Indiewire's Filmmaker Toolkit

The director of all four John Wick movies sat down to discuss the secrets behind the stunning action and stylistic flare of his iconic series. Stahelski goes deep on the many influences he drew from to keep pushing the boundaries of what Wick can be in this third sequel. With the scope of the film drawing from epics like Lawrence of Arabia, and the fight scenes inspired by Gene Kelly and Bob Fosse musicals, hear how the franchise stays engaging by rooting itself in classic cinematic language. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Showrunners Nora & Lilla Zuckerman discuss how they built ten "all killer" mysteries for "Poker Face," even in episodes where no one actually, as well as how their work in the genre space helped them understand Charlie Cale and the importance of building stories that use every part of the Buffalo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After years as the star of the Creed franchise, Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut in this emotional third sequel. Jordan opened up with us about the challenges of directing intense physical scenes while maintaining his energy as an actor, and the trust and grace he received from his cast that made it possible. He also goes deep on how his passion for anime revamped the visual style an emotional storytelling of the fight scenes, and how real life fathers Muhammad Ali, Jamie Fox, Kobe Bryant, and his barber inspired the girl-dad relationship between Adonis and his young daughter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1987, Robert Townsend co-wrote, directed, starred in and self-financed (using his savings and credit cards) “Hollywood Shuffle” as a reaction against the lack of opportunities for black actors at the time. 36 years later, the film stands alongside “Stranger Than Paradise,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” and “sex, lies, and videotape” as a classic of the independent film movement and has been newly released on Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection. Townsend sat down with Toolkit to talk about the “dark ages” of 1980s independent film, how he turned his frustrations into the raw material of hilarious farce, and how the lessons learned on “Hollywood Shuffle” continue to fuel his successful directing career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Acclaimed cinematographer Mandy Walker sat down with us to talk about filming the life and art of one of the most iconic performers of all time. Mandy reflects on her long partnership with director Baz Luhrmann, and gives an inside look at what it takes to bring a massive crew in line with his unique creative vision. Capturing Elvis on film the way Baz envisioned meant extensive research into period-accurate cameras and lighting, developing a way to track the story through changing film stocks, and even teaching her camera operators Elvis's dance choreography. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The seminal teenage hangout movie is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Criterion has released a 4K restoration packed with insight into the making of this classic. To celebrate, we sat down with Linklater and discussed what exactly makes Dazed and Confused so endearing and enduring to audiences a generation later. From stories of casting, struggling with the structure of the script, and battles for the rights to the iconic soundtrack, hear the now established director reflect back on being a young filmmaker looking to find his voice in the face of the hollywood system. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The body-horror satire Infinity Pool is one of the best films to premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and Cronenberg sat down with Toolkit to get into all the grisly details. Hear about the difficulty directing actors when the basic nature of the scenes may be up to interpretation, and the many creative challenges that come from making an ambiguous movie that still has an impact on the audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The director of the newest horror film from Blumhouse joined us to discuss her disturbing tale of the intense impact children have on a relationship. Banjamin breaks down her strategies for directing the child actors in terrifying scenes, how her story fits into the legacy of scary child movies, and why it was important to make a great movie about relationships before the horror even began. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alice Diop, director of "Saint Omer," discusses why the film sits at an intersection between fiction and documentary, how sound and editing each influence the way the viewer understands what happens and connects the film's two protagonists, and the powerful, political impact of centering black women in the camera frame. Note: a French version of this conversation with Diop's answers presented without translation begins at 16:03. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us for a double interview this week, as we go deep with the Director and Editor of the box office sensation. With the actors and action all happening for real in fighter jets thousands of feet in the air, hear how the filmmaking team managed to direct the action from the ground, and how they turned hundreds of hours of cockpit footage into some of the most thrilling sequences of the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer and Director Damien Chazelle sits down with us to explain how he pulled off the huge swing that is Babylon. Hear which silent filmmakers and stars most influenced his epic of Hollywood excess, what it was like working with lead actors with wildly different levels of fame, and how he managed to make that ambitious ending a reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer and Director Rian Johnson joins us to chat about crafting the second cinematic mystery in the Knives Out series. Rian discusses the pressures of delivering on the satisfaction of the original while striking out in new thematic directions with Glass Onion, and how he tackled the challenge of developing another group of memorable characters while balancing the on-set staging and blocking of the all-star cast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Luca Guadagnino returns to talk with us about his entrancing new film, the coming-of-age cannibal romance Bones and All. Luca opens up about his experiences on the road in the American midwest, and why this tale of disenfranchised youth was a perfect beginning to him making films in the States. Also hear how he deepened his creative partnership with lead actor Timothée Chalamet, and how his performance became an even more vital part of the filmmaking process than their collaboration on Call Me By Your Name. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Academy Award winning director of The Revenant sat down with us to discuss his return to Mexico, and how he delved into his character's subconscious to create an intimate epic of the mind. Iñárritu explains how making radical decisions in every department was key to capturing the feeling of a dream that resists literal interpretation, and why it was crucial to embrace fiction as a way of unpacking personal reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join our discussion with visionary filmmaker James Cameron as he walks us through the cutting edge technology he and his team developed for this long awaited return to the world of Avatar. Learn how he once again pioneered new performance capture technology, allowing actors to perform underwater and giving them much more creative freedom than a live action filmmaking approach. Cameron unpacks how motion capture shapes the creative process at every step, impacting the writing and editing as much as what happens on set. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn about the making of one of the year's most powerful films from Laura Poitras, the award winning director of Citezenfour, and her editor Amy Foote. The two filmmakers explain how they met photographer Nan Goldin, and how they combined her voice with her incredible photographs to tell the story of her challenging the powerful Sackler family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert discuss the collaboration that allowed them to make "Everything Everywhere All At Once" maximalist AF. From the summer camp vibes on their set to their poetic relationship with sound design, hear how this duo crafted their incredible journey through the multiverse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The crafts team behind Prime Video's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" discuss the creative choices that went into making a series that is by and for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Director Daniel Roher takes us behind the scenes of making his thrilling documentary, the story of the fearless opposition leader to Vladimir Putin's oppressive regime. A social media master and fierce public speaker, Alexei Navalny was so effective at rallying the people of Russia against the Kremlin, they attempted to assassinate him in the summer of 2020. Roher describes what it was like to film Navalny while he recovered in Germany and planned his fateful return, and why making this movie felt as much like a thriller as his subject's life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Creator Tony Gilroy and editor John Gilroy join Toolkit to discuss the joys of worldbuilding inside the Star Wars universe, structuring the first season of "Andor," and how score influenced the show's writing and editing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices