ABOUT THIS EPISODE

English
United States

TRANSCRIPT 🔗

SEARCH PAST EPISODES

Search past episodes of Required Watching.

OTHER EPISODES IN THIS PODCAST

Yesterday's episode made the case that Western TV pilots lie — that they're persuasion documents built for commissioners rather than honest first chapters built for audiences. Today is the answer. J-drama structures its first episode like a complete short film — establishing emotional register befo…
Shoplifters won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2018. The reviews were glowing. The words "found family" and "poverty" appeared in almost all of them. And most of them described a film that is significantly less interesting than the one Kore-eda actually made. This episode makes the case that Western c…
The British film industry produces diversity reports. It has standards, targets, tick-box initiatives, and annual announcements about progress. And the structural situation for Black filmmakers — in development, in commissioning, in creative control — has barely moved. This episode isn't another re…
The TV pilot has one job: make you come back. The problem is that job has become structurally disconnected from the show that follows. Pilots front-load everything — spectacle, mystery, emotional hook — in ways that make for compelling first hours and then have nothing left to sustain the series be…
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Required Watching, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.