The Austin Meyer Podcast

Latest Episodes:

10 Simple Filmmaking Habits to Save You DAYS in the Edit Jan 27, 2025

Show notes

I really believe that shooting stories with our final edit in mind is super important. You can have the best idea, and the best access, but if you don't have the shots to piece together the story, you're gonna lose your mind in the edit. So in this video, I share 10 of my favorite habits that help me save days in the edit. Enjoy :)

Follow Austin Meyer's socials:

⁠Youtube⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠Facebook⁠ | ⁠Website⁠

WHO AM I? If we haven’t met yet before - Hey 👋 I'm Austin Meyer and I am a documentary filmmaker based in Berkeley, California. I'm a National Geographic Explorer and my work has been featured by HBO, Hulu, Apple TV, The New York Times, National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and PBS among others. Through my videos here on this channel, and my podcast called The Austin Meyer Podcast, I share skills, mindsets, and lessons to help you become a better documentary filmmaker and build the life full of creativity that you aspire towards.

14 TRICKS to Find Your Next Documentary Story Idea Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

Finding the perfect documentary film idea is like being in the world's biggest scavenger hunt! Here are 14 tricks that I use to find my story ideas.

Follow Austin Meyer's socials:

⁠Youtube⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠Facebook⁠ | ⁠Website⁠

10 Controversial Rules of Documentary Filmmaking You NEED To Know Jan 13, 2025

Show notes

A set of rules and principles can be incredibly useful to help guide our decision making in the world of documentary filmmaking. That's why, when I saw award winning documentary director Victor Kossakovsky write up the 10 rules he follows in his filmmaking, I had to check them out. In this video, I share those 10 rules, respond to them, and say which 3 have been most helpful to me in my career.

Follow Austin Meyer's socials:

⁠Youtube⁠ | ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠Facebook⁠ | ⁠Website⁠

5 Interview Mistakes New Filmmakers Don’t Know They’re Making Jan 06, 2025

Show notes

Interviews are the backbone of so many documentaries. They are also very challenging to nail. Especially when you are working as a solo shooter or in small teams, like I do a lot, the amount of things that can go wrong can feel overwhelming. In this video I go over 5 mistakes I see documentary filmmakers, which, if you keep in mind, can dramatically increase the odds that you'll walk away from your next interview feeling good!

Follow Austin Meyer's socials:

Youtube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Website

Making PLANET EARTH III with Mike Gunton & Prakash Matada | Ep. 52 Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

Planet Earth III, the world's premiere natural history documentary series, is back with its third installment, presented and narrated by Sir David Attenborough. The series represents five years of work. The eight episodes comprise 134 total shoots across 1,904 shooting days and took place in 43 countries across six continents. In this episode, I interview executive producer Mike Gunton and freelance cinematographer Prakash Matada about the making of this remarkable series.

the creative director for the BBC's natural history unit and the executive producer of Planet Earth 3. Prakash Matada is a freelance cinematographer, National Geographic Explorer, and wildlife filmmaker who filmed a wild dog sequence in the Forests episode of the series.

WHO AM I?

If we haven’t met yet before - Hey 👋 I'm Austin Meyer and I am a documentary filmmaker based in Oakland, California. I'm a National Geographic Explorer and my work has been featured by HBO, Hulu, Apple TV, The New York Times, National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and PBS among others. Through my videos here on this channel, and my podcast called The Austin Meyer Podcast, I share skills, mindsets, and lessons to help you become a better documentary filmmaker and build the life full of creativity that you aspire towards.

James Honeyborne & Sophie Todd on Producing Netflix’s Our Great National Parks | Ep. 051 Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

Our Great National Parks is a beautiful five-part Netflix documentary series that invites viewers to experience nature in the world's most iconic national parks. Today on the podcast, my guests are executive producer James Honeyborne and series producer Sophie Todd. James Honeyborne is the creative director of Freeborne Media, having previously worked as an executive producer at the BBC Natural History Unit where he oversaw some 35 films, including Blue Planet II. Sophie Todd works on everything from high-end natural history films, to science and observational documentary, most recently writing, directing and series producing on Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive To Survive.
In this conversation, James, Sophie and I discuss the vast amount of research, planning, and scripting that went into this series, how they managed a global production team during the peak of the pandemic, and why natural history documentaries are so important when it comes to illustrating how interconnected we all are with the natural world and animals around us.
Check out the Wild For All impact campaign
Watch this interview on Youtube
Say hello to Austin Meyer

Vera Krichevskaya on Independent News & Documentaries in Russia | Ep. 50 Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

Vera Krichevskaya is a documentary filmmaker from Russia who co-founded TV Dozhd (TV Rain), which is the only independent private television channel in Russia. Her most recent documentary titled “Fuck This Job,” is an incredibly timely story that documents the ten-year journey of that television station that made it one of the top media targets of Putin's government.
In this conversation, Vera and I discuss what it’s like to be an independent documentary filmmaker in Russia, what happened when the war broke out right before her film’s premiere in Russia, and the value of independent news and documentaries in a just society.
Follow Vera on twitter
Watch this episode on Youtube
Austin's website
Austin's instagram

2022 Documentary Oscars Preview with IndieWire’s Anne Thompson | Ep. 49 Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

The Oscars are coming up on March 27, 2022. To preview the documentary feature category I am joined this week by IndieWire's editor-at-large, Anne Thompson. In this episode we talk about each of the nominated documentaries, reflect on the snubs that missed out on the big show (I see you, The Rescue and The First Wave), and give our predictions on what documentary will take home the Academy Award.
Follow Anne Thompson on Twitter
Watch this episode on Youtube

Luc Forsyth On How To Take Your Cinematography To The Next Level | Ep. 048 Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

This week on the show my guest is Luc Forsyth, a cinematographer from Canada who has worked on films for Netflix, National Geographic, HBO, Showtime, ESPN, and many more.
In this conversation Luc and I discuss the lessons he learned as a photojournalist that have helped him develop as a cinematographer, how to think about investing in gear and networking as an up and coming DP, and how he covers a scene as both a single operator versus working on larger production teams.
Watch this interview on Youtube
Check out Luc's Youtube channel
Hope you all are getting out there and creating stories! Thanks for listening

Dawn Porter on Directing Good Trouble & The Way I See It | Ep. 047 Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

Dawn Porter is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has appeared on HBO, PBS, Discovery, and Netflix among others. She has had two feature documentaries premiere this year -- John Lewis: Good Trouble and The Way I See It.
Good Trouble explores late Congressman John Lewis’ pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement and decades of political and social activism on important issues including voting rights, immigration laws, and much more. The Way I See It is about photojournalist Pete Souza, who served as Chief Official White House photographer for President Barack Obama and previously as an Official White House photographer for President Ronald Reagan.
In this conversation, Dawn and I discuss the overlapping themes and unique storytelling challenges of these two movies, creative ways of managing production during covid, and tips she has for aspiring documentary filmmakers.
Follow Dawn Porter
Follow Austin Meyer

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected