The new movie The Florida Project follows a six-year-old girl named Moonee over the course of one summer in a gritty community just outside the gates of Disney World.
Moonee, played with panache by now seven-year-old Brooklynn Prince, spends her days exploring the world around the Magic Castle -- the bright purple, ironically named ramshackle motel where she lives with her young mom Halley. With no job and no prospects, Halley is a troubled woman desperate to provide for herself and her daughter, any way she can.
Our guest Sean Baker is the director of The Florida Project. You might remember that his 2015 movie Tangerine, which told the story of two transgender prostitutes, was shot entirely using the iPhone 5s.
For The Florida Project, Baker did some shots on iPhones but mostly used 35 millimeter film. He tells us why he wanted to use film this time, and how doing so helped inspire discipline on set. He also shares how he cast the trio of young kids who star in the film, and keeping them protected from the adult subject matter addressed in the movie. Baker also talks about working with Willem Dafoe -- the one familiar face in the film.