Independent Filmmaking and Wine: Chris McGilvray on Craft, Passion, and Perseverance

About this episode

Chris McGilvray discusses his journey as an independent filmmaker and his connection to the wine industry.

There has been an uptick in wine media. The series "Drops of God" has raised an eyebrow. It has become quite common when I am speaking about wine that someone asks if I have seen the show. I have been horrified by some of the work I have seen on-line and even on an airline. Just when the industry is reevaluating where it needs to go, ghastly footage shows up in the medai...have we no understanding of what the people want to see? Film is story telling...and Chris McGilvray is keenly aware of this. Though he was focused on corporate productions in the Silicon Valley, the opportunity to document a story of the winery Eden captured his imagination. Chris McGilvray's path to wine was anything but typical—he started at USC's prestigious film school, dropped out to wander Central America, and finally became an independent filmmaker in Santa Cruz, a place where both winemaking and movie making are decidedly unconventional, and the distance from Silicon Valley is measured in more than miles. Chris bridges the worlds of slow cinema and meticulous viticulture, unraveling the layers behind his films Eden and Terroir . Not only does he reveal how the Santa Cruz Mountains' small wine community…

People in this episode

Guest: Chris McGilvray

Topics covered

• independent filmmaking
• wine media
• storytelling
• documentary filmmaking

Keywords

• Eden
• Terroir
• Santa Cruz Mountains
• Silicon Valley

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Eden, Terroir

Books & works: Drops of God, Eden

Places: the Silicon Valley, Eden, Central America, Santa Cruz, Silicon Valley, the Santa Cruz Mountains'

More episodes of Wine Talks with Paul K.

• Building Wine Experiences: Kerrin Laz on Napa, Innovation, and Giving Back · April 21, 2026 · 52 min
• Breaking Barriers: Millennials, Diversity, and the Future of Wine with Isis Daniels · April 16, 2026 · 1h 1m
• How Time, Terroir, and Biodynamics Shape World-Class Sparkling Wines in Penedès · April 14, 2026 · 50 min
• From Ribera del Duero to Tokaj: The Global Journey of Vega Sicilia With Pablo Alvarez · April 2, 2026 · 46 min
• Beyond Classification: Château Quintus, Wine Passion, and Reimagining Saint-Émilion's Legacy: Nils Vaincot · March 26, 2026 · 54 min
• From Air Force Dreams to Napa Icons: Trevor Duling's Unexpected Wine Journey · March 24, 2026 · 54 min