Mike Mills

Speaks on the shows. Their sketches and lines as a speaker.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: Beginners (2010); 20th Century Women (2016); C'mon C'mon (2021); Come On, Come On (2021).

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Federico Fellini: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Federico Fellini ⇒ Mike Mills (the maker said so: Mike Mills interview on the episode). Mills learned filmmaking somewhere between Fellini and Godard, his usual French new wave language.
    “somewhere between Italian, like Fellini and and Goddard is like where I learned how to get interested in filmmaking.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:22:07 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Fellini and Godard: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · them, directly: Fellini and Godard ⇒ Mike Mills (the maker said so: Mike Mills interview on the episode). Mills says he is home somewhere between Fellini and Godard, a French new wave person.
    “usually I'm much more of like a French new wave person.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:22:03 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Ira Glass: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Come On, Come On (2021), which they directed: Ira Glass ⇒ Come On, Come On (the maker said so: Mike Mills interview on the episode). Johnny is a WNYC-style old-school radio journalist; Ira Glass is a big influence on Mills.
    “Ira Glass has been like a big influence, big hero to me.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:14:04 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Ira Glass's This American Life: 1 line

  1. lineage (lineage) · through Come On, Come On (2021), which they directed: Ira Glass's This American Life ⇒ Come On, Come On (the host's read). The radio-producer device is in the Ira Glass tradition, not the conspiracy podcaster.
    “I think it's a little bit more in the tradition of Ira Glass than it is necessarily in the tradition of the conspiracy theory podcaster”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 0:34:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)

Mike Mills's son: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Come On, Come On (2021), which they directed: Mike Mills's son ⇒ Come On, Come On (the maker said so: Mike Mills interview on the episode). The project began with Mills being his kid's dad; the uncle idea distances it.
    “the whole project is just my kid and me being my kid's dad”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:02:30 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Mills's SFMOMA kids-interview video piece: 1 line

  1. career (career) · through Come On, Come On (2021), which they directed: Mills's SFMOMA kids-interview video piece ⇒ Come On, Come On (the maker said so: Mike Mills interview on the episode). The film grew from his video piece interviewing Silicon Valley kids about the future, which he did not feel done with.
    “I really didn't feel like I was done with asking kids about the future.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:13:00 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Mills's sister: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through 20th Century Women (2016), which they directed: Mills's sister ⇒ 20th Century Women (the maker said so: Mike Mills interview on the episode). The Greta character in 20th Century Women is based on one of his sisters.
    “the Greta character is really based on one of my sisters”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:25:36 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Nancy Gale: 1 line

  1. people (people) · through Come On, Come On (2021), which they directed: Nancy Gale ⇒ Come On, Come On (the maker said so: Mike Mills interview on the episode). Nancy Gale, who ran his kid's preschool, taught him about children's power and breadth of feeling.
    “Nancy Gale comes in mind who ran my kids, preschool, is a very deep person about children”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:08:52 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

No line says anything drew on them or a film of theirs.

What the speakers said they did

Directing (4) everyone in directing

What was said about them, by kind

career (1)

  1. career (career): Mike Mills → Beginners. He says he got away with murder by making these three personal, uncommercial movies.
    “I got away with murder, you know, by making these 3 movies.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:28:43 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

craft (1)

  1. craft (craft): Mike Mills → Come On, Come On. Mills compares the black-and-white look to a Hockney portrait and a drawing versus a painting.
    “I want to be like a David Hockney portrait of a friend”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:20:23 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

lineage (2)

  1. lineage (lineage): Mike Mills → Fellini and Godard. Mills says he is home somewhere between Fellini and Godard, a French new wave person.
    “usually I'm much more of like a French new wave person.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:22:03 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. lineage (lineage): Mike Mills → Federico Fellini. Mills learned filmmaking somewhere between Fellini and Godard, his usual French new wave language.
    “somewhere between Italian, like Fellini and and Goddard is like where I learned how to get interested in filmmaking.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:22:07 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Mike Mills: Mills's earlier video piece for SFMOMA interviewed children of Silicon Valley workers about the future; Apple NDAs blocked many.
    “all the people that worked at Apple mostly, um, couldn't do it because they signed these crazy NDAs.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:12:07 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Mike Mills: He says he got away with murder, Robin Hood style, with three personal movies.
    “Robin Hood, like I got away with murder”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:28:43 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Mike Mills: He doesn't think it hurts to be slightly underexploited.
    “I don't think it hurts to be slightly underexploited.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:28:52 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Mike Mills: Sean says Mills's 20th Century Women conversation in January 2017 was the first ever for the show.
    “We talked about 20th century women.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:29:50 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Mike Mills: He jokes about calling his therapist during the interview.
    “I'm going to call my therapist again to talk to you.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Tick, Tick ... Boom!,' and Our Top Five Feel-Good Movies · 1:30:14 · Mike Mills (0.90 sure it was them)