Latest in Crew Call Podcast

It always helps to know someone when you’re breaking into showbiz, and a familial connection to Pink Floyd led British-born Edward Shearmur to work with the late two-time Oscar nominated composer Michael Kamen, known for such scores as Brazil and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Handling a variety of tasks for more than…

President Harry S. Truman once said, “Men make history, and not the other way around.” Well, on Derek Water's long-running Drunk History, it’s the inebriated who make history — or at least try to remember it. Through 74 episodes over the last 6 years, Waters has created one of the benchmark series for Comedy Central…

One of the biggest cliffhangers in episodic TV right now is what’s next for multi-hyphenate Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the wake of her awesome two-season 11-Primetime Emmy nominated BBC/Amazon series Fleabag? It’s a question that’s driving network executives quite mad. Ya see, there isn’t a third season of…

We've always known that when it comes to impressions, Bill Hader can do anyone. But for those who don’t know, what he wonderfully flaunts in season 2 of HBO's Barry is his riveting finesse for directing action scenes across two episodes, "ronny/lily" and the finale "berkman>block", literally reminiscent of James…

Even though HBO’s Succession isn’t specifically about media dynasty the Murdochs, man, it surely feels that way. But there’s various reasons why the Jesse Armstrong-created series opted to wink, instead of specifically point at them, explains Adam McKay on today’s Crew Call. McKay was Emmy nominated in the drama…

Two-time Oscar nominated composer Marco Beltrami has confessed before he’s a cheap scare when it comes to horror movies, but this time around he’s brought his collaborator Brandon Roberts around for the fun on the Jordan Peele and Simon Kinberg executive produced reboot of The Twilight Zone on CBS All Access. We talk…

What’s the trick to exploding and rebuilding Star Trek so that new fans embrace it and Trekkies don’t snub it? “Render onto Caesar what is Caesar’s, everybody from the older generation should be incorporated into the new generation, there should always be respect for both and yet it always has to forge new ground,&#8221…

Brett Johnson and Oscar-nominated The Player scribe Michael Tolkin began working with each other as producer-writers on Ray Donovan and it was during that series that they made an immediate go at adapting the true story about two inmates who escaped the maximum security Clinton Correctional facility in the quiet town…

Composer Kris Bowers has exploded on the film and TV music scene in the wake of his sublime work on the three-time Oscar-winning Green Book. Not only did Bowers compose the upbeat jazzy road music, was Mahershala Ali’s piano hands during production, but he literally had to transcribe all of Dr. Don Shirley’s pieces by…

Daniel Minahan is no stranger to Deadwood having directed four episodes during the western series three season run on HBO, starting with Season 1, episode 8’s “Suffer the Children”. It was an unforgettable beginning, as the episode guest-starred Kristen Bell pre-Veronica Mars as Flora Anderson, a grifter who…

If there’s ever a story in this zeitgeist of Time’s Up, it’s the tale of Broadway and film star Gwen Verdon, and her power behind legendary choreographer and film/stage director Bob Fosse — and the credit she rarely received. As portrayed in FX’s limited series Fosse/Verdon, The Damn Yankees actress (played by…

The ability to paint a nuanced tone, both visually and aurally, can be an impossible task for any filmmaker or TV series creator. It’s what keeps them toiling away in the editing suite. However, Brazilian-born composer Marcelo Zarvos has a keen sensibility when it comes to bringing music to the psychological…