A bluefin tuna leaves cold Nova Scotia waters and ends at a sushi table in Tokyo, and along the way, Bite to Bite reveals the human machinery behind one of the world’s most coveted fish. Director Kelly Lipscomb joins In the Room to talk about making a documentary that lets the audience feel first, then decide what they believe.

We dig into the real “casting” of non-fiction, how you find characters worth following, how you earn trust, and why the edit is where the story finally confesses itself. Kelly also breaks down the practical truth of funding, why commercial work often keeps passion projects alive, and what it takes to keep your creative integrity intact while still building a sustainable career.

Bite to Bite received an Honorable Mention for Documentary Feature at the 2025 Austin Film Festival.

On this episode of In the Room, casting director John Williams sits down with filmmaker Andrew Davies Gaines to talk about Voices, his deeply personal documentary about his father and Las Vegas legend, Danny Gans.

Andrew shares how a career ending shoulder injury cut short his path in professional baseball and led him toward acting, writing, producing, and finally directing his own work. Together, he and John explore what it means to turn family history into cinema, how to handle sensitive truths about someone you love, and the realities of chronic pain, performance pressure, and responsibility at the top of the Vegas entertainment world.

Listeners will hear:
• The rise of Danny Gans, from corporate arenas to the biggest room in Las Vegas
• How Andrew moved from athlete to actor to producer to director
• The emotional challenge of putting himself on camera as the subject’s son
• The editing choices that kept Voices from becoming a simple tribute piece
• How understanding his father’s failures changed Andrew’s own relationship to ambition

In the Room offers a rare look at legacy, craft, and the quiet spaces where art and family collide.

Steven Bernstein sits with John Williams, Heather Kofka, and Christopher Shea for a luminous, craft-first conversation on the art of filmmaking. Bernstein traces his path from cinematography to the director’s chair, reflecting on Monster, Last Call, Decoding Annie Parker, White Chicks, Half Baked, SWAT, and Blade, and why the most enduring work begins with human chemistry.

They unpack the family that forms on set, the ache of wrap day, and how to protect performance when time and money press in. Bernstein explains why intuition often beats orthodoxy, how executives chase safety while art asks for risk, and why story should serve character, not the other way around. He shares practical tools for actors and directors, from freeing marks and lighting to invite truth, to building backstory that unlocks authentic choices.

The table dives into post control, color grading, and the quiet power of tone, then pivots to Bernstein’s novel GRQ and its meta leap to the screen. It is a talk about collaboration, presence, courage, and the strange alchemy that turns effort into feeling. If you love the work behind the work, this one is a masterclass that hums with lived experience.

Keywords: Steven Bernstein, filmmaking, cinematography, directing, acting craft, color grading, creative process, indie film, Monster, Last Call, Decoding Annie Parker, GRQ, John Williams, Heather Kofka, Christopher Shea, In the Room