Filmmaking talk from inside the workflow.
The No Film School Podcast follows working filmmakers through the practical mess of getting films made, edited, seen, and paid for. Recent conversations move from AI rough cuts and screen-life editing to horror rhythm, festival strategy, micro-budget animation, and the strange math of theatrical release.
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The No Film School Podcast is built around the practical life of independent filmmaking. It talks about craft, but it rarely leaves craft floating in the abstract. Recent episodes keep returning to the same grounded questions: who did the work, what did it cost, which tool changed the timeline, and how did the film find an audience after the premiere. The result feels like a recorded shop conversation with people who have been inside the edit, the festival room, the release meeting, or the low-budget scramble. AI is a major thread, but not as a simple sales pitch or panic button. A sponsored Eddie AI conversation looks at rough cuts, podcast edits, client deliverables, and the uneasy appeal of software that can take boring work off an editor's plate. The AI documentary episode sits in a more anxious place, asking how filmmakers can tell a story while the subject itself keeps changing. Horror episodes bring the same practical eye to fear. Lee Cronin's The Mummy conversation frames dread through character, family drama, detective mystery, and body horror, while the Undertone interview gets into sound, silence, rhythm, and the strange precision of cutting suspense. The show also spends real time on distribution. Pete Ohs' Obex episode follows a release as a living experiment, where theater dates, screen availability, and audience response become part of the filmmaking process rather than an afterthought. Animation gets treated with the same nuts-and-bolts curiosity. Julian Glander explains how Boys Go to Jupiter grew from a $30,000 animated feature into festivals, a theatrical run, and HBO, with Blender, self-teaching, community, and imperfection all part of the story. Festival coverage from South by Southwest adds a looser, reflective register. Ryan Kuh and Jordan Aldridge talk through AI, shorts judging, Spielberg, blocking, and the value of feeling human choices in the frame. The show is friendly, but it is not vague. It likes names, tools, deadlines, rooms, and awkward lessons. For people making films without a giant safety net, that specificity is the point.
Made for: Best for filmmakers, editors, producers, screenwriters, festival-watchers, and film students who want concrete stories about how independent work gets made and released. It especially suits listeners who care about workflow, budgets, festivals, distribution, and changing tools.
What sets it apart: The show pairs industry access with unusually practical detail, moving from a guest's career story into the actual edit, release plan, software choice, or production constraint. It feels closer to a candid postmortem than a polished press stop.
A podcast about how to build a career in filmmaking. No Film School shares the latest opportunities and trends for anyone working in film and TV. We break news on cameras, lighting, and apps. We interview leaders in screenwriting, directing, cinematography, editing, and producing. And we answer your questions! We are dedicated to sharing knowledge with filmmakers around the globe, “no film school” required.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Craft interviews and festival conversations make filmmaking's creative decisions, practical constraints, and career pressures unusually legible.
The No Film School Podcast treats filmmaking as work in motion, shifting between close craft interviews and conversations from the festival floor.
A horror editor speaks in drum rudiments, and suddenly your cut has a heartbeat.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded sponsored conversation about overnight AI rough cuts and the pressure they could lift from client post work.
This sponsored No Film School episode uses the idea of an overnight rough cut as its entry point, with Gigi Hawkins introducing Eddie AI's Night Shift and asking what changes when software can build a structured cut while an editor sleeps.
A clear, practical look at how Obex moves from Sundance momentum toward dates, screens, and market-by-market release strategy.
Distribution is the focus as Gigi Hawkins continues the Can Distribution Be Fun series with Pete Ohs, discussing Obex, which he produced and worked on. The film is directed by Albert Burney, who also stars.
SXSW 2026 folds awards, blocking, and AI into one loose conversation.
Ryan Kuh and Jordan Aldridge file from Austin as South by Southwest 2026 shifts around them, with the award announcement landing just as Kuh talks about serving as a juror for narrative shorts.
Sound, rhythm, and editing do most of the heavy lifting here.
The No Film School podcast treats Undertone as a case study in horror built from rhythm, silence, and recorded sound. Gigi Hawkins talks with editor Sonny Atkins about a paranormal podcast host pulled into mystery through unsettling recordings and audio files, and the focus…
Amy Wong reflects on Slanted, from pandemic origins to festival success and theatrical release.
The No Film School Podcast frames Amy Wong's story as a working filmmaker's account of staying with an idea long after the first rush has passed.
A first script, a dark indie set, and the stubborn joy behind getting a personal film into theaters.
Hazard gives this episode a sturdy center: Eddie Mensor's first script, brought to LA more than 20 years ago, has become a film made fully outside the studio system.
Indie film advice with real-world pressure.
Screenwriting craft with honest room tone.
Hollywood talk with the machinery exposed.
Horror craft, cult memory, and monster talk.
This episode features Oscar-winning editor Paul Rogers discussing work-life balance in the film industry, California's tax credit legislation, and sustainable post-production practices.
Host Gigi Hawkins interviews the teams behind two independent films.
Ryan Kuh and Jordan Aldridge report from the 2026 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, discussing its new decentralized format.
This sponsored episode explores Eddie AI's new Night Shift feature that automatically creates rough video cuts overnight, discussing its integration into professional editing workflows for filmmakers.
This episode features an interview with horror filmmaker Lee Cronin discussing his career evolution from Evil Dead Rise to his new film The Mummy, focusing on his approach to crafting horror through character and emotional stakes.
This episode features an interview with the editing team behind the screen life film Mercy, discussing their unconventional storytelling approach and technical editing process.
This episode features an interview with Julian Glander, who created the $30,000 animated film 'Boys Go to Jupiter,' discussing its journey from self-taught production to festival success and distribution on HBO.
This episode features an interview with the director and editors of an AI documentary exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on humanity and filmmaking, discussing their creative process and perspectives on AI.
No Film School host Gigi Hawkins talks with filmmaker Pete O'S about OBEX, the Albert Burney film that premiered at Sundance 2025 and was released by Oscilloscope in January 2026.
Ryan Kuh opens from Austin with Jordan Aldridge at the 2026 South by Southwest Film Festival.
Gigi Hawkins opens on Undertone, the new horror film from A24 about a paranormal podcast host pulled in by mysterious recordings.
Gigi Hawkins talks with writer-director Amy Wong about Slanted.
Editor Harrison Atkins tells Gigi Hawkins that How to Make a Killing took about a year and a half to cut in London, compared with roughly eight weeks for Emily the Criminal's Sundance deadline.
This episode from Sundance 2026 discusses how to identify good and bad collaborators at film festivals through a red flag green flag game and includes an interview about the long journey to making a first feature film.
This episode features discussions on film festival programming with Imani Davis and a temperature check on the state of the film industry with filmmaker Nick Curcio.
This episode features an interview with director John-Michael Powell about making his theatrical feature 'Violent Ends' without industry representation, exploring setbacks, breakthroughs, and resourcefulness in independent filmmaking.
This episode features an interview with the co-hosts of the Just Shoot It!