Peter Bogdanovich Died In 2022, But He Left Behind A Podcast As A “Love Letter To Film”

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Bogdanovich, the director of Hollywood classics such as The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon, may have died two years ago, but he left behind a “love letter to film.”

The critic-turned-filmmaker was working on One Handshake Away, a podcast series that saw him in conversation with some of the greatest living filmmakers, including Guillermo del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, Rian Johnson and Ken Burns framed through a series of never-before-heard archival interviews with legends including Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and John Ford.

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After Bogdanovich’s death, del Toro took over for the final three interviews with Greta Gerwig, Julie Delpy and Allison Anders.

Each episode pays homage to a master and offers insight and perspective on the influence and impact the legends who came before them had on their career and filmmaking.

Bogdanovich discussed Hitchcock with del Toro, Don Siegel with Tarantino, Welles with Johnson and Ford with Burns. Del Toro then spoke with Gerwig about Howard Hawks, Delpy about Fritz Lang and Anders about Raoul Walsh.

The series also features narration from actor and producer Louise Stratten, who is also Bogdanovich’s ex-wife. Bogdanovich wanted to call it One Handshake Away because he believed that through him the contemporary directors were one handshake away from the pioneers.

One Handshake Away comes from Audacy. Listen to the trailer here.

One Handshake Away is executive produced by Jenna Weiss-Berman, directed by Perry Crowell, and produced by Crowell, Louise Stratten, Oren Segal, Luke Moore, Jon Teague, Stak’s Charlie Morgan and Ian Mandt.

Ahead of the show’s launch TCM, which Bogdanovich worked with on his last show The Plot Thickens, is airing a block of movies inspired by the One Handshake Away podcast. On February 5, it will air three Hitchcock movies – Notorious, The Wrong Man, and I Confess – as well as clips from the podcast.

“Peter loved doing the TCM podcast The Plot Thickens – he loved working with Ben Mankiewicz on that. It inspired him so much that he wanted to take his old recordings of his interviews of these original directors that mentored and inspired him and started his career,” said Louise Stratten. “He had the idea to come full circle and share his treasure chest with the current directors that he admired and were friends with to have a conversation about them and to keep these directors that inspired him in the current conversation. Hence One Hand Shake Away. He would be very excited and proud that we have finished it in partnership with Audacy, and that TCM is also involved.”

“Peter Bogdanovich is the epitome of a Hollywood legend – a master behind the camera and a devoted student of the greats who came before him,” added Jenna Weiss-Berman, EVP, Podcasts, Audacy. “‘Guided by Louise Stratten, One Handshake Away is a treasure trove of intimate, fascinating conversations with leading directors of our time.”

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