The Friend with Scott McGehee, David Siegel and Gail Mancuso (Ep. 539)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel discusses their new film, The Friend, with fellow Director Gail Mancuso in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, they discuss working with Actors Naomi Watts and Bill Murray, the consideration that went into changes from the source material to the film, and working with a dog trainer to achieve emotional performances from their mastiff actor.

The film tells the story of Iris, a solitary writer who inherits a great dane once belonging to a late friend. At first creating problems for Iris, she finds herself unexpectedly bonding with the mastiff, gradually coming to terms with her lost friend and own creative inner life.

See photos and a summary of this event below:

https://www.dga.org/events/2025/june2025/thefriend_qna_0425