KCRW's The Business

Veteran director Richard Donner talks about the adventures and behind the scenes antics that went into making the original comic book blockbuster, Superman, in 1978. Plus, an all new banter looking ahead to the big stories of 2017.

Banter buddies Matthew Belloni of The Hollywood Reporter and Michael Schneider of IndieWire and Variety join Kim Masters to mega-banter the year that was 2016. There were major mergers in play while others went away, Disney ruled the box office, Megyn Kelly took down Roger Ailes, and traditional TV ratings declined while thanks to Netflix, the number of shows continued to rise.

Filmmaker Garth Davis spent years making commercials in Australia before co-directing Top of the Lake with Jane Campion. For his feature film debut, Lion, he's taken on the true story of a boy in India who accidentally gets separated from his family and ends up in Tasmania. He tells us how he came to be at the helm of the film and about casting a five-year old in India and teaching him English along the way.

When ESPN approached Ezra Edelman about doing a massive documentary on O.J. Simpson, he had little interest in following the beats of the so-called trial of the century. Instead, he saw the project as a lens through which to examine race in America. He tells us about seeking out tough interviews and how his opus grew from five hours to nearly eight.

Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein won one of his several Tonys for his performance as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Now, he's reprising the role for NBC's live version of the musical, which airs December 7. He tells us about the weighty task of transforming into Edna and changes he made to the script when adapting it for television.

Noah Oppenheim spent his 20s working on NBC news shows. Then he left, hoping to make it as a writer in Hollywood. After a stint as an executive in reality TV, his first-ever script, Jackie landed on The Black List. Six years later, the film is finally premiering. Oppenheim tells us about watching Darren Aronofsky hand the project over to Chilean director Pablo Larrain, and his unusual career path, which has now taken him back to NBC, as a senior vice president in charge of Today.

Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie is Scottish, but he was instantly drawn to the Texas tale of two brothers turned bank robbers in the drought-stricken, post-recession American West. He tells us about his efficient, stripped-down approach to making one of the best-reviewed films of the year.

Director Barry Jenkins and producer Adele Romanski tell us about making their awards-contender Moonlight, about a gay African American boy growing up surrounded by poverty and drugs in Miami.

Telenovela star Pablo Azar often plays characters who live in a world of wealth. But Azar's reality is not so glamorous. Acting jobs with Telemundo come without union protections that are standard in English-language productions. Azar says even the stars of Spanish-language productions shot in the US are often forced to work other jobs. For him, it was driving for Uber. Then, writer-director Jonas Cuarón and actor Gael García Bernal tell us about their "political horror film" Desierto.

First-time filmmaker Adam Irving faced a lot of obstacles telling the tale of compulsive New York train thief Darius McCollum. But Irving was determined to get his movie Off the Rails made. He tells us how he did it, and what he learned about making and marketing documentaries along the way.

When Rebecca Hall told her agents she wanted to play the title role in a tiny indie film about Christine Chubbuck, a TV news reporter who committed suicide on live television in 1974, her representation said...are you sure? Hall tells us why she took a gamble on the new film Christine, and talks about watching Marvel slash her role in Iron Man 3.

Steven Bochco, the writer-producer behind record-breaking Emmy winners Hill Street Blues, LA Law and NYPD Blue, fought battles with everyone from out-of-control actors to network censors in his long career. He isn't afraid to tell those tales in his new memoir, Truth Is a Total Defense. He shares some of those stories with us, plus gives an update on a possible LA Law reboot. 

Director Jack Riccobono and producer Chris Eyre's documentary The Seventh Fire takes an unflinching look at gang life on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota. Their journey to get the film made had several unexpected twists and turns, including a boost from Natalie Portman and Terrence Malick.

TV writer-producers and married couple Marc Guggenheim and Tara Butters recently found themselves running shows on opposite sides of the superhero wars: Butters at Marvel's Agent Carter and Guggenheim at DC Comics' Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. Plus, the directors of the new Amanda Knox Netflix documentary on their quest to go beyond salacious headlines. 

Trevor Pryce spent 14 seasons as a defensive end in the NFL. In the off-season, he devoted himself to various creative endeavors, including his passion project: an original animated series. Once he retired, he made his show his way, and Kulipari: An Army of Frogs is streaming now on Netflix.