Ep. 16 - Jack Lechner on Good Will Hunting, Blue Valentine and Regis Philbin

08/20/22 • 65 min

Chair of Film at Columbia University, Jack Lechner is a veteran development executive, writer, producer and lyricist behind some of the most iconic films of our time. As head of development at Miramax between 1996-1999, Jack worked on incredibly impactful films such as Good Will Hunting, Guinevere and The Cider House Rules. In 1999, he wrote Can't Take My Eyes Off of You: One Man, Seven Days, Twelve Televisions, which chronicled his experience of being fully immersed into cable and network television for a full week - remarkably, he survived this undertaking, which was inspired by Charles Sopkin’s experience in the 1960’s. Throughout the years, he has been a Drama Desk Award-nominated lyricist for The Kid; producer of the pilot episode of Mad Men; executive producer of the Oscar Winning documentary The Fog of War and the web-series Group; writer of song parodies for the Independent Spirit Awards for 7 years; and frequent contestant on game shows including Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. We discuss these topics through the lens of his book, diverse life experiences and the career undertakings which had the biggest impact on his view of the industry.

Opening Credits: Duncan Reid and the Big Heads - 77; Closing Credits: Bisou de l'enfant sauvage - After midnight kiss

Opening Credits: Duncan Reid and the Big Heads - 77; Closing Credits: Bisou de l'enfant sauvage - After midnight kiss

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Ep. 15 - Elisheva Gavra on In Procession, Eyes and Haunted Buildings

Studio photographer and visual artist Elisheva Gavra creates art which challenges the boundaries of realism; explores the power of spirituality; and investigates the dynamic experience of questioning discord. The latter is a concept with which she has familiarity, growing up in a small Israeli town subsumed by a strong sense of cultural identity and framework. During the pandemic, she paralleled a focus aimed at exploring manifestations of what it means to manipulate reality, which she had experienced photographing others, to herself in a series of self-portraits created during a quarantine in her bedroom. We discuss these topics through the lens of what led up to works like In Procession, Self-Portraits and Eyes, among others in her new studio (which is rather old) in New York City. A Columbia MFA candidate, she received her BA in Art History and Gender Studies from Tel Aviv University, and completed her professional studio photographer training at Studio Gavra.

Opening Credits: Matte Black - 1969; Closing Credits: Forget the Whale - 10 Days

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Ep. 17 - Ben Kegan on Expiration Term of Service, The First Men and John Hughes

Writer-Director Ben Kegan always knew he had a strong passion for character, film and storytelling. His growing up in a John Hughes-esque Chicago suburb is apt considering his eventual exploration of the sex-quest genre of teen movies in college. His evolution through the wrestling biopic short, Team Taliban, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; the complicated love-triangle surveyed in Commencement, which he shot at Whitman College, his alma mater; the Hypocrite; and After Christmas featuring Chicago theatre legend Barbara Robertson, helped exhibit his versatility as a cleverly-synchronized writer-director. His most recent efforts include the renowned short, The First Men, which featured Maria Blasucci (Ghost Ghirrls, Family Tree, Key and Peele) and the enigmatic, menacing force of Bo Mitchell (Cobra Kai, Eastbound & Down, October Road); Fractions of Speed, a documentary short profiling the mid-distance runner and Olympic hopeful Peter Callahan, which he just shot as a feature film; and the military-themed documentary Expiration Term of Service. In our conversation, the Columbia MFA graduate remarks about the films which impacted his unique approach through the lens of Chicago, improvisational comedy and the subjects he portrays in his films.

Opening Credits: One Man Book - Scaffold of Repeated Addition; Closing Credits: Ketsa - Another-Day