Good interviews are few and far between and interviews in which directors talk candidly about filmmaking are even harder to find but I stumbled onto something this morning which I can’t believe I’ve missed.

I’m a pretty big fan of the Fox Searchlight webpage. The distributor has put a whole lot of money and effort into bringing potential viewers to their site but beyond that, they’re always providing great “value added” content that makes them stand out. They’re not alone in their efforts, other distributors have similar operations, and their particular system isn’t perfect but they’re certainly putting a great deal of thought and care into it. One other way FSL is going above and beyond is by providing services that have little to do with the films they’re producing/distributing but which ingratiate the FSL name to fans. Searchlab seems to be one such project.

Using the Social Media lingo, Searchlab is an online community for “filmmakers on the rise and movie enthusiasts of all stripes.” I stumbled on the project today when I noticed that FSL had updated their YouTube channel with a two parts of a three part interview/lecture with director Ridley Scott. Looking around, I found that the Searchlab website actually has all three parts of the interview, along with talks with Bryan Singer, Richard Linklater and Frank Darabont among many others.

I’ve only seen the first part of the Scott talk and so far, I can say it’s well worth the listen for film fans and individuals interested in making films not to mention, fans of the director. I’m willing to bet that the other interview/lectures are just as good. And don’t worry if you don’t want to sign up – you can view (and embed! Bonus Points!) all of the videos, including shorts by members of the community, without creating an account.

I’ve tucked the Scott interview under the seat!