 program during the Third Reich. His parents, who researched American eugenics, inspired him to document the T4 centers, where disabled individuals were systematically killed. The film features Mitchell's family home movies and interviews with survivors and historians. The score, composed by Andre Barros, enhances the cinematic experience. As you'll hear, Cameron emphasizes the importance of remembering T4's role in catalyzing the Holocaust and the need for inclusive memorialization.
DISPOSABLE HUMANITY premieres on February 21 with an encore screening on February 22.
Turning our attention to something lighter is my exclusive interview with CORY SANTILLI talking about his world premiere feature narrative IN THE MOUTH. Shot in black and white, IN THE MOUTH boasts some wonderful production elements as well as outstanding performances from Colin Burgess and Paul Michael. As you’ll hear in our conversation, Cory talks about how his own agoraphobia led to this story, shooting in black and white, and amassing a total of 164 scenes shot in 11 days. Cory and cinematographer Mike Magilnick meticulously planned the visual grammar, emphasizing shadows and negative space. The music score, created by composer Kubilar Uner, blends whimsy and genre elements. And of course, you'll discover what Cory learned as a filmmaker in making IN THE MOUTH.
IN THE MOUTH premieres on February 21 with an encore performance on February 24.

BTL Radio Show with my exclusive interviews with STEVE BARNETT and MATTHEW NINABER

A fun BEHIND THE LENS show for you today as we take a look at two very different action films - one in present day and another in the medieval era - thanks to my exclusive interviews with writer/director STEVE BARNETT talking VALIANT ONE and writer/director/editor MATTHEW NINABER talking A KNIGHT’S WAR. Both are terrific and made with patience and a great deal of thought, research, and attention to authenticity.
First up is my exclusive interview with writer/director STEVE BARNETT discussing VALIANT ONE, an often nail-biting edge-of-your-seat action flick based on a true story and the premise of "What If?" - what if the leaders or special ops members of a military mission that lands in enemy territory die, and it’s left to the surviving lower ranking team members and civilian specialists to figure out how to get out of enemy territory and survive, and maybe even complete the mission? Here, the "what if" involves a US military team intending to land in South Korea but crashes on the North Korean side leaving survivors to work together to protect a civilian tech specialist and find their way out without the help of US military support.
A veteran producer, VALIANT ONE marks Steve's directorial debut. An interesting conversation in which we discuss casting, visual grammar, location, collaboration with cinematographer Dan Stilling, Andrew Leven's editing, Benjamin Backus' score, and above all, authenticity.
Then we keep the action going with writer/director/editor MATTHEW NINABER and his wonderful medieval tale A KNIGHT'S WAR. I love a good action piece as do many of you, especially an action piece that’s steeped in lore, armor, some horror, and lots of broad sword battles and that's just what Matt gives us here starting with the story and the love of medieval since childhood by Matt and his brother Jeremy, who is co-writer and star of the film as our knight in shining armor Bhodie.
Listen as we discuss the minutiae of the "making of" A KNIGHT'S WAR and the hand craftsmanship that went into not only the production design, but costumes, headpieces, and masks (truly stunning work). And how about building a castle of foam and shooting it in your backyard where the lensing and lighting and some minimal VFX is so precise that you'd never know the castle wasn't real. We also dive into casting of Bhodie and his leading lady Avalon and the work Jeremy and co-star Kristen Kaster put into the action and sword work, training for months, wearing armor, and using real swords. Matt encountered situations with his cinematic vision that not many indie filmmakers face, but he pulled it all off thanks to determination and attention to detail.
 

BTL Radio Show - 02/03/2025 with my exclusive interview with CHRISTIAN SESMA

It's a big day for BTL Radio Show as we're kicking off Year 11 of the show AND my 43rd year as a film critic. And what better way for "moviesharkd" to start a new year and new decade than with a shark movie. And what a shark movie I have for you today - INTO THE DEEP!
Directed by Christian Sesma and written by Chad Law and Josh Ridgway, INTO THE DEEP stars Scout Taylor Compton, Callum McGowan, Stuart Townsend, Jon Seda and Richard Dreyfuss.  An action-packed thriller where pirates on the hunt for sunken drugs kidnap a boat of tourists, including marrieds Cassidy and Gregg, and force them to dive into shark-infested waters to retrieve the drugs (and anything else they might find of value).
Listen as Christian and I discuss the making of INTO THE DEEP and the challenges it presented to him. Well accomplished with action films on land, diving into a movie that is 90% if not more both underwater and on the water proved to be a steep learning curve for Christian, but one that he and his team successfully mounted to deliver this taut nail-biter. It's an interesting interview discussing not only the making of the film and shooting in Thailand but having Richard Dreyfuss involved in the film and notably with a compelling call to action for sharks during the end credits.
TAKE A LISTEN. . .

BTL Radio Show - 12/16/2024 with special guest JOHN CORCORAN and my exclusive interview with JACK HUSTON

If you follow #BTLRadioShow, then you know that this a very special show as it's the last show of the year AND the last show of the first TEN YEARS of BTL!!!  And I think this is a special befitting the occasion thanks to my special guest w/d JOHN CORCORAN talking about his debut short film SKYFOREST, plus my exclusive interview with JACK HUSTON talking all things DAY OF THE FIGHT.
 
We kick off the show with my exclusive interview with writer/director JACK HUSTON discussing his narrative feature directorial debut, DAY OF THE FIGHT. A truly knockout directorial that shows me that as good as Jack is acting onscreen, he's even better as a director and writer behind the lens. 
 
Written and directed by JACK HUSTON, DAY OF THE FIGHT boasts a megawatt cast including, among others, Michael Pitt as “Mikey”, Ron Perlman as MIkey’s trainer and father figure “Stevie”, John Magaro as “Father Patrick”, Steve Buscemi as Mikey’s uncle, and Joe Pesci as Mikey’s dad, along with Nicolette Robinson and Cameron Williamson
But let’s be clear.  DAY OF THE FIGHT is not a boxing movie. This is a character study; the character study of a reflective day-in-the-life of a man who happens to be a boxer.  A nod to Jack’s grandfather, the legendary filmmaker John Huston, who was a boxing champion in his youth, we immediately feel the connective tissue between storyteller and filmmaker with an emotional resonance and connection established with the audience. 
A terrific film and fabulous insightful interview!
Then writer/director JOHN CORCORAN joins me live fresh off his West Coast premiere, discussing his directorial debut with the short film/concept film SKYFOREST, a sci-fi thriller that will have you wanting more as soon as it ends. Hard to believe that so much tension and anticipation can be built within 15 short minutes, but John together with his editor Jordan H. Johnson does just that. Truth be told, I didn't want to see this short end!
 
I have been along on John's journey as a writer and director for a couple of decades now and to see what he's achieved (not to mention his sticktoitiveness) and the hurdles he has overcome thus far that have garnered him a co-writing credit on an episode of "Snowpiercer" and now writing and directing this short is inspiring for all filmmakers.  We not only break down each of the elements of SKYFOREST and John's thoughts and considerations every step of the way, but discuss John's journey at length which, at the end of the day, provides some golden nuggets for dreamers and up and coming filmmakers alike.