Some episodes we go into prepared. This one our host went into a little bit in love. He says so himself, right at the top: he had thirty minutes with Goran Stolevski and no real idea how to fit everything he wanted to ask into them, because the film they were there to discuss had quietly taken over his last forty eight hours. He watched Of an Age twice, back to back, and the first time he forgot to take notes at all. If you have ever closed your laptop three minutes into something because you suddenly just wanted to be inside it, you already understand the spirit of this conversation.

Every so often a guest hands you the title of the episode without meaning to. Deniese Davis did it about fifty minutes into this conversation, when she described the thing that has shown up at every life-altering crossroads of her career. She called it imaginary. Our host called it brilliant. We're calling it the invisible wall, because that is exactly what it is: a barrier with no bricks in it, paralyzing while you're standing at it, and gone the moment you walk through. As Deniese puts it, you get to the other side, look back, and it isn't even there.

There are episodes we make because they're fun. There are episodes we make because they're timely. And then, every so often, there's an episode we make because it asks something of us, of our host, of our team, and of you, the listener. This is one of those.

Some guests give you a good interview. Chelsea Devantez gives you a blueprint. Over the course of this conversation, the Emmy nominated writer, comedian, director, and actor walks through fifteen years of doing the work, the cruise ship improv, the web series shot with a manual in one hand, the late night packet that changed everything, and somehow makes it feel less like a highlight reel and more like permission.

Some filmmakers tell stories. Others build entire worlds. Polish writer-director Agnieszka Smoczyńska belongs firmly in the latter category, and her conversation with host Duane Hansen Fernandez on The Smith Society is a rare, intimate look at the mind behind one of cinema's most visually arresting works in recent memory.

On our latest episode, I’m lucky enough to have a chat with Nena Erb. Nena is an ACE, Emmy-winning film and television editor based in Los Angeles. Raised in an Asian American immigrant family, Nena’s father wanted her to be a doctor and her mother wanted her to be a pianist with the LA Philharmonic. Nena wanted to be Andy Warhol.

Today we’re sitting down with David Earl and Chris Hayward from Focus Features’ “Brian and Charles.” The film follows Brian (David Earl), a lonely inventor in rural Wales who spends his days building quirky, unconventional contraptions that seldom work.

Clifton Collins Jr. has acting in his blood. His grandfather, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, became an American icon, starring alongside John Wayne and Mel Blanc throughout his career. Clifton burst onto the scene in 1997, but it was his portrayal of Frankie Flowers in Traffic that forever cemented his status as an actor to be taken seriously. Since then he’s stolen the screen in films like Capote and Sunshine Cleaning.

In this episode of The Smith Society we have the incredible opportunity to chat with the extraordinary director (and dear friend of VOKSEE), Alice Gu and learn more about The Donut King.

In this episode we’re going to feature a true triple threat, Justin Chon. Justin Chon is a writer, director and actor who also produced (he’s technically a quadruple threat!) the film “Blue Bayou,” a moving and timely story of a uniquely American family fighting for their future.

In this episode of The Smith Society we sit down with the wildly creative and brilliant Lee Sung Jin.

Lee Sung Jin is currently the Creator/Writer/Showrunner/Executive Producer of BEEF, a Netflix series starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, produced by A24.

Our pilot episode features a short introduction to The Smith Society podcast, the story behind it, what you can expect and what’s in a name. More importantly, this episode features a conversation with the star of the new Focus Features’ film Limbo, Amir El-Masry.