David Remnick
April 2, 2021
The New Yorker / WNYC Studios
The director talks about his latest feature—written by his late father, Jack Fincher—and the eternal struggle between screenwriters and directors.
Tag: Audio
The Filmmakers Podcast: The Making of David Fincher’s “Mank”
Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, Make Up Designer Gigi Williams, Production Designer Don Burt & Costume Designer Trish Summerville
Giles Alderson, Andrew Rodger, Phil Hawkins
April 2, 2021
The Filmmakers Podcast
We are delighted to bring to you our SPECIAL bumper episode on the Making of David Fincher’s BAFTA & OSCAR nominated ‘Mank’.
We start with Giles Alderson and Andrew Rodger having a chat with ‘Mank’ Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt about going from Gaffer on Fincher’s Gone Girl to DoP on Mank and how he made the transition to make his debut feature film.
He talks pre-production, how he works with Fincher especially during the repeated takes, what the process was to shooting in black and white and the camera they used.
Co host Phil Hawkins then joins Giles to chat to Make Up designer Gigi Williams about her process, the difference between shooting on digital vs. film. What she works on first how she collaborates with the HOD team and gives some brilliant Make Up tips.
We then chat to Production Designer and Art Director Donald Graham Burt AKA Don Burt about designing the film from preparation through the shooting. He explains why listening is so important in film-making, how he researches a project and how he created the 1930/s & 1940 style and look. And how you don’t have to appease to get ahead.
Finally we chat to Costume Designer Trish Summerville about how she created the look and feel of Mank through her costumes. She talks about working in teams, how to collaborate with actors to help create the characters and how to use colours and patterns to portray certain emotions!
Listen to the podcast:
MovieMaker Podcast: David Fincher and Don Burt (Mank)
Tim Molloy
March 31, 2021
MovieMaker
Director David Fincher and production designer Don Burt have collaborated since Zodiac. For their latest film, Mank, they talk about the process of deciding what to include and subtract from every scene.
In Mank, that meant re-creating Hearst Castle, the realm of media baron William Randolph Hearst… and the guests Fincher describes as his “captives.”
Listen to the podcast and read the articles:
David Fincher: ‘Perfectionism Is a Term That’s Thrown About Mostly by People Who Are Lazy’
How Mank Production Designer Don Burt Recreated Hearst Castle Without Visiting It
Podcast also available on:
Creating the Physical Look of David Fincher’s ‘Mank’
Jeffrey Reeser
March 30, 2021
No Film School
Every detail matters.
It’s no surprise that David Fincher‘s Mank was nominated for Best Production Design at this year’s Oscars. Production designer Donald Graham Burt is a veteran Fincher collaborator, and he has a perfectionist streak equal to the director. Along with set decorator Jan Pascale, Burt tells us how he helped craft a period-specific look for the celebrated film.
From the daunting task of recreating Hearst Castle interiors to the iPhone filter they used to audition every possible prop, you’ll get a sense of designing the look of a film on this scale, as well as applicable tips to any production at any size.
Listen to the podcast:
No Film School
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Stitcher
iHeart
Secret Handshake Podcast: Bonus Features. Writer/Director David Prior (The Empty Man)
Jacob Knight and Marten Carlson
March 4, 2021
Secret Handshake
For this very special edition of Bonus Features, Jacob and Marten talk to David Prior, the writer/director behind last year’s criminally underseen horror picture The Empty Man. Over the course of our lengthy chat, David dives into his career as a special features pioneer during the the early days of DVD, and just what happened to his future cult classic at Disney/Fox.
Creative Industry Insight Podcast: Mank (2020) with Production Designer Donald Burt
Bobby Miller
March 22, 2021
Creative Industry Insight Podcast (Instagram)
Creative Industry Insight is a podcast that is dedicated at looking at various roles undertaken in the creative sector.
Production Designer Donald Burt join us to talk about their work on Mank.
Executive Produced by Daniel Miller and Monika Ditton
Artwork Designed by Piotr Motyka
Music by ELPHNT
Contact: creativeindustryinsight@gmail.com
Listen to the podcast:
Rock ‘n Roll Ghost Podcast: Interview with Musician Jason Hill (Louis XIV, Mindhunter)
Brett Hickman
March 12, 2021
Rock ‘n Roll Ghost Podcast (Facebook)
Welcome to the Rock ‘n Roll Ghost Podcast. On this episode, the Ghost speaks with musician and composer Jason Hill about his career dating back to his days in the bands Convoy, Louis XIV and Vicki Cryer. As well as his work with The Killers and producing/touring with the New York Dolls and the recent passing of Sylvain Sylvain. Hill also talks about his late career turn towards film and TV composing. He has worked closely with director David Fincher on projects such as Fincher’s Gone Girl and the Netflix series Mindhunter. It’s a pretty wide ranging, fun interview with someone I go back nearly twenty years with.
Also, starting April 1st, Hill will be hosting Film Composing and Music production masterclasses. Check out the Department of Recording and Power‘s website for more information.
Hill also has done scores for the Netflix documentaries The Confession Killer, as well as the forthcoming This is a Robbery.
Jason Hill: Instagram, Spotify, Louis XIV on Spotify, Vicki Cryer on Spotify, SoundCloud
Listen to the podcast:
Director David Fincher discusses Mank with Aaron Sorkin
A DGA Virtual Q&A
February 6, 2021
The Director’s Cut. A DGA (Directors Guild of America) Podcast
A disillusioned screenwriter in old Hollywood gets a shot at redemption in Director David Fincher’s biographical comedy-drama, Mank.
Fincher’s film takes place as film 24-year-old wunderkind Orson Welles hires scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz to write the screenplay for his masterpiece, Citizen Kane.
On February 6, Fincher discussed the making of Mank in a DGA Virtual Q&A moderated by Director Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7).
During their conversation, Fincher spoke about his love for “the altar of cinema,” the communal aspect that can come through film. “For me, what I love about cinema is going into a big dark room with 700 people and through their laughter and through their surprise and through their shock and through their reactions you realize, I’m not alone. I’m the same. I’m wired into this group in the same way just organically and I’m picking up on all these other cues. That is what makes the cinema, or a great grand theater, an almost cathedral-like experience.”
Fincher’s other directorial credits include the feature films Se7en, The Game, Panic Room, Zodiac, Gone Girl; episodes of the television series House of Cards and Mindhunter; and countless commercials and music videos. He has been nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. In 2013, he was nominated for the DGA Award for Dramatic Series for House of Cards, “Chapter 1” and has twice been nominated for the DGA Award for his Commercial work with Anonymous Content in 2003 and 2008, winning the Award in 2003 for Beauty for Sale (Xelibri Phones), Gamebreakers (Nikegridiron.Com) and Speed Chain (Nike).
Fincher has been a DGA member since 1991.
Listen to the podcast:
Interview: Oscar Winner Kirk Baxter Talks Working with David Fincher and Editing ‘Mank’
Joey Magidson
March 2, 2021
Awards Radar
You don’t win two Academy Awards without being pretty great at your job. So, it’s not a stretch to call Kirk Baxter an ace editor. His work, not just alongside Angus Wall, but with director David Fincher, has produced some impeccably edited films. The Social Network, along with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, won Baxter and Wall Oscars, while they also received a nomination for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Throw in Gone Girl, as well as now Mank (which is a solo editing job, without Wall), and you have someone who is truly at the top of their craft. So, getting the chance to pick Baxter’s brain was a chance I had no intention of passing up.
Below, you can hear my conversation with Baxter. Mank is at the center of our chat, but I was just fascinated by editing in general and wanted to hear as much as I could from him. So, we move in a few different directions, thought the Fincher flick is never far from our minds. Baxter is well on his way to another citation from the Academy, so it’s a perfect time to revisit the film over on Netflix. As I wrote in my review (found here), the tech work in the movie, including Baxter’s, is beyond reproach.
Here now is my interview with Mank editor Kirk Baxter. Enjoy
Because We Love Making Movies: Production Designer Donald Graham Burt. Pt. 2, Mank
Eren Celeboglu
February 14, 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, we have a special treat… Production Designer Donald Graham Burt returns to talk about designing and making Mank… David Fincher’s love letter to old Hollywood & California, and the portrait of a man in conflict with everyone. It is a masterclass in filmmaking and the power of limitations from the most humble of masters.
Recommended Viewing: Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard, and Mank.
Listen to the podcast:
The Fincher Analyst 