All Episodes
Documentary First — 300 episodes · page 1 of 3
The Velveteen Rabbit and Old Home Movies: What Is Real?
Archival Footage: Why Use Home Movies?
How Do You Get a Documentary Made? Ask the Woman Who Co-Runs RKO
Beyond Banners: How to Make a Documentary With No Film School
Why Can't Your Documentary Find an Audience? l Deep Dive on Ep. 284
Ep. 284 I How to Fund a Documentary Without the Industry
Who Believed in You First?
Cold War in Philly: Joe Amodei Directs His First Documentary
Ep. 282 I Finding the Heartbeat of Your Story | A Lesson From Normandy
Ep. 281 I 13 Letters That Saved a Dying WWII Documentary - on Heroes of Carentan Pt 1
The Disappointment You Didn't Choose I Deep Dive on Ep. 280
Danny Gans: The Man of Many Voices Who Lost His Own
When Is Silence Wisdom and When Is It Complicity? I Deep Dive on Ep. 279
Ep. 279 I She Was Here: Heather O'Rourke's Family Debunks the Poltergeist Curse
The Two Kinds of “Alone” Every Filmmaker Knows I Deep Dive on Ep. 278
Ep. 278 I Adapt or Die: A Working Filmmaker with AI in 2026
Anthropic's $1.5B Mistake. Yours Could Cost More. I Deep Dive on Ep. 277
Why Does One Documentary Clip Cost $70,000?
The First Generation to Live Shorter Lives Than Their Parents | Deep Dive on Ep. 276
Ep. 276 I Robin Canfield on Teaching iPhone Documentary in 20 Countries
They Wanted My Voice to Train AI - What Thoreau Knew About Living Deliberately in a Revolution: Deep Dive on Ep. 275
Ep. 275 I Erik & Chris Ewers on PBS Funding, AI & Directing Goldblum, Clooney & Streep
Erik & Chris Ewers: Quiet Desperation—Competence vs Self-Knowledge: Deep Dive on Episode 274
Ep. 274 I I Didn't Know Myself - Erik & Chris Ewers on Ken Burns, PBS & Thoreau
What Francesca Bridgerton and a D-Day Veteran Both Discovered About Grief I Deep Dive on Ep. 273
Ep. 273 | D-Day Leadership Academy: Jake Schroeder on WWII Veterans, Normandy & Redefining Success
What If You're Not Actually Failing? Deep Dive on Ep. 272 with Director Quinnolyn Benson-Yates
Episode 272 | Quinnolyn Benson-Yates on Epic Bill: Failure, Reinvention & the Filmmaker’s Endurance
Finding The Good Guys | Deep Dive on Ep.271 With Joe Amodei
Joe Amodei on Documentary Distribution: Will Anyone Watch?
Why Viewers Forget 90% of Your Film | Deep Dive on Ep. 270 with Charles Oliver
The Imposter Gap | Deep Dive on Ep. 269 with Jeffrey Roth
Episode 270 | Charles Olivier on Editing "Surviving Ohio State" for HBO
Episode 269 | Egyptian “Indiana Jones”, Zahi Hawass of “The Man With The Hat”, Interview with Jeffery Roth
Episode 268 | Peter Kelly’s Archaeological Adventure in the Turks and Caicos
Episode 267 | Alan Govenar’s New Film, “Quiet Voices in a Noisy World”
Episode 266 | Emmy-Award Winning Producer, Susan Lacy, “Billy Joel: And So It Goes” Interview
The Price of Milk: Nick Bruckman on the Got Milk Campaign
Episode 264 | Billy Joel: Telling the Story Behind the Musician (with Jessica Levin)
Episode 263 | Crowdfunding for Filmmakers — Lessons from the UnScarred Campaign
Michael Parks and the Making of Long Lonesome Highway
Episode 261 | Doc First Members Have Entered the Chat
Saving Private Ryan: How to Really Listen to a WWII Veteran
Saving Private Ryan: A 101-Year-Old WWII Veteran's Story
Saving Private Ryan: Corey Johnson on Spielberg, and John Williams' Greatest Scores
Billy Joel: And So It Goes, From the Inside, Part 2
Billy Joel: And So It Goes, From the Inside, Part 1
Episode 255 | Creating Unique Soundscapes -- Scoring for Documentary Films w/ Panu Aaltio
Saving Private Ryan: Actor Corey Johnson on Filming the D-Day Landing
Episode 253 | Revitalizing Communities: The Heirloom Project with Josh Nowell & Jim Rasberry
Actor Corey Johnson on Anthony Hopkins, The Mummy and Why Acting Is Reacting
Actor Corey Johnson: The Voice Behind Hundreds of Documentaries
Episode 250 | Blake Lively’s Hollywood Harassment Showdown – with Entertainment Lawyer Anne Easton
Episode 249 | How Greg Fitzpatrick Became a Stuntman, Part 1
Episode 248: Deep Talks with an Entertainment Lawyer - Part 1
Episode 247 | Eric Gardner, Director of ”Confessions of a CEO”
Episode 246 | Liz Carpenter, Mover and Shaker in US Politics - Part 2
Episode 245 | Liz Carpenter, Mover and Shaker in US Politics
Episode 244 | Film Entrepreneurship w/ Teddy Cannon
Episode 243 | Q&A With East Coast Filmmaker Robin Hamilton
Episode 242 | Interview with Mt. Everest Explorer: Alex Harz
Episode 241 | "A Remarkable 2024" Retrospective Company Update
Episode 240 | Documentary First's Next Steps w/ Jake Taylor
Episode 239 | A Fresh Take on Renaissance Man, Leonardo da Vinci - PBS
Episode 238 | Documenting a Viral Country Music TikTok Trend, “Fancy Like Walter Hayes”
Episode 237 | Making a Hit Mini TV Series feat. Evan Wise
Episode 236 | Conversations with Christian, Part 2 (Free Patreon Episode)
Episode 235 | The Girl Who Wore Freedom Dream Team - Part 3
Episode 234 | Finding Your Champion, Part 2
Episode 233 | Finding Your Champion, Part 1
To Dye For: Making a Documentary About Synthetic Dyes
Episode 231 | Escaping Twin Flames Interview w/ Cecilia Peck and Inbal B. Lessner
Episode 230 | Normandy Trip Update feat. Peyton Rabb
Episode 229 | The Girl Who Wore Freedom Dream Team, Administration (Part 2)
Episode 228 | Deep Dive Into "Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine" w/ Brian Skerry
Episode 227 | The Girl Who Wore Freedom Dream Team - Part 1
Episode 226 | Saffron Cassaday, Directing a Film About Poop
Episode 225 | Human Swiss Army Knife Filmmaking w/ Josh Haygood
Bonus Episode | The Genesis of TGWWF - "AM 560 The Answer"
Episode 224 | D-Day Theatrical Release, Guest: David Paterson (The Girl Who Wore Freedom)
Minted: Nick Bruckman on the Artists Behind the NFT Boom
Episode 222 | The Crazy World of "Mad Props"
Episode 221 | Meaningful Stories w/ Alex Ivany of Ifine: Beauty
Episode 220 | Directing Going to Mars
Episode 219 | Editor Extraordinaire Yvette Amirian
Where Does the Money Go? Joe Amodei on Distribution Expenses
Episode 217 | Award-Winning Cinematography w/ Laela Kilbourn
Joe Amodei on Getting Distributed: Who Can You Trust?
Remembering WWII Veteran George Ciampa
Episode 214 | Entertainment Blogging w/ Josh Sharpe
Episode 213 | Part 2 of "Dear Sirs" with Mark Pedri and Carrie McCarthy, PhD
Episode 212 | Part 1 of "Dear Sirs" with Mark Pedri and Carrie McCarthy, PhD
Nick Bruckman Remembers Ady Barkan | Not Going Quietly
Episode 210 | Gail Gilbert - Puppy Love
Ken Burns: Making the Past Come Alive | The American Buffalo
Ken Burns on Losing His Mother and The American Buffalo
Episode 207 | Mastering Film Promotion with Andrew Cohen, A Guide for Filmmakers
Episode 206 | Andrew Cohen of Impact24 (Part 1), Do You Need a Publicist?
Episode 205 | Nicolás Humberto Repetto Composer for "A Run for More"
Episode 204 | Heartfelt Journey, Filmmaker's Healing with Craig Renaud