The Director's Cut - A DGA Podcast

Director Susanne Bier discusses her film, Bird Box, with fellow director Alison Maclean. Based on the novel by Josh Malerman, the film takes place in a world where an unseen force has decimated Earth's human population, and the only thing the survivors know for sure is if you see it, you die. Against these odds a woman and her children attempt a perilous journey though the woods and down a river to find sanctuary, but in order to stay alive, they must complete the trip while blindfolded. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Feb2019/BirdBox_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Mimi Leder discusses her film, On the Basis of Sex, with fellow director Sacha Gervasi. Inspired by the true story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the film weaves together her career as an attorney fighting for equal rights with her storybook romance with her husband, Martin Ginsburg, and her life as a new mother. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Feb2019/OntheBasisofSex_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Karyn Kusama discusses her film, Destroyer, with fellow director Christopher Nolan. The film stars Nicole Kidman as LAPD detective Erin Bell, whose undercover assignment when she was a young cop - the infiltration of a gang in the California desert - ended tragically. When the leader of that gang re-emerges years later, she seeks to finally lay to rest her personal demons from that case. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/Destroyer_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Rob Marshall discusses his film, Mary Poppins Returns, with fellow director Ron Howard. Drawn from the Mary Poppins stories by P.L. Travers, the film takes place in depression-era London during the 1930s, where the adult Jane and Michael Banks find themselves in need of Mary Poppins' magical abilities once again after the family suffers a devastating loss. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/MaryPoppinsReturns_QnA_1218.aspx

Director Suzi Yoonessi discusses her film, Unlovable, with fellow director Alethea Jones. The film tells the story of Joy, a woman who joins a 12-step program to take control of her sex and love addiction after losing her boyfriend and her job and surviving a suicide attempt. After seeking help, she finds a sponsor and discovers the beauty of platonic friendship when she begins making music with a socially inept musician named Jim. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/Unlovable_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Fede Alvarez discusses his film, The Girl in the Spider's Web, with fellow director Sam Raimi. Based on the best-selling novels by David Lagercrantz, the film follows Lisbeth Salander as she hacks a computer program that can access nuclear weapons across the globe. Soon she and journalist Mikael Blomkvist find themselves caught in a web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt government officials. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/GirlInSpidersWeb_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Peter Farrelly discusses his film, Green Book, with fellow director Dan Gilroy. The film tells the true story of Tony Lip, an Italian-America bouncer from the Bronx who is hired to drive Dr. Don Shirley, a world-class African-American pianist on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South in 1962. During the trip, they must rely on "The Green Book" to guide them to the few establishments that were safe for African-Americans. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/GreenBook_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Jason Reitman discusses his film, The Front Runner, with fellow director Jon Avnet. The film follows the true story of Senator Gary Hart who was considered the front runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until an extramarrital relationship sidelined his campaign. He was forced to drop out of the race as tabloid and political journalism began to merge -- a phenomenon that would leave a lasting impact on American politics. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/FrontRunner_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Barry Jenkins discusses his film, If Beale Street Could Talk, with fellow director Paul Thomas Anderson. Based on the acclaimed novel by James Baldwin, the film tells the story of Tish, a Harlem woman who strives to prove the innocence of her fiance while pregnant with their first-born child. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/BealeStreet_QnA_1118.aspx

Director David Mackenzie discusses his film, Outlaw King, with fellow director Jeremy Saulnier. The film follows legendary warrior Robert the Bruce, who claims the throne in 14th-century Scotland and leads a band of outlaws in an uprising as they attempt to win back the crown from English rule. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/OutlawKing_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Steve McQueen discusses his film, Widows, with fellow director Dee Rees. Set in Chicago, the film stars Viola Davis as Veronica, who is widowed after her husband is killed by police following an armed robbery attempt. Veronica soon joins forces with three other widows to enact a heist that her husband had been planning. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2019/Jan2019/Widows_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Alfonso Cuarón discusses his film, Roma, with fellow director Alejándro G. Iñárritu. Set in the early 1970s, the film recalls Mr. Cuarón's own upbringing in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City, and serves as a love letter to the women who raised him during a time of domestic strife and social hierarchy. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/Roma_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Julian Schnabel discusses his film, At Eternity's Gate, with fellow director Lee Daniels. The film is a journey inside the world and mind of the tortured artist who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world's most beloved and stunning works. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/AtEternitysGate_QnA_1118.aspx

Director Matthew Heineman discusses his film, A Private War, with fellow director Jeremy Kagan. Based on Arash Amel's Vanity Fair article "Marie Colvin's Private War," the film follows the extraordinary life of celebrated war correspondent Marie Colvin, whose fearless desire to give voice to the voiceless and show the true cost of war drove her to the front lines of conflicts all across the globe. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/APrivateWar_QnA_1018.aspx

Director Joel Edgerton discusses his film, Boy Erased, with fellow director Gavin O'Connor. Based on the memoir of the same name by Garrard Conley, the film tells the true coming of age and coming out story of Jared, who is viciously outed to his parents. Pressured into attending a church-supported gay conversion program, he butts heads with its head therapist and begins to find his own voice and accept his true self. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/Events/2018/Dec2018/BoyErased_QnA_1018.aspx