Anne Beatts
In 1975, a comedy series connected to the politics and pop culture of young people, NBC's Saturday Night Live debuted. Its first season is now on DVD. Anne Beatts, one of a handful of women writers on the original Saturday Night Live, drops in to talk about being a pioneer among a group of pioneers.
28 Feb 200729min
Gay Talese
Writer Gay Talese's fame as a journalist began with his fine profiles for Esquire and continued with non-fiction books such as Honor Thy Father and Thy Neighbor's Wife. With his new book, A Writer's Life, he turns his eye on himself.
21 Feb 200729min
James Sanders
The book, Scenes from the City: Filmmaking in New York, is not only a sumptuous and evocative photo-history of New York filmmaking, it's a sharp and compelling look at city's cultural and social history through cinema. Its editor, James Sanders (co-writer or the Emmy Award-winning PBS series New York: A Documentary Film and its companion volume, New York: An Illustrated History, as well as Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies), connects the dots, from Marlon Brando to Woody Allen.
14 Feb 200729min
Anthony Minghella
Breaking and Entering, the title of director Anthony Minghella's new film, could be used to describe the furtive movement between classes dramatized in his work. It's found in his Talented Mr Ripley, Cold Mountain and here.
7 Feb 200729min
George Miller
There's not as big a gap between the Mad Max cycle of films, the Babe movie and Happy Feet as you might think. They all come from filmmaker George Miller, whose instincts as a entertainer also connect to using film as fable. He discusses the difference between making film for kids and for adults.
31 Jan 200729min
Christine Vachon
Christine Vachon, one of most prolific forces in independent films, has opened the door for some of the most singular talent in movies.
24 Jan 200729min
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Communication is not only a theme in the films of Alejandro González Iñárritu. In Amores Perros, 21 Grams and his newest, Babel, it's also a plot point.
17 Jan 200729min
Bill Condon
Writer-director Bill Condon adapted Chicago, and he finally brings Dreamgirls to the big screen.
10 Jan 200729min
