Meet Your Host

Andy Nelson

With over 25 years of experience in film, television, and commercial production, Andy has cultivated an enduring passion for storytelling in all its forms. His enthusiasm for the craft began in his youth when he and his friends started making their own movies in grade school. After studying film at the University of Colorado Boulder, Andy wrote, directed, and produced several short films while also producing indie features like Netherbeast Incorporated and Ambush at Dark Canyon.

Andy has been on the production team for award-winning documentaries such as The Imposter and The Joe Show, as well as TV shows like Investigation Discovery’s Deadly Dentists and Nat Geo’s Inside the Hunt for the Boston Bombers. Over a decade ago, he started podcasting with Pete and immediately embraced the medium. Now, as a partner at TruStory FM, Andy looks forward to more storytelling through their wide variety of shows.

Throughout his career, Andy has passed on his knowledge by teaching young minds the crafts of screenwriting, producing, editing, and podcasting.

Outside of work, Andy is a family man who enjoys a good martini, a cold beer, a nice cup o’ joe. And always, of course, a great movie.

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Andy has hosted as well as been a panelist on a number of episodes.
This page features episodes on which he has been a host.
See episodes where Andy has been a panelist right here.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

It wasn’t until syndication that Paramount realized that it had a property they could continue milking in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek TV series. Even then, however, they struggled to get a film adaptation made. So is it a worthy start to the film franchise? Join us as we kick off our biggest series to date – The Star Trek series – with 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

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Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

After making Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright signed on to direct the adaptation of “Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life.” Due to project delays, it would be another six years before his film would hit the screen. Like any good cult film does, it has since found its legions of fans and supporters, proving that Wright and co. know how to put together a top-notch film even if it loses money at the box office.

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Kundun

Living in exile and still hoping to return to Tibet one day, the Dalai Lama’s life story was one of interest to screenwriter Melissa Mathison who asked him if she could write about him. This eventually led to the biopic Kundun. Join us as we wrap up our Melissa Mathison series with Martin Scorsese’s 1997 film Kundun.

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E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg didn’t have a sense that his little, personal alien film was going to blow up like it did when he was making it. Universal Studios saw it as another kids film that likely would only be seen by moms taking their kids to the theater. But E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial managed to touch pretty much the hearts of everyone who saw it, turning it into the #1 film in the world in short order. So how does this film hold up? Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – to find out as we continue our screenwriter Melissa Mathison series with Spielberg’s 1982 film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

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The Mummy

THE FILM BOARD GATHERS! This month we all got wrapped up in the first film release for the “Dark Universe.” Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe give us an entry into a new world of Gods and Monsters in “The Mummy.” We will dispense our signature thuggery on evil incarnate and spoil the whole ball of bandages for you on this month’s show.

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The Black Stallion

Francis Ford Coppola’s successes in the 70s put him in a place where he was able to help a good number of people get projects off the ground. One of those people was his friend from college, Carroll Ballard. Nearly broke, Coppola’s call came just in time and Ballard found himself on board to direct The Black Stallion. Another person was Melissa Mathison, a friend who started working as an assistant on The Godfather Part II. Coppola suggested to her that she start writing and asked her to help with the script for The Black Stallion. Next thing you know, she and Ballard are working on it together. Join us – Pete Wright and Andy Nelson – as we kick off our Melissa Mathison series with 1979’s The Black Stallion.

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Howl’s Moving Castle

Hayao Miyazaki did not attend the Oscars to pick up his Academy Award for Best Animated Film for Spirited Away because he was protesting the Iraq War. When it came time to make his next film, he took his frustration with the war and added a strong anti-war element to Howl’s Moving Castle. Diane Wynne Jones’ original novel, upon which the movie was based, didn’t focus nearly as much on the war but Miyazaki wanted to get his point across. Join us as we wrap up our latest Hayao Miyazaki series with his 2004 film, Howl’s Moving Castle.

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Spirited Away

Hayao Miyazaki’s 2001 film Spirited Away shot to the top of the Japanese box office and still holds the spot as the highest grossing film in Japanese history, sinking box office juggernaut Titanic. Perhaps it says a lot that it’s a Japanese story that is so universally appealing and that it’s for all ages. Or that it’s timeless. Regardless of why it’s so popular, it’s great to see Miyazaki as the person whose creation holds that spot.

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Princess Mononoke

Hayao Miyazaki has always had a strong relationship with nature that he’s portrayed in a number of his films, but nowhere has it grown as dark as it did in his 1997 film Princess Mononoke. While an animated film, the level of violence is very high and the themes are much more adult than his previous films and while he hasn’t returned to such dark films since, it’s clear that this was an important step in his storytelling and how his films look at the relationship between man and nature.

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