Roofman with Derek Cianfrance and David Gordon Green (Ep. 569)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Tv & Film

4.6 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Director Derek Cianfrance discusses his new film, Roofman, with fellow Director David Gordon Green in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, he discusses his process of researching the story by consulting with the real Jeffrey Manchester in prison, working with production to recreate a period accurate Toys”R”Us from 2004, and how he aimed to capture the nostalgia of the early 2000s by choosing to film on 35mm. The film tells the true story of Jeffrey Manchester, a charismatic criminal who goes into hiding on the roof of a Toys “R” Us. Adopting a new identity, he begins to form a relationship with one of the employees, jeopardizing his double life as his past closes in. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://www.dga.org/events/2025/november2025/roofman_qna_0925

Transcript

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0:00.0	The real Jeff, he called me a couple weeks ago and he said he had seen the movie poster.
0:06.0	And he was like, where'd you get that idea?
0:08.1	And I was like, well, I built the toy store and I was setting up a shot and Channing just came around the corner and he looked like that.
0:15.7	So I filmed him.
0:17.1	And he said, you know, that makes me really happy because if you live in a toy store for six
0:21.9	months, it has a way to bring out your inner child. And he was like, I'm really happy Channing got
0:27.4	in touch with his.
0:51.6	Yeah. Hello and welcome back to the director's cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.
0:55.8	In this episode, a criminal on the run hides on the roof of a toy store, in director Derek C. and Francis Dramidie, Roofman. The film tells the true story
1:03.0	of Jeffrey Manchester, a charismatic criminal who goes into hiding on the roof of a toys are us.
1:08.8	Adopting a new identity, he begins to form a relationship with one of the employees,
1:13.3	jeopardizing his double life as his past closes in.
1:17.5	In addition to Roofman, CianFrance's other directorial credits include the feature films,
1:22.5	The Light Between Oceans, The Place Beyond the Pines, and Blue Valentine,
1:27.2	and episodes of the TV miniseries, I Know This Much is True.
1:31.6	He won the 2016 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for his Squarespace ad, Manifesto.
1:40.4	Following a screening of the film at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles,
1:48.3	C&France spoke with director David Gordon Green about filming Roof Man.
1:52.1	Listen on for their spoiler-filled conversation.
1:59.3	Hi, hi.
2:00.6	This is exciting.
2:04.9	Derek and I were just talking. We just met for the very first time, but we've talked on the phone a few times, which is cool.
	...

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