The Filmumentaries Podcast - deep dives into practical effects, model making, matte painting, creature creation and prosthetics, animatronics, puppetry, prop restoration and VFX. Hosted by filmmaker, author, and film historian Jamie Benning, The Filmumentaries Podcast features long-form interviews with the unsung heroes of cinema - the production designers, editors, composers, cinematographers, digital artists, puppeteers, model makers, sound designers and effects crews who actually bring our favourite films to life. Each episode dives into the real work of filmmaking, from practical, in-camera effects to cutting-edge digital techniques. You'll hear from art directors, production designers, VFX supervisors, model makers, matte painters, creature...
Latest episodes
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1 h 16
EP 158 | John Maclean - On Directing Slow West and Tornado
John Maclean is the writer and director of Slow West and Tornado. Two films that I saw on release and enjoyed both. I've seen John talk on stage a few times about his films. I also…
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45 min
Ep 157 | ILM’s John Knoll on The Mandalorian and Grogu — motion control, stop motion and gaussian splats
John Knoll is Chief Creative Officer at ILM and visual effects supervisor on The Mandalorian and Grogu, the first time Mando and Grogu have been on a cinema screen. He describes tw…
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29 min
Ep 156 | Christopher Jacobsen: Daragh and Brando Documentary
This one's a bit different. It's shorter, and it's about a film that doesn't exist yet. Christopher Jacobsen is an actor and filmmaker, and full disclosure, the brother of one of m…
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59 min
Ep 155 | Skywalker Sound's Sean England on cattle gates, Brillo pads and Birkenstocks
Sean England has been at Skywalker Sound since 1993. He didn't arrive as a foley artist. He came in on the technical side, in the machine room and the transfer department, back whe…
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26 min
Ep 154 | Wolf Kahler - Colonel Dietrich from Raiders - Rerelease
Ep 154 — Wolf Kahler — Colonel Dietrich in Raiders of the Lost ArkFor Episode 154 of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m going back to one of my earliest and most memorable interviews:…
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1 h 17
Ep 153 | Brad Fiedel - Film Composer - Terminator, T2 and more
Brad Fiedel wrote one of the most recognisable pieces of music in film history, and he did it on a drum machine, a sequencer and a keyboard chained together with a computer ribbon…
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52 min
Ep 152 | John Goodson - Model Maker and Digital Artist
Episode 152: John Goodson (Part 1) John Goodson is a model maker and digital artist who spent more than three decades at ILM. His credits span The Rocketeer, Star Trek: First Conta…
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1 h 40
Ep 151 | Ian Hunter - VFX Supervisor on Cameron, Burton and more
Ian Hunter has spent four decades building miniatures, supervising visual effects and thinking like a filmmaker on some of the most demanding productions in Hollywood. In this epis…
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1 h 36
Ep 150 | David Dozoretz - Pre-vis Pioneer, VFX Supervisor and Director
In this episode I chat with visual effects supervisor, second unit director and digital pre-visualisation pioneer David Dozoretz about a career that traces the entire arc of how mo…
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1 h 12
Ep 149 | Craig Caton-Largent — Jurassic Park Raptors, ET & Digital Domain
In this episode, I chat with creature effects artist, puppeteer and digital pioneer Craig Caton-Largent about a career that arguably traces the entire arc of modern visual effects…
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1 h 30
Ep 148 | Jim Davidson — Model Maker on Terminator 2 & Batman Returns
In this episode, I chat with model maker Jim Davidson about his journey from a dinosaur-obsessed kid in the 1970s to working on some of the most memorable practical effects sequenc…
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1 h 07
Ep 147 | John Duncan — ILM Model Maker (Star Wars, Star Trek, Pirates)
Episode 147: John DuncanIn this episode, I’m joined by model maker John Duncan, whose career spans nearly fifteen years at Industrial Light & Magic and includes work across Star Wa…
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1 h 48
Ep 146 | Don Bies — Inside the Lucasfilm Archives (R2-D2 Operator)
In this episode, I sit down with Don Bies – former Lucasfilm archivist and special effects artist at ILM – for a deep dive into his career and his time inside the Star Wars archive…
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1 h 48
Ep 145 | Alec Gillis — Creature FX Artist (Aliens, Predator, Tremors)
In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m joined by creature effects designer Alec Gillis, founder of Studio Gillis and co-founder of Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. (ADI) along…
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1 h 03
Ep 144 | Randy Thom — Oscar-Winning Director of Sound at Skywalker Sound
In this episode, I chat with Academy Award-winning sound designer Randy Thom about his journey from college radio to shaping the soundscapes of some of cinema’s most iconic films.W…
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6 min
BONUS - Crowdfunding for the LA Trip
This is a short bonus episode with a very specific purpose. Patrick Tyndall and I are in the middle of a GoFundMe campaign to get us back to Los Angeles to finish filming Not Your…
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37 min
Ep 143 | The Farmer and the Shark — John Campopiano & Jim Beller (Jaws Doc)
In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m joined by filmmaker John Campopiano and producer Jim Beller to talk about their new documentary, The Farmer and the Shark. The fi…
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43 min
Ep 142 | Jon Spira — New Mike Hodges Book (Get Carter, Flash Gordon)
Jon's Kickstarter LinkSummaryIn this conversation, Jon Spira discusses his new book 'I'll Settle for Nothingness: Conversations with Mike Hodges', detailing the genesis of the book…
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50 min
Ep 141 | Rob Spera — The Film/TV Director's Field Manual
Rob Spera is a film and television director, educator, and the author of Film/TV Director’s Field Manual: 70 Maxims to Change Your Filmmaking. With decades of experience directing…
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58 min
Ep 140 | Lucas Wars — Laurent Hopman & Renaud Roche on the Star Wars Graphic Novel
In this episode of The Filmumentaries Podcast, I’m joined by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche, the writer and artist behind the acclaimed graphic novel Lucas Wars, which tells the b…