Ep. 275 I Erik & Chris Ewers on PBS Funding, AI & Directing Goldblum, Clooney & Streep

Even with Ken Burns and Don Henley attached, funding a PBS documentary is brutal. So what hope do the rest of us have?

Erik and Christopher Ewers get real about PBS funding, AI’s impact on filmmaking, and how they landed George Clooney, Jeff Goldblum, Ted Danson, Tate Donovan and Meryl Streep for their new PBS documentary Henry David Thoreau.

In Part 2 of this conversation, the Ewers Brothers open up about the financial realities of documentary funding, even with Ken Burns and Don Henley attached, why Chris sees AI as the next revolution instead of the apocalypse, how broadcast is giving way to streaming, and the stories behind casting some of Hollywood’s biggest voices. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation.

In Part 2, you’ll learn:

— Why having Ken Burns and Don Henley as executive producers doesn’t make funding easy and who actually made the Thoreau film possible

— Chris’s case for why AI is the digital camera revolution all over again, not the death of filmmaking

— The best professional advice Chris ever received and why it will never change

— How Chris kept his mouth shut on a commercial set with Jeff Goldblum and how that silence led to Goldblum voicing Thoreau

— The story of how Don Henley quietly recruited George Clooney as narrator and Clooney’s reaction when asked how long he’d known Henley

— Ken Burns’s advice on directing Meryl Streep: “You don’t.”

— How streaming is changing episode length and why “the director’s cut” isn't what it used to be.

— Erik’s approach to pre-planning edit cuts for PBS broadcast time slots without sacrificing the story

— Why Ken Burns treats his mentorship like tough love — and why Erik is grateful for it

— One thing filmmakers need to know about getting a documentary on PBS

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

1:21 Unpacking the Thoreauvian mindset

2:46 Thoreau’s prescience on consumerism

3:50 Erik on Thoreau’s “cost of life” quote and the iPhone

4:40 Thoreau and the birth of the Industrial Revolution

6:03 Christian’s advice: think from the end back

6:50 Chris on the state of the industry — Industrial Revolution to AI

10:20 Christian: as a voice actor, AI is a challenge

10:53 The best professional advice Chris ever received

11:36 Christian on the struggle to fund the next film

12:54 Money is always the biggest hurdle

13:15 How the Ewers Brothers fund PBS docs without federal money

14:49 Ken Burns’s two binders of rejection letters

15:07 The Movies That Made Us — encouragement for indie filmmakers

16:26 The reality: it’s hard for everybody

17:52 Erik on Ken Burns’s legacy projects and the privilege of the brand

20:58 Erik on earning the gift — Ken’s tough love mentorship

22:00 Broadcast vs. streaming — why episode length is changing

23:52 Erik’s editing strategy for PBS time slots

25:37 Celebrity voice talent — how they landed Jeff Goldblum

27:43 Don Henley’s connections — Ted Danson and Meryl Streep

29:09 The George Clooney reveal — “If Don Henley calls, you say yes”

30:43 What it’s like to direct celebrity voice talent

30:55 Jeff Goldblum in the booth — pure instinct

31:26 Ken Burns’s advice on directing Meryl Streep

31:52 George Clooney: “Tell me if I suck”

32:42 DocuVue Deja Vu — Erik’s picks and Chris’s all-time favorite

DocuView DejaVu Picks:

Erik Ewers: Crumb (1994), Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991), Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011), The Thin Blue Line (1988)

Christopher Loren Ewers: Man on Wire (2008)

Christian Taylor: Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy (Netflix, 2024)

This episode is supported by Virgil Films Entertainment.

About the Guests:

Erik Ewers — Director, Editor. Ken Burns’s senior editor for 33+ years. Multiple Emmy winner. ACE Eddie Award winner (The Roosevelts, 2015). Based in New Hampshire.

Christopher Loren Ewers — Director, DP. 20+ years behind the camera. Commercial clients include Apple, Coca-Cola, Tiffany & Co., Stella Artois, Volvo, Peter Millar. Based in the NYC metro area.

About Henry David Thoreau (PBS):

A three-part, three-hour documentary — the first full-length documentary biography of Thoreau. Executive produced by Ken Burns and Don Henley. Narrated by George Clooney. Voices by Jeff Goldblum (Thoreau), Ted Danson (Ralph Waldo Emerson), Meryl Streep (Lidian Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Mary Merrick Brooks, Maria Thoreau), and Tate Donovan (William Ellery Channing). Available now on PBS and PBS Documentaries on Amazon.