The No Film School Podcast

Director Nicole Bazuin joins No Film School’s GG Hawkins to discuss the decade-long creative collaboration behind Modern Whore, a hybrid documentary based on Andrea Werhun’s memoir about her experiences in sex work. Bazuin explains how the project grew from a music video friendship into a book, short films, and a feature, while breaking down the film’s mix of interviews, stylized reenactments, storybook-inspired visuals, and post-production discoveries. The conversation also covers self-editing a feature, storyboarding an entire film, bringing Sean Baker on as an executive producer, and making work from the stories already in a filmmaker’s orbit.

In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guest Nicole Bazuin discuss...


Shooting Modern Whore on the Alexa Mini and editing the film in Adobe Premiere Pro


How Bazuin and Andrea Werhun met while making a Super 8 music video for Broken Bricks


Turning a “creative crush” into a decade-long collaboration across a memoir, short films, and a feature


Why the film uses a hybrid documentary format with firsthand storytelling, staged scenes, and stylized reenactments


Adapting Andrea Werhun’s vignette-style memoir into a cohesive feature structure


Protecting authorship and agency when telling stories about sex work


Building a visual language through hand-drawn storyboards, color, and “storybook come to life” compositions


The nine-to-ten-month edit process and the value of test screenings with anonymous feedback cards


How Sean Baker came aboard as an executive producer after working with Andrea Werhun on Anora


Why filmmakers should look at the relationships, stories, and access already present in their lives

Memorable Quotes:


“Sometimes you have to step in and fill a role.”


“I think right from the get go, our work has been multimedia.”


“I do think the adage is true that you write the film once when you're writing the script. You rewrite it again when you're shooting it and you write it a third time in the editing process.”


“Feel free to make it your own.”

Guest:


Nicole Bazuin

Resources:


Modern Whore on IMDb

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Jo Light interviews documentary and commercial director Brendan Young live from Aspen Shortsfest about his short documentary The Meloneers, which follows the Rocky Ford High School wrestling program in rural Colorado. They discuss how Brendan found the story through a newspaper article, why he spent extensive time in the community before filming, how he balanced planned interviews with vérité moments, and how commercial work helps fund and shape his documentary practice. The episode also covers documentary ethics, collaboration with subjects, building trust before rolling, and Brendan’s advice for first-time documentary filmmakers.

In this episode, No Film School's Jo Light and guest Brendan Young discuss...


Finding a rural Colorado story through a Denver Post article about Rocky Ford wrestling


Why Brendan visited Rocky Ford repeatedly without a camera before filming


Treating documentary subjects as collaborators, not just subjects


How The Meloneers explores wrestling, family legacy, fatherhood, and small-town change


Balancing core interviews, planned scenes, and vérité moments


Shooting with a small documentary crew and keeping a minimal footprint


Using commercial work to support short documentary projects


Partnerships with Futuristic Films, Voyager, Project Play, and executive producer Lindsey Hagan


Why the process of documentary filmmaking matters as much as the finished film


Brendan’s upcoming documentary about a violin once played by a German Nazi soldier

Memorable Quotes:


“I view the people in my films in these stories as collaborators.” — Brendan Young, 03:44


“It’s not just building trust, but like having buy-in from these people, making sure that we’re telling this story together and in a way that they want it told is really, really important to me.” — Brendan Young, 04:05


“I think when you can find it, it makes a specific story more universal and that's a more impactful film.” — Brendan Young, 08:05


“Commercial sets were kind of my film school.” — Brendan Young, 21:49

Guests:


Brendan Young

Resources:


The Meloneers on IMDb


Brendan Young’s Website


Brendan Young at Futuristic Films


Voyager


Project Play


Aspen Shortsfest


Futuristic Films

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In this episode of the No Film School Podcast, GG Hawkins speaks with cinematographer Johanna Coelho about building the immersive visual language behind The Pitt. Coelho breaks down how she approached the show’s real-time structure, 360-degree hospital set, handheld camera movement, lens choices, and complex multi-camera choreography to create an ER that feels immediate, intimate, and emotionally raw. She also reflects on her path from France to Los Angeles, becoming one of the youngest DPs to shoot network television, and the collaborative mindset required to lead ambitious productions without losing sight of story or performance.

In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guest Johanna Coelho discuss...


How Johanna Coelho got started in cinematography and built her career from France to Los Angeles


What it means to shoot The Pitt in real time across a single ER shift


How handheld filmmaking, long takes, and transition-based blocking shape the show’s immersive style


Why Coelho chose the Alexa Mini LF, prime lenses, and a zoom setup to maintain intimacy and flexibility


How the team lit a 360-degree hospital set with white walls while protecting skin tones and realism


The collaboration between cinematography, production design, lighting, grip, and actors to execute complex choreography


How season two pushed the show’s visual perspective and emotional immersion even further


The difference between handheld, Steadicam, and Zero-G rigs when designing movement for a scene


How Coelho thinks about burnout, leadership, and keeping a calm set during high-pressure television production


Why trusting your eye and communicating your vision are essential for emerging cinematographers

Memorable Quotes:


“I don't have to make a choice. I can just live all of it behind the lens.”


“We have to give that same feeling visually for the audience.”


“Our master shot is not a wide shot where you see everything.”


“Trust yourself. Don't let everyone tell you what to do.”

Guests:


Johanna Coelho

Resources:


Johanna Coelho's website

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GG Hawkins speaks with Kino co-founders Brit MacRae and Daril Fannin about the broken handoff between post-production and release, and how insecure screeners, fragmented feedback workflows, and fear-based distribution norms undermine independent film. They break down Kino’s evolution from an interactive streaming idea into a secure post-to-delivery platform, explain how they built a film fund around de-risked sub-$2 million features, and use Undertone as a case study for aligning budgets, creative ambition, and profitability.

In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guests Brit MacRae and Daril Fannin discuss...


Why the current post-production and release pipeline is still built around insecure links, scattered notes, and outdated habits


How piracy, leaks, and weak screener security can hurt filmmakers, investors, and distribution momentum


The original idea behind Kino and how it pivoted from interactive streaming to a B2B platform for secure screeners, dailies, cuts, approvals, focus groups, and final delivery


Why discoverability is one of the biggest problems in independent film, and why indie projects are competing with TikTok and other forms of passive entertainment


How fear-based thinking shapes decisions around marketing, exposure, festivals, and distribution


What “LVOD” means to Kino and how the company tried to create a window that adds marketing value without cannibalizing TVOD


Why MacRae and Fannin believe filmmakers need to think like business builders, not just artists, when raising money


How Kino structured its film fund around contained, creatively aligned stories with budgets under $2 million and meaningful de-risking through incentives and exchange rates


Why Undertone made sense as a fund project: one location, a contained story, and a production model that matched the script’s scale


How equity participation and aligned incentives can help cast, crew, and investors move in the same direction


Why iteration, early feedback, and collaborative review should play a larger role in filmmaking, much like they do in tech and animation


What kinds of projects Kino is pursuing next, including a Band of Brothers documentary and more genre-focused features

Memorable Quotes:


“Something’s not working and we’re going to dig into it.”


“Fear makes you stupid.”


“Coming to the table with great art is table stakes.”


“It’s not about the project, it’s about the people you’re surrounding yourself with.”

Guests:


Brit MacRae


Daril Fannin

Resources:


Kino

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In this sponsored episode, GG Hawkins speaks with Eddie AI co-founder and CEO Shamir Allibhai about Eddie AI’s latest release, Eddie v3, which launched on April 14, 2026 ahead of NAB Show 2026. Their conversation explores the new Night Shift workflow, designed to process footage overnight by sorting interviews from B-roll, syncing multicam interviews, logging media, and building a rough cut ready for Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro by morning. They also discuss Eddie’s expanding role as an AI assistant editor for professional workflows, including docu-style rough cuts with B-roll placement, and the broader questions filmmakers face around creative control, sustainability, curiosity, and the future of storytelling in an AI-assisted post-production landscape.

In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guest Shamir Allibhai discuss...


Eddie AI’s new Night Shift feature and how it aims to build a structured rough cut overnight


Why the company positions Eddie AI as an assistant editor rather than a replacement for Premiere, Resolve, or Final Cut Pro


How AI can help with multicam syncing, A-roll and B-roll organization, logging, and assembly edits


The difference between AI tools that generate synthetic media and tools built to work from a filmmaker’s real footage


Why editing still depends on human taste, timing, emotional judgment, and story instinct


How AI tools may help filmmakers handle paid client work more efficiently while protecting time for passion projects


The tension between fear and curiosity as filmmakers adapt to new technology


How creative professionals can think about money, sustainability, and long-term career support without sidelining the art


Why Allibhai sees storytelling as a fundamentally human act, even in a future shaped by AI


What filmmakers should watch for around security, ownership, and platform terms when using AI tools

Memorable Quotes:


“We’re not trying to be another timeline editor, like Premiere, Resolve, FCP.”


“When we think about it from the consumer’s perspective, they just care about great stories.”


“This is the root of a lot of the fear because we have struggled so hard just to be able to be here.”


“In 10,000 years, we will still be sitting around a campfire or somewhere and telling each other stories.”

Guests:


Shamir Allibhai

Resources:


The AI Doc Breakdown: Filmmaking in the Age of Uncertainty


How to Scale Video Editing With an AI Storytelling Partner


Eddie AI


The Eddie AI team will be demoing Eddie v3 at NAB 2026

Find No Film School everywhere:


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