上期节目中，嘉宾云蝶提到她南加州大学新闻学院的同学里，有人已经有了自己的电影制作公司。出于好奇，我火速联系到了这位名叫Balin Schneider的有为青年，发现他的电影之路，始于大学时的一次电影课作业，起初只想为自己喜欢的乐队——上世纪九十年代风靡芝加哥的强力流行摇滚组合Material Issue——拍一支短片，但没想到这一拍就拍了整整五年，最终成为了一部让他得以在电影界闪亮登场的长片。连片中的主人公——Material Issue仍在世的两位成员——都说：“Balin，我觉得你现在比我们自己都更了解我们的过去”。此后Balin便与该部纪录片的制作班底共同创立了一家电影工作室，一边给BlackPink、Ed Sheeran、Panic! at the Disco等音乐大咖拍片挣钱，一边继续为自己的严肃纪录片理想努力。

于是我请他聊了聊他与电影的结缘、开公司的经历、在南加州大学新闻项目深造的体验，还有从美国中西部小镇搬到大城市洛杉矶打拼的心路历程。顺便还问了问他：除了像奈飞这类的流媒体和奥斯卡提名名单，我们还能从哪儿发掘值得一看的优质纪录片？

They Preserve Your Story Better Than You Do, with Documentarian Balin Schneider

When the power pop band "Material Issue" soared to stardom, Balin Schneider was just born. Yet it's as if he was right there in the crowd at their concerts, experiencing every beat and melody firsthand, after he spent several years making a documentary about the band’s ascent and downfall. What began as a short student project blossomed into a full-fledged feature film and a lifelong passion for filmmaking.

In this episode, Lulu talks with Balin Schneider, a LA-based documentary filmmaker/reporter/Executive Director of arvonia films. His first feature film, Out of Time: The Material Issue Story premiered at Sound Unseen Film Festival and played in theaters nationwide. He has directed projects with artists such as Gym Class Heroes, Panic! At The Disco, The Academy Is…, BLACKPINK, Cobra Starship and Ed Sheeran. He currently attends the University of Southern California (USC) for his Master of Arts in Specialized Journalism with a focus on International reporting. He has written for LAist, The 74 and his work has been featured in Forbes, Axios, Brooklyn Vegan and Pitchfork.

You’ll hear about:

What inspired him to tell the story of a band that seems 'out of time'?

What does it like to start one’s own film production company?

Why might a filmmaker be interested in pursuing a journalism degree?

Where can we discover good documentaries?

Music Credits:

Material Issue - Everything

Films that we’ve talked about:

Shoah by Claude Lanzmann

Nina & Irena by Daniel Lombroso

Oasis by Justine Martin https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/05/learning/film-club-oasis.html

Puffling by Jessica Bishopp https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/preparing-to-fly-in-puffling

小宇宙/喜马拉雅/网易云音乐 @斜杠青年研究所／@心心念的

Apple Podcasts/Spotify @Dedicated （搜索“dedicated lulu”更容易找到呦）

[EN] 从美国小镇青年，到电影制作公司老板

斜杠青年研究所