The Worst Things a Director Can Do on Set [PODCAST]

Sometimes, we can learn as much from cautionary tales as we can from success stories. The brilliant cast of In the Radiant City shared some doozies from their diverse and colorful careers when we met back at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall.

They were there to celebrate the world premiere of their film, directed by Rachel Lambert and co-written by Lambert and Nathan Gregorski. It's a quiet but very tense family drama about a man who testified against his brother in a murder trial when they were kids, and his return to their rural Kentucky hometown 20 years later to face the family that was left behind.

The drama features a talented ensemble cast, including Marin Ireland (who also appeared in the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water last year), Michael Abbott Jr. (Loving), Madisen Beaty (The Master), and Celia Weston, who has over 60 credits to her name but may be best recognized as Barb Tucker from Modern Family.

That entire group, plus Lambert and Gregorski, are my guests on this lively episode, where the cast dishes about what you should not do on set as much as they give constructive tips for directing actors. Lambert also shares the details of how she got her debut feature off the ground, including great advice like "Get to know every goddamn bartender in the area,” as well as the most important things she learned from mentor Jeff Nichols, who produced the film.

Listen to the episode by streaming or downloading from the embedded player above, or find it on iTunes here. 

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This episode was edited by Jon Fusco.