What happens when you choose curiosity over credentials—early? Toph Day sits down with Ashton Gleckman, director and composer of the History Channel docuseries Kennedy, to unpack a journey that started with dropping out of high school, learning the craft of film scoring, and turning bold bets into feature documentaries and an eight-part series. They get into the real work behind “epic” storytelling: earning trust in interviews, chasing primary sources, bootstrapping with a tiny crew, navigating a changing distribution business, and why Ashton believes AI will ultimately heighten our appreciation for human-made art. Plus: what K–12 education could do differently to unlock the next generation of creators. Key Takeaways Curiosity beats credentials. Ashton built a career by following obsession-level curiosity—then letting that curiosity dictate the next “lily pad,” even when the path looked unconventional. Get comfortable with a little chaos. He deliberately puts himself in vulnerable, unfamiliar situations because that’s where growth and better creative outcomes happen. Start small, ship consistently, build community. His “Behind the Score” YouTube series became a real proof-of-work engine and a niche community builder—long before bigger doors opened. Access often comes from output, not permission. The meeting with Hans Zimmer didn’t come from credentials—it came from work Ashton put into the world that got noticed. Documentary is discovery, not control. You can have an outline, but the story reveals itself through interviews, archives, and what you uncover on the ground. Trust is the real “camera gear.” His interviewing approach is simple but hard: prepare deeply, then listen harder—using patience, silence, and empathy to help people open up. Bootstrapping isn’t a limitation—it’s a forcing function. The Kennedy series started with a tiny crew, a van, shared hotel rooms, and relentless logistics—then grew into a full-scale docuseries. Don’t let “it’s been covered” stop you. With JFK stories, most people fixate on the assassination; Ashton went for the full arc—how someone becomes who they become. The business is moving toward buyouts. He frames distribution as constantly shifting—where your job is to make the best film you can, and accept that the market timing is outside your control. AI will raise the value of human-made art. His take: as AI gets better, audiences will crave the unmistakable “human” signal even more—and creators should defend that. K–12 needs to teach for curiosity, not recall. If students think history is boring, he argues it’s often because it’s taught like a list—rather than as lived, emotional, relevant human story.
Mehr anzeigen
Weniger anzeigen
45 Min.
58 Min.
29 Min.
52 Min.
21 Min.
57 Min.
41 Min.
40 Min.