SYNOPSIS:

If you’re looking for a beer and a sandwich you’re in the right place… welcome to Red Hook, Brooklyn, home of dock workers and DocWalkers—meet Jeremy Workman. Jeremy is the director behind the arthouse success story, SECRET MALL APARTMENT. He’s also known for LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD, and this year’s festival hit, SCHOOL FOR DEFECTORS. 

When thunder rolls in, we duck into the Red Hook Lobster Pound for a beer, and Jeremy shares his experiences as a second-generation filmmaker (shoutout Chuck Workman) and a deeply experienced trailer-cutter, name-dropping Tarantino, Scorsese, and Maitland along the way.

But today’s all about the secrets to success in documentary self-distribution. If you haven’t seen SECRET MALL APARTMENT, go watch it on Netflix—Jeremy shares the long and self-designed road that got it there. After a SXSW premiere, SECRET MALL APARTMENT had no offers, so Jeremy and his team released it themselves, pushing the “treatise on art” to more than 300 theaters, grossing a million bucks, before landing on Netflix’s top five. His take on most distributors? Not kind. We also get into how Jeremy funds his films with a tight circle of private investors, his collaborations with Jesse Eisenberg, why a seven-figure sale of LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD didn’t feel like a win, and the Ed Pressman memorial that led him straight to Flaco the owl, star of Penny Lane’s WILD INSIDE. Plus: how to survive festival rejection (say yes to yourself); inspiration via early Errol Morris, Gary Hustwit, and MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA; and why we need Chris Smith on this show. We end the way every DocWalk should: an Italian combo, plus sopressata from Defonte’s Sandwich Shop.

DISCUSSION LINKS

SECRET MALL APARTMENT (2024) | SCHOOL FOR DEFECTORS (2026) | LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD (2021) | THE WORLD BEFORE YOUR FEET (2018) | WILD INSIDE (2026) | AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ (2026) | WHO MOVES AMERICA (2026) | SHERMAN’S MARCH (1985) | DEAR MR. BRODY (2021) | TOWER (2016) | THE EYES OF ME (2009) | WHAT IS CINEMA? (2013) | THANK YOU VERY MUCH (2023) | MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA (1929) | GATES OF HEAVEN (1978) | THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988) | THEREMIN: AN ELECTRONIC ODYSSEY (1993)

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Walking Red Hook, Brooklyn
01:11 Meet Jeremy Workman
02:54 SECRET MALL APARTMENT and the self-distribution tease
03:25 How Keith met Jeremy: the DEAR MR. BRODY trailer
04:39 From college job to studio trailers
06:44 Wheelhouse Creative and trailers for documentaries
08:30 Rain, Van Brunt Street and the Red Hook Lobster Pound
11:40 Ed Pressman and a surprise owl
13:51 Developing trailer editors
15:08 Trailers on Jeremy’s desk: SHERMAN’S MARCH, WILD INSIDE, WHO MOVES AMERICA
17:29 A synchronicity: the WHAT IS CINEMA? DVD
19:43 Growing up the son of Chuck Workman
22:07 What his father taught him about money and craft
23:50 SECRET MALL APARTMENT in a nutshell
27:21 Twenty-five hours of footage on a $100 camera
28:51 Meeting Michael Townsend in Athens
31:17 Raising money without grants
33:27 Why most distributors disappoint
36:15 Selling LILY TOPPLES THE WORLD: was that a win?
39:40 The SXSW premiere and the decision to self-release
41:42 300 theaters, $1 million and Netflix
45:11 The next chapter: SCHOOL FOR DEFECTORS and consulting
46:08 Gary Hustwit and rethinking the doc industry
47:59 Penny Lane, Gene Gallerano and the dream team
48:38 Advice for first-time filmmakers: say yes to yourself
51:21 What draws Jeremy to a story
52:16 Industrial Red Hook
54:12 Gateway docs: Errol Morris, MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA, THEREMIN
56:35 Dream collaborator: Chris Smith
57:57 The Defonte’s finale
58:59 What’s next, including the Calgary jury
1:00:05 Next week: our 75th episode