From Oscar Gold to Fiction Filmmaking: Daniel Roher on Tuner
How do you follow up winning an Academy Award? If you are Daniel Roher (Navalny), you resist the pressure to stay in your lane, take a leaf out of Bob Dylan’s book, and make a massive leap into fiction!
This week on The Filmmakers Podcast, Dom Lenoir sits down with Daniel to discuss his debut narrative feature, Tuner. Starring Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, and Jean Reno, the film is a brilliant blend of character drama and heist thriller.
Daniel pulls no punches in this candid conversation about the realities of the industry. He shares how the Oscar opened doors, but why even at his level, the rejection never stops. He also breaks down the craft behind the film, explaining why he wrote the sound design into the script from day one, what it was like collaborating with master sound designer Johnny Burn, and his baptism of fire directing actors for the very first time.
🎬 IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:
Festival Life: Growing up at TIFF, meeting Guillermo del Toro at 13, and the joy of bringing Tuner back home for its premiere.
The Pivot: Why he chose to move away from documentaries, drawing inspiration from his heroes like the Coen Brothers and Steven Soderbergh.
Handling Rejection: Getting rejected from Sundance, dealing with brutal feedback from major producers, and the importance of resilience.
Mastering Sound: Working with The Zone of Interest sound designer Johnny Burn, and treating sound as a crucial storytelling tool.
Tone & Genre: Balancing humour with darkness, the pivotal fish tank scene, and why he pushes back against the criticism of "predictable" genre tropes.
Directing Legends: Rolling with Dustin Hoffman's improvisations, the grounding presence of Leo Woodall, and learning that "directing is casting."
The Oscar Aftermath: The terrifying reality of winning an Academy Award at 29, and why he sent the statues to his parents' house so they wouldn't loom over him.
🔗 Links, Mentions & Resources:
Keep an eye out for Tuner in cinemas!
Watch Daniel's Oscar-winning documentary Navalny.
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LINKS
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