Special Report: Mineshaft (2026)
Show notes
A notorious leather bar, a murdered film critic and a Hollywood shoot that turned Christopher Street into a battleground. Mineshaft (2026) is a new festival documentary about gay New York in the late 1970s and the killing that fed into William Friedkin's Cruising (1980). Director Jeffrey Schwarz, fresh from the Tribeca premiere and a run of festivals including Outfest, joins Mike White to talk it through.
The conversation starts with Addison Verrill, the Variety critic murdered at 36, and the one box of district attorney files that survived, autopsy reports and crime scene photos included. Schwarz explains how he earned the trust of Verrill's sister, found his partner Bob Geary, and why he refused to make another exploitative true crime film. From there the trail leads to Paul Bateson, the killer who also appeared in The Exorcist (1973), and to Arthur Bell's Village Voice columns, the leaked script and the street protests that dogged Al Pacino and Friedkin.
Also on the table: Friedkin's refusal to be interviewed, the vintage audio that still gives him a voice, protest tape Schwarz held onto for thirty years, Vito Russo, and the Showgirls (1995) documentary he hopes comes next.
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Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth
The Projection Booth is part of the Weirding Way Media podcast network. Explore more of our shows at http://weirdingwaymedia.com.
The conversation starts with Addison Verrill, the Variety critic murdered at 36, and the one box of district attorney files that survived, autopsy reports and crime scene photos included. Schwarz explains how he earned the trust of Verrill's sister, found his partner Bob Geary, and why he refused to make another exploitative true crime film. From there the trail leads to Paul Bateson, the killer who also appeared in The Exorcist (1973), and to Arthur Bell's Village Voice columns, the leaked script and the street protests that dogged Al Pacino and Friedkin.
Also on the table: Friedkin's refusal to be interviewed, the vintage audio that still gives him a voice, protest tape Schwarz held onto for thirty years, Vito Russo, and the Showgirls (1995) documentary he hopes comes next.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth--5513239/support.
Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth
The Projection Booth is part of the Weirding Way Media podcast network. Explore more of our shows at http://weirdingwaymedia.com.