TCM host Ben Mankiewicz sits down with some of Hollywood’s biggest filmmakers in a new interview podcast coming out next year to find out what makes them tick — through their favorite films.
On “Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast,” Mankiewicz will speak with directors and writers as they discuss their earliest film memories, favorite films, creative influences and guilty pleasures. Each episode of the 10-episode series, a partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery corporate siblings TCM and Max, will run about 45 minutes.
Among Mankiewicz’s guests: Mel Brooks, the 97-year-old EGOT winner (on the eve of the 50th anniversary of his landmark comedies “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles”); Nancy Meyers (writer-director known for “Something’s Gotta Give,” “The Holiday,” “It’s Complicated”); and Patty Jenkins (writer-director known for “Wonder Woman,” “Monster”). The podcast is scheduled to debut Jan. 16, 2024, with new installments dropping weekly on Max and all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Why a podcast and not a TV show? “I’ve been interviewing people for a long time,” said Mankiewicz, who has been the primetime host of Turner Classic Movies since September 2003, when he became only the second host hired in the network’s history (succeeding Robert Osborne). “When you have to put makeup on or worry about whether the backlight is catching your hair… that can get in the way [of the conversation].” In addition, he said, it’s easier to schedule an off-camera audio interview than it is to book a TV studio interview.
Mankiewicz also has hosted TCM’s “The Plot Thickens” movie docuseries podcast, which has featured Peter Bogdanovich, Lucille Ball and Pam Grier.
To Mankiewicz, the conversations on “Talking Pictures” serve as a window into the artistic process and defining experiences of his interview subjects. “This podcast is a reminder of how much movies matter — to the people who make them, and to the rest of us who watch and celebrate them,” he said.
Mankiewicz added, “I will not soon forget Nancy Meyers detailing the terrifying thrill of watching ‘The Exorcist’ for the first time or Mel Brooks discussing the beauty of watching ‘Random Harvest’ with Carl Reiner roughly 113 times.”
The podcast will include links directing people to where they can watch the movies, where available on Max and TCM, that are discussed by Mankiewicz and his guests. “Hopefully we’ll get people interested in as many of these films as possible,” he said.
TCM was in the headlines this summer after GM Pola Changnon left amid parent Warner Bros. Discovery’s cutbacks in its cable group. After an outcry in the film community, long-time programming exec Charles Tabesh (who was also set to depart) stayed in his post reporting to Warner Bros. film heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy. In addition, WBD set a partnership with filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson to help curate content for TCM.
Mankiewicz said the “Talking Pictures” project was well under way before any of those changes happened. “As hard as it is to lose really great people, we are getting support fully, from [Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David] Zaslav on down,” he said.
“Talking Pictures: A Movie Memories Podcast” is co-produced by TCM and Max, comprising the teams behind “The Plot Thickens” and HBO’s “The Last of Us Podcast” and “Succession Podcast.”
“The ‘Talking Pictures’ podcast is a natural outgrowth of what we’ve been doing at TCM for 30 years: fueling a conversation around classic film,” said Angela Carone, TCM’s director of podcast programming. “Partnering with the Max team, we’re able to supercharge that mission with more interviews, more stories, more Ben jokes and, most important, more movies.”