Otter Pop Culture

March 7, 2012 After an officially-sanctioned OPC hiatus, we're back in action. In this episode, we discuss the past, present, and future of reality show competition. Highlighting this beautifully is our special guest, Annette Starbuck of The Goodie Girls, winner of the Cupcake Wars season 3 premier. Check out Annette's site and order yourself something nice. http://www.thegoodiegirls.com/

November 14, 2011 Main Topic: Internet Communication Special Guest Louis Mandylor From hit TV shows/films like "Can't Hurry Love," "Martial Law" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," Louis Mandylor has steadily worked in the highly competitive entertainment industry. After winning several best actor and director awards in 2010 & 2011, Louis Mandylor and Krakatau Films are getting excellent reviews. Louis & Krakatau Films recently had the honor of working opposite such renowned and award-winning actors that include Ron Perlman, Jeremy Renner, David Caruso, Laura Herring, Michael Rooker, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lawrence Fishburne, Minny Driver and Harvey Keitel, to name a few. Louis partnered with Ron Perlman and just completed filming his original concept and highly anticipated film/show "Elwood," that was introduced at Comic-Con last year.  www.louismandylor.wordpress.com www.louismandylor.com

November 7, 2011 Main Topic: Self-Improvement Special Guest Sean Kanan For our 9th episode, we discuss our culture's fascination with self-improvement, in it's myriad forms. Fad diets, exercise crazes, cosmetic surgery, nootropics, martial arts and improving your social standing are all discussed. Sean Kanan is an internationally renowned actor best known for is iconic role as Deacon Sharpe in the daytime drama The Bold and the Beautiful. Sean has been a hard-working actor ever since receiving his degree from UCLA. Shortly after graduation, he landed one of the major roles in the megahit Karate Kid III, starring as Ralph Macchio’s nemesis. He followed quickly followed with roles on the TV series produced by Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, and Oliver Stone’s Wild Palms. He subsequently moved to network television with roles on General Hospital, Sunset Beach, The Bold and the Beautiful, and The Young and the Restless. In addition to acting, Kanan frequents the comedy club circuit and makes numerous appearances at the world famous Hollywood “Improv,” “The Laugh Factory” and the “HaHa,” where he offers his perspective on his ten years in daytime television, his time living in Italy when he was a featured contestant on the Italian Dancing with the Stars, and getting beaten up in Karate Kid III. He also toured with the USO, entertaining in places such as Bosnia and Kosovo. Off the set, Kanan spends his free time studying martial arts, writing, cooking and pursuing his studies in Italian language. http://seankananent.com/ http://seankananthemoderngentleman.com/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437088/

October 31, 2011 Main Topic: Halloween! Special Guest Scott L. Schwartz We celebrate the season of the witch by an informal, stream-of-consciousness look at Halloween through the years. Costumes are discussed, trick-or-treating traditions are analyzed, and the true cynicism of the college worldview comes out. Scott Schwartz is an Israeli born American film andtelevision actor and stuntman, and former professional wrestler. He is known for his work in such films and TV shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, The Scorpion King, Charmed, The Tick, and Black Scorpion among others, but he is probably most recognized for his role as 'The Bruiser' in the films Ocean’s Eleven,Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. He has appeared in such big budget films as Spider-man, Fire Down Below, Starsky & Hutch, and Fun with Dick and Jane. Apart from his acting, and after completing training, Schwartz became a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy and a deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Reserve Forces Bureau. Schwartz also started the Scott L. Schwartz Children's Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at lifting the spirits of childen battling cancer. He currently resides in Long Beach, California. http://www.ultimatebadguy.com/ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0777435/ http://scottlschwartzchildrensfoundation.wordpress.com/

October 24, 2011 Main Topic: Go Big or Go Home The OPC Gang discusses the form and elements of being totally extreme. Sports, living conditions, eating habits, and relationship styles are all explored, showing us that we live in a culture of going big or going home. With special guest, motocross racer Clint Cravens.

October 17, 2011 Main Topic: Fashion On this episode, host Dane subs out in favor of our friend and correspondent Vivian, who leads our discussion on the fashion of our lives. From the late 80's to present, we review how fashion has changed and where we think it will end up.

October 10, 2011 Main Topic: Breakups It's rainy and cold in San Francisco, and we're feeling the blues. We talk about that which lays waste to cities and psyches alike- breakups. In our lives, in pop culture and in politics, people break up. It happens. From Ashton and Demi to the two Sudans, we cover what you need to do and how we feel about the biggest musical inspiration since a white-robed carpenter strolled the Earth. Special Guest Haden Blackman An award-winning writer and producer with a track record for creating compelling stories, Fearless Studios co-founder Haden Blackman has developed multi-million unit selling game franchises including Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and the original concept for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, managed multiple game franchises as an executive producer, penned iconic comics such as Batwoman, written the story for a best-selling novel, and authored multiple books for Random House and Del Rey. Blackman has had executive roles in both studio management and game development and has worked in a variety of entertainment industries, giving him the necessary experience as well as creative drive to co-found a new development studio geared toward creating the interactive hits of tomorrow. While working in games, Blackman has continued his freelance writing, penning well over fifty comic books for Dark Horse Comics and other publishers, two non-fiction Star Wars books, and numerous magazine articles and essays. His work has been spotlighted in a wide variety of publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Wizard, Wired, Vanity Fair, Playboy, and countless gaming magazines. Most recently, he began co-writing Batwoman for DC Comics, a new series debuted in September 2011 to high praise from fans and critics alike. A California native, Haden Blackman attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he studied Creative Writing under author Page Stegner and acclaimed poet David Swanger. He graduated with Honors in the Major and College Honors in recognition of his work in screenwriting, fiction, and poetry. An in-demand speaker, Blackman has presented multiple GDC, IGDA, and E3 lectures and panels, and spoken at Stanford University and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He received awards for outstanding videogame writing from both the Writers Guild of America and Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for his work on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and was again nominated for the WGA’s award for The Force Unleashed 2. http://www.hadenblackman.com/ http://fearlessstudios.com/ http://stars.ign.com/objects/142/14279013_biography.html

October 3, 2011 Main Topic: Revolution! pt. 2 Continued from the last show, the OPC gang will finally get around to throwing that information revolution we've been talking about. Or maybe we'll find something else to do (these revolutions can't be forced, you know.) Special Guest Jake Busey William Jacob "Jake" Busey (born June 15, 1971) is anAmerican actor, musician and film producer. Busey's motion picture debut was in the 1978 film Straight Time with his father Gary and Dustin Hoffman. His two most notable appearances are as the murderous religious fanatic opposite Jodie Foster in Contact and as smart-mouthed soldier Ace Levy in Starship Troopers. He appeared in H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, one of three 2005 film adaptations of the novel by H.G. Wells, alongside C. Thomas Howell. Additionally, he has had major roles in Tomcats opposite Jerry O'Connell and Shannon Elizabeth, in James Mangold's thrillerIdentity, with C. Thomas Howell in the The Hitcher II, Michael J. Fox in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners and Road House 2. Busey played the role of "Backfire" in Patrick Durham's movie Cross which was released directly to DVD and download in May 2011. He has also had minor parts in films like Windrunner: A Spirited Journey starring Jason Wiles, Christmas with the Kranks starring Tim Allen, I'll Do Anything, Enemy of the State, The Killing Jar, The Stoned Age,PCU, and Fast Sofa with Jennifer Tilly and Natasha Lyonne. In 2010, Jake Busey recorded a four song EP with his band Sons of the Lawless, a California garage rock/indy band. Jake states they do have plans to tour by 2011.

For our third episode, we got the immense pleasure to interview Joseph Garner, associate producer of The Hangover, The Hangover II, Due Date, and assistant to the director, Todd Phillips. A tech issue prevented us from recording our normal segments, but the interview in all it's glory is preserved for posterity.

Second Episode- The OPC Gang discusses being broke and how they feel about it- with special guest host Broke-Ass Stuart.