The No Film School Podcast
A podcast about how to build a career in filmmaking. No Film School shares the latest opportunities and trends for anyone working in film and TV. We break news on cameras, lighting, and apps. We interview leaders in screenwriting, directing, cinematography, editing, and producing. And we answer your questions! We are dedicated to sharing knowledge with filmmakers around the globe, “no film school” required.
Episodes
January 9, 2026 • 46 mins
This episode of the No Film School Podcast dives deep into the power and necessity of physical spaces in modern film culture. Host GG Hawkins sits down with Maggie Mackay, Executive Director and board member of Vidiots—a beloved LA video store-turned-nonprofit cultural institution. They explore the origins and revival of Vidiots, what it takes to build a sustainable, audience-centered film space in a digital world, and why communit...
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January 1, 2026 • 75 mins
This episode of the No Film School Podcast features two conversations. First, host GG Hawkins reunites with filmmaker Pete Ohs, who returns to share the unique distribution experiment he’s launching with four films releasing throughout 2026. He reflects on his “table of bubbles” filmmaking philosophy and his desire to find joy instead of stress in the release process. Later, GG is joined by composer Hollie Buhagiar, whose original ...
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December 27, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode, the tables are turned as No Film School host GG Hawkins becomes the interviewee, speaking with No Film School founder Ryan Koo about the journey of releasing her micro-budget feature I Really Love My Husband. The episode dives into the emotional, logistical, and marketing challenges of putting an independent film into the world after festival premieres and securing distribution. GG shares the lessons she’s learned,...
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December 24, 2025 • 43 mins
Host GG Hawkins sits down with filmmaker Charlie Polinger to unpack the making of his debut feature, The Plague. Polinger discusses his transition from theater to film, the personal childhood memories that shaped the story, and how embracing chaos—rather than controlling it—became central to his directing process. From casting an electrifying ensemble of young actors to shaping dread through sound design and editing, the conversati...
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December 21, 2025 • 58 mins
In this episode, host Charles Haine sits down with cinematographer Oren Soffer to dive deep into the groundbreaking and much-discussed visual style of The Creator. As the co-DP alongside Greig Fraser, Soffer shares how they achieved the film’s unique aesthetic using a prosumer Sony FX3 camera, a single vintage lens, and a minimalist, indie-inspired production model. This discussion covers everything from lighting choices and VFX co...
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December 18, 2025 • 53 mins
Allan Ungar started directing features at just 23 and has since evolved into a filmmaker known for his action-comedy chops and ability to elicit career-best performances from his actors. In this episode, he sits down with No Film School host, GG Hawkins, to discuss how his approach has matured from rigid control to meaningful collaboration, why psychological insight is essential for directors, and how to create an environment where...
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December 12, 2025 • 42 mins
Screenwriter and showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine joins the No Film School Podcast to unpack her career and creative process behind hit adaptations including The Boys and The Housemaid. She shares how she got her start, how she discovered her voice in genre, and the intense pitch process behind landing The Housemaid. Rebecca also offers practical advice for writing contained stories, building a compelling script from source material,...
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In this episode, No Film School founder Ryan Koo and host GG Hawkins, along with producer and guest Ana Liza Muravina, dig into the ramifications of the news that Netflix is bidding (or may be outbid by Paramount) to acquire Warner Brothers — and what this massive consolidation could mean for the future of theatrical film, streaming, and the livelihoods of filmmakers.
In this episode, No Film School's Ryan Koo, GG Hawkins, and gue...
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December 5, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode, cinematographer Gayle Ye joins host GG Hawkins for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation about artistry, identity, and what it means to lead with authenticity as a DP. Gayle, who recently won a Canadian Screen Award for Paying For It and Late Bloomer, breaks down their creative process, from building visual language to managing crew dynamics. As the youngest and first queer, gender-fluid person of color to win ...
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November 21, 2025 • 42 mins
GG Hawkins speaks with directors Jessica Dimmock and Zackary Canepari about their haunting and thought-provoking HBO documentary Thoughts & Prayers. The film offers a chillingly observational look at the normalization of school shootings in America—not by focusing on the tragedies themselves, but by examining the surreal, billion-dollar industry of “school safety” that's risen in their aftermath. Through restrained cinematography a...
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November 14, 2025 • 94 mins
In this episode of the No Film School podcast, GG Hawkins and Ryan Koo dig into the often‑murky world of film release strategy and distribution from multiple angles—and then sit down with acclaimed filmmaker Ruben Fleischer to trace his path from indie start to big‑budget studio productions.
In this episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins, Ryan Koo, and guest Ruben Fleischer discuss…
GG’s journey with her micro‑budget feature I ...
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November 13, 2025 • 51 mins
The current state of Hollywood script development is chaotic, to say the least—but what if there were a way to reclaim it for writers? In this episode, guest host Charles Haine returns to No Film School to speak with Brian Austin and Scott Foster, the creators behind ScriptHop and the newly launched The Gauntlet. They dive into how the traditional process of script discovery has broken down and explore how the Gauntlet offers a tra...
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November 7, 2025 • 59 mins
In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, GG Hawkins dives into the sweeping process behind Train Dreams, a period drama adapted from the Dennis Johnson novella. GG is joined by director Clint Bentley and editor Parker Laramie, who discuss the challenges and joys of crafting a film that spans decades while staying intimate and emotionally resonant. The episode also opens with a candid conversation with filmmaker Boris Rodrigue...
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November 6, 2025 • 69 mins
In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, host GG Hawkins connects with two key voices in the film-industry ecosystem. First, she chats with screenwriter and filmmaker Nicolas Curcio to take the pulse of the movie business at the close of 2025—what’s changed, what’s hopeful, and what still needs to shift. Then, GG talks with programmer and curator Imani Davis of the American Cinematheque to explore the art and mechanics of pro...
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Director John-Michael Powell joins No Film School to talk about his gritty Southern crime thriller Violent Ends, which hits theaters October 31. Powell shares the winding journey that led to the film’s production—from being dropped from a college art program, to cutting indie films that made it to festivals like Sundance and SXSW, to editing the Emmy-winning Netflix series American Manhunt. Remarkably, he crafted a feature starring...
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October 30, 2025 • 52 mins
In this episode, No Film School founder Ryan Koo sits down with contributor and fellow Austinite Jourdan Aldredge to recap the highlights and insights from the 32nd annual Austin Film Festival. Known as "The Writers Festival," AFF has emerged as a critical space for screenwriters, writer-directors, and filmmakers to connect, learn, and showcase their work. Ryan and Jourdan discuss how the festival nurtures emerging talent, supports...
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October 24, 2025 • 54 mins
In this episode, No Film School’s GG Hawkins and guests Geeta Gandbhir and Viridiana Lieberman dive into the making of the breakout documentary The Perfect Neighbor, which uses police body‑cam, Ring‑cam and dash‑cam footage to tell a harrowing story of a neighborhood dispute and a fatal shooting in Florida under the “stand your ground” law. The conversation focuses on how editor Lieberman navigated massive technical and emotional c...
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October 18, 2025 • 54 mins
In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, GG Hawkins speaks with writer-director Mary Bronstein about her searing psychological comedy-drama If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You. The film, starring Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, Christian Slater, and A$AP Rocky, explores the emotional breakdown of a woman navigating a mysterious illness in her child, an absentee husband, and a dangerously dependent relationship with her therapist. Premieri...
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October 16, 2025 • 49 mins
No Film School founder, Ryan Koo, sits down with acclaimed director Jeremiah Zagar to explore his journey from Sundance Labs and indie documentaries to directing high-stakes prestige television. Zagar, best known for We the Animals and Hustle, shares an in-depth look at his process directing HBO’s Task—an emotionally rich, verité-style crime drama from showrunner Brad Ingelsby, starring Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey. The conversati...
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October 10, 2025 • 66 mins
How do you make enough money to support yourself as an independent filmmaker? It's nearly impossible. So these scrappy filmmakers tried something new.
Moviegoers at this year's edition of Fantastic Fest were in for a surprise when the credits of the horror world premiere Dolly rolled: several QR codes lingered on screen. If you liked the movie, you could tip the filmmakers directly, through Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and PayPal (thos...
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