interview

Video Interview: Josh Gad

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We catch up with actor Josh Gad to talk about his scene stealing voice work in Disney's Frozen as Olaf the Snowman, playing a character that’s only pure, unbridled joy, getting a chance to sing a song penned by some of his former Book of Mormon collaborators, and the happiness he gets from watching Olaf’s connection to children in the audience (including his own).

Interview: Gail Harvey

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We talk with veteran director and photographer Gail Harvey about her latest film Looking is the Original Sin, which opens at the Carlton in Toronto this Friday alongside an exhibition at the theatre of photography from her decades long career.

Interview: Jennifer Podemski and Cara Gee

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We talk to actress and producer Jennifer Podemski and actress Cara Gee about their work on the First Nations family drama Empire of Dirt, applying the film's themes more broadly to a picture of small town living, the film’s sometimes subtle humour, why Peter Stebbings was chosen for such a project despite being a white male, and how the film fits into a current renaissance for First Nations cinema in Canada.

Interview: Destin Cretton

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Dork Shelf talks to Short Term 12 writer and director Destin Cretton about the film's real life inspiration, adapting a feature from his own short, and fostering a sense of community within a group of actors who have never worked together before.

Interview: John Krokidas

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Dork Shelf talks to Kill Your Darlings director John Krokidas about humbling your idols, the Beat Generation, youthful ambitions, working with Daniel Radcliffe, and wondering aloud about Glen Danzig’s past

Interview: Shandi Mitchell

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Dork Shelf talks to Nova Scotia based writer and director Shandi Mitchell about her debut feature The Disappeared, about the differences between writing for publishing and film, her connection to the ocean, shooting on 16mm, and the recent cultural fascination with mortality under extreme conditions.

Interview: Karen Walton

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We talk to current Orphan Black writer Karen Walton about her debut feature, the iconic Canadian horror film Ginger Snaps - showing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Halloween - and about the film's still growing notoriety, why her initial hesitation to write the film seems somewhat silly in hindsight, how hard it can be to be honest in horror movies, and why she’s moved by the analysis the film has received over the years.

Interview: Daniel Perlmutter

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We chat with TIFF 2009 Pitch This winner, writer and director Daniel Perlmutter, about his recently wrapped comedy Big News from Grand Rock, and his film’s lengthy gestation period, why his film is a throwback to the same kinds of stories his main character is trying to make newsworthy, reuniting with one of his Pitch This mentors for his leading man, and how time flies once the film starts rolling.

Interview: Randy Moore

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We talk with filmmaker Randy Moore - the man by the heavily buzzed about and entire shot at Disney World without anyone knowing about it psychodrama Escape from Tomorrow - about how the production stayed secret with so many people working on it, how he kept his cast and crew happy under stressful situations, what his films have in common with the work of Woody Allen, how talk of the film’s legality skews public perception of the final product, and the weird things that happened at Disney that weren’t a part of the film at all.

Interview: Daniel Hanna

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We talk to International Independent Video Store Day creator and owner of Eyesore Cinema in Toronto Daniel Hanna about the genesis of Video Store Day, what it means to people, how it’s evolved, have a discussion about Netflix and the effect it has had, and the ups and downs of the hard media business.

Interview: Steve McQueen, John Ridley, & Henry Louis Gates

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Dork Shelf talk to director Steve McQueen, writer John Ridley, and historical consultant Henry Louis Gates about their work on the powerful drama 12 Years a Slave, the history behind free African American turned forced slave Solomon Northup’s life, how the story came to the filmmakers, if they thought the truth of slavery being depicted on screen would be too much for audiences to handle, what Ridley found most painful about the writing process, and why McQueen believes cinema is the greatest of all art forms.

Interview: John Kastner

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Dork Shelf talks to filmmaker John Kastner about his latest effort, NCR: Not Criminally Responsible (debuting on CBC Doc Zone this Thursday), and the hot button issue of people accused of violent crime, but who are unable to stand trial for mental health reasons.

Interview: Adam Lopez

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Dork Shelf talks to Toronto After Dark Film Festival Programming Director and Founder Adam Lopez about his genre festival's eighth year, the move from rep houses to Cineplex, why accessibility and the opinions of his fans mean so much to him, theme nights, and why they decided upon We Are What We Are for the opening night film.