When a Comedy Documentary Turns Tragic
12/10/19 • 71 min
What's Eating Ralphie May won Best of the Fest at Nashville Film Festival and Documentary of the Year at Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival. The film was initially intended to be a weight-loss documentary that followed beloved comedian Ralphie May and his family, but it turned into a raw and intimate portrait of a family dealing with addiction during the last years of Ralphie’s troubled life.
At Nashville Film Festival I had the chance to interview comedian and wife of Ralphie, Lahna Turner, and director Cat Rhinehart.
Some of the things we discuss include
- What to do when shooting a documentary that takes an unexpected turn
- How to earn trust to explore the raw and intimate aspects of someone's story
- What to do when loved ones are wrestling with addiction
- If and when it is appropriate to stop filming
- How comedy can help get past anguish
I make friendly, engaging videos for earnest people. Some of my videos are here.
Say hello: [email protected]
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MasterclassOnline training from some of the world's best filmmakers, musicians, and creative leaders.
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Learn how to improve your stand-up routine and be funnier from Steve Martin.
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Related EpisodesFor more on shooting documentaries, check out this episode with Peabody-winning documentary filmmaker Craig Renaud. He's done projects for likes of HBO, NBC, Discovery, PBS, The New York Times, and VICE News. On this episode he discusses how to survive dangerous conflict zones, ways to explore hot-button issues in an in-depth way, and more.
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Steve Kaplan has taught comedy workshops around the world and companies like Dreamworks, Disney, HBO, Paramount, and Touchstone hire him as a comedy consultant. He shares some of his comedy insights on this episode.
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Related Things- Nashville Film Festival
- What's Eating Ralphie May
- Lahna Turner
- Cat Rhinehart
- More of my podcast coverage of Nashville Film Festival
- Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show
Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.
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Films Mentioned- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- The First 48 Hours
- Marriage Story
- One Hour Photo
- What's Eating Ralphie May
#
If You Liked the Show- Donate $1 to help keep the show going.
- Sign up for The nsavides Newsletter.
- Subscribe or leave an honest review:
- Say hello on Twitter: @nsavidesPRO
Thank you for visiting!
What's Eating Ralphie May won Best of the Fest at Nashville Film Festival and Documentary of the Year at Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival. The film was initially intended to be a weight-loss documentary that followed beloved comedian Ralphie May and his family, but it turned into a raw and intimate portrait of a family dealing with addiction during the last years of Ralphie’s troubled life.
At Nashville Film Festival I had the chance to interview comedian and wife of Ralphie, Lahna Turner, and director Cat Rhinehart.
Some of the things we discuss include
- What to do when shooting a documentary that takes an unexpected turn
- How to earn trust to explore the raw and intimate aspects of someone's story
- What to do when loved ones are wrestling with addiction
- If and when it is appropriate to stop filming
- How comedy can help get past anguish
I make friendly, engaging videos for earnest people. Some of my videos are here.
Say hello: [email protected]
#
MasterclassOnline training from some of the world's best filmmakers, musicians, and creative leaders.
#
Learn how to improve your stand-up routine and be funnier from Steve Martin.
#
Related EpisodesFor more on shooting documentaries, check out this episode with Peabody-winning documentary filmmaker Craig Renaud. He's done projects for likes of HBO, NBC, Discovery, PBS, The New York Times, and VICE News. On this episode he discusses how to survive dangerous conflict zones, ways to explore hot-button issues in an in-depth way, and more.
#
Steve Kaplan has taught comedy workshops around the world and companies like Dreamworks, Disney, HBO, Paramount, and Touchstone hire him as a comedy consultant. He shares some of his comedy insights on this episode.
#
Related Things- Nashville Film Festival
- What's Eating Ralphie May
- Lahna Turner
- Cat Rhinehart
- More of my podcast coverage of Nashville Film Festival
- Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show
Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.
#
Films Mentioned- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- The First 48 Hours
- Marriage Story
- One Hour Photo
- What's Eating Ralphie May
#
If You Liked the Show- Donate $1 to help keep the show going.
- Sign up for The nsavides Newsletter.
- Subscribe or leave an honest review:
- Say hello on Twitter: @nsavidesPRO
Thank you for visiting!
Previous Episode
Two Notable Shorts from Nashville Film Festival
My podcast coverage of Nashville Film Festival continues in this short-films episode where I interview the directors for two different short films that got my attention at the festival. One has more of a documentary feel while the other one is a more stylized film with elaborate production design, so I paired the two interviews to explore how shorts can come together and the creative possibilities they can offer.
The first interview is with Amanda Young, one of the directors behind Every Two Minutes, a compilation of stories relating to human trafficking. The short was done through StoryGive, which partners filmmakers in Nashville with non-profits that tackle various social issues. For Every Two Minutes, StoryGive connected local filmmakers with End Slavery Tennessee, a non-profit dedicated to caring for survivors of human trafficking and tactically addressing the issue.
The second interview is with Chilean director Vicente Manzano. His experimental short Bubble uses bubble framing in a novel, story-driven way. Virtually everything in the film was custom-designed for the film, which involved careful planning to pull off.
Some of the things we discuss include
- Using film to address a social issue in an impactful way
- How to collaborate with accomplished filmmakers and crew members on limited budget
- How to make a short film that is driven by stylized production design
I make friendly, engaging videos for earnest people.
I shot this New Orleans wedding video for Cece & Andy last year. Even one year later, I'm still getting positive feedback about the video from the couple's friends and family.
More of my videos are here.
Say hello: [email protected]
#
MasterclassOnline training from some of the world's best filmmakers, musicians, and creative leaders.
#
Related EpisodeEmmy-winning filmmaker and co-founder of Stillmotion, Patrick Moreau, talks about the challenges of putting together a high-quality, issues-driven documentary in this episode.
#
Related Things- Nashville Film Festival
- Amanda Young
- StoryGive
- End Slavery Tennessee
- Vicente Manzano
- More of my podcast coverage of Nashville Film Festival
- Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show
Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.
If You Liked the Show- Donate $1 to help keep the show going.
- Sign up for The nsavides Newsletter.
- Subscribe or leave an honest review:
- Say hello on Twitter: @nsavidesPRO
Thank you for visiting!
Next Episode
Will the Robots Save Us: Byron Reese on AI
Byron Reese is an acclaimed author, speaker, and entrepreneur. He's spoken at TEDx Austin and SXSW and has been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Wired, and The Washington Post. Byron is also the publisher of GigaOm and hosts the Voices in AI podcast.
Byron's latest book, The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity, is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read this year, so I brought him on the show to discuss it.
I think pessimism is the thing that will get us all killed." - Byron Reese
Some of the things we discuss include
- How artificial intelligence affects our lives
- The difference between narrow AI and general AI
- Whether being human is something more than a machine
- Challenges and philosophical questions raised by advancements in AI
- Why optimism matters and can make all the difference
- How AI might redefine creative work
I make friendly, engaging videos for earnest people. Some of my videos are here.
Say hello: [email protected]
#
MasterclassOnline training from some of the world's best filmmakers, musicians, and creative leaders.
Get access to all of Masterclass's world-class instructors for one affordable price: MasterClass All-Access Pass
#
Learn how to be a better writer and storyteller from Malcolm Gladwell.
#
Related EpisodesFor more on how technology influences creativity, check out this interview with Brian Solis, who also spoke at SXSW.
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For more on the power of optimism, check out this interview with Golden Globe-winning producer Lindsay Doran.
#
Related Things- The Fourth Age
- Byron Reese
- Voice in AI podcast
- Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show
Additional music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.
#
Books Mentioned- The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers, and the Future of Humanity
- Harry Potter
- "I, Pencil" (essay)
- The Lord of the Rings
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Shows Mentioned- The Animatrix
- Game of Thrones
- The Jetsons
- Star Trek
- The Twilight Zone
- Donate $1 to help keep the show going.
- Sign up for The nsavides Newsletter.
- Subscribe or leave an honest review:
- Say hello on Twitter: @nsavidesPRO
Thank you for visiting!
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