Category: Collaborators

People and companies that have worked with David Fincher.

Because We Love Making Movies: Screenwriter Eric Roth

Eren Celeboglu
Because We Love Making Movies (Instagram, Facebook)

Part 1

May 22, 2021

Today, I sit down with legendary screenwriter Eric Roth.

We talk about his life and his craft and why we should all be more generous of spirit. Truth be told, Eric has been involved in creating so many iconic films that it would have been impossible to try… so I asked him about the films of his that meant the most to me, and he held court and digressed in the loveliest of ways. I hope you have as much fun listening as I did recording this interview. Enjoy! 

Eric’s credits include: The Nickel Ride, The Drowning Pool, The Onion Field, Forrest Gump (for which he won an Oscar), The Postman (for which he won a Razzie), The Horse Whisperer, and then one of my favorite films ever, The Insider, followed by Ali, Munich, The Good Shepherd, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He’s also worked in Television, and seen not one but two sea changes, first with HBO, and then with Netflix and House of Cards. And much more recently he wrote A Star Is Born, Dune, and the new Western being Directed by Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon. He was also a producer on the Oscar nominated Mank, directed by David Fincher, from a script by Fincher’s father.

Listen to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify

Part 2

October 18, 2021

Today we welcome back the legendary Eric Roth. An Oscar-Winning Screenwriter & Producer.

We talk about how he writes, and blends craft with pure inspiration. He talks about working with Robert Redford. We re-visit Munich & The Good Shepherd. He talks about being re-written, and his unique creative partnership with Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga on A Star Is Born. And last but not least, we talk about writing the new Dune film which he thinks just might be something very special.

It’s a wonderful conversation with one of the very best working in Hollywood today, whose generous not only with his talent, but his spirit. Dig it!

Recommended Viewing: The Horse Whisperer, Munich, The Good Shepherd, A Star Is Born (2018), and Dune (See it in IMAX on October 22, 2021)

Listen to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify

Cinematography Style: Jeff Cronenweth

Gray Kotzé (Director of Photography)
October 17, 2021
In Depth Cine

In this edition I’ll look at Jeff Cronenweth, who, to a large extent, is responsible for popularising a style of ‘dark cinematography’, through his work on movies such as Fight Club or The Social Network.

0:00: Introduction
1:03: Background
2:36: Philosophy
5:23: Sponsored Message
6:18: Gear
11:57: Conclusion

Music:
Liquid Memoirs – ‘Through The Portal’
Bosnow – ‘Bangkok Rain’
Liquid Memoirs – ‘Altered States’
Salt Of The Sound – ‘Awake My Soul’
Liquid Memoirs – ‘Hazy Evenings’
Ottom – ‘Raining In Kyoto’
Trevor Kowalski – ‘Katydid’

Source: Fight Club (American Cinematographer, November 1999)

Head to squarespace.com/indepthcine to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code INDEPTHCINE.

In Depth Cine: Official IDC Merch, Patreon, YouTube, Instagram, Discord, Facebook

Gear I use: YouTube Gear, Editing Software, Music, Stock Footage, Cinematography Gear

DISCLAIMER: Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with these links I may receive a small commission without an additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting my channel so I can continue to provide you with free videos!

3 Things That Working With Jeff Cronenweth Taught Me About Cinematography

Gray Kotzé (Director of Photography)
June 19, 2020
In Depth Cine

David Fincher and David Prior Present: VOIR

“A collection of visual essays… for the love of cinema.“

David Fincher and David Prior

From executive producer David Fincher…

VOIR, a new documentary series of visual essays celebrating cinema, from the mind of one of film’s modern masters.

Premiering at AFI Fest on November 13 and coming soon to Netflix.

VOIR

A Campfire Studios Production

Executive Producers: David Fincher, David Prior, Ceán Chaffin, Joshua Donen, Neil Kellerhouse, Ross M. Dinerstein, Ross Girard

Music by: Jason Hill

101. Summer of the Shark

Voir. Cr. Netflix © 2021

Director: David Prior
Screenwriter: Sasha Stone
Producers: David Prior and Sasha Stone
Director of Photography: Martim Vian
Editor: Keith Clark
Production Designer: P.L. Jackson
Cast: Eva Wild, Olive Bernadette Hoffman, Shannon Hayes, Molly Ann Grotha, Tea Jo Raza

102. Ethics of Revenge

Directors: Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou
Screenwriters: Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou
Producers: Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou, and Nach Dudsdeemaytha
Director of Photography: Alfonso Chin and Martim Vian

103. But I Don’t Like Him

Director: David Prior
Screenwriter: Drew McWeeny
Producers: David Prior and Drew McWeeny
Director of Photography: Martim Vian

6 episodes.

What in the tapdancing heck is VOIR?

Drew McWeeny
October 13, 2021
Formerly Dangerous

Fincher Brings Video Essays to Netflix

David Hudson
October 14, 2021
The Criterion Collection

David Fincher – And the Other Way is Wrong

Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou
October 2, 2014
Every Frame a Painting (YouTube)

Extended Clip Podcast: David Prior

Eddie
September 13, 2021
Extended Clip (Patreon, Twitter)

My interview with the director of The Empty Man, AM1200, and many of your favorite DVD bonus features, David Prior.

Malcolm and JT were kicked out of the studio for this one — The Empty Man made me do it!

Listen to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts
SoundCloud

Because We Love Making Movies: Makeup Artist Gigi Williams

Eren Celeboglu
May 16, 2021
Because We Love Making Movies (Instagram, Facebook)

Because We Love Making Movies is an ongoing conversation with filmmakers who work behind the scenes to make the movies we love. These are the invisible warriors we don’t think of: Production & Costume Designers, Cinematographers, Editors, Producers, and the whole family of artists who make movies with their hands and hearts.

Today I talk with Gigi Williams, an Oscar Nominated Makeup Artist, and longtime collaborator with the brilliant David Fincher. Her credits are very long, but to name a few: Rock N’ Roll High School, The Howling, The Professional, as well as Single Man, Argo, The Master & Inherent Vice, not to mention her work with Fincher: Gone Girl, Mindhunter, and now Mank.

We talk about going through doors in life when they open, how her craft is misunderstood, how she cherishes working with Actors, and how she doesn’t do personal makeup, she does the movie. We also talk about Gigi’s incredible beginnings in the New York fashion world before she became a Makeup-Artist, which included working with Andy Warhol & Diane Von Furstenberg… She’s had quite a journey, and she’s still on it. It’s an amazing talk so check it out and share!

Listen to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify

Frame & Reference Podcast: “Halston”, “Stranger Things”, and “House of Cards” Cinematographer Tim Ives, ASC

Kenny McMillan
June 3, 2021
Frame & Reference

Frame & Reference is a conversation between Cinematographers hosted by Kenny McMillan. Each episode dives into the respective DP’s current and past work, as well as what influences and inspires them. These discussions are an entertaining and informative look into the world of making films through the lens of the people who shoot them.

Tim Ives, ASC, talks about the new Netflix series Halston, which tells the story of a man who leverages his single invented name into a worldwide fashion empire that’s synonymous with luxury, sex, status, and fame, literally defining the era. Outside of this series, you likely recognize Tim’s name from his work on series such as Stranger Things, House of Cards, and Manifest.

Listen to the podcast:

Apple Podcasts
Spotify
YouTube

Support and follow the podcast: Patreon
Follow Frame & Reference: YouTube, Twitter, Instagram
Follow OWL BOT: Instagram
Follow Kenny McMillan: Instagram

Everything Zen: David Prior on “The Empty Man”

James Badge Dale and Sasha Frolova

David Prior’s creepy and impeccably crafted directorial debut was abandoned by the studio but has since been embraced by now devoted fans.

Adam Nayman
May 3, 2021
Notebook (MUBI)

Over and again throughout The Empty Man, we see characters sitting in the lotus position, cross-legged and attentive,  a pose connoting receptivity. It is in the migration of this mindset from snowy Bhutan to small-town Missouri, muled from East to West by the unlucky occidental tourist who doubles as its title character,  that David Prior’s film locates both its celestial sense of scale and a fine-grained gestural specificity. After literally stumbling into a cliffside cavern—the first unexpected plunge in a movie whose characters constantly find themselves either on shaky ground or descending into a darkness of their own volition—Paul (Aaron Poole) becomes transfixed by a skeletal figure whose meditative posture he adopts, seemingly permanently and much to the bewilderment of his fellow backpackers. Dragged back to the surface, he has become a husk, limbs locked and rapidly atrophying, staring out at the world with eyes wide shut. It would seem that he’s been hollowed out. Or is he suddenly full up?

The old Zen proverb about the philosopher who tells his overzealous visitor to return to him with an empty cup—the better to receive the flow of wisdom—comes eerily to mind in the image of a hiker mutated into a hapless Buddha. The story lying beyond The Empty Man’s gorgeous anamorphic frames is also akin to a kind of koan: if a great cosmic horror movie gets (barely) released in the middle of a global pandemic, and nobody sees it, does it really exist? 

Read the full review and interview

Interview: David Prior, The Empty Man’s Director

March 25, 2021
ELDERFANFILMS

Today, I’ve got the honor to post the interview I did to David Prior; who After being in charge of production video documentaries and have worked alongside nothing other than David Fincher, arrives with his horror film The Empty Man, making his directorial debut. The Empty Man is based on the Boom Graphic Novel called the same way. David, Tells us the unfortunate fate his movie went through all due bad management and bad luck to be in the middle of a transition between companies, addition to that, the company launched a misleading trailer, transforming the movie in another weird horror teenage movie, totally opposite of twist-thrilling horror film. The Empty Man is a top notch production with a great cast and crew team. The film got to us on October 23, 2020 in theaters and on Digital on January 12, 2021.

The director also shared with us the film creation process, the rocks he had to apart away from his path to get the film off the ground, his insights and learnings from all this exhausting but comforting filmmaking labor.

Read the full interview

BETA (WPR): Writer, Director David Prior On The Horrors of Making ‘The Empty Man’

Stephen Root and James Badge Dale

Despite Trials And Tribulations, The Film Has Earned Great Reviews.

Doug Gordon
May 29, 2021
BETA (WPR)

David Prior got his break directing DVD special features for such David Fincher films as “Zodiac” and “The Social Network.” He obviously drew on that work experience in writing and directing his debut horror feature film, “The Empty Man.”

“Any time you spent hanging around the set with David Fincher or Peter Weir or any number of the other people that I’ve been able to hang around the set with, it’s always going to be valuable,” Prior said.

“The Empty Man” focuses on an ex-detective named James Lasombra. James is grieving the deaths of his wife and son. He helps his friend Nora whose daughter has gone missing.

James’s investigation leads him to a sinister organization called The Pontifex Institute, which turns out to be a cult. The film stars James Badge Dale, and chameleon-like actor Stephen Root who delivers a great performance as the cult’s leader. 

The movie also became embroiled in a mega media merger that delayed and botched its release. “The Empty Man” features an impending sense of dread and doom and themes of guilt, grief, the meaning of existence and mind control. Prior explains to WPR‘s “BETA” why he wanted to include such big ideas in his film.

Read and listen to the full interview

Watch The Empty Man