Why do we do what we do? What makes life meaningful? My name is Elise Lunan and I'm the author of

On Our Best Behavior and the host of the podcast, Pulling the Thread. I'm pulling the thread. I explore

life's big questions with thought leaders who help us better understand ourselves, others, and the world

around us. I hope these conversations bring you moments of resonance, hope, and growth.

Listen to pulling the thread from Lemonada Media wherever you get your podcasts.

Lemonada. This is Talk Easy. I'm Sam Forgoso. Welcome to the show.

Today, legendary director, Francis Ford Coppola.

He's been making movies for over 60 years, many of which you've probably seen many, many times.

The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, one from the heart, the outsiders, the Cotton Club, the Rainmaker.

At the peak of his powers, no other writer-director had ever had two

best picture nominations and two best screenplay nominations in the same year, which is exactly

what happened to Coppola in early 1975 with The Conversation and The Godfather Part 2.

Then, through Zoetrope, the company he co-founded with George Lucas, he sought to

reimagine Hollywood itself, upending the traditional studio system to create a pipeline for bold,

original work. At every turn, as you'll hear in this episode, his capacity to dream has really

defined his career, including, of course, his most recent film,

the self-financed epic Megaloplas. Now, a year after its release, a new behind-the-scenes

documentary called Megadoc captures the film's tumultuous production. As film critic Richard Brody wrote in The New Yorker,

director Mike Figgis offers, quote, an inspiring view of a filmmaker whose methods are as boldly

original as his movie. And so with the release of this excellent new documentary, I wanted to

replay my conversation with Coppola. It was recorded last fall

here in New York City, where we discussed the real challenges of making Megalopoulos, the

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