Film Stories with Simon Brew Simon Brew

Writer/director George Miller steps into the spotlight for this episode of Film Stories, as we dig into a pair of his sequels.
The hugely-acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road arrived in 2015, but it had a heck of a journey to get that far. An abandoned attempt to get the film made in 2003, and then the whole production having to be put on ice for a year after weather conditions meant a change of location. And then there was the shoot itself, which came to an end without the beginning or final act of the film shot. It was quite a saga.
1998's Babe: Pig In The City was a film pretty much taken for granted by its parent studio, Universal Pictures. It wasn't until a late preview screening that the studio discovered it hadn't quite got the sequel to 1995's Babe that it was after - and urgent last minute changes were called for.
Stories of both movies are told in this episode...

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In a special episode of Film Stories, writer, director, producer and a whole lot more Reginald Hudlin joins Simon. They're talking as Hudlin's new film, Candy Cane Lane, arrives on Prime Video. And Christmas is very much part of the discussion.
But they also cover a bit of Marshall, why Hudlin put together his own website with quite so much detail, the curiosity of film critics and a whole lot more.
Candy Cane Lane is now playing on Prime Video.

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A pair of late 1990s movies in this episode, both of which are remembered three decades later for differing reasons.
In the case of 1999's Election, the Alexander Payne-directed movie remains one of the most scathing and cleverly dark high school movies of its era. Perhaps that's why Paramount Pictures at the time had problems with it, not least how on Earth do you market the film? 'Not well' was the eventual answer to that. Plus: would Tom Cruise really have been right for the Matthew Broderick role?
Then there was 1998's surprise hit Sliding Doors, a film from a first time writer/director, who spent seven years trying to nail the script, suffering a nervous breakdown in the midst of the process. Turns out too that a Hollywood legend, Sydney Pollack, would turn into the movie's guardian angel.
Stories of both are told in this episode...


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In a very special episode, Simon is joined by the Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Jennifer Lee.
Jennifer Lee has also co-written and executive produces Disney's centenary animated feature, Wish, so there's some chat about that. But also, about Lee's journey from being the person brought into the Wreck-It Ralph writing team on an eight week contract, through to writing and co-directing the two Frozen movies, then taking arguably the key job at the studio.
The pair talk about all of this, about the reasons it took so long to make the film Wish, and a slight issue with a character in it who happens to be called Simon...

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In the latest episode of Film Stories, a deeper dig into 1992's Batman Returns, and how 1991's firefighter drama Backdraft suddenly hotted up.
With Batman Returns, director Tim Burton had no original intention of coming back, after the problems he'd been through on 1989's Batman. But promised a freer hand, he signed on the dotted line - and it'd be fair to say didn't quite give Warner Bros the film it expected or wanted.
Backdraft wasn't quite as dramatic a story, but it did go from a relatively small drama to something a whole lot bigger when director Ron Howard expressed interest. And there was also the drive for authenticity - and how just over $1m spent on special effects paid dividends.
Stories of both are told in this episode.

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It's a special episode of the Film Stories podcast, and joining Simon for a chat about her career is writer, director and production designer Catherine Hardwicke.
The pair chat first and foremost about her latest film, the indie comedy Mafia Mamma! that's now available in the UK. They talk logistics, the challenges, and the joy that is Toni Collette. The conversation also covers Hardwicke's breakthrough film, Thirteen, and the independent movie landscape. Plus, a bit of casting, a bit of Twilight, and an insight into how she goes about making her films...

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