Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale Zappia (@natzappia) wrote a killer little book based on a killer documentary called Rez Metal: Inside the Navajo Nation Heavy Metal Scene (University of Nebraska Press).
I mean, you know I was into this, right, CNFers?
Continue reading “Episode 238: Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale Zappia Rock Out with ‘Rez Metal’”
“If I fail, I want to fail because of me. If we succeed, I want to succeed because of us.” —Vlad Yudin (vladar.com)
“You can’t become best friends with the subject of a documentary. You have to make it objective. I like for the audience to make their own decisions.” —Vlad Yudin
Today’s guest is Vlad Yudin, a Russian-born documentary filmmaker best known for the trilogy of Generation Iron bodybuilding films. His Vladar Company makes and producers lots of films in the fitness industry and we unpack a lot of what makes him a particularly free spirit.
In case you’re new to the show, I should mention that this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories, how they got to where they are, what struggles they deal with, and how they still manage to get the work done.
Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and keep the conversation going on Twitter @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod. You can also follow the show on Facebook and Instagram.
Pulling straight from Vlad’s bio on the vladar.com website:
Born and raised in Central Russia, filmmaker Vlad Yudin grew up in Moscow before moving to New York where he would pursue his career in film. In 2008, Yudin formed The Vladar Company to create a platform for production and distribution of various feature and documentary projects. Some of the produced titles include “Last Day Of Summer,” “Big Pun: The Legacy” and most recently the documentary box office hit, “Generation Iron” that went on to become one of the top five documentary’s at the box office for The Vladar Company in 2013. Vlad will continue to produce under the Vladar banner as well as handle the operations and overlook the expanding catalogue of Vladar’s media content.
Visit vladar.com for a list of all the movies he produces and to find links on where to find them. The first Generation Iron film and the Ronnie Coleman film are my faves, FWIW.
Thanks to our sponsors in Goucher College’s MFA in Nonfiction, Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction, and my monthly newsletter (sign up below!).
Written by Brendan O’Meara
This is a special episode of #CNF, the podcast where I speak with writers, authors, reporters and now filmmakers, in the genre of creative nonfiction.
Yes, Episode 22 features Jeff Krulik, a documentary filmmaker [link for those who can’t see the embed player below] who has the parking-lot genre nailed. He made Heavy Metal Parking Lot (see above) among other wonderful documentaries.
I worked with Jeff on an exciting project called Kentucky Confidential, headed up by John Scheinman (Episode 9 of the #CNF Podcast, go listen). You’ll find Jeff’s videos as well as my Bourbon Underworld stories.
In this episode, Jeff talks about the origins of HMPL as well as his latest movie Led Zeppelin Played here. We talk about freelancing and the financial realities of the biz, as well as his kinship with Maryland and oddities, those people on the fringe.
Here are some selected links from the episode to further educate yourself on all things Krulik. Follow him on Twitter @jeffkrulik and visit his website jeffkrulik.com.
Here’s the Deadspin article that has become the definitive history of HMPL.
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Love,
Brendan