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Episode 28: Rejection
What is something you shouldn't do when running a focus group event? In this episode, Director Christian Taylor talks about what she's learned from her recent experience attending four focus groups for The Girl Who Wore Freedom in Colorado earlier this ...
Episode 27: Volunteers & Partners
Projects like The Girl Who Wore Freedom need volunteers to exist. Volunteers who are hungry for growth have many opportunities to gain real-world experience and do work they'd be proud to show others. It's a win-win situation for both parties ...
Episode 26: Miniseries
When the idea for The Girl Who Wore Freedom was conceived a lot had to happen in a short amount of time. Now that there is a documentary of the film out there, we take stock of what we have and ...
Episode 25: More Focus Group Events
Christian has had a chance to catch her breath and is ramping up for focus group events in Denver, Colorado Springs, New York, Branson, and beyond! Find an event near you: https://thegirlwhoworefreedom.com/events. These focus groups are being organized and spearheaded ...
Episode 24: Fatigue
Creating a film is exhausting. Is it even possible to take a break when you're in the midst of creating a feature-length documentary? And what do you do when you want to finish the film, but don't have the money ...
Episode 23: Getting Feedback
Getting any kind of feedback is hard. If the feedback is only positive, you worry that they're just trying to make you feel good and not being authentic. But it's also really difficult to receive negative feedback! In this episode, ...
Episode 22: Q&A with Christian
In this episode, host of the podcast Josh Lindsey asks director Christian Taylor a series of questions to better understand what went on at the Normandy focus group screening of The Girl Who Wore Freedom. We'll hear about things she ...
Episode 21: Social Media
Social media is an important part of promoting any project, but particularly films. In this episode, we meet Anne Evans, our first social media lead and sister of Director Christian Taylor. Anne shares how she got started in this role ...
Episode 20: French Focus Groups
What does it take to run a focus group event in France? In this episode, Director Christian Taylor shares how the eleven events were planned for Normandy to gather feedback from the five-hundred people who have seen the film.
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Episode 19: Eleventh Hour
Director Christian Taylor is in France preparing to screen the film, but the drive doesn't work. In this episode, we celebrate the first focus group event of The Girl Who Wore Freedom in Normandy, France, discuss the struggle to make ...
In this profoundly moving first installment of a two-part episode, Documentary First host Christian Taylor interviews Steve Cohen, Billy Joel’s longtime creative director and the executive producer of the new HBO docuseries Billy Joel: And So It Goes.
Steve Cohen, the executive producer, shares his journey from lighting stages to producing emotional documentaries, emphasizing the collaborative effort that brings these stories to life.
Steve reflects on:
Meeting Billy Joel in 1974 and forging a lifelong creative partnership
The soul of Billy Joel’s songwriting: honesty, heartbreak, and healing
How Susan Lacy’s empathetic direction helped uncover hidden emotional truths
What it means to tell someone else’s story with care, depth, and dignity
The healing power of revisiting past relationships through art
For listeners who’ve ever found themselves in a song—or wanted to understand the quiet brilliance behind a musical legend—this episode is a masterclass in the art of documentary storytelling and a heartfelt tribute to legacy, resilience, and human connection.
No DocuView Déjà Vu
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Emotional Connection
04:04 The Journey Begins: Meeting Billy Joel
08:03 The Documentary: A Deep Dive into Billy Joel’s Life
11:57 The Collaborative Process of Filmmaking
15:52 The Role of Relationships in Billy Joel’s Music
20:03 Reflections on Billy Joel’s Legacy and Impact
30:45 The Emotional Connection of Music
36:00 Creating Comfort in Documentary Filmmaking
39:41 The Art of Storytelling Through Music