- Social:
co-director, 'The Dog'
Co-director of the documentary The Dog
PROFILE
Allison Berg
Guest
FROM Allison Berg
The Business
'The Dog' In the 1975 Sidney Lumet classic Dog Day Afternoon, Al Pacino plays a first-time robber who holds up a bank to pay for his lover’s sex change operation. The story was based on real events--a 1972 Brooklyn bank robbery that turned into a hostage situation and an all-day media circus. The robber was Jon Wojtowicz, the subject of The Dog, a new documentary by Frank Keraudren and Allison Berg. Berg and Keraudren tell Kim Masters that it was surprisingly easy to locate Wojtowicz, who had been out of prison since the late 1970’s, but that was just the beginning of a decade-long filmmaking project. As the filmmakers were to learn in intimate detail, Wojtowicz was a fascinating and frustrating subject--a man with prodigious and unpredictable sexual appetites. Over the years, Berg and Keraudren shot interviews with Wojtowicz, his mother and his brother, as well as his wives, past and present. They watched their project grow in size and scope, while still maintaining full-time jobs producing and editing other documentary projects. After going into credit card debt financing the film largely on their own and watching their master tapes survive a brush with Superstorm Sandy, Keraudren and Berg finally saw the debut of The Dog at Toronto International Film Festival last year. The documentary is now available on iTunes and Amazon.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Real 'Dog Day Afternoon' In 1972, a man robbed a Brooklyn bank to get money for his lover’s sex change operation. The story became a media spectacle, and then a cinematic sensation. It was the inspiration for Sidney Lumet’s classic film “Dog Day Afternoon,” starring Al Pacino as the thief. A new documentary looks at the real man at the center of the story.
Recommended
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Accusations of lying fly between James Comey and White House During his testimony Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey accused President Trump and other White House officials of lying when they said the FBI was in disarray and its staff had lost confidence in him. President Trump’s lawyer said Comey was wrong -- that the president never asked for his loyalty, and never asked him to back off the investigation into former NSA director Michael Flynn.
The Business
Industry insights and lessons learned from memorable guests We have interesting guests on The Business, and sometimes our conversations are too long to fit into one show. This week we give you stories that were too good to leave on the cutting room floor, including some sharp insights on making it in the industry from David Mandel, David Simon, Shawn Levy and Matt Reeves.
Bookworm
George Saunders: Lincoln in the Bardo (Part I) Lincoln in the Bardo dramatizes a grieving President Lincoln as he visits the grave of his beloved son Willie, who died at age eleven. In the novel, the buried dead believe they're not dead -- "they're sick and refer to their coffins as "sick boxes."
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why did Jared Kushner want a back channel with Russians? News broke Friday that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, tried setting up a back channel between the Trump transition team and the Russian government. What are the consequences for Kushner, President Trump, and the investigation into Russian meddling?