The HD DVD disc format (2006) and Nightcrawler (2014)

In the 1970s and early 1980s, it was VHS vs Betamax. But in the 2000s, with companies keen to build on the success of DVD, a fresh movie format war sparked. In one corner? It was Blu-ray. In the other? HD DVD. The latter was best positioned to emerge victorious - but it all came to a head over a few days at the start of 2008.

Dan Gilroy had built up a career as a Hollywood screenwriter, but only moved to directing in his 50s. His low budget project Nightcrawler broke many of the conventions of feature films - and it'd involve shooting in a lot of place, in not very much time...

Stories of both are told in this episode.
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Film Stories with Simon Brew is a podcast that looks to dig into the stories behind popular movies.From troubled productions, to rights issues, to difficulties with release to films nearly falling apart, the podcast will be looking at the stories that don't always seem apparent when watching a movie!
The podcast is hosted by Simon Brew, the founder of Den Of Geek. Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/simonbrew. Thank you!

• No. of episodes: 401
• Latest episode: 2025-07-14
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