Hollywood Uncorked

Hillary Turner has worked on both sides of entertainment's digital divide, having served as an executive at Disney in its traditional studio days and at streaming behemoth Netflix. She joins Tom, Ben and guest co-host Josh Shader for a fascinating conversation about how networks are using new levels of data in their programming decisions, her experience working on shows like Cobra Kai, Julie & The Phantoms, and Liv and Maddie, and a childhood spent on sets with her father, Joel Zwick, as he directed classic sitcoms like Full House, Family Matters, and Perfect Strangers.

Daniel Schnider joins the podcast to discuss his many career hyphens, from serving as a producer on the hit movie Straight Outta Compton to his current position as an executive at Univision. As he and the guys break out three bottles of Napa Merlot, Daniel spins yarns from his diverse career, including how a handy bit of entrepreneurship landed him at the world's largest Spanish-language programmer and how he ended up as the producing partner for Dr. Dre.

Hollywood Uncorked celebrates its 100th episode by welcoming screenwriter Aury Wallington, showrunner of the hit Netflix animated series Spirit Riding Free. Wallington shares tales from the writing trenches on shows like Heroes and Veronica Mars, how she landed her first writing credit on Sex & The City, and how her career started by running off to New Orleans to be a poet. Meanwhile, TV director Kabir Akhtar returns to help Aury, Tom and Ben drink their way through three affordable, but delicious bottles of Sancerre.

Calvert Studios has hosted countless Hollywood productions over the past several decades – from The Client List and Melrose Place to the original Beverly Hills: 90210. In this episode, Calvert Studios owner Bill Reider stops by to talk about the economics and challenges of running an active TV/film studio, and the future of production in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, he and guest co-host Ava Jamshidi help Ben & Tom drink through three affordable, yet amazing bottles of Super Tuscan.

In the mid-2000s, Allard Cantor was in his mid-30s and had a successful sales career in New York – with season tickets to every NYC sports team and $16 million in sales during his biggest year. But unfulfilled and wanting to try his hand in Hollywood, Cantor walked away from all of it and enrolled in film school at AFI. Now with his own management company – and having recently served as a producer on Judas and the Black Messiah – Cantor stops by Hollywood Uncorked to discuss his journey from corporate America to entertainment while helping Ben, Tom and guest co-host Arvind Ethan David drink through four affordable bottles of Chianti.

After winning an Emmy for editing the pilot of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Kabir Akhtar has gone on to become a prominent TV comedy director, helming shows like Superstore, Young Sheldon and The Sex Lives of College Girls, which he also produces. Kabir stops by Hollywood Uncorked's first episode since the start of the pandemic to get into three bottles of Washington State Cabernet while discussing the keys to successful TV directing, why he left a career editing reality TV to enter the scripted world, and the time he made national headlines in college by pranking MTV News. Screenwriter Tamara Chestna sits in to guest co-host.

Want to remember what life was like pre-COVID? Tune into this episode (recorded in early March) with screenwriter Richard Smith as the Hollywood Uncorked panel engages in forbidden activity like sitting face-to-face, sharing several bottles of Italian Nero d’Avola, and wantonly leaving the house. Along the way they talk about Smith’s screenwriting career, which got off to an auspicious start when his very first film project, Leonard, went from British short to premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. This was followed by his feature-length writing debut, Trauma, starring Colin Firth, as well as Smith’s latest project, The Garden of Evening Mists, based on the acclaimed Malaysian novel and currently rolling out across HBO platforms in Asia.

In an industry where intellectual property is everything, Sara Moskowitz is sitting on a mountain of it as a VP at Storied Media Group, which represents dozens of top publishers around the world, including The Washington Post. Moskowitz stops by this episode to help taste three bottles of Rioja while discussing Storied Media’s dual role as content broker and producer (Amazon’s Modern Love), how newspapers and magazines are bolstering their bottom lines with TV & film projects, and how her job at SMG all started with an internship for founder Todd Hoffman while he was an agent at ICM. Producer Arvind Ethan David sits in as guest co-host.

In the world of drinking-based entertainment, there is one man who reigns as the unquestioned king: Zane Lamprey, whose alcohol-driven travel cable shows Three Sheets and Drinking Made Easy pretty much invented the genre itself. Lamprey joins this truly hilarious episode to help drink through three bottles of Ribera del Duero from Spain as he regales the panel with tales of his favorite filmed drinking adventures from around the world, his new beer podcast Crafts-n-Crafts, and his infamous on-air drinking tour of Tom’s college town of Missoula, Montana.

What’s the best way to backstop a career in the notoriously topsy-turvy world of screenwriting? Adam Jay Epstein (Not Another Teen Movie, Extreme Movie) does it with his “night job” of authoring best-selling fantasy and sci-fi books for the middle grades. While helping the panel drink through three bottles of wine from California’s fast-growing Paso Robles region, Epstein talks about the process and economics of creating book franchises like The Familiars, Starbounders and Snared, his love of executing on big ideas, and the time the his Revenge of the Nerds remake totally fell apart after four weeks of shooting.

John Beach has made a niche for himself in Hollywood by getting early access to books and connecting them to writers and producers for film and TV adaptation. With guest host Mike Cohen sitting in, Beach spends this episode talking about what he looks for in a book that might be right for the screen and his well-hidden past as a movie poster model for films like Grosse Pointe Blank and White Squall. Meanwhile, the panel dives into three surprisingly delicious (and decidedly random) wines from the corner store nearby after Tom forgot to pick up the wines they planned on drinking for the night.

What’s it like when your boss is a writer, director and producer? Winsor Yuan stops by to describe his day-to-day running the development slate for multi-hyphenate Jared Stern, who has written the likes of Wreck-It Ralph, The Lego Batman Movie and The Internship, and is showrunning Green Eggs & Ham for Netflix. Meanwhile, Tom’s brother Tim Mullen and his wife Cindy sit in and ply the Hollywood Uncorked panel with a collection of stunningly good Plavac wines from Croatia that they picked up on their recent honeymoon.

Cougar Town began as a joke between co-creators Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel: Could you actually make a show with a name that bad? Well, they did just that—with the resulting show running for six seasons and more than 100 episodes on ABC and TBS. Biegel joins the Hollywood Uncorked panel and the week’s guest host, screenwriter Karen McCullah (Legally Blonde), to talk all things Cougar Town while appropriately helping swig back three bottles of Dolcetto. Along the way, Biegel chats about getting his start on Scrubs, the pain and joy of his short-lived sitcom Enlisted, and how writing for TV has changed in his decade-plus in entertainment.

Veteran producer Matt Gross boasts credits across all genres and platforms, from movies like Fired Up and Across the Universe to TV projects like Sons of Liberty, Dirty Sexy Money and Day Break. Fortunately for the Hollywood Uncorked panel, Matt is almost as passionate about wine as he is about entertainment—especially about the wines in this episode, Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Joined by guest co-host and producer of the new Creepshow series Brian Witten, Gross talks about his transition from movies to television, what makes a good producer, and gets honest about the most disappointing thing that ever happened to him in Hollywood.

Brian Duffield has made a name as one of the most versatile screenwriters in Hollywood—from making waves at age 23 with his first comedy spec Your Bridesmaid Is A Bitch to writing the McG-directed Netflix thriller The Babysitter to co-writing Insurgent, the uber-successful second installment of the Divergent franchise. As he joins the panel and guest co-host Arvind Ethan David to drink through three perfect-for-fall bottles of Oregon Pinot Noir, Brian talks about the emotional rollercoaster that is writing in Hollywood, the horrible day job at Lucky Jeans he got to quit after selling his first script, and the infamously plagued production of his first produced screenplay, the Natalie Portman-starrer Jane Got A Gun.

It wasn’t enough for author Tommy Wallach to simply write the New York Times-bestseller We All Looked Up. He also had to go and record an entire album of original music to go with it. Turns out, music and writing are just two of Wallach’s many talents, which also include devising the popular escape room, Lab Rat, which was recently named the 8th best escape room in the world. In this episode, Hollywood Uncorked honors Wallach with three bottles of blends as unique as he is, while guest co-host Arvind Ethan David joins in a discussion of how Wallach got his start in writing, the painful process of getting a novel to the screen, and the ever-evolving nature of interactive storytelling.

As a veteran exec in the animation divisions at Dreamworks and Sony, Michael Lachance has conceived and developed some of the most iconic animated movies of the past two decades—from helping concept Shrek 2 as his first project out of college to pitching Jeffrey Katzenberg the title and idea for Kung Fu Panda. In this episode, Michael helps the guys taste through three bottles of Napa Valley Chardonnay while discussing his approach to overseeing the new family & animation division of Miramax, how he generates his countless roster of movie ideas, and what it was like trying to keep up with Katzenberg’s epic executive schedule—including his legendary Sunday meetings at his house.

While 3Pas Studios has risen to become a top Hollywood producer of TV and movies oriented toward Latino audiences, VP Carlos Aguirre says its mandate is really no different than any other production company: find amazing material and bring it to the screen. In this episode, Carlos details his journey from journalism to mainstream studios like Paramount and Fox Television—and finally to his current role in the feature division of Eugenio Derbez’s production company. While sampling three truly unique examples of Malbec from Argentina, Carlos discusses whether Hollywood is really getting better at bringing diverse voices to the screen, the future for multicultural entertainment, and how his Hollywood career began with a chance phone call from Fox after they found his resume on Monster.com.

As the EVP of Development and Production at Walden Media, Naia Cucukov has touched a string of the company’s family-oriented releases, from A Dog’s Purpose to Steven Spielberg’s The BFG to the surprise 2017 hit Wonder, which went on to gross more than $300 million. In this episode, Naia helps the panel with their continuing exploration of the Nebbiolo-based wines of Italy’s Piedmont area by knocking back three bottles of Langhe. Along the way, she discusses what she looks for when scouring for potential film properties, the unique place that Walden holds in the entertainment industry as a true production company-studio hybrid, and the immense pressure of adapting beloved family titles for the screen.

Has there ever been a joke so offensive that Fox’s Family Guy didn’t want to touch it? We get the answer to that question and many more as we sit down with one of the show’s longest-tenured writers and its co-executive producer, Kirker Butler. With three bottles of 2015 Barbaresco providing our highest-rated wine night ever, Kirker talks about how he originally caught the attention of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane with a sample script for the show, his stint going to The Cleveland Show (and back), and how his path to one of the most incendiary shows on television included working as a radio preacher in Kentucky.

Tamara Chestna has traveled that rarest of Hollywood paths: from production executive to working screenwriter. In this episode, she sits down to talk about the unusual journey, the Amy Poehler-directed comedy Moxie she recently had greenlit by Netflix, and why the ongoing battle between agencies and the Writer’s Guild are so awkward (and not fun) for everyone involved. Meanwhile, Chestna’s manager and Episode #59 guest Ava Jamshidi steps in as guest co-host to help the group field test three lesser-known bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc against the king daddy in the category: Kim Crawford.

When screenwriter Adam Pava (The Boxtrolls, The Lego Movie 4D) landed a gig as the writing assistant for Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s MTV animated series Clone High in the early 2000s, he knew immediately he was in with the right two guys. And while the controversial show was short-lived, Pava’s professional partnership with the prolific writing and directing duo has flourished—helping spawn Pava’s own successful animation writing career. As he joins the Hollywood Uncorked panel in knocking back three amazing bottles of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (including the show’s highest-rated wine ever), Pava talks about what it’s like being part of the informal crew of Lord & Miller collaborators, the endlessly evolving process of developing The Boxtrolls movie, and his secret for sustained success in Hollywood.

As Hollywood Uncorked hits its 80th episode, we celebrate with three of our most epic segments, featuring Survivor’s Jeff Probst, Superstore’s Lauren Ash, and writer/director Conrad Goode (Anger Management, Me Myself & Irene). As we sample three inexpensive bottles of rosé, our guests talk about the lucky breaks, big chances, key relationships, and transformative experiences that launched their careers. Listen as Probst talks about competing for the Survivor gig against The Amazing Race’s Phil Keoghan, Lauren Ash discusses how she almost gave up on her Hollywood career before it even started, and Goode lets us in on the unparalleled shenanigans of the set of Con Air.

As an executive for French animation studio Cyber Group, Ira Singerman deals in two sectors of increasing importance in Hollywood: animation and foreign markets. As he helps the guys on their journey through Champagne by sampling three bottles from the Côte des Blancs region, Ira talks about switching over from the world of live-action production, what kinds of intellectual properties younger audiences gravitate toward, and the animation battle between streaming services and traditional media outlets as they compete to keeps kids gloriously silent at restaurants the world over.

A lively Part 2 of our conversation with Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald as we detail their respective early careers writing the comedies Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle and Hot Tub Time Machine, as well as their thoughts on the future of Hollywood. We also reach the climax of the Hollywood Uncorked All-Valley Tournament and find out if big, corporate wines win the day or lose to their small, plucky opponents.  

On their own, Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald have more-than-impressive track records for launching and furthering well-known film franchises. Heald wrote the comedy classic Hot Tub Time Machine and its hilarious sequel. Meanwhile, Hurwitz (with writing partner Hayden Schlossberg) has written all three Harold & Kumar movies and directed the 2012 installment of the American Pie franchise, American Reunion. Last year, this comedy coalition joined forces to relaunch the original Karate Kid franchise in the form of YouTube Red’s series Cobra Kai, which this time gives the underdog story to original bad guy Johnny Lawrence as he finds himself tormented by a grown and successful Daniel LaRusso. In honor of the All-Valley Tournament from the original Karate Kid, Heald and Hurwitz join this episode to help referee a three-round showdown between big, corporate wines and the plucky upstarts looking to challenge them in their categories. Along the way, they discuss their collegiate bonds, their mutual escapes from the business path, and how drinks sessions with both Ralph Macchio (LaRusso) and Billy Zabka (Lawrence) helped get Cobra Kai off the ground.  

Glenn Farrington has lived a lot of lives—from street cop to stand-up comedian to successful digital entrepreneur. Of course, the only sensible step after such a seemingly scatalogical career path was to add an even more random title to his professional stable: TV writer. As Glenn helps the guys heartily quaff three bottles of red wine from Italy’s Mount Etna region, he talks about how entering a screenwriting competition got his foot in the door in Hollywood, the importance of staying relentlessly driven, and his transition from the beloved, karate-based family sitcom Kickin’ It to his current position on the staff of the CW’s Roswell, New Mexico.

If you’re a studio executive looking to bring some hard-core humor to a female-centric comedy script, there’s a good chance Karen McCullough is at the top of your list of potential writers. After all, she wrote 10 Things I Hate About You, The House Bunny, and Legally Blonde (along with its upcoming sequel) alongside her writing partner Kirsten Smith. Meanwhile, her solo work includes the draft that got Girls Trip made—as well as countless other rewrites and feature scripts. As she helps Ben, Tom and guest host Arvind Ethan David mow through three bottles of Reims Champagne, Karen talks about how Legally Blonde 3 began to bubble up over the years, how she began her screenwriting career from New Mexico, and why she has no plans (thank you very much) to follow the writing herd to television.

You may recognize actor John Ducey from his countless TV appearances and as the suspiciously young dad of the Jonas Brothers on the Disney TV show that launched them. Or maybe you don’t recognize him from that. Frankly, we don’t know what you’re into. But you should definitely tune into this episode as the guys sit down with John to test whether it’s really better getting that last-minute wine at an actual wine shop instead of the grocery store. While drinking through three stellar but inexpensive bottles of casual dinner wine, John reveals how he went from Harvard engineering grad to actor, the pleasure and pain of being a series regular on the hilarious but short-lived sitcom Bad Judge, and how he took charge of his Hollywood career by jumping into the production side of independent film.

Being a screenwriter isn’t for the faint of heart. There are the years of solitary work, the frustrating script notes, rejections—and, even in success, absolutely no guarantee of a long career. The lucky writers, however, have a manager like Bob Sobhani of Authentic Management on their side. In this episode, he and the Hollywood Uncorked panel sample three wines from Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2018 and get down to brass tacks on the business of screenwriting—from how new content platforms are affecting the industry, the things no screenwriter should do when trying to break in, and Bob’s front-row seat to the development and sale of the script for American Pie while interning for the movie’s producers.

As the young Head of Development for producer Jordan Kerner (The Smurfs and The Mighty Ducks franchises), Lisa Crnic is only a short time removed from the universal Hollywood experience of being an assistant. As the guys follow up their New Year’s Eve Champagne episode with an exploration of bubbly from France’s Marne Valley, Lisa walks us through the transition from assistant to exec—from her terrifying first day as an agency newbie at CAA, what it takes to “work a desk” for an agent, and the logistical mistake she made there that almost ended her career before it began.

Hollywood Uncorked closes out 2018 with a bang as the guys crank through four stellar New Year’s Eve champagnes while listening to a slew of epic tales from veteran actor/writer Conrad Goode (Me Myself & Irene, The Longest Yard) about his journey from the NFL to Hollywood. While the panel works up from a Korbel to a 2009 Dom Perignon, Conrad discusses how he and the rest of the cast of Con Air killed time while shooting in the Nevada desert, writing and producing the movie Watercolor Postcards, and some truly choice stories about his ex-teammate Lawrence Taylor.

In the new Hollywood, popular books are worth their weight in gold as the intellectual property powering countless franchises in movies and TV—from Crazy, Rich Asians to The Devil Wears Prada. As co-head of the book department at The Gotham Group, Edward Gamarra is responsible for finding the manuscripts and published works that could become the next blockbuster or breakout series—exactly what he did with The Maze Runner and its sequels, which he executive produced. In this episode, Eddie helps the guys work through three pretty amazing bottles of domestic Merlot as he talks about the difference between Hollywood and publishing, how he ended up in entertainment after getting a PhD in psychoanalysis, and his weekly commute to LA from his home in Minneapolis.

A veteran of LA’s improv scene, actor-writer Damon Jones (Life of The Party) has had success across the entertainment spectrum, from creating sitcoms like USA’s Benched and Comedy Central’s Halfway Home to writing the script and music for the upcoming Melissa McCarthy movie Margie Claus. In this episode, he helps the Hollywood Uncorked panel select wines for the perfect holiday party as he discusses coming up in the famed Groundlings comedy troupe, how he landed a role in an infamous Seinfeld episode, and the time he ended up in Carrie Fisher’s bathtub with John Malkovich.

Everybody has that go-to wine they drink by when nobody else is around. The kind that’s cheap, tasty enough and gets the job done. But are we doing ourselves a disservice when we settle for “good enough” wine? Is there actually a better option out there for the same amount of coin if we just took the time to find it? In this episode, the panel puts that premise to the test as each member brings a bottle of their favorite house wine while letting the professionals at K&L Wines suggest an alternative. Will the Hollywood Uncorked crew stick with their go-to wines or take the pro advice? Find out as the guys are joined by guest Mike Cohen, who takes them inside the world of augmented reality and how it’s poised to impact the entertainment landscape.

Ever been in a mall and wondered about the ridiculously good-looking people staring back at you from kiosk ads and clothing store bags? Well, wonder no more! Actor/model Spencer Hill joins our new episode to talk about his career, which includes being the face of Aveda’s men’s grooming line and appearing in countless commercials and TV shows, including Grey’s Anatomy, True Blood and CSI:NY. Joined by guest co-host Gren Wells, Spencer helps drink three bottles of wine from Ben’s personal cellar as he discusses aging into playing the “sexy dad,” how modeling is a family affair that includes his wife Alicia Hill and their son, and what it was like to play Avril Lavigne’s boyfriend in a music video. Because that happened.

In this episode, the guys take a thematic trip north of the border to encounter two true rarities: Canadian wine and one of that country’s most prolific married writing couples: New York Times best-selling author Tanis Rideout (Above All Things) and Simon Racioppa, showrunner for the upcoming Amazon series Invincible based on the comic books of The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman. While sampling three unique wine offerings from Prince Edward Country, Ontario, Rideout talks about how she went from working retail at an outdoor store to writing her award-winning novel based on George Mallory's failed 1924 attempt to be the first person to climb Mount Everest. Meanwhile, Racioppa discusses how he approaches adapting well-known literary material—from beloved comic books to writing for The Dark Crystal prequel series from Netflix.

Adam Campbell might be the first classically trained English actor to break into Hollywood by headlining back-to-back spoof movies, with leading roles in both Date Movie and Epic Movie in the mid-2000s. Since then, he has stayed true to the comedic path, with credits ranging from The Five-Year Engagement to Hello Ladies, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and as a series regular on the Tina Fey-produced sitcom Great News. Adam joins today’s episode to dip into the largely unknown world of English sparkling wines while discussing his journey from England to California, the movie review that almost broke him, and how his marriage to Glee actress Jayma Mays helps keep his comedy chops up.

As the founder of Madhouse Entertainment (Prisoners, Slender Man), producer/manager Robyn Meisinger deals in her share of gifted wine. And while most of it still sits in a box in the corner of her office, she’s nonetheless an appropriate guest to join in on an exploration of three of the most gifted bottles of wine in Hollywood. As she helps the guys work their way through a Jordan, a Sideways-inspired Hitching Post Pinot Noir, and a Rombauer Chardonnay, Robyn delivers some classic industry yarns—including the time she got a movie financed with a drug dealer and how she got her start managing clients as a producer’s assistant by secretly repping writers that were submitted to him.

As the longtime host and executive producer of Survivor, Jeff Probst has presided over his share of epic battles of will. But few have been as suspenseful or delightfully haphazard as this episode’s inaugural Hollywood Uncorked Blind Tasting Challenge! Joining a specially convened competition panel, Probst competes through four rounds of wine-tasting travails—from a blindfolded opening act to a wild finale that involves two players sampling the contents of the infamous dump bucket. Along the way, Probst spills some details about the upcoming season of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, discusses how he and Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race almost ended up with each other’s jobs, and describes what really happened behind the scenes of the infamous 2008 Emmys he hosted alongside the other four nominees for best reality host.

Nick Nantell has spent more than a decade working as an executive for producers like Beau Flynn (Skyscraper) and Dan Jinks (American Beauty). Now stepping out as a producer in his own right, Nick stops by the podcast to help drink three bottles of oh-so-sweet Sauternes (paired with cheeses and patés courtesy of guest co-host Arvind Ethan David) as we talk about the wilderness of independent producing, how Nick parlayed a string of college internships into a lasting Hollywood career, and last week’s controversial decision to add a “Popular Film” category to the Academy Awards.

Actress Katie Von Till is active in front of the camera and behind the scenes in entertainment—as a Los Angeles SAG-AFTRA Boardmember and as a TV mainstay on shows like Mom, Young Sheldon, Conan, and The Big Bang Theory. But she also carries on a rare Hollywood legacy as just the fourth woman in history to be the official voice of Disney’s Snow White. In this episode, she joins us to drink three varietals of Vadio from the Bairrada region of Portugal (provided by  Rachel Farah Selections) as she discusses the difference between acting and voiceover work, how she got her start doing regional theater and singing at NHL games, and the fight ahead for Hollywood’s labor unions.

What actually happens when a show gets canceled on one network and picked up by another? Does fan outcry actually help an axed show’s chances of finding new life? In this episode, the guys get a front-row seat to Amazon’s decision to save science fiction drama The Expanse after it was canceled in May by SyFy—all told by one of its stars, Wes Chatham. As he helps sample three bottles of New Zealand Pinot Noir, Wes also explains how he got his Hollywood start while in the Navy and what he got up to at an Aerosmith concert in Berlin with Woody Harrelson during their downtime while shooting The Hunger Games sequels.

What should an aspiring screenwriter do to land their first manager or agent? And what’s expected of them if they’re lucky enough to find representation? In this episode, we sit down with Ava Jamshidi, who has been a rep on both sides of the aisle—as a longtime agent at ICM and currently as a literary manager at Industry Entertainment. As she does her part to help with three bottles of Provence rosé—including the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie-owned Miraval—Ava discusses her transition from agent to manager, how merger mania is changing the face of Hollywood, and why finding a winning idea from a new writer sometimes involves diving into the deepest parts of their notebook.

Drinking free wine is pretty great on its own, but even better when you do it for a good cause. In this episode, Tom and Scott soldier on without an absent Ben as they crash the home of entertainment lawyer Howard Abramson for the L.A. Youth Network wine event supporting local homeless youth. As we sample wines from Chris Blasman of Four Brothers Winery and Geoff Graber of San Se Wines, we talk to Howard about his love of aged wine and how he went from working with Alan Dershowitz at Harvard to being the partner of his own entertainment law firm. We also sit down with LAYN executive director Mark Supper to talk about the organization’s role in shaping young lives in Hollywood.

Nobody has had a better view of the changes in independent film over the past decade-plus than Greg Pritikin, who began his career by making a $10,000 movie on his credit card, went on to write and direct notable indies like Dummy with Adrien Brody and Milla Jovovich, and has now graduated to Netflix where he has The Last Laugh with Richard Dreyfuss and Andie MacDowell coming out. As he discusses his career and the ups and downs of movie-making, he joins the guys in their second dip into Oregon Pinot Noir. Also joining this episode is director Beth Kochendorfer of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, who fills in as co-host for an absent Scott Kay after being one of Hollywood Uncorked’s first guests ever on Episode #5.

What better way to gussy up L.A.’s first sparkling wine event than with the vino-swilling freeloaders from Hollywood Uncorked? In this special live episode, Ben, Scott and Tom broadcast from the Hollywood Avalon during the inaugural Effervescence 2018, featuring champagnes and sparkling wines from across California and the world. As the guys sample the fares of Hillersden and Flying Goat Cellars, they interview the three finalists of Effervescence’s Best Sparkling Somm competition, talk to event organizer Jannika Pettersson about what it takes to pull off a major wine event in the heart of Hollywood, and sit down with top champagne expert Richard Juhlin to discuss how a “photographic” sense of smell led to his career as a professional taster.

We at Hollywood Uncorked wrestle with many of life’s conundrums, but we know this: When actress Sarah Wayne Callies invites you to her hotel room to drink French wine and talk about the recently launched third season of her fantastic science-fiction series Colony, you go! As Sarah helps the guys polish three bottles of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, she talks about what she learned about her craft by directing an episode of the new season (Wednesdays 10/9C on USA), the rollercoaster ride that was playing the controversial Lori Grimes on The Walking Dead, and how getting tight with your show’s crew can be a life-saver when you end up drinking too much apple pie-flavored moonshine at a Georgia roadhouse. (Photo Credit: Isaac Sterling Photography)

Nora & Lilla Zuckerman have carved out an amazing career as a sister writing team for high-concept television dramas like Fringe and Suits, and currently serve as co-executive producers on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC. In this episode, we blend their passion for television with one of their choice hobbies: hot tubs, and specifically the act of drinking wine in them. While swigging three low-cost white wines, the Sisters Zuckerman fill us in on the dynamics of being a sibling writing team, their transition from being book authors to TV scribes, and they indulge our pesky questions about working with Meghan Markle before she left Hollywood to become a real-life princess.

How did Arvind Ethan David go from Oxford-educated British lawyer to Hollywood producer? It started when he quit his former law firm the day after being selected for the partner track—and he hasn’t looked back since. Arvind joins us for a hilarious unpacking of his career spanning film, TV and theater—while doing his part on three esteemed bottles of St.- Estèphe Bordeaux. Along the way, we get to hear about the cultural fallout of his big-screen British comedy The Infidel, his involvement with the Netflix series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, and how a lunch with Alanis Morisette led to him producing Jagged Little Pill, the upcoming musical based on her famous debut album.

Christina Moore has had some diverse chapters in her Hollywood career—from famously replacing the original actress who played Forman’s sister on That ‘70s Show, to being known by kids the world over as the absentee mom on Disney Channel’s Jessie. As she helps the guys get through three bottles of amazing, yet affordable Bourgueil, Christina talks about the things she learned working with Sharon Stone, the fun insanity of being a cast member on MadTV, and her dual role producing and starring alongside Kevin Dillon in the new racing movie, Dirt.