AJ Schnack
@ajschnack.bsky.social
Nonfiction Filmmaker (Escalation, Long Gone Summer, Speaking is Difficult, Caucus, Kurt Cobain About a Son, Gigantic, Majority Rules, more). Team Cinema Eye Honors.
I stopped by the Douglas just before 7pm. It was the top of the 5th. As you can see, the front patio isn’t full. The back is full but hardly raucous. Three innings later (and with the Dodgers still behind), the LAPD declared the Douglas an unlawful assembly and made them turn off their TVs.
November 8, 2025 at 12:40 AM
I stopped by the Douglas just before 7pm. It was the top of the 5th. As you can see, the front patio isn’t full. The back is full but hardly raucous. Three innings later (and with the Dodgers still behind), the LAPD declared the Douglas an unlawful assembly and made them turn off their TVs.
Baseball remains undefeated.
November 2, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Baseball remains undefeated.
Portland, Oregon is one of my favorite US cities. It is safe and beautiful and filled with amazing people. Loved being there last month and taking long walks all about.
September 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Portland, Oregon is one of my favorite US cities. It is safe and beautiful and filled with amazing people. Loved being there last month and taking long walks all about.
California skies were really putting on a show tonight.
September 2, 2025 at 4:05 AM
California skies were really putting on a show tonight.
I’ll assume the person who runs the @democracynow.org social account doesn’t know…
…that “and others” are Academy Award winning filmmakers Ezra Edelman and Marshall Curry.
…that “and others” are Academy Award winning filmmakers Ezra Edelman and Marshall Curry.
August 30, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I’ll assume the person who runs the @democracynow.org social account doesn’t know…
…that “and others” are Academy Award winning filmmakers Ezra Edelman and Marshall Curry.
…that “and others” are Academy Award winning filmmakers Ezra Edelman and Marshall Curry.
Not sure how I got on this woman’s email list to “stop Mamdani”, but they are really barking up the wrong tree.
August 29, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Not sure how I got on this woman’s email list to “stop Mamdani”, but they are really barking up the wrong tree.
Can we get a new Kenneth Lonergan movie? Please?
July 22, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Can we get a new Kenneth Lonergan movie? Please?
This anon statement from a sr. reporter at the @nytimes.com (about the Mamdani admission “story”) captures everything wrong with journalism today - “people are talking/angry, so it was obviously legit for us to publish.”
Story: @maxtani.bsky.social @semafor.com www.semafor.com/article/07/0...
Story: @maxtani.bsky.social @semafor.com www.semafor.com/article/07/0...
July 7, 2025 at 2:31 AM
This anon statement from a sr. reporter at the @nytimes.com (about the Mamdani admission “story”) captures everything wrong with journalism today - “people are talking/angry, so it was obviously legit for us to publish.”
Story: @maxtani.bsky.social @semafor.com www.semafor.com/article/07/0...
Story: @maxtani.bsky.social @semafor.com www.semafor.com/article/07/0...
Watching Captain America: Brave New World on the plane and honestly can’t believe “AdamAnt-ium” made it through Marvel’s committee. Looking forward to seeing Yelena Belova take on “SiouxieSioux-brium in future adventures.
June 26, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Watching Captain America: Brave New World on the plane and honestly can’t believe “AdamAnt-ium” made it through Marvel’s committee. Looking forward to seeing Yelena Belova take on “SiouxieSioux-brium in future adventures.
What would we do without this devastatingly insightful insider take from the New York Times. Truly, who would have ever known this without this reporting.
June 25, 2025 at 3:58 AM
What would we do without this devastatingly insightful insider take from the New York Times. Truly, who would have ever known this without this reporting.
New York Times home page right now. Trump's manufactured crisis is a political minefield for Democrats.
June 11, 2025 at 6:49 PM
New York Times home page right now. Trump's manufactured crisis is a political minefield for Democrats.
Brian Grazer, co-lead of Imagine, which is a huge player in documentaries, explains his vote for Trump in 2024 is because he is a “centrist” and could see Biden’s decline (Biden was not the candidate).
June 6, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Brian Grazer, co-lead of Imagine, which is a huge player in documentaries, explains his vote for Trump in 2024 is because he is a “centrist” and could see Biden’s decline (Biden was not the candidate).
The view I looked out on as a man pitched me on AI as an empathy machine.
May 15, 2025 at 11:19 PM
The view I looked out on as a man pitched me on AI as an empathy machine.
This year’s @sundance.org Documentary Winners - Seeds, The Perfect Neighbor and Come See Me in the Good Light - repeat at this weekend’s @fullframefest.bsky.social. Geeta Gandbhir wins awards for 2 films.
April 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM
This year’s @sundance.org Documentary Winners - Seeds, The Perfect Neighbor and Come See Me in the Good Light - repeat at this weekend’s @fullframefest.bsky.social. Geeta Gandbhir wins awards for 2 films.
I have so much respect for journalists. But it’s been a major failure for more than two decades to understand popular movements. Protests, in particular, seem to be vexing, especially when they stand against cautious coverage (Iraq War, Trump) or are left-leaning. Don’t miss what’s happening now.
April 6, 2025 at 2:15 AM
I have so much respect for journalists. But it’s been a major failure for more than two decades to understand popular movements. Protests, in particular, seem to be vexing, especially when they stand against cautious coverage (Iraq War, Trump) or are left-leaning. Don’t miss what’s happening now.
New response from the Motion Picture Academy after today’s emergency meeting. Left unaddressed is the previous letter’s egregious assertion that the Academy couldn’t weigh in because there are “many unique viewpoints” on Hamdan Ballal being beaten and abducted.
March 28, 2025 at 10:43 PM
New response from the Motion Picture Academy after today’s emergency meeting. Left unaddressed is the previous letter’s egregious assertion that the Academy couldn’t weigh in because there are “many unique viewpoints” on Hamdan Ballal being beaten and abducted.
This is a profoundly bad statement from The Academy, after refusing to issue a statement in support of No Other Land co-director and recent #Oscars winner Hamdan Ballal when he was recently beaten and abducted.
To suggest there is are many sides to what happened to Ballal is heinous.
To suggest there is are many sides to what happened to Ballal is heinous.
March 27, 2025 at 12:21 AM
This is a profoundly bad statement from The Academy, after refusing to issue a statement in support of No Other Land co-director and recent #Oscars winner Hamdan Ballal when he was recently beaten and abducted.
To suggest there is are many sides to what happened to Ballal is heinous.
To suggest there is are many sides to what happened to Ballal is heinous.
Here is Hamdan Ballal, 2nd from right with his No Other Land co-directors, after they won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature just over 3 weeks ago. It was certainly a black mark on Israel to have such a high profile appeal for basic Palestinian rights.
March 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Here is Hamdan Ballal, 2nd from right with his No Other Land co-directors, after they won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature just over 3 weeks ago. It was certainly a black mark on Israel to have such a high profile appeal for basic Palestinian rights.
The 40th Annual IDA Awards wraps in just under 2 hours by presenting its final award - Best Documentary Feature - to No Other Land, the film’s 4th Award of the evening.
December 6, 2024 at 5:16 AM
The 40th Annual IDA Awards wraps in just under 2 hours by presenting its final award - Best Documentary Feature - to No Other Land, the film’s 4th Award of the evening.
The NY Times Op-Doc Instruments of a Beating Heart wins Best Short Documentary. Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki (who also edited Black Box Diaries) accepts.
December 6, 2024 at 5:12 AM
The NY Times Op-Doc Instruments of a Beating Heart wins Best Short Documentary. Director Ema Ryan Yamazaki (who also edited Black Box Diaries) accepts.
No Other Land wins the award for Direction. Filmmakers accept via pre-recorded video and acknowledge the other nominated directors (Black Box Diaries, Queendom, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat and Sugarcane).
December 6, 2024 at 5:05 AM
No Other Land wins the award for Direction. Filmmakers accept via pre-recorded video and acknowledge the other nominated directors (Black Box Diaries, Queendom, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat and Sugarcane).
Best Episodic Series goes to the HBO | Max drag queen series We’re Here. Producer Johnnie Ingram compares production on the show with what will have to happen in the US to “cool down these overheated culture wars.” Ends by saying “we will not be eliminated or erased”.
December 6, 2024 at 4:51 AM
Best Episodic Series goes to the HBO | Max drag queen series We’re Here. Producer Johnnie Ingram compares production on the show with what will have to happen in the US to “cool down these overheated culture wars.” Ends by saying “we will not be eliminated or erased”.