Best movies & TV Shows like Song Exploder
How music gets made.
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Song Exploder Starring Hrishikesh Hirway, and more. If you liked Song Exploder then you may also like: Neil Young Journeys, One Trick Pony, Dig!, Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, Tusk and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Get inspired as musicians dig deep into the creative process of songwriting and reveal their intimate thoughts in a series based on the hit podcast.
You may filter the list of movies on this page for a more refined, personalized selection of movies.
Still not sure what to watch click the recommend buttun below to get a movie recommendation selected from all the movies on this list
One Trick Pony
An aging rock star trying to put together a new album in the face of an indifferent record label and a talentless producer. At the same time, he's struggling to save his failing marriage.
Dig!
A documentary on the once promising American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. The friendship between respective founders, Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor, escalated into bitter rivalry as the Dandy Warhols garnered major international success while the Brian Jonestown Massacre imploded in a haze of drugs.
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions
An intimate concert film, in which Taylor Swift performs each song from her album 'folklore' in order, as she reveals the meaning and the stories behind all 17 tracks for the very first time.
Score: A Film Music Documentary
Music is an integral part of most films, adding emotion and nuance while often remaining invisible to audiences. Matt Schrader shines a spotlight on the overlooked craft of film composing, gathering many of the art form’s most influential practitioners, from Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman to Quincy Jones and Randy Newman, to uncover their creative process. Tracing key developments in the evolution of music in film, and exploring some of cinema’s most iconic soundtracks, 'Score' is an aural valentine for film lovers.
I Want to Destroy America
A documentary film by Peter I. Chang which traces the life of the Japanese musician Hisao Shinagawa through his early years as a folk singer in Tokyo to his current occupation as a street performer in Los Angeles.
Sex Madness Revealed
Jimmy Morris has a special surprise guest on his podcast, The Film Dick. It's Chester Holloway who reveals all the secrets behind the mysterious 1939 film, 'Sex Madness.'
Prince: A Purple Reign
Part of BBC Four's Black Music Legends of the 1980s, this documentary explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionized the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as "1999," "Kiss," "Raspberry Beret" and "Alphabet Street." He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie "Purple Rain" in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continues to this day.
Be Still
Already a successful portrait photographer, Hannah sets to reinvent this art form. Abandoning herself to a creative process that might easily be mistaken for madness, she's soon visited by mirror images of herself, as well as her daughter's ghost. Inspired by the life of photographer Hannah Maynard (1834-1918).
Behind the Music
An intimate look into the personal lives of pop music's greatest and most influential artists.
Dirty John
Anthology series in which each season is based on a true crime story featuring an epic tale of love gone wrong.
Lore
This anthology series brings to life Aaron Mahnke's “Lore” podcast and uncovers the real-life events that spawned our darkest nightmares. Blending dramatic scenes, animation, archive and narration, Lore reveals how our horror legends - such as vampires, werewolves and body snatchers - are rooted in truth.
Time Team
Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on British Channel 4 from 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode featured a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining the process in layman's terms. This team of specialists changed throughout the series' run, although has consistently included professional archaeologists such as Mick Aston, Carenza Lewis, Francis Pryor and Phil Harding. The sites excavated over the show's run have ranged in date from the Palaeolithic right through to the Second World War.
Classic Albums
A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.
The Ricky Gervais Show
The Ricky Gervais Show is an American cartoon series produced for and broadcast by HBO and Channel 4. The series is an animated version of the popular British audio podcasts and audiobooks of the same name, which feature Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, along with colleague and friend Karl Pilkington, talking about various subjects behind the microphone. The TV show consists of past audio recordings of these unscripted "pointless conversations," with animation drawn in a style similar to classic era Hanna-Barbera cartoons, presenting jokes and situations in a literal context. The animated Ricky Gervais Show has aired 39 episodes across three seasons since it premiered in 2010. There were some plans for a possible fourth season which would have used newly recorded audio, but this was shelved in June 2012. Series 3 of The Ricky Gervais Show premiered on 20 April 2012 on HBO, and on 8 May 2012 on E4.
Comedy Bang! Bang!
Based on Scott Aukerman’s popular podcast of the same name, COMEDY BANG! BANG! cleverly riffs on the well-known format of the late night talk show, infusing celebrity appearances and comedy sketches with a tinge of the surreal. In each episode, Aukerman engages his guests with unfiltered and improvisational lines of questioning, punctuated by banter and beats provided by bandleader, one-man musical mastermind Reggie Watts, to reinvent the traditional celebrity interview. Packed with character cameos, filmic shorts, sketches and games set amongst an off-beat world, COMEDY BANG! BANG! delivers thirty minutes of absurd laugh-loaded fun featuring some of the biggest names in comedy.
Criss Angel BeLIEve
The creative process behind the illusions and demonstrations from conception to execution. It is centered on stunts and street magic acts by Criss Angel.
On Story
An inside look at the creative process behind some of our most popular and beloved movies and television shows. All episodes feature recorded conversations between acclaimed and award-winning screenwriters, TV creators, and filmmakers from the Austin Film Festival's annual conference and year round events.
The Defiant Ones
A four-part documentary series that tells the stories of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre -- one the son of a Brooklyn longshoreman, the other straight out of Compton - -- and their improbable partnership and surprising leading roles in a series of transformative events in contemporary culture.
2 Dope Queens
A series of specials featuring Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams based on the hit comedy podcast of the same name. The show features the fun, fearless queens dishing on “Cocoa Khaleesis,” dating white baes, sex, New York-living, the best borough for pizza and more.
Civilisations
The story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day—for the first time on a global scale. Inspired by Civilisation, Kenneth Clark’s acclaimed landmark 1969 series about Western art, this series broadens the canvas to reveal the role art and the creative imagination have played across multiple cultures and civilizations.
The Great Songwriters
Authoritative and entertaining series featuring original portraits of songwriters discussing the creative process and their inspiration, including exclusive performances and interviews.
The Top Ten Revealed
Spotlighting the most influential songs, bands, and musicians in the history of rock n' roll with a rotating panel of music icons and experts for an insightful discussion examining the music that has left an indelible mark on the rock n' roll scene.
Homecoming
Heidi Bergman is a caseworker at Homecoming, a Geist Group facility helping soldiers transition to civilian life. Years later she has started a new life, living with her mother and working as a waitress, when a Department of Defense auditor questions why she left the Homecoming facility. Heidi quickly realizes that there's a whole other story behind the story she's been telling herself.
Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men
Transcending the music documentary genre by creating a new lane that merges music, socio-cultural commentary and and intimate family portrait of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Country Music
Explore the history of a uniquely American art form: country music. From its deep and tangled roots in ballads, blues and hymns performed in small settings, to its worldwide popularity, learn how country music evolved over the course of the 20th century, as it eventually emerged to become America’s music.
Shangri-La
An intimate look at the creative process through the lens of legendary music producer Rick Rubin.
I Can Go for That: The Smooth World of Yacht Rock
Offers a reappraisal of "yacht rock", a critically neglected era of music popularized by a boom in FM radio stations and its smooth sound. The gleaming yacht sound was, in part, always defined by a group of LA-based session players and composers who worked across a range of yacht bands, informing their specific tone and level of musicianship. Some of these artists talk about the yacht phenomenon and being part of the scene back in the day. The series explores how the music adapted from the the bearded sensitivity of the '70s to the bombast of the MTV '80s, and how a satirical online drama contributed to a revival of interest and enthusiasm for these sounds in the digital era.
I'm with the Band: Nasty Cherry
In an unfiltered, intimate docuseries, pop star mentor Charli XCX finds out what it takes to build -- and break -- a real, badass all-girl punk band.
Garth Brooks: The Road I'm On
An intimate look into Brooks' life as a musician, father, and man, as well as the moments that have defined his decades-spanning career and seminal hit songs.
The Dropout
The story of Elizabeth Holmes, the enigmatic Stanford dropout who founded medical testing start-up Theranos. Lauded as a Steve Jobs for the next tech generation and once worth billions of dollars, the myth crumbled when it was revealed that none of the tech actually worked, putting thousands of people's health in grave danger.
The Midnight Gospel
Traversing trippy worlds inside his universe simulator, Clancy the space caster explores existential questions about life, death and everything in between.
The Shrink Next Door
Inspired by the true story of Marty and the therapist who turned his life around...then took it over. When he first meets Dr. Ike, Marty just wants to get better at boundaries. Over 30 years, he'll learn all about them—and what happens when they get crossed.
Archive 81
An archivist takes a job restoring damaged videotapes and gets pulled into the vortex of a mystery involving the missing director and a demonic cult.
Point of View: A Designer Profile
A half-hour docuseries takes a peek into the mind of interior designers, revealing their creative processes and introducing the inspirations and influences that shape their designs.
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes
An expansion of the hit podcast and bestselling book, Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes brings to life the intimate interviews that broke Hollywood's most infamous story.
Art in Bloom with Helen Dealtry
Artist Helen Dealtry gives a glimpse into the creative process of painting.
The Horror of Dolores Roach
After an unjust 16-year prison sentence, Dolores Roach returns to a gentrified Washington Heights, where she reunites with an old stoner friend, Luis, who lets her live and work as a masseuse in the basement under his empanada shop. When the promise of her newfound stability is quickly threatened, “Magic Hands” Dolores is driven to shocking extremes to survive.
Willie Nelson & Family
The first authorized work exploring the extraordinary life of Willie Nelson traverses the personal and career ups, downs, and in-betweens of one of the world’s most beloved musicians.
Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All
For the first time ever, global superstar, Ed Sheeran opens the doors to a definitive and searingly honest view into his private life as he explores the universal themes that inspire his music. This series follows Ed after he learns of life changing news and reveals his hardships and triumphs during the most challenging period of his life. Featuring exclusive footage behind his iconic hits, never-before-seen personal archive with his friends and family, and epic stadium performances giving insight into Ed’s world.
Thalia's Mixtape: El Soundtrack de Mi Vida
Thalia takes audiences on a musical journey, uncovering the classics that inspired generations of artists and created the current Latin music landscape seen today. Through a combination of interviews, found footage and modern renditions of classic hits by today’s biggest stars, the series revisits the history of Latin music and uncovers the future of the genre in an intimate way not yet seen before.
Conan O'Brien Must Go
Conan O'Brien visits new friends he met through his podcast, "Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan," where he dives deep with listeners from across the country and the world.
Betrayal: The Perfect Husband
This docuseries chronicle how one woman discovered that her husband, high school teacher Spencer Herron, was conducting a series of sexual assaults and improprieties amongst his teenage students.
Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity
A cinematic ode to jazz legend, Wayne Shorter. Depicted in 3 portals, the viewer is transported into prolific periods of Shorter's life and how through adversity, he grew to greatness, shattered the limitations of jazz, and became one of the most influential musicians and composers in American music.
Neil Young Journeys
In May of 2011, Neil Young drove a 1956 Crown Victoria from his idyllic hometown of Omemee, Ontario to downtown Toronto's iconic Massey Hall where he intimately performed the last two nights of his solo world tour. Along the drive, Young recounted insightful and introspective stories from his youth to filmmaker Jonathan Demme. Through the tunes and the tales, Demme portrays a personal, retrospective look into the heart and soul of the artist.