I’ve had all kinds of great guests on the NICKSAV Film & Music SHOW, so it was a challenge to put this list together. After giving it some thought, these are the 15 interviews, arranged in alphabetical order by first name, that have stayed with me a little longer. I hope they will instruct and inspire you, as they have done for me. Enjoy!
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Dan Laustsen
The Shape of Water won an Oscar for Best Picture in 2018. Dan Laustsen was the film’s cinematographer, his third collaboration with director Guillermo del Toro. I’m a fan of monster movies and of Guillermo’s work, and the interview gave me the chance to further explore both while learning more about cinematography. We discuss Dan’s work on Shape of Water, Crimson Peak, and John Wick 2. Dan Laustsen ep.
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Danny Rubin
He wrote Groundhog Day! What else is there to say? Just that the film still means a lot to me and that Danny was even more friendly and considerate to me than I could have hoped. Danny Rubin ep.
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Douglas Kirkland
Douglas Kirkland has photographed movie stars from the silent era and throughout cinema history all the way up to contemporary blockbusters. Some of the celebrities he’s photographed include Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Nicholson, John Wayne, Sean Connery, Meryl Streep, and Nicole Kidman. I’m intrigued by the way Douglas uses old-world charm to bring out the humanity and the personalities of his subjects. Douglas Kirkland ep.
One of the photos Douglas captured on the set of Moulin Rouge! From his book, A Life in Pictures: The Douglas Kirkland Monograph.
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Frank Oz
He’s the performer and voice behind Yoda and many of the Muppets and the director responsible for films like The Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, What About Bob, and Bowfinger The interview didn’t go as expected, but it was still informative, and I’m grateful that I had the chance to talk to someone who worked on projectsthat shaped much of my childhood and that continue to influence my creative aspirations. Frank Oz ep.
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Iain Smith
Producer Iain Smith began his filmmaking career by working on storied projects like Chariots of Fire and Local Hero. As his skills as a producer developed, Ian’s had the opportunity to produce for world-class filmmakers including Darren Aronofsky, Luc Besson, Alfonso Cuarón, George Miller, Anthony Minghella, and Oliver Stone. We discuss a number of his projects and then talk in more detail about some of the challenges that went into producing the groundbreaking action sequences in Mad Max: Fury Road. Iain Smith ep.
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Jay Caputo
Jay’s a stuntman and a friend who has worked on films like Planet of the Apes, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Amazing Spider-Man. The stunts he’s done are definitely not the kind you want to try at home! Our interview helped me get to know Jay better, and a few years later I cast Jay as one of the stars in my short film Mixed Signals.
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Jeff Jasper
When we did this interview, Jeff Jasper was the digital effects supervisor at New Deal Studios, an effects house in California that specializes in making miniatures for films. On this episode, we discuss some of the work Jeff and his team did for The Dark Knight, Hugo, and Interstellar. I’m fascinated by the tender loving care that goes into miniatures work. Plus Hugo is my favorite Martin Scorsese film and Interstellar is my favorite Christopher Nolan film, so I was eager for the chance to learn more about the effects work on both.
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John Lee Hancock
He’s the writer-director of The Blind Side, one of the writers of Snow White and the Huntsman, and the director of Saving Mr. Banks. All of those films have a special place in my heart, so I was honored to get to talk to him about those films and about The Founder, a film he directed about Ray Kroc, the man who turned McDonald’s into a worldwide franchise. We discuss collaborating with actors, the research that goes into portraying a historical figure on screen, the legacy of Walt Disney and more. John Lee Hancock ep.
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John Schneider
Dukes of Hazzard turned John Schneider into a household name, and many still think of him as Bo Duke, the iconic character he played on the show. To a younger generation, John Schneider is probably better known as Jonathan Kent, Superman’s dad, on Smallville. On this episode, we talk about John’s acting career, the impact that a good father can have on someone, Johnny Cash’s influence, and more. John Schneider ep.
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Lindsay Doran
Producer Lindsay Doran won a Golden Globe for Sense and Sensibility, a film that she spent years trying to develop. Lindsay has an extensive background as a studio executive where she has overseen development on projects like This Is Spinal Tap, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Ghost. She was also the producer of one of my favorite films from the 21st century, Stranger Than Fiction. When not developing her own projects, Lindsay works as a script whisperer, doing secret consultation work on some of Hollywood’s biggest films. Lindsay Doran ep.
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Mary Gauthier
Singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier has had her songs recorded by the likes of Blake Shelton, Jimmy Buffett, and Tim McGraw and has made several appearances at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and Bob Dylan featured her music in one of his showcases. Mary is passionate about helping veterans to work through the trauma that they faced in combat, and her album Rifles & Rosary Beads was co-written with veterans from SongwritingWith:Soldiers. My dad was a doctor in the Navy, and taking care of veterans has become an important cause to me, so I was glad for the opportunity to talk to Mary about some of her work with veterans. Mary Gauthier ep.
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Michael Lyle
Don’t know what a foley artist does? You will after listening to this episode. Foley artists recreate sounds from scratch to give movies an immersive, textured feel. As Michael explains, that can involve manipulating guns and heavy machinery to record war sounds. Sometimes a foley artist is even asked to go beyond reality and produce something that’s never been heard before. Michael would know. He created the sounds for the Minions in Despicable Me! Michael Lyle ep.
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Moonbot
Moonbot is an Academy Award-winning animation house in Shreveport, Louisiana. For this episode, I spoke to Brandon Oldenburg, one of the founders, and Limbert Fabian, a director and artist at the company. I’m an animation enthusiast, so I enjoyed learning about how some of their projects we can together. Plus, the guys were friendly enough to play along with me, when my questions got a little zany.
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Rick Bragg
Down-and-outers in Victorian London had Charles Dickens to bring dignity to their plight. Small-town Southerners have Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Bragg. Never far away from a biting bon mot, Rick is articulate as ever on this podcast, but eventually we settle into weightier territory: the impact a journalist can have on his subject, surviving an abusive father, and the conflicted soul that was Jerry Lee Lewis. Rick said of our interview, “I cannot remember when I had a longer or better conversation about the contents of my work.” Rick Bragg ep.
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Tom Piazza
I haven’t encountered another writer who writes about the intersection of community and music quite like Tom Piazza does. His post-Katrina manifesto Why New Orleans Matters helped to inspire the HBO show Treme, and the show’s co-creator David Simon brought him on as a staff writer largely because of it. Tom received a GRAMMY for his album notes to Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues: A Musical Journey. On this episode, we talk about the allure of New Orleans, his approach to music criticism, and his work on Treme.
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Bonus episode:
Live show at SXSW with Fable House
OK, technically this brings it to 16. I didn’t originally include this episode because it was a live show that was a little different than other episodes. For one thing, there was a puppet involved! Even so, it was an official event at South by Southwest 2018–surreal that a scrappy podcast like this one got selected for that– and I got to do the show with friends who’ve shot for Toyota and Airbnb, worked with Kendrick Lamar, and done effects work on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Game of Thrones, and Star Trek: Into Darkness. All that to say, the episode has a special place in my heart, and it was an oversight not to include it initially.