To the White Sea

Hello study group! We will be back soon with more mainline episodes of To the White Sea. To tide you over we bring you a delightful side-quest / amuse-bouche. A couple months ago we went on Hit Factory to discuss A Simple Plan, directed by frequent Coens collaborator Sam Raimi. We enjoyed our discussion with Aaron so much, and thought it Coens-adjacent-enough to put it out as a bonus. Hope you enjoy it too! Thanks to Aaron & Carlee for giving us the go-ahead to release this premium episode, and please consider supporting their amazing show on Patreon, which is all about the films and politics of the 1990s. Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

We're on the road! Ray and Jordan step out of the AMC Lincoln Square 13 and give their immediate impressions of Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke's new film DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS while walking the streets of Manhattan. Spoilers are everywhere so you'll want to see the film before diving into this. Thanks in advance for rocking with the "punk rock" audio quality in this special gonzo episode. Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

Emerging from a cloud of goose feathers, TTWS returns! Filmmaker Devyn Waitt joins the study group today to discuss INSTINCT, moments in the Coens films that defy logic but somehow make sense on an intuitive, almost physical level. We touch on whether they could be a connection between survival skills and artistic expression, and speculate on the Coens’ writing process, which seems to be where their most free-wheeling moves find their form. We also discuss a scene from Devyn’s feature Not Waving But Drowning which involved getting a horse on a subway train. Coens Covered: A Serious Man, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Miller’s Crossing (the bear version), Barton Fink Plus: Beethoven’s 2nd (1993) - Beethoven destroys patio scene Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

Today on the program we start things off with a reality-shattering two pages, then shoot into outer space with our guest, the brilliant production designer Alex DiGerlando. We explore film sets and designed environments that come out of left field and reshape our understanding of what it is we’re watching. We also dive into Alex’s approach to his own work, which he describes as “part muse, part curation.” Rounding things out we also unveil a new prismatic style: the proverbial “lightning” round. Thanks again to Alex for the awesome, mind-blowing conversation! Coens Covered: Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, Inside Llewyn Davis, ⚡️The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ⚡️ Plus: Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Sea of Trees, The OA, Maniac, A Murder at the End of the World Watch: A Murder at the End of the World on Hulu Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

We’re back with a delightful conversation about surprisingly chill hangs. Joining us is brilliant writer, director, and dog lover, Robin Comisar. We discuss moments in the Coens’ films where the story sneaks up on you with unexpectedly tender, guileless, and open-hearted scenes. In these moments of connection, characters often go beyond their “type” or “role”. It's weird, it's satisfying, and it's vibey. Thanks again to Robin for joining us!!! WATCH: Great Choice Robin and Loaf Interviewed by The Dogist Coens Covered: The Man Who Wasn’t There; Hail, Caesar!; Fargo; Barton Fink Plus: Amsterdam, Zodiac, Dave, Beetlejuice 2, The Dick Cavett Show, Magnolia, Devil’s Advocate, Great Choice Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

We're back with our first post-hiatus numbered episode and what a show we've got for you. Today we welcome actor, comedian, podcaster and our good friend Griffin Newman to the study group. Griffin walks us through his process as an actor, and what he calls behavioral acting—the use of secondary actions, latent desires, and bottled-up nervous energy to shape a performance and create a character that feels real. It's all about doing two or more things at once, and being as interesting as a cat. On another important note, last week we told the story of the finding of the lost pages, and this week we actually debut the text of a lost page—PAGE 40—which we hope you enjoy!! Coens covered: Burn After Reading, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski Plus: World War Z, Interview with a Vampire, The Tao of Steve, Jurassic Park 3D Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

We're back everybody! After our extended hiatus we couldn't be more excited to be back with this emergency episode. We have the lost pages folks, and to tell the story of how this all happened, we bring you an interview with legendary picture editor Kate Sanford! Hope you enjoy, and are as excited as we are for TTWS Season 2! Stick around after the interview for DISCORD MAILBAG where we answer all of your questions from the Discord. Infinite thanks to Kate Sanford, and thank you also to everyone in the study group for your questions, your patience, and your continued enthusiasm during the break. We are charged up and ready for the next chapter of our journey together. Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

Hi everyone! Today we welcome professor, writer, and poet Melissa Tuckman to the study group. First we read pages 37-38 which are, as with last week’s excerpt, truly horrifying. Take heed. Then we jump into the prism and explore the idea of an intertext, which is simply a work which relates in some way to another work. We look at scenes in Coens’ movies where a character or the film itself quotes or evokes another text. This could be a classic work of literature, a folk song, or a 50s Hollywood biblical epic. It’s the same old Coens, but with different meanings since these texts came along. Hope you enjoy this episode; it goes places. Coens Covered: Meal Ticket; Inside Llewyn Davis; Hail, Caesar! Plus: Slaughterhouse Five, *Cat’s Cradle, Ben Hur, Quo Vadis ERRATA: *In the first act of the show Jordan refers to Breakfast of Champions but is actually talking about Cat’s Cradle. He misintertextimated and regrets the error. Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

Hello! We’re back with a deep dive and wild ride through mind-melting, unforgettable images you’ve never seen before, and we’re joined by our friend, the brilliant and infinitely creative production designer Becca Brooks Morrin! We also read pages 35 and 36 and follow Muldrow as his story gets even more intense and horrifically violent—if we haven’t said it yet, we’ll say it here: this screenplay contains shocking and upsetting images and listener discretion is definitely advised. Feel free to skip ahead! Coens Covered: Blood Simple (Investor Trailer), Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, The Man Who Wasn’t There, True Grit Plus: Apocalypse Now, Strawberry Mansion, Skyfall, What the Bleep Do We Know!? (that’s a show notes joke, folks, don’t watch that movie) For more of Becca’s work visit her website. Want to join the study group? Follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about the show, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

In today’s episode we’re joined by multi-disciplinary artist and writer Liz Ryerson. Liz brings her background in music and game design to discuss scenes from the Coens’ movies in which characters drift through the wide world of their story, and in their wanderings—be they pastoral, tacky, gnarly, or urbane—make discoveries without and within. Outro Music: Liz Ryerson - Village Theme Support Liz on Patreon and Bandcamp! Coens covered: Inside Llewyn Davis; Barton Fink; O Brother, Where Art Thou?; No Country for Old Men Plus: Twin Peaks s3e8, No Direction Home, I’m Not There, Mazes and Monsters, Thief, Deus Ex, Zork, Hitman, Prey, Problem Attic, Half-Life If you want to join the study group please follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about it, and leave a rating/review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.  ***You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea*** For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord!

Today we’re joined by our friend, the mega-talented and ever-thoughtful Benh Zeitlin, director of Glory at Sea, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Wendy. We’re thrilled to welcome Benh to the study group as we cross the threshold on pages 31-32, and see Muldrow’s journey plummet into action. From here, we break down act breaks, specifically the crucial transition from Act 1 to Act 2. We discuss the confluence of plot and emotional undercurrents in a story, and how the Coens use structure to build striking and surprising narratives. Thanks again to Benh for joining us on this rollicking river ride. Coens covered: Miller’s Crossing, Fargo, Intolerable Cruelty, A Serious Man. Plus: Commando If you're enjoying the study group follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about it, and leave a rating and review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the Discord too!

This is an emergency podcast. We discuss the deluge of Coen brothers headlines including the premiere of the Drive-Away Dolls trailer, and the Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke feature in Empire Magazine which reveals, amongst many fascinating tidbits, that Ethan and Joel Coen are at work on a new project. We also discuss Ray’s new music video for Bonnie “Prince” Billie and pluck some all important pins out of the pinboard in a follow-up to our interview last week with J. Todd Anderson. Ending song: "Mouse and Me" by Paul Korzan Films covered: Drive-Away Dolls, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Chuck Jones: Extremes and InBetweens - A Life in Animation. If you're enjoying the program follow TTWS on social media, tell your friends about it, and leave a rating and review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. You can also support the show directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me – and join the *brand new* Discord!

We’re back with an episode we are beyond excited to share with you. Today we’re joined by legendary storyboard artist and key Coens collaborator J. Todd Anderson. Anderson has drawn storyboards for every Coen brothers film since Raising Arizona, as well as The Tragedy of Macbeth and the upcoming Drive-Away Dolls. He also directed The Naked Man which he co-wrote with Ethan Coen. We get into a wide-ranging conversation about telling stories visually, as well as J. Todd’s philosophy on what makes a film or artwork “simple yet elegant”. There’s so much here, you’re going to want to listen and relisten to this one–we for sure will be!  Thanks so much to J. Todd for sharing his time and knowledge with us. If you want to see his work in amazing detail and learn more about the art of storyboarding check out Big Lebowski: The Official Storyboards. Films covered: Raising Arizona, The Man Who Wasn’t There, The Naked Man, No Country for Old Men, Inside Llewyn Davis If you're enjoying the podcast please follow on social media, tell your friends about the show, and rate and review on iTunes. You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For MERCH and all else TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me

Today we read pages 27-28 and refract the screenplay's beams through a prism called Guiding Lights. Coens characters who are struggling to find their bearings look to maps, mathematics, icons, and guidebooks. Do they get the guidance they seek or are they led down a primrose path? Coens Covered: Barton Fink, Tuileries (short), World Cinema (short), A Serious Man Plus: Climates, Crumb, Dick Tracy TV Specials If you're enjoying To the White Sea please follow us on social media, post about it and tell your friends, and rate/review us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.  You can also support the show directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For merch and all else TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me

In today's episode we read pages 25-26 before beaming through the prism with a new and exciting catchphrase. It's all about sneaky, sneaky sneaks. Sneaking around. Sneaking here and sneaking there. Sneaking everywhere. Coens covered: Burn After Reading; Raising Arizona; Hail, Caesar!; Bridge of Spies Plus (of course): SNEAKERS (1992) If you're enjoying To the White Sea please follow us on social media, tell your friends about the show, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For merch and all else TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me

Today we read pages 23-24 and discuss father figures in the films of the brothers Coen. The conversation is oceanic and infused with psychodrama, so we hope you enjoy it :) Coens covered: Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Big Lebowski If you're enjoying the show please follow us on social media, tell your friends about the show, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. For real, tell two people about the show right now! You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For merch and all else TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me

Today we’re back in the studio with a classic Ray and Jordan episode. We read pages 21-22 and discuss unforgivable protagonists, lead characters who defy traditional story conventions, as well as the laws of man and the almighty. They function as a sort of off-ramp for audiences, which isn’t often what you want from a main character. What makes them so unforgivable and why can’t they just save the cat? The answers may surprise you! Coens covered: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs/Near Algodones (shorts), The Ladykillers, Intolerable Cruelty, Inside Llewyn Davis Plus: Matewan If you're enjoying the show please follow us on social media, tell your friends about the show, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts. You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For merch and all else TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me

In today’s episode, recorded live at Dunkunsthalle in a roundtable study group format, we discuss teamwork in the Coens’ films. Sequences where three or more characters form a coalition and try to accomplish something together.  Coens covered: Hail, Caesar!; O Brother Where Art Thou; Inside Llewyn Davis; True Grit; The Big Lebowski Thank you to Austin Purnell for co-hosting, JT Anderson for photography, and all of our guests for their participation and insights: Eva, Jon, Briana, Cole, David, Eric, Moses, JT, Anonymous Special Thanks: Rachel Rossin, Briana Griffin, Sam Geller, Jeff Delauter, Ben Hosley

In this live episode we bring you the Q&A from our screening of Ben Brewer’s astonishing short film A Folded Ocean at Dunkunsthalle. If you’d like to watch A Folded Ocean online it is streaming for one week on the Dunkunsthalle site! Stream A Folded Ocean now through 5/16! Special Thanks Rachel Rossin, Jeff Delauter, Sam Geller, Ben Hosley

Today’s episode is mega! We’re joined by amazing filmmaker and VFX artist Ben Brewer. We read pages 17-18 and break down sequences in the Coens’ films that feature eye-popping—and potentially budget-breaking—special effects. We analyze what makes an effects shot “work”, and the crucial story context that that entails. We also dive into Ben’s mind-blowing short film A FOLDED OCEAN and hear about his work on The Daniels’ chart-topping and Oscar-winning EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE which took the world by storm in 2022. Coens covered: The Hudsucker Proxy, O Brother Where Art Thou, A Serious Man, Hail Caesar LIVE EVENT THIS THURSDAY!!! If you want to see A FOLDED OCEAN for yourself, please join us at Dunkunsthalle on Thursday May 4th at 730pm. Discussion and Q+A with Ben to follow. You don’t wanna miss this. Dunkunsthalle 64 Fulton St New York, NY 10038 If you're enjoying the show please follow us on social media, tell people about the show, and rate and review us on iTunes. Go for it! You can also support us directly at https://ko-fi.com/tothewhitesea For all things TTWS visit tothewhitesea.me