{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 119: Nick Davis","description":"Nick Davis is a writer, producer and documentary filmmaker. His latest film, \u201cYou Had To Be There: How the Toronto \u2018Godspell\u2019 Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way),\u201d opened the 2025 Toronto Film Festival and is currently playing in theaters across the country. The documentary, with a mouthful of a title, shines meaningful light on the storied 1972 production of the Stephen Schwartz musical, with a cast that included a then-unknown Martin Short, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber, Dave Thomas and Paul Shaffer\u2014\u201ca Rosetta Stone of funny people,\u201d according to The New York Times. Storytelling is in Nick\u2019s blood. Filmmaking, too. His grandfather, Herman Mankiewicz, was the celebrated screenwriter behind \u201cCitizen Kane\u201d and other Hollywood classics. His grand-uncle, Joseph Mankiewicz , wrote and directed dozens of films, including \u201cAll About Eve\u201d and \u201cCleopatra.\u201d His father, Peter Davis, directed the Academy Award-winning Vietnam documentary \u201cHearts and Minds.\u201d Together with his wife and producing partner Jane Mendelsohn, the noted American novelist, he runs a New York-based film production company and keeps on the constant lookout for stories he might tell in his singular way. The two have collaborated on a companion volume to their "Godspell" documentary, to be published by Broad Book Press in November 2026. Nick\u2019s 1990 novel Boone, a wild mash-up of performance art, improv, and oral history, written with his lifelong friend Brooks Hansen, was named by The New York Times as one of the most notable books of the year. His memoir Competing with Idiots, a dual portrait of his grandfather and granduncle, was published in 2021 to critical acclaim. His previous films include the multi-part documentary about the 1986 New York Mets, \u201cOnce Upon a Time in Queens,\u201d which aired as part of ESPN\u2019s \u201c30 for 30\u201d series; and \u201cTed Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived,\u201d which he produced and directed for PBS\u2019s \u201cAmerican Masters\u201d program. His 2025 documentary \u201cThis Ordinary Thing,\u201d recounting the stories of non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to rescue Jewish strangers, was nominated for the Cinema for Peace Dove for the Most Valuable Documentary of the Year at the 2026 Cinema for Peace Awards in Berlin. Learn more about our guest: Nick Davis Instagram Nick Davis Facebook Nick Davis Threads \u201cYou Had To Be There\u201d Instagram Please support the sponsors who support our show: Ritani Jewelers Daniel Paisner's Balloon Dog Daniel Paisner's SHOW: The Making and Unmaking of a Network Television Pilot Heaven Help Us by John Kasich Unforgiving: Lessons from the Fall by Lindsey Jacobellis Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Libro.fm (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership The Darling Killers Podcast Film Freaks Forever! podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton Everyday Shakespeare podcast A Mighty Blaze podcast The Writer's Bone Podcast Network Misfits Market (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order  Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Wizard Pins (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount ","author_name":"As Told To","author_url":"http:\/\/astoldtopodcast.com\/","html":"