Gus Van Sant on Dead Man's Wire

From Origin Stories by Campside Media

March 11, 2026 · 30 min · Episode 31

About this episode

Gus Van Sant discusses his film Dead Man’s Wire, exploring a bizarre hostage situation and the themes of desperation.

Gus Van Sant is an Academy Award–nominated filmmaker whose work spans four decades of American cinema, from independent classics like Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho to mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Milk . In this episode, he talks to Matthew about Dead Man’s Wire , his new film about a bizarre and largely forgotten 1977 standoff in Indianapolis, when a struggling businessman walked into a mortgage office, wired a shotgun to his hostage’s neck with a so-called “dead man’s wire,” and held a mortgage executive captive for nearly three days. Van Sant explains how he stepped into the project after another director dropped out, how the film’s tight schedule forced him to shoot the movie in less than three weeks, and why the story interested him less as a conventional thriller than as a portrait of desperation. “I’m imagining that something’s interesting to me,” he says. “And I imagine that it’s interesting to other people.” To connect with the team and gain access to behind the scenes content, join our community at ⁠joincampside.com⁠ . You can also find us on ⁠Instagram⁠ , ⁠TikTok⁠ & ⁠Youtube⁠ . Have a question, guest recommendation or just want to say hi…

People in this episode

Host: Matthew

Guest: Gus Van Sant

Topics covered

filmmaking
interviews
American cinema
thrillers
desperation
hostage situations

Keywords

Gus Van Sant
Dead Man’s Wire
filmmaking
hostage
Indianapolis
cinema
interview

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Dead Man’s Wire, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, Milk

Places: Indianapolis