Ed Harris
Wed, Oct 1
Elvis Mitchell hosts actor-director-writer-producer Ed Harris (The Right Stuff, The Truman Show, Pollock) whose latest film as screenwriter, director, actor and producer is Appaloosa, starring Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons and Rene Zellweger.
Stuart Townsend
Wed, Sep 24
Elvis Mitchell hosts actor and now writer-director Stuart Townsend, whose directorial feature film debut is Battle in Seattle.
Wayne Wang - Web Exclusive
Wed, Sep 17
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Elvis Mitchell hosts writer-producer-director Wayne Wang (The Joy Luck Club, Smoke, Maid in Manhattan) whose latest film is A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.
Alan Ball
Wed, Sep 10
Six Feet Under and his Oscar-winning screenplay for American Beauty established Alan Ball's interest in the underside of American life. His feature directorial debut, Towelhead, and the HBO series True Blood furthered his interest in the outsiders under the same roof.
Edgar Wright
Wed, Sep 3
You know director Edgar Wright from his films Hot Fuzz and Shawn of the Dead, but his partnership with actor Simon Pegg precedes them. They also worked together on the smart, action-packed and emotional British comedy series, Spaced...
Don Cheadle
Wed, Aug 27
Elvis Mitchell hosts actor Don Cheadle (Oceans Eleven, Oceans Twelve, Oceans Thirteen, Crash, Hotel Rwanda) whose latest starring role is in the film Traitor.
Susanna White
Wed, Aug 20
Paranoia, hostility and patience -- not exactly the stuff of war dramas. The seven-part mini-series, Generation Kill, focuses on just that. Susanna White (Bleak House, Jane Eyre) directed four of seven episodes and talks about getting her "ground attack" together.
Ben Stiller
Wed, Aug 13
Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Meet the Fockers, The Cable Guy, Reality Bites) is a director, producer and writer. But he's first and foremost an actor who's done comedy and drama on the stage and on the screen.
Courtney Hunt
Wed, Aug 6
Elvis Mitchell hosts writer-director Courtney Hunt whose debut feature film, Frozen River, won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Jenji Kohan and Roberto Benabib
Wed, Jul 30
The suburban dealer-mom of the cable series Weeds has moved her act to the beach and Mexico. Weeds’ executive producerss Jenji Kohan and Roberto Benabib hit us with the ideas they use to keep this comedy-drama fresh – and seedless.
Christopher Nolan
Wed, Jul 23
In the ten years since he’s been making feature films, writer-director Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins) has been making films in which the protagonists' emotional chaos has been mirrored in the physical world around them. His second Batman film, The Dark Knight, is said to the the pinnacle of that.
Jonathan Levine
Wed, Jul 16
What do you get when you bring Ben Kingsley, Method Man, Josh Peck and Mary-Kate Olsen together? Besides the dream episode of Access Hollywood, you get writer-director Jonathan Levine's first, film, The Wackness.
Alex Gibney
Wed, Jul 9
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Elvis Mitchell hosts writer-director-producer Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room, Taxi to the Dark Side) whose latest documentary is Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.
Andrew Stanton
Wed, Jul 2
Animated films have had many stars: animals, fish, toys, bugs, cars... WALL-E is the first with a lead with no face. It's a trash compactor. Is this the future of cartoons? We ask WALL-E director Andrew Stanton (A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo)
David Hajdu
Wed, Jun 25
In the 1930's and 40's, comic books were as popular as movies -- and more influential. So much so that serious steps were taken to stop them. Writer David Hajdu (Lush Life, A Biography of Billy Strayhorn, Positively 4th Street) examines this controversy in his new book, The Ten-Cent Plague, and illustrates it.
Walter Mirisch
Wed, Jun 18
Some Like It Hot, The Magnificent Seven, In the Heat of the Night, the original Pink Panther. If you're lucky, you've seen these films. Walter Mirisch produced them. I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History is his new book.
Michael Patrick King
Wed, Jun 11
For writer-director Michael Patrick King (Will and Grace, Murphy Brown) every season of Sex in the City was about changing expectations, which means he had his work cut out for him with the Sex in the City movie. See if the shoe fits.
Jay Roach
Wed, Jun 4
What's crazier than Austin Powers or Meet the Fockers? The 2000 presidential vote count, perhaps. It's the subject of Jay Roach's new film, Recount. Count yourself in when Elvis Mitchell speaks with Roach.
Henry Bean
Wed, May 28
As a writer, Henry Bean is responsible for films about self-destructive protagonists who skirt justice in Deep Cover Internal Affairs. With his directorial debut, The Believer, he took that character one step further. Now with his newest film, Noise, he moves into the realm of fable. We discuss his holy war: the brain versus the heart.
Doug Pray
Wed, May 21
Documentary filmmaker Doug Pray manages to nose his way into outcast societies -- de facto families -- with his films. Hype, on the 90's Seattle music world, and Scratch on the DJ culture. His latest, Surfwise, is about the most exclusive family, father Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, who turns his nine kids into champion surfers. It's all about tribal rights.
Jon Favreau
Wed, May 14
Jon Favreau understands power. As an actor, he broke through by writing a roll for himself in Swingers. Then he made the move behind the camera as the director of Zathura and Elf and, now, the box-office smash Iron Man.
Garth Jennings
Wed, May 7
If you were creating an indie comedy about two London boys coming into their own in the 80's, the last title you'd use is Son of Rambow – unless you're writer-directorGarth Jennings (The Hitchkikers Guide to the Galaxy).
David Mamet
Wed, Apr 30
There are few figures in American culture as with as potent a step as David Mamet (American Buffalo, House of Games, Heist), first as a playwright, then as a filmmaker. With his new movie, Redbelt, he takes on a new frontier, the action film. We hear how he came to climb that mountain.
Vadim Perelman
Wed, Apr 23
It's not often that filmmakers turn to literary devices rather than film conventions for their work. It happens to be the case for director Vadim Perelman for both House of Sand and Fog and his newest, The Life Before Her Eyes.
Anthony Minghella
Wed, Apr 16
The late writer-director Anthony Minghella (Michael Clayton, Cold Mountain, The English Patient, Truly, Madly, Deeply) focused on characters trying to come to terms with themselves and found drama in the misperceptions in films both epic and intimate. We use this sad occasion to revisit his thoughtful interview on his last film, Breaking and Entering. (This show originally aired February 7, 2007.)
Charles Burnett
Wed, Apr 9
He's one of America---s premier filmmakers and has devoted his career to bringing a nuanced portrayal of the African American experience to the screen. Writer-director Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding, American Family) describes what got him into the movies and how stereotypes is still a battle worth fighting.
Kimberly Peirce
Wed, Apr 2
What a difference a decade makes. In the 1990's, director Kimberly Peirce brought Boys Don---t Cry to the big screen. Almost a decade later, she returns with Stop-Loss.
Mark Harris
Wed, Mar 26
What do Dr. Doolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who---s Coming to Dinner, Bonnie and Clyde and In the Heat of the Night all have in common. All play a prominent role in movie history, as Mark Harris (Entertainment Weekly) notes in his new book, Pictures at a Revolution. It's history with a surprise ending.
James Lipton
Wed, Mar 19
The book Inside Inside not only takes a behind-the-scenes look at the television show Inside the Actors' Studio, but at its creator and host, James Lipton. This time, it's questions for the interrogator!
Brett Morgen
Wed, Mar 12
As a filmmaker, director Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays in The Picture) is attracted to real-life subjects about bigger-than-life figures. Chicago 10 is his biggest yet.