James Moll is only a “T” away from achieving the mythical “EGOT”; for all you non 30 Rock fans, this means that Moll has acquired an Emmy, a Grammy and two Oscars to date. An impressive list of awards that keeps growing, and his documentary Farmland easily joins the high ranks of his previous work. In Farmland, Moll gets his hands dirty as he follows farmers all over the country and captures the struggles and joys of the day to day lives of some of America’s hardest working people. I chat with James via phone the morning after his Tribeca premiere of the documentary. Needless to say, spirits are high. We begin:

YESTERDAY WAS A BIG DAY FOR YOU…
Yesterday was the premiere of Farmland in New York City, very exciting. It was fun to watch the film on a big screen, with a big audience, and then to hear reactions for the first time. For so long it’s been just me and the editor in an editing room.

WHEN YOU WERE FILMING, COULD YOU RELATE TO THESE FARMERS? JUST LIKE THE FILMMAKING PROCESS, THEY PUT SO MUCH WORK INTO THEIR PRODUCT WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING WHAT THE RESULT IS GOING TO BE?
That’s the first time I’ve heard that question, that’s a great question! It’s true, yes, I do go into each project not exactly knowing what the outcome is going to be. Just wanting to be a fly on the wall with a camera and to follow people and see what it is they do everyday. Even in the interviews that I do with them, I go in with an idea of what I’m going to ask and talk to them about, but it always takes a turn and goes somewhere unexpected.It’s always an experience of exploration, you know?

DID YOU GET A CHANCE TO LEARN ACTUAL FARMING TECHNIQUES WHEN YOU WERE FILMING?
A little bit, but not so much. I wasn’t focused as much on the “how to” of farming as much as the “who” of farming. Who are these people that are growing our food? What are they like, what are their families like, what’s it like living on a farm… that’s what interested me more.

WHAT WAS YOUR MAIN REASON FOR MAKING THIS FILM?
For me, the approach was general- it was “who are they?” And I didn’t know what to expect.

THIS MAY BE A BY-PRODUCT, BUT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR EATING HABITS AFTER MAKING FARMLAND?
Haha, no I haven’t changed my eating habits, although I do feel more comfort with having a sense of where the food is coming from. My friends are always putting stuff on Facebook about what I should or shouldn’t eat, what’s good and what’s bad, and I don’t know what’s true! For me, it was really interesting to just see firsthand, and meet firsthand, farmers. I’m from Los Angeles and grew up in the middle of the city and I’ve never been on a farm.

WHAT WAS YOUR CASTING PROCESS?
We completely approached them out of the blue, the power of Google!

FARMERS, BY NATURE, AREN’T REALLY IN THE SPOTLIGHT, SO WERE THEY EXCITED WHEN YOU ASKED THEM TO BE A PART OF THIS DOCUMENTARY?
I profiled farmers all in their 20’s, the next generation of American farmers, and I think by and large the younger farmers are interested in having people know about what they do and having people come visit their farms. Other [farmers] hung up on us! They weren’t interested, but then again we’re just a stranger calling up out of the blue so I can understand that.

WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIKE TRAVELING ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY FILMING YOUR SIX SUBJECTS?
Logistically it was challenging, but fascinating. Every farm is different, so it was a constant learning experience. I’m hoping that the movie will give the audience the same experience that I had in going. I’m hoping that people will come away from this movie and feel like they now know a farmer.

A REALLY NICE TOUCH WAS THE “THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND” RECORDING AT THE END, DID YOU APPROACH EVERCLEAR AND LIZ PHAIR TO COLLABORATE ON THIS SONG?
Yes, the editor Tim Calandrello who I’ve worked with before on my film about the Foo Fighters [Foo Fighters, Back and Forth ] and he’s really into music, and it was his idea to use this rendition of “This Land is Your Land.” You would think, ‘ok, you’re making a movie about farmers and really? You’re going to use ‘This Land is Your Land?’ But Tim had played this recording that Everclear had done a few years back and I though it was great! So we approached them and asked if they wanted to do a version for the film and that’s how it all came together.