Shows
Meet the ADsEp. #18: "The Substance" (Live from the 2025 AD Awards Winner Q&A) with 1st AD Matthieu de la Mortière, 2nd ADs Olivia & Benoît, 2nd 2nd AD Anne and 3rd ADs Agathe & JoséphineThis is part two of our two-part Assistant Director Awards Special - because this year, Meet the ADs partnered with the Assistant Director Awards (ADA) to share the winning teams’ insights with a wider audience. We’re not part of the awards organisation itself, but we’re proud to collaborate in celebrating outstanding AD work from around the globe. Julia hosted the 2025 ADA Winners’ Q&A featuring the gold-winning AD teams of Ripley and The Substance. The conversations were far too good to disappear into a Zoom archive, so we’re bringing them to you as two special pod...
2025-12-0133 minMeet the ADsEp. #17: "Ripley" (Live from the 2025 AD Awards Winner Q&A) with 1st AD Peter Thorell, Key 2nd AD Barbara Pastrovich and Floor 2nd AD Gianluca La RosaToday’s episode is part one of our two-part Assistant Director Awards Special because this year, Meet the ADs partnered with the Assistant Director Awards (ADA) to share the winning teams’ insights with a wider audience. We’re not part of the awards organisation itself, but we’re proud to collaborate in celebrating outstanding AD work from around the globe. Julia hosted the 2025 ADA Winners’ Q&A featuring the gold-winning AD teams of Ripley and The Substance. The conversations were far too good to disappear into a Zoom archive, so we’re bringing them to you as tw...
2025-11-0151 minMeet the ADsEp. #16: "The Last of Us" with 1st AD Paul DomickOn today's episode we will dive deep into the world of "The Last of Us" with 1st Assistant Director Paul Domick.Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey the show is set in a post-apocalyptic America haunted by a fungal infection that turns humans into terrifying creatures, it’s as much about survival as it is about the bonds we form under pressure. It's about why and not about how one survives.We are talking about training the cast for all those crazy stunts, how long it took to get many many stunt players into infected ma...
2025-08-011h 10Meet the ADsEp. #15: "The White Lotus" with 1st AD Justin RitsonThis episode features Justin Ritson - the 1st Assistant Director of all three Seasons of the HBO series "The White Lotus" created by Mike White.Justin told us the most interesting things about how shooting changed from Season 1 to 3 and why the shoot days tripled over time. You will never guess how many shoot days the first season had! He also speaks about how troubling filming out on the sea is, among other things explains the famous boat stunt with Jennifer Coolidge in Season 2 and the challenge of filming with only Russian speaking extras. We c...
2025-07-011h 06Meet the ADsEp. #14: "Adolescence" with 1st AD Sarah Lucas & 3rd AD Ash SpallThis episode features two Assistant Directors who might as well be legends already: 1st AD Sarah Lucas and 3rd AD Ash Spall. Sarah and Ash will be telling us how the hell they pulled off Netflix’s latest hit miniseries, Adolescence.The show got so much love from within the industry because of its sheer technical ambition. The show uses these long, unbroken one-shots that only work when every single department is perfectly in sync – camera, lighting, sound and of course the ADs and the background action. It’s so rar...
2025-06-011h 23Meet the ADsEp. #13: "Anora" with 1st AD Liza MannWe´re back! This episode features the 1st Assistant Director of "Anora": Liza Mann. "Anora" has won five Oscars this year, including best picture, best director for Sean Baker and best actress for Mikey Madison. Today we are be talking to 1st AD Liza Mann who also won this years DGA award as part of the directorial team of Anora. She is taking us behind the scenes – showing us what real indie filmmaking looks like, and how you can create truly great cinema on a not so Hollywood like budget. We’ll also hear about shooting i...
2025-05-0254 minMeet the ADsEp. #12: „From Mad Max to All Quiet on the Western Front: Life and career of Art Director Bryce Tibbey"This episode features Australian Art Director Bryce Tibbey. Bryce has over 25 years experience in the Art Department. His most famous jobs that he will also talk about include „All Quiet on the Western Front“, „Anonymous“, „Mad Max: Fury Road“, „Tribes of Europe“ and „James Bond: Spectre“. Learn more about the perks of his job and why having Bryce on can save productions a lot of money on this episode. Enjoy!And as always, if you have any thoughts, ideas or guest requests for the future, we are happy to hear from you. DM us on Instagram or writ...
2025-02-011h 19Meet the ADsEp. #11: "Joker: Folie A Deux" with 1st AD David Webb and Key 2nd AD Trevor TavaresEpisode 11 features two industry legends who we spoke to about one of the most anticipated films of 2024: "Joker: Folie A Deux" directed by Todd Phillips. 1st Assistant Director David Webb and 2nd Assistant Director Trevor Tavares will be telling us about the logistics and challenges the musical aspect brought to the shoot, achieving impressive one shots, building the prison yard set, working with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga and Todd Phillip directorial style which they call "advanced filmmaking“. And in the end, a trip down memory lane will tell us how to convince Martin Scorcese to shoot in a ty...
2025-01-011h 13Meet the ADsEp. #10: „The Apprentice“ with 1st AD Joel HayThis episode features ‘The Apprentice’ - a film about young Donald Trump building his business in the ’70s and ’80s in America as he was mentored by the famously ruthless lawyer Roy Cohn. Canadian 1st Assistant Director Joel Hay takes us behind the scenes of this brilliant film.
It is not a conversation about political views, controversies or accusations. It is about how this very important film was made. We are talking not only about the incredible acting performances by Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, their wigs and the genius prosthetics work by the hair and...
2024-12-011h 11Meet the ADsEp. #9: "Ted Lasso" with 1st ADs James Blackwell, Sophie Worger and Jim ImberThis episode features the American Apple TV sports comedy series "Ted Lasso" developed by Jason Sudeikis who also plays the lead role of Ted.
We are talking to the three British 1st ADs James Blackwell, Sophie Worger and Jim Imber about the art of "letting go" as an AD, scheduling an entire series on beat sheets and not on scripts. But also about working with guest directors like Zach Braff, bringing real life football clubs to the big screen and why the American and British way of spending a film budget is quite different. Would you have...
2024-11-011h 26Meet the ADsEp. #8: "James Bond: Skyfall & the career of an industry legend" with 1st AD Michael LermanThis episode features the industry legend Michael Lerman. 1st AD Michael worked on the biggest pictures possible such as the Bond movies "Quantum of Solace", "Skyfall" and "Spectre". But also on "1917", "Jurassic World", "Doctor Strange", "Man in Black" or "Garden State".
We are talking about firsting the world's biggest franchise not once, not twice but three times. And we are getting an insight on when you get to say no to DoP Sir Roger Deakins. From PA to 1st AD we are learning about Michaels impressive career, his experience in shooting in multiple countries with thousands of e...
2024-06-011h 29Meet the ADsEp. #7: "Poor Things" with 1st AD Hayley Williams and Key 2nd AD Edoardo PettiThis episode features the Oscar winning feature by Giorgos Lanthimos "Poor Things" starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo. We are talking to 1st Assistant Director Hayley Williams and Key 2nd Assistant Director Edoardo Petti about the director´s very unique style of filming and the perks of dressing as well as lighting every set 360 degrees. But we are also taking a closer look at working with an Intimacy Coordinator, full nudity and closed sets as well as creating an environment that gives everyone including crew and cast space and safety for intimate scenes. Enjoy!
As...
2024-05-011h 23Meet the ADsEp. #6: "Tár" with 1st AD Sebastian Fahr-Brix, Key 2nd AD Maria Mehnert and Crowd 2nd AD Ann Sophie HeierEpisode 6 features the 2022 drama "Tár" written and directed by Todd Field. Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár, a world-renowned conductor facing accusations of misconduct. We're talking to 1st AD Sebastian Fahr-Brix, Key 2nd AD Maria Mehnert and Crowd 2nd AD Ann Sophie Heier about their journey on this film. The topics are limited prep-time, impressive one shots, prepping cast for numerous difficult tasks such as conducting and working with a real life orchestra in an actual philharmonic hall. Enjoy!
Als always, if you have any thoughts, ideas or guest requests for the futu...
2024-04-011h 17Meet the ADsEp. #5: "The Crown" with 1st AD Finn McGrath & Key 2nd AD Lynsey MuirThis episode features two Assistant Directors of the British hit series THE CROWN who have worked on a variety of episodes across all 6 seasons. THE CROWN is a historical TV series about the British monarchy, specifically the rein of Queen Elizabeth II principally written by Peter Morgan for Netflix.
We're so happy to talk to 1st AD Finn and Key 2nd AD Lynsey about the experience of working on a show for so many years, having constantly changing directors, staying on top of a schedule for hundreds of days with changing ADs, jumping through a...
2024-03-171h 05Meet the ADsEp. #4: "1899" with 1st AD Rickie-Lee Roberts, Key 2nd AD Georgina Foley and Crowd 2nd AD David WunderlichEpisode four features the multilingual German hit series "1899" created by Baran Bo Odar and Jantje Friese for Netflix who previously created "Dark". We're talking to 1st AD Rickie-Lee Roberts, Key 2nd AD Georgina Foley and Crowd 2nd AD David Wunderlich about how they managed over 100 shooting days without going crazy. Besides that, we're speaking about their experience shooting in the 360 degree LED studio "the Volume" as the "1899" crew was only the second crew after "The Mandalorian" to use than technology. Enjoy!
Als always, if you have any thoughts, ideas or guest requests for the...
2024-03-011h 14Meet the ADsEp. #3: "Eine Million Minuten" with director & producer Christopher Doll (IN GERMAN)In unserer ersten Deutschen Folge, hatten wir die große Freude, mit Produzent und Regisseur Christopher Doll zu sprechen. Chris ist Mitbegründer und Geschäftsführer der Hellinger/Doll Filmproduktion und den meisten Filmschaffenden in Deutschland seit Jahren ein bekannter Begriff; z.B. als Produzent von Filmen wie "Traumfrauen", "SMS für Dich", "4 gegen die Bank" oder "Wunderschön". Vor seiner Produzenten-Karriere, hat Chris jedoch als 1. Regieassistent und 1st AD Filme wie "Krabat", "Im Winter ein Jahr", "Buddy", "Wickie", "3096 Tage" oder "Anonymus" von Roland Emmerich geprägt.
Wir sprechen über Chris Lebensweg, seine Liebe zu...
2024-02-171h 14Meet the ADsEp. #2: "All Quiet on the Western Front" with 1st AD Benedict Hoermann & Crowd 2nd AD Valerie AdamerEpisode two features the core AD team of Edward Bergers epic German anti-war film "All Quiet On The Western Front" from 2022, also called "Im Westen nichts Neues" in German. It was a pleasure speaking with 1st AD Benedict Hoermann and Crowd 2nd AD Valerie Adamer about their their achievements, challenges and most fun memories of the shoot. We dig deep behind the scenes of the winner of nine Academy Awards last year. During the first half we´ll be talking about cranes, gimbals, meaning camera shots and technical equipment as well as storyboarding and rehearsing thoroughly. In the second h...
2024-02-011h 11Meet the ADsEp. #1: "Peaky Blinders" (S. 5&6) with 1st AD Jon Midlane, Key 2nd AD Arizona Eastwood and 3rd AD Mike KingOur first episode features the core Assistant Director (AD) team of the British hit TV show "Peaky Blinders" Season 5 and 6. It was an honour speaking with 1st AD Jon Midlane, Key 2nd AD Arizona Eastwood and 3rd AD Mike King about their careers as well as their achievements, challenges and most fun memories of the shoot. We dig deep behind the scenes of one of the UK‘s biggest shows, hear the touching story of losing a beloved cast member during the shoot, get amazed by the fact that some actors who play a married couple on "Peaky Blinders" we...
2024-01-221h 14
Meet the ADsIntro EpisodeThis episode is the best way to get started if you are interested in our podcast. Who are the two full-time ADs and part-time podcast hosts Julia and Tim? What is the Assistant Directors Union Germany? And what do the first AD Awards have to do with the creation of this podcast? What is this podcast about anyways? This brief introduction episode will answer all of these questions. And if you haven't had enough after all, we recommend listening to episode 1 straight away.
Enjoy! And if you have any thoughts, ideas or even guest...
2024-01-0110 min