Devised and Directed: The Films of Mike Leigh – Details, episodes & analysis

Host Ian Moran introduces the series and himself, and is then joined by filmmaker, curator, critic, and co-editor of Peterloo in Process: A Mike Leigh Collaboration Orla Smith to kick things off with a discussion on Mike's debut feature film. You can follow Orla on Instagram and check out her exciting work with creative nonfiction at cnfw.co.uk. 

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Mike Leigh process primers mentioned in the intro: Back to One Mike Leigh Interview Trilogy part 1, part 2, part 3; Marc Maron’s WTF Interview with Mike. Book link: Amy Raphael’s Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis. 

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Peter Rinaldi, host of the Back to One podcast and three-time interviewer of the man himself, joins the show to discuss Mike’s kinda-TV-kinda-not film (and Safdie Brothers favorite): Meantime.

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Andrew Dickson’s score for Meantime. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Fran Hoepfner is a cultural critic, senior editor of Bright Wall/Dark Room, creator of Fran Magazine, regular Vulture contributor, and avowed Leigh-head.  She joins the show to discuss one of the more overtly political works in Mike’s catalog, and the film he considers to be his first proper theatrical release. 

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Andrew Dickson’s score for High Hopes. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Bryan Cardinale-Powell, Oklahoma City University film professor and co-editor of Devised and Directed by Mike Leigh, joins the show for a discussion on the very first Mike Leigh film Ian ever saw, as well as a quick detour on Mike’s 1987 short film The Short & Curlies.

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Rachel Portman’s score for Life Is Sweet. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Next week we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming, but first… 

Ian kicks off this bonus episode with some background on the man himself in the form of a quick, condensed Mike Leigh bio from birth to Bleak Moments. He’s then joined by co-editor of Peterloo in Process: A Mike Leigh Collaboration and founder of Seventh Row Alex Heeney for a conversation on the particulars of Mike’s unique process, as well as some contemporary filmmakers who are (perhaps, in their own ways) following in his footsteps. 

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Host of Movie Mindset and Chapo Trap House Will Menaker joins the show to discuss Mike’s true international breakout, and what could very reasonably be called his darkest and most challenging film.

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Andrew Dickson’s score for Naked. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Film journalist and This Had Oscar Buzz host Chris Feil joins Ian to discuss one of Mike’s most acclaimed and beloved films, and the only one to be given the patented Billy Crystal treatment.

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Andrew Dickson’s score for Secrets & Lies. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Filmmaker, curator, critic, and co-editor of Peterloo in Process: A Mike Leigh Collaboration Orla Smith returns to the show to discuss what is, perhaps, the ultimate Mike Leigh sleeper, and undoubtedly a stylistic and structural outlier in his filmography. You can follow Orla on Instagram and check out her exciting work with creative nonfiction at cnfw.co.uk. 

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s score for Career Girls. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Cultural critic, senior editor of Bright Wall/Dark Room, and creator of Fran Magazine Fran Hoepfner returns to the show to discuss Mike’s sprawling, hilarious, and affecting love letter not only to the work of Gilbert & Sullivan specifically, but the labor of artmaking in general.

PS - LINK to the “big thing about music” Fran mentions working on at the end of our conversation; great read! 

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.

Bryan Cardinale-Powell, Oklahoma City University film professor and co-editor of Devised and Directed by Mike Leigh, returns to the show for a discussion on what is, in this show’s opinion, an underrated Mike Masterpiece; a film that builds upon the style and themes of previous works like Meantime and Secrets & Lies, and featuring towering performances from two of Mike’s most trusted and prolific collaborators: Leslie Manville and Timothy Spall.

All episodes in this series contain spoilers.

Theme music by Tuck Ryan and Eoin Murphy. Additional music is from Andrew Dickson’s score for All or Nothing. Intro clip source interview. Logo photo credit Rick McGinnis.

Follow the show on Instagram @MikeLeighPod. Email the show at MikeLeighPod@gmail.com. Follow Ian on Letterboxd at Nester_Nest.