| Conducting the Interview

An interview is a journey into the landscape of another person. Guided by a master of the form, learn how to ask the right questions to get you there.

The art of the interview is a crucial storytelling skill for documentary filmmakers, podcasters and writers.  In this workshop, we explore the techniques that enable you to make the empathetic leap into someone else’s experience and, as a result, tell stories with verve and originality.

Adam Harrison Levy has interviewed a vast range of fascinating people including Meryl Streep, David Byrne, James Brown, Daniel Craig, Michael Bloomberg, Philip Glass, John Waters, Kurt Vonnegut, and veterans of the D-Day landings. You will learn from his years of experience in the field.

What makes for a gripping interview? A revelation of character, an illuminating insight, a sense of intimacy? As an interviewer do you provoke or evoke? Is an interview an open-ended conversation or is it a series of strategic questions with a targeted end in mind? 

In this cross-platform workshop, students will learn how to conduct background research and how to compose questions for rhythm and pace. We will analyze video, print, and podcast interviews, and screen relevant documentaries.

But the emphasis will be on the act of interviewing.  Students will practice interviewing people from the community, including artisans, farmers, and fishermen, as well as world-renowned filmmakers and photographers. Interviews will be recorded and critiqued. We will discuss problems you might face, such as tangents, silences, and time constraints. We will workshop useful techniques such as paying attention to non-verbal clues. We will also discuss the role that gender, race, and class play in an interview. 

At its core, an interview should feel like a conversation, but it’s a conversation with an agenda. Leave the week having learned how to conduct interviews that will make your stories more original and more compelling.