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Doc Walks: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Ben Steinbauer & Keith Maitland
Documentary filmmakers, Keith Maitland (TOWER, DEAR MR BRODY) and Ben Steinbauer (WINNEBAGO MAN, CHOP & STEELE), host this lively walk & talk podcast featuring conversations with today's best non-fiction storytellers. DocWalks takes the conversation to the street (or nature trail), offering candid insight into the art & industry of documentary filmmaking for an audience of emerging filmmakers and doc-lovers alike.
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- Today1h 17m
EP078 - Bad Luck Shoes w/ Patrick Bresnan & Ivete Lucas
We sneak out of the AFS Cinema mid-screening for our first-ever four-way walk with Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas, the married filmmakers behind PAHOKEE and NAKED GARDENS, in town with their new film FIRST THEY CAME FOR MY COLLEGE. It's about the political takeover of New College of Florida, and Patrick tells us how producer Holly Herrick roped him in, why he filmed for two and a half years, and how wine and long dinners with students got him through it. Then we rewind. Patrick was a prankster in Philadelphia and San Francisco, jumping into hippo tanks and winning a David Hasselhoff contest to visit the BAYWATCH set (hello, THE CONTESTANT). After Hurricane Katrina he volunteered with Mennonite disaster crews, and something clicked: be of service first, film second. Ivete's path runs from Sao Paulo to Monterrey, where she made art shows and pranks of her own, and where the two of them met in 2008 after Patrick prayed in church for a little luck. It worked. They've been together ever since. We dig into how they earn trust in communities for a year at a time: printing a thousand photos in Pahokee, becoming "Patrick the photo guy," and putting the kids in front of the Q&A mic. Plus the pitch for NAKED GARDENS ("Grey Gardens at a nudist resort"), shooting it while Ivete was pregnant, and why some French decision-makers couldn't watch it. We also talk AI anxiety, the garden club that steals the film, and the gateway doc that changed Patrick's life: HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT. Plus: exploding shoes, chafing, and why Ivete says they're "the antithesis of AI." DISCUSSION LINKS: HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT (1986) | SLACKER (1990) | PAHOKEE (2019) | BOYS STATE (2020) | NAKED GARDENS (2022) | THE CONTESTANT (2025) | THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR (2025) | THE AI DOC: OR HOW I BECAME AN APOCALOPTIMIST (2026) | FIRST THEY CAME FOR MY COLLEGE (2026) TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro: the shoes that exploded 01:45 Meet Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas 02:30 AI anxiety and why plumbers go first 05:53 FIRST THEY CAME FOR MY COLLEGE and New College 07:09 How Holly Herrick pulled Patrick in 10:30 Making a film inside a community's trauma 11:46 Who's who: Patrick, Ivete and BOYS STATE 15:15 How Austin's queer community took them in 19:05 Pranks, hippo tanks and the Baywatch contest 24:38 THE CONTESTANT and Singled Out 25:57 Katrina, Mennonites and a turn toward real stories 30:11 Ivete: Sao Paulo, Monterrey and Arte Sonico 32:51 How they met in Monterrey 38:04 NAKED GARDENS: Grey Gardens at a nudist resort 42:20 Filming naked, six months, and pregnant 46:00 The French reaction 50:08 Characters, safe houses and the Pahokee shorts 54:39 Patrick the photo guy: being of service 58:36 Giving vs. taking, and filmmaking as a couple 1:02:10 Josh, the garden club and two and a half years of shooting 1:08:10 Taking the film to campuses like KU and UT 1:11:30 Advice for artists first 1:13:30 The gateway film: HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT 1:15:24 Four-way walk wrap
- 5 days ago19 min
EP077 - You Don't Know How to Feel
Keith and his wife caught it on a Tuesday night date night. Ben and his wife skipped work to see it in a theater, in the middle of the day. When was the last time a three-hour documentary caught the attention of just about everyone around? Just about never—so we had to talk about it. This week it's just the two of us unpacking YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING, the Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim film about Elizabeth Holmes, shot in the weeks before she reported to prison. It's a big-idea access movie that puts documentary technique under a warped microscope. One of us calls it one of the greatest pieces of art in years. The other can't stop noticing the cameras. We argue over a jumped line, long lenses, and a baby shot through a crib, and whether Oppenheim's polished style (see SPERMWORLD and REN FAIRE) reads as artifice. Toss in Fielder's THE REHEARSAL brand of authenticity-poking and you get a very volatile mix. We debate whether SHERMAN'S MARCH or HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON is the "real" version of on-camera awkwardness. So much to unpack in this film, about the father,and the ex, and how it handles Billy Evans asking for money, and whether documentary subjects should get paid. Should it get a Best Picture nod? A Best Documentary nod? Both? Spoilers are fair game, but Keith says this movie can't really be spoiled. Ben says skip work and you won't believe your eyes. Plus: the word "can," that icky car ride to prison, and why we think the film is really about you, yes you—the audience. DISCUSSION LINKS: YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING (2026) | SHERMAN'S MARCH (1985) | HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON (2020) | THE REHEARSAL (2022) | REN FAIRE (2024) | SPERMWORLD (2024) TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Skipping work to see a documentary 00:41 Unfettered access and a stunning document 01:41 Is it a documentary? 02:24 Access, ethics and authenticity 02:54 Awards talk and the meaning of "can" 04:00 A mirror to the audience 04:35 Straight documentary, then recreation (spoilers) 05:14 Oppenheim's calling card: SPERMWORLD and REN FAIRE 06:17 Nathan Fielder meets Elizabeth Holmes 07:26 The couch scene and the jumped line 09:03 HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON vs. a full crew 09:43 The crib shot 10:41 Coming in cold on Holmes 11:02 THE REHEARSAL 11:45 Is SHERMAN'S MARCH a documentary? 12:36 Professional liars 12:55 The dad and the ex nobody follows up with 14:18 The dropped assault storyline 15:04 Billy Evans and the money ask 16:04 Should documentary subjects be paid? 16:44 The car ride to prison 17:37 What the movie is really about 18:24 Go see it and tell us how you feel
- 1 weeks ago1h 9m
EP076 - Life and Death w/ Brett Morgen
A seasoned mainstay of the LA documentary scene, Brett Morgen takes Keith for a walk around his charming Rustic Canyon neighborhood. Brett is the filmmaker behind major releases like MOONAGE DAYDREAM, JANE, COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK, ON THE ROPES, and the animated Hollywood tale, THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE. Just two weeks into his empty-nester era and newly back in his house, post-LA-fires, Brett is ready to walk and doc. He opens up about his MOONAGE DAYDREAM process, how the film was inspired by Bowie's death, and how for him, docmaking is a writing exercise—that the edit room is about the juxtaposition of shots—and real storytelling happens before all that. Keith confesses that Brett's approach to re-creation in CHICAGO 10 opened up creative opportunities, but Brett defers to Flaherty and NANOOK OF THE NORTH, sparking a question of authenticity, documentary ethics, and why the "doc police" are waiting to come for you. The heart of this walk is all about the heart attack that Brett suffered at a TOWER screening that bonded him and Keith for life. And he ends up sharing what David Bowie taught him about living once he came out the other side. Plus: THE SWORD IN THE STONE, WILLY WONKA, the future of immersive audience experiences (stadium edition), and advice for a 21-year-old musician that we can all take to heart. DISCUSSION LINKS: ON THE ROPES (1999) | THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE (2002) | CHICAGO 10 (2007) | CROSSFIRE HURRICANE (2012) | COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK (2015) | TOWER (2016) | JANE (2017) | MOONAGE DAYDREAM (2022) | ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (2021) | RICOCHET (1984) | ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (1983) | THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976) | NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1922) | WALTZ WITH BASHIR (2008) | THE EYES OF ME (2009) | THE SWORD IN THE STONE (1963) | WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971) TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Keith's intro from the Uber 01:43 Rustic Canyon 02:14 The mudslide that took Brett's house 03:26 Near misses, and Keith's intro to Brett 05:09 Empty nester, a little under the weather 06:02 How MOONAGE DAYDREAM started in Austin 08:29 The Bowie archive and "the audience created David" 11:02 Bowie, the Velvet Underground and postmodernism 13:17 RICOCHET and the Southeast Asia footage 16:04 Writing the movie before the edit room 17:36 The Odyssey, a train from Albuquerque and the hero's journey 20:36 Brian Eno as Yoda 21:25 CHICAGO 10 as the go-ahead for TOWER 23:07 Is it still nonfiction? THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE 25:02 CHICAGO 10's cast and the mo-cap problem 28:10 NANOOK OF THE NORTH and the doc police 30:18 The New York Times, AI and why all documentaries lie 34:16 All art is autobiography 38:50 Turning down bio docs 39:43 What's changed in 25 years of documentary 42:24 Theatrical, streaming and Keith's first film 44:17 The IMAX math 45:47 Arenas, three screens and a new business model 50:10 The day we met 55:54 Coma, a Marvel pilot and the aftermath 59:34 What Bowie taught him 1:02:17 Gateway drug films 1:04:50 Advice for emerging filmmakers 1:07:47 Goodbyes
- 2 weeks ago1h 9m
EP075 - Naked And Vulnerable W/ Ben & Keith
Episode 75, the Diamond Jubilee, and it's just the two of us. With no guest, with no safety net or buffer, this one finds Ben feeling both naked and vulnerable. But Keith is there to calm his nerves with: a full craft episode, with three buckets. First bucket up, OBSERVATIONAL FILMMAKING. What's right & wrong about fly-on-the-wall as a premise and who gets it right. Ben walks through his plan for an upcoming shoot, and Keith pokes at whether that's observation at all. We'll talk Wiseman and the Maysles and turn to our experiences with 100-plus days hanging out with teenagers at the Texas School for the Blind for Keith's THE EYES OF ME; and one great day on Ben's undergrad short DAY WITH JOHN. Bucket two: RE-CREATION. Keith's got opinions. And a time-tested theory that re-cre (as well as animation) works when it's A-roll and fails as a B-roll Band-Aid. We get into our work on TOWER, DEAR MR. BRODY, and CALLS TO OKIES—and widen out to discuss the subjects and objects of NANOOK OF THE NORTH, THE THIN BLUE LINE and THE ACT OF KILLING. Speaking of subjectivity, Keith drops the bold claim that re-creation is more truthful than observation because it announces itself and Ben has thoughts. Bucket three, for today was meant to be ARCHIVAL STORYTELLING. But as episode 75 runs out of road, we punt on an archival deep-dive for a future episode. So, call this one: 2 out of 3 buckets. Plus: a callback to Barlow Jacobs & Pete Muller; we start counting steps; and we close with some in-theater, under-the-radar recs: WTO/99 and FLAG DAY. DISCUSSION LINKS: THE EYES OF ME (2009) | DAY WITH JOHN (2002) | SALESMAN (1969) | GIMME SHELTER (1970) | TOWER (2016) | DEAR MR. BRODY (2022) | CALLS TO OKIES: THE PARK GRUBBS STORY (2015) | NANOOK OF THE NORTH (1922) | THE VOYAGE OUT (2025) | THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988) | THE ACT OF KILLING (2012) | LA 92 (2017) | LET THE FIRE BURN (2013) | BUCKS HARBOR (2026) | WTO/99 (2025) | FLAG DAY (2026) TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Cold open: selfie sticks and old live oaks 00:55 Episode 75, and no guest 02:00 Why we're doing a craft episode 02:30 The step counter starts now 03:30 Three buckets: observation, recreation, archival 04:15 The Diamond Jubilee and the fire department boats 06:00 Bucket one: what is observational filmmaking? 07:00 Ben's upcoming shoot: a podcast, a conference, a plan 10:30 Be Fred Wiseman for a minute 15:30 People vs. places 17:00 THE EYES OF ME: 100 days at the Texas School for the Blind 19:30 DAY WITH JOHN and learning to direct 23:30 Casting, premise and structure 27:00 The Maysles, SALESMAN and "the Al of this combo" 29:00 Quickfire advice on observation: patience 30:30 Your temperament is how you see the world 32:00 Bucket two: recreation 34:00 TOWER and DEAR MR. BRODY 38:30 Recreation works as A-roll, fails as B-roll 42:30 CALLS TO OKIES and imagining the character 45:30 NANOOK OF THE NORTH and the ethics of artifice 50:00 THE VOYAGE OUT and "recreation is more true than observation" 52:30 Why fiction can tell you more about an era 54:00 Not "should you?" but "how?" 55:30 THE THIN BLUE LINE 57:00 THE ACT OF KILLING 1:00:30 Replaying the walk on the drive home 1:01:00 Bucket three: archival (saved for later) 1:02:30 Recs: WTO/99 1:03:50 Recs: FLAG DAY 1:06:00 Thank-yous and sign-off
- 3 weeks ago1h 1m
EP074 - The Treatiest of Treatises w/ Jeremy Workman
If you're looking for a beer and a sandwich you're in the right place… welcome to Red Hook, Brooklyn, home of dock workers and DocWalkers—meet Jeremy Workman. Jeremy is the director behind the arthouse success story, SECRET MALL APARTMENT. He's also known for LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD, and this year's festival hit, SCHOOL FOR DEFECTORS. When thunder rolls in, we duck into the Red Hook Lobster Pound for a beer, and Jeremy shares his experiences as a second-generation filmmaker (shoutout Chuck Workman) and a deeply experienced trailer-cutter, name-dropping Tarantino, Scorsese, and Maitland along the way. But today's all about the secrets to success in documentary self-distribution. If you haven't seen SECRET MALL APARTMENT, go watch it on Netflix—Jeremy shares the long and self-designed road that got it there. After a SXSW premiere, SECRET MALL APARTMENT had no offers, so Jeremy and his team released it themselves, pushing the "treatise on art" to more than 300 theaters, grossing a million bucks, before landing on Netflix's top five. His take on most distributors? Not kind. We also get into how Jeremy funds his films with a tight circle of private investors, his collaborations with Jesse Eisenberg, why a seven-figure sale of LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD didn't feel like a win, and the Ed Pressman memorial that led him straight to Flaco the owl, star of Penny Lane's WILD INSIDE. Plus: how to survive festival rejection (say yes to yourself); inspiration via early Errol Morris, Gary Hustwit, and MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA; and why we need Chris Smith on this show. We end the way every DocWalk should: an Italian combo, plus sopressata from Defonte's Sandwich Shop. DISCUSSION LINKS: SECRET MALL APARTMENT (2024) | SCHOOL FOR DEFECTORS (2026) | LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD (2021) | THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET (2018) | WILD INSIDE (2026) | AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ (2026) | WHO MOVES AMERICA (2026) | SHERMAN'S MARCH (1985) | DEAR MR. BRODY (2021) | TOWER (2016) | THE EYES OF ME (2009) | WHAT IS CINEMA? (2013) | THANK YOU VERY MUCH (2023) | MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (1929) | GATES OF HEAVEN (1978) | THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988) | THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY (1993) TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Walking Red Hook, Brooklyn 01:11 Meet Jeremy Workman 02:54 SECRET MALL APARTMENT and the self-distribution tease 03:25 How Keith met Jeremy: the DEAR MR. BRODY trailer 04:39 From college job to studio trailers 06:44 Wheelhouse Creative and trailers for documentaries 08:30 Rain, Van Brunt Street and the Red Hook Lobster Pound 11:40 Ed Pressman and a surprise owl 13:51 Developing trailer editors 15:08 Trailers on Jeremy's desk: SHERMAN'S MARCH, WILD INSIDE, WHO MOVES AMERICA 17:29 A synchronicity: the WHAT IS CINEMA? DVD 19:43 Growing up the son of Chuck Workman 22:07 What his father taught him about money and craft 23:50 SECRET MALL APARTMENT in a nutshell 27:21 Twenty-five hours of footage on a $100 camera 28:51 Meeting Michael Townsend in Athens 31:17 Raising money without grants 33:27 Why most distributors disappoint 36:15 Selling LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD: was that a win? 39:40 The SXSW premiere and the decision to self-release 41:42 300 theaters, $1 million and Netflix 45:11 The next chapter: SCHOOL FOR DEFECTORS and consulting 46:08 Gary Hustwit and rethinking the doc industry 47:59 Penny Lane, Gene Gallerano and the dream team 48:38 Advice for first-time filmmakers: say yes
- 4 weeks ago1h 10m
EP073 - No One's Comin' To Save You w/ Dana Reilly
You may remember Dana Reilly, New York filmmaker, and UT Radio-TV-Film alum from our walk around Main Street at Sundance this year. Well, she's back in Austin to present her first feature, OUR BODY ELECTRIC, at the AFS Cinema. From nimbus clouds, to a walk around the DAZED AND CONFUSED baseball diamond, Dana shares the stories that got her to this auspicious moment at the Northwest park trail. From her expat childhood in London (Chris Columbus' kids went to her school) to PROMISES and the classroom AV cart that hooked her on docs, to Brown, the Washington Post Brand Studio and a quarter-life crisis that landed her in Austin for grad school and an impactful stint at Go-Valley. Keith edited her thesis doc, FAVORITE DAUGHTER—a loving portrait of her mom and her grandmother quarantining together in a Tribeca apartment during COVID. It went from a messy, beautiful jumble to Telluride and MTV Documentary Films (thank you Sheila Nevins!) Then the walk goes sideways/back in time. Medieval LARPers take over the park, and pull our attention. Meet the Vinland Texas Vikings, sword-fighting under the Texas sun with helmets, shields and their own strict code of conduct… Dana shares the spotlight for a few moments before we re-center on OUR BODY ELECTRIC. This episode features a trailer for the film, which follows three women bodybuilders vying for the Ms. Olympia title. And we conclude the walk at the AFS Cinema for the post-screening Q&A… When it comes to indie doc-making, Dana tells it like it is, "no one's comin' to save you." Not body-builders, not viking LARPers—no one, but you (& your friends at DocWalks). DISCUSSION LINKS: OUR BODY ELECTRIC (2026) | FAVORITE DAUGHTER (2022) | DEAR MR. BRODY (2022) | DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993) | SLACKER (1990) | EL MARIACHI (1992) | SEVEN UP! (1964) | PROMISES (2001) | PUMPING IRON (1977) | PUMPING IRON II: THE WOMEN (1985) TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Clouds, nimbus puns and a walk in Northwest Park 01:00 Hunting for the DAZED AND CONFUSED baseball field 02:00 Dana Reilly joins us ahead of her AFS Cinema screening 03:00 Born in New York, raised in London 05:00 Ten years at an American school abroad 06:00 SEVEN UP! and Keith's gateway drug 06:30 Documentaries as classroom: the AV cart and PROMISES 08:00 Brown, media criticism and the idea that video is authored 09:45 Post-college New York and the Washington Post Brand Studio 11:00 The quarter-life crisis that led to UT 11:45 Found it: the DAZED AND CONFUSED field 12:30 Why Wiley Wiggins couldn't pitch 14:30 Why Austin, and why UT's hybrid program 17:00 Falling in love with teaching 17:45 FAVORITE DAUGHTER: the thesis about her mom and grandmother 19:00 COVID, Go-Valley and working with Keith 20:30 Editing the beautiful jumble 22:30 Balancing what an audience wants with what Dana wants 24:30 Medieval LARPers: meet the Vinland Texas Vikings 32:30 Back to FAVORITE DAUGHTER and the odd-couple dynamic 33:30 Sheila Nevins, MTV Documentary Films and Telluride 34:45 The hardest part: connecting with an audience 36:00 The long road of OUR BODY ELECTRIC and teaching in New York 37:30 Setting up OUR BODY ELECTRIC and the Olympia 39:00 One bright light, one concern 40:00 Breathe in before you breathe out 41:00 Throwing to the clip
- Oct 1, 20261h 12m
EP072 - Not Since Walt Disney… w/ Geeta Gandbhir
It's a rainy day in Brooklyn, but it sure felt like the sun was shining—guess that's just the effect that Geeta Gandbhir has on those around her! Geeta is having a big year—she just became the first director ever nominated for both documentary feature and a documentary short Oscars in the same year… the first woman, and woman of color with two same year directing noms, challenging the long-standing status of Walt Disney who pulled that feat off in the animated categories decades ago. But we're talkin' docs here and Geeta made two incredible entries last year with the feature, THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR for Netflix, and the short THE DEVIL IS BUSY for HBO. Keith was bowled-over by THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR (produced by Episode 55 guest Alisa Payne) and Geeta shares plenty of behind the scenes details on this singular film. How does a community tragedy in Ocala, Florida become an innovative all-archival film built almost entirely from police bodycam footage? Start with a two-year neighborhood dispute, collect 30 hours of unsynced video, and rely on the talents of editor, Viridiana Lieberman, to figure out a new grammar for 21st-century archival storytelling. No big deal, it just had Keith bawling like a baby, on his second watch, on a plane ride to NYC. No. Big. Deal. We deep-dive, into a moment when a chance encounter with Spike Lee yields a gig on MALCOLM X, sound-room time on Robert Altman's SHORT CUTS, and a mentorship with Sam Pollard that took her from animated to scripted to documentary by way of WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE. There's real advice here for editors turning directors (know every job on set), directors and editors (get a referee), and anyone telling a story about a community that isn't theirs. We dig into the pending merger, the squeeze on buyers, and why going independent was the only way THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR could exist. Plus: her next project on Whoopi Goldberg, the comic books and the spaghetti-less western, SHOLAY that got her here, and a mention of Harry Belafonte, because why not? We bond over DO THE RIGHT THING and she recommends LA HAINE while we successfully avoid the rain, posting-up on Geeta's Prospect Lefferts Gardens stoop to round out our speed round. Keith loved this walk, and not just because Geeta is EP'ing his new short doc, MY FIRE ESCAPE (produced by Alisa!). Thank you, Geeta! DISCUSSION LINKS: THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR (2025) | THE DEVIL IS BUSY (2024) | DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) | MALCOLM X (1992) | SHORT CUTS (1993) | SUMMER OF SAM (1999) | WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE: A REQUIEM IN FOUR ACTS (2006) | SHOLAY (1975) | SALAAM BOMBAY! (1988) | LA HAINE (1995) | UNTITLED WHOOPI GOLDBERG DOCUMENTARY (TBD) TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Rain in Flatbush, meet Prospect Lefferts Gardens 01:00 Meeting Geeta and how Doc Walks began 02:00 Two Oscar nominations in one year 03:00 Inside the awards campaign 04:00 Sundance 2025 and the festival run 07:00 What a nomination does for viewership 08:00 THE DEVIL IS BUSY and the long short-film rollout 10:00 How THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR began: Ajike Owens 12:00 Organizing in Ocala, and the stand-your-ground fear 13:00 Keith on the Sundance buzz and what the film is 16:00 Bodycams as A-roll 17:00 From media liaison to 30 hours of footage 19:00 A film about patterns that plays like horror 22:00 Why the police never saw Susan as a threat 23:00 When it became a documentary 26:00 Editing with Viridiana Lieberman and staying inside the footage 28:00 B-roll interstitials as the film's style 30:00 Found footage and the surveillance state 31:00 DO THE RIGHT THING as a touchstone 33:00 Stalking Spike Lee and landing on MALCOLM X 36:00 SUMMER OF SAM and hanging up on Spike 37:00 The scripted years: Merchant Ivory and SHORT CUTS 39:00 Sam Pollard and the turn to documentary 40:00 WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE 41:00 What Sam Pollard is like as a mentor 43:00 From editor to director to producer 45:00 Advice for editors who want to direct 47:00 Advice for directors working with new editors 48:00 Storytelling as human connection, and doing it ethically 50:00 R
- Sep 24, 20261h 1m
EP071 - Mediation Required w/ Andrew & Melissa Shea
We hit the trail with Austin's own husband-and-wife filmmaking duo, Andrew and Melissa Shea. They've been married for nearly 30 years, partnered on every film they've ever made, and, according to Ben, may be the first couple to pull that off. Andrew's road to filmmaking was wonderfully circuitous. He started as a New York theater kid, passed the bar in two states, ran a regional theater in Santa Fe for eight seasons, and enrolled at USC film school in his 30s. That's where he met Melissa on day one and immediately clashed with her so badly that their TA had to mediate (hence the episode title). Three decades and two kids later, they're still married and still arguing their way toward great movies. We trace the full arc of their filmmaking lives, from the narrative features SANTA FE, THE CORNDOG MAN, and FORFEIT to Andrew's pivot into documentary with PORTRAIT OF WALLY, a 13-year legal thriller about a Nazi-looted painting; WRESTLING ALLIGATORS, centered on a chairman of the Seminole Tribe; and BUZZ, his HBO documentary about journalist Buzz Bissinger's reckoning with Caitlyn Jenner. Then we arrive at FLAG DAY, Andrew and Melissa's first true co-directing effort, more than a decade in the making. The idea began when they fell in love with Three Oaks, Michigan's self-proclaimed biggest Flag Day parade while spending summers there to escape the Texas heat. Shot with 11 crews during a tense election year, the film is a vérité portrait of a divided community that still finds a way to show up for one another. At its heart is a sunset flag-raising ceremony, scored to Paul Simon's "America," that left the entire crew in tears. Along the way, we dig into what documentary filmmaking borrowed from Andrew's years in the theater, why FLAG DAY is exactly 75 minutes long, and why the Sheas are giving the film away to American Legions and libraries instead of chasing a paycheck. Plus, a Great Dane at Westminster, a mediator nobody wanted to use, and the possibility that FLAG DAY might just become the Rocky Horror of small-town America. DISCUSSION LINKS: FLAG DAY (2026) | SANTA FE (1997) | THE CORNDOG MAN (1999) | FORFEIT (2007) | PORTRAIT OF WALLY (2012) | WRESTLING ALLIGATORS (2016) | BUZZ (2019) | I'LL BE THERE (2023) | DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) | FLASHDANCE (1983) | THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
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About Doc Walks
Documentary filmmakers, Keith Maitland (TOWER, DEAR MR BRODY) and Ben Steinbauer (WINNEBAGO MAN, CHOP & STEELE), host this lively walk & talk podcast featuring conversations with today's best non-fiction storytellers. DocWalks takes the conversation to the street (or nature trail), offering candid insight into the art & industry of documentary filmmaking for an audience of emerging filmmakers and doc-lovers alike.
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