Bryan Koss - The DP Who Wandered Onto Soderbergh's Set
Cinematographer Bryan Koss — collaborator on Fortress, Survive the Game, Hot Seat, and The Workout — joins James and BJ to break down what it actually takes to shoot a Mel Gibson movie in seven days, why jumping the 180-degree line is sometimes the only right call, and how a found-footage action film about a gym changed the way James shoots everything now.
They also get into: the Soderbergh set-crashing incident, the Klaus conspiracy, Detroit pizza societies, UFOs over Michigan, and why Bruce Willis's first take of the day was nearly ruined by an air fryer.
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00:00 Welcome & Tracksuit Origin Story
00:56 Hot Seat: Shooting Mel Gibson in Seven Days
03:22 The Seven Ps & Surviving a Shrinking Schedule
05:10 A Plan, B Plan, C Plan… D Plan
07:26 Hot Seat Was #2 on the Cruise Ship
07:56 How Bryan Got Into Cinematography
09:07 Bryan Semi-Directs (Don't Tell Anyone)
11:03 The Fortress Kitchen Steadicam Shot
12:49 Jumping the 180-Degree Line (The Ongoing Argument)
14:34 Complex Texas & James as a Very Reluctant Actor
17:33 Trusting the DP When You Can't Watch the Monitor
20:09 Explaining the Line to Everyone at Home
23:10 Bryan's Background & Growing Up in Michigan
23:37 Detroit Pizza, the DPS, and the Valley Field Trip
25:24 Finance, Florida Real Estate & a Howard Johnson Seminar
28:13 Owning Your Own Gear: Pros, Cons & Regrets
31:15 Should Bryan Just Direct His Own Feature?
32:27 The Soderbergh Story (The Good German Incident)
38:02 Favorite Genres to Shoot & Make
40:08 UFOs, Disclosure & the Spielberg Movie
40:48 Bryan's Childhood UFO Sighting
42:45 BJ's C-Shaped UFO in San Francisco
44:50 The Klaus Origin Story
47:26 Pranking Production Designer Pete Cordova
49:38 Bryan Kross vs. Bryan Koss
51:20 The Workout: Found Footage, 15 Cameras & The Roomba Shot
54:26 How The Workout Changed James's Eye
55:00 Advice for Filmmakers & Where to Find Bryan
55:57 The Air Fryer vs. Bruce Willis
📸 Instagram: @bryan_koss
🎙️ The Tracksuit Podcast: thetracksuitpodcast.com
"Suit Up to Wind Down."