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It’s the Fan Weekends with Kyle Reese and filling in for Marcello Romano, Danny Williams! The Denver Nuggets have a new head coach and they spoke for the first time earlier in the week. We got news that the majority of the assistant coaching staff is being let go. Do we like the move or are they getting rid of people that were proven for this team? What are some players that can help Denver get back to a championship? We take a look at the NBA finals and what Denver can learn from the teams in the mix, and what do the Broncos need to do to ensure that their defense continues to roll. Producer Alex has some questions and we have some answers! We say goodbye to Inside the NBA on TNT what shows do you miss sports or just TV. Is there a rookie that needs to step up for the Broncos to have more success this year? Give your ideal middle school sleepover, what movie are you renting what video games are we playing! A trip down memory lane for the two in studio!
Happy Mother’s Day fan faithful! Kyle Reese and Marcello Romano are back in the studio ready to breakdown this week in Colorado sports! The Avalanche suffered one of the worst losses in franchise history. Are we over it yet or are we still mad? A week removed are we still calling for heads to roll or is there a more obvious fix to bring a cup next year? Should we be worried that this roster wasn’t able to get it done or does this roster just need a little more time together? Producer Alex has questions, and our host have answers. After the Rockies embarrassing loss yesterday is there light at the end of the tunnel or should we just look towards next year? What is the best trade in Denver sports history? What meal reminds you of your family and of your mother on this Mother’s Day?
What a weekend in Colorado sports! Kyle Reese and John Davis are here to break it all down! We take a deep dive into the Avs lose. Where does this loss rank in the worst losses in Colorado sports? Do we need to take a long look at Jared Bednar or is this more on the GM Chris McFarland? Were the moves too big and too quick at the trade deadline? Do the numbers prove that Bednar might have to go for this team to extend the championship window? How did we feel about David Adelman’s first playoff series? Did he out coach Ty Lue or did the players finally wake up after a roller coaster of a regular season? The text-line was active today! We react to your texts and our Producer Alex has some questions. Who will be the biggest x-factor for the Nuggets in their next playoff series. How do we feel about the AFC west after the draft, and what was the first record you ever bought?
NFL Network Draft Producer Alex Maloney joins Afternoon Drive to discuss the behind the scenes of the NFL Draft. He talks about this year's draft coverage plans, what makes for the most compelling draft content, the challenge of taking the event on the road, and more.
The Fan Weekends kick your Sunday off with Kyle and Marcello! Kyle Reese has been watching baseball? What has he noticed from the Rockies? Is there hope with some of their young talent? We have the dreaded NBA MVP conversation. What does it mean to be an MVP in the NBA? We review Malones career as a Nugget and look towards his future in the NBA. Producer Alex has questions. Who do you want the Broncos to have, do the Denver Nuggets to push all the chips and risk their future, we revisit our favorite fictional sports athletes!
The Fan Weekends get your day started with Chad Andrus and Mike Rice in for Kyle and Cello! The worst kept secret in Colorado sports has to do with the Broncos wanting a new home. How do we feel about the chances of the Broncos moving some where else in Colorado? Does this new stadium NEED a retractable roof, or will it just be a dome? Are we losing the epic snow games in Colorado or is there a way to keep those magical moments? The NFL draft is around the corner and Chad wants to know who do we want with the 20th pick? Mike has an interesting proposition for the Broncos and Chad thinks it could be worth exploring if a lot of players are gone by pick 20. Producer Alex has some questions, and the guys have some answers. If you could only have one for the Rockies, do you want better run or bullpen support? Which 15 gets retired inside Ball Arena? Who is the best fictional movie athlete?
We're debuting a new series on the Toolkit feed; a look into some of the challenges and opportunities facing independent filmmakers in 2025. First up, we sit down with veteran producer Alex Saks, to dig into why even our most successful independent filmmakers are struggling to make a living right now. If directors like Sean Baker and Brady Corbet can work with the best indie studios, get great reviews, win awards, and STILL can't make rent, what does that mean for indie filmmaking as a whole? Watch the entire interview here: https://youtu.be/KTMP36_o-sk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Fan Weekends roll on with Kyle Reese and Marcello Romano! The Broncos have been living it up since Russell Wilson has been gone, but has Wilson overstayed his welcome in the NFL after signing with the Giants? What other players have overstayed their welcome in sports? Have more players tarnished their legacy because they couldn’t hang it up? The Text-line gives some names that fit that bill. Producer Alex has some questions! Nikola Jokic is cementing his name as an all time great. Does he need another championship to finally be acknowledged as a top five ALL-TIME player? What grade would you give the Avalanches general manager as we reach their playoff push? The Colorado Rockies have officially started their season. Is there ANYTHING they can do to get your attention this year?
WTB with Jen Brister, Maureen Younger and Allyson June Smith
In this mini-but-still-full-length-episode, Maureen, Allyson and Producer Alex give you your usual dose of bollocks, and reflect on our top 5 goats over the years.Please consider sending money to Jen's Gaza fundraiser, now more than ever.Send your favourite Be More Maureen Moments, problems, rants and anything else you've enjoyed about the show to womentalkingbollocks@gmail.com!Buy Maureen's new book, Prisms of My Life, here.Get your next dose of Allyson live here.Keep up with everything Jen's doing here.Produced by Impatient Productions, edited by Ralph Foster.Artwork by Haiminh Le. Follow WTB on Twitter @wtb_podcast and on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram @wtbpodcast. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
"Anora" is our latest Oscar Best Picture winner. At the 97th Academy Awards, Sean Baker's film won 5 awards in total, including Best Director, Actress for Mikey Madison, Original Screenplay, and Film Editing. Co-producer Alex Coco was kind enough following the awards season to sit with us and reflect on the Best Picture win, the reaction from audiences towards the movie for good and for bad, and what the win means for the state of independent cinema moving forward, which can be listened to down below. Please be sure to check out the film, which is now available to stream on Hulu and will be available to purchase through the Criterion Collection on April 29th. Thank you, and enjoy! Check out more on NextBestPicture.com Please subscribe on... Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The band is together for this Sunday Morning edition of the Fan Weekends with Kyle Reese and Marcello Romano! The NFL draft is around the corner. Given the moves the Broncos made in free agency should they change their drat plans? What role needs to be looked at in Green Bay? What does Evan Engram really mean to this Broncos offense? We take a look back at our favorite childhood cartoons and producer Alex never fails to make everyone feel old. Producer Alex has some questions and Kyle and Cello have answers! What role do the Broncos need to address with their recent acquisitions in free agency? Should they keep dipping their toes in the free agent market or do they need to complete shift focus entirely on the draft? The Avs are skating against their former teammate Mikko Rantanen. With him making his return to Ball arena will fans cheer him or boo him? Who is the best athlete to act in a movie?
Of Course You Realize THIS Means Podcast - A Looney Tunes Discussion
Welcome Folks to the greatest Podcast in the Looniverse! This week's episode is all about Looney Tunes Cartoons and The new feature starring Daffy and Porky Pig, The Day the Earth Blew Up! Crash Landing into Cinemas on March 14th! Alex Kirwan has been working in the animation industry for 30 years and now that the film he was a supervising producer on is hitting theaters, he can finally discuss some behind the scenes goodies with you dear listener! A Portion of this episode is dedicated to the late animator, Robert L. McKnight II or Bob McKnight as he was known in the Animation world. He sadly passed shortly after the screening of the film in LA, but thankfully he was in attendance! Check out the full episode and be sure to subscribe to us on Youtube, Patreon and wherever you download your podcasts! Follow Alex on Instagram at AlexKirtoon Follow the Podcast at This Means Podcast!
Welcome to a Super Bowl Sunday edition of the Fan Weekends with Kyle Reese and Marcello Romano! Do the Eagles have a chance to win it all? What needs to go right for Philly to stop the evil Chiefs from making history? The guys recount some of their memories from covering previous Super Bowls! What can stop this Kansa City offense from rolling? In the past the formula to stop Mahomes was constant pressure can Philly apply that tonight to disrupt the possible threepeat? What kind of performance does Saquon Barkley need to have for the Eagles to have a chance? Producer Alex has some questions! If the Chiefs get the threepeat where does their big 3 rank in the history of sports? What players need to excel for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl? How can the Broncos win the AFC west in years to come with the division getting stronger? The Guys have answers, who is more correct?
What on earth happened last night in the NBA? Kyle Reese and Marcello Romano react to the blockbuster news coming from the midnight Mavericks! What teams in the Western Conference present the biggest problem for the Denver Nuggets? Which teams scares everyone more, the Timberwolves or the Thunder? Jamal Murray has been playing much better as of late do we owe him an apology for the start of the season? The Senior and Shrine bowl were this week. Who were the winners and losers as we move towards the NFL draft? Kyle gives a list of some of the running backs to look out for here in Broncos Country! Producer Alex has some questions the guys have some answers! Should the Denver Nuggets make a trade before the trade deadline? Are the Avalanche done making moves or is there more to come? Which position do the Broncos need to target in the NFL draft the most?
Tim reacts to more silly internet bullsh*t that Producer Alex put together, he talks about how obsessive he was with his iTunes library, the number one song he plays on repeat if current workout playlist is stale, Conor McGregor ruining his legacy, CBUM's retirement speech after winning 6 Olympias in a row, and his opinion on the Mike Van Wyck vs Jeff Nippard beef.Thanks for listening and being a part of the Stay Peaked community! Please write me a review and share on your Instagram and tag @staypeaked so I can repost you to my page!Want to see the EXACT plan I used to help this mom lose 35 lbs without spending hours working out or giving up wine nights?Click here to get it for FREE: https://www.valeofitnesscoaching.com/krystal-mom-client-case-studyWant to get the BEST fat loss hacks that I use with clients to lose 10, 20 and 30+ lbs?Click here to get it for FREE: https://www.valeofitnesscoaching.com/10-fat-loss-hacks-videoAre you a busy parent (or someone with NO extra time or energy) and you want to learn how to lose 20+ lbs without counting calories, spending hours in the gym or cutting out your favorite foods? Book a free Gameplan Call with me: https://calendly.com/d/279-f28-5n2/game-plan-callFollow Tim Walcott on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtimwalcottFollow Filmmetry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filmmetrySend me feedback: staypeakedpodcast@gmail.com
Tim reacts to silly internet bullsh*t that Producer Alex put together, gives his unfiltered opinion on Kanye West, his personal opinion working out curing depression, how to think about emotional eating in a way that makes food WAY easier to enjoy without guilt.Thanks for listening and being a part of the Stay Peaked community! Please write me a review and share on your Instagram and tag @staypeaked so I can repost you to my page!Want to see the EXACT plan I used to help this mom lose 35 lbs without spending hours working out or giving up wine nights?Click here to get it for FREE: https://www.valeofitnesscoaching.com/krystal-mom-client-case-studyWant to get the BEST fat loss hacks that I use with clients to lose 10, 20 and 30+ lbs?Click here to get it for FREE: https://www.valeofitnesscoaching.com/10-fat-loss-hacks-videoAre you a busy parent (or someone with NO extra time or energy) and you want to learn how to lose 20+ lbs without counting calories, spending hours in the gym or cutting out your favorite foods? Book a free Gameplan Call with me: https://calendly.com/d/279-f28-5n2/game-plan-callFollow Tim Walcott on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamtimwalcottFollow Filmmetry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filmmetrySend me feedback: staypeakedpodcast@gmail.com
✨Zu Weihnachten kommt dieses Jahr endlich die gesamte Familie wieder zusammen, denn Weinprinzessin-Sebastian und Producer-Alex sind dabei!
Kate is running an amazing hour of stand-up on Wednesday, 11/13, at the NYC UCB Theater! Support our Cancel Coach and get tickets at: https://ucbcomedy.com/show/kate-sisk-nycf/ This episode is LONG-AWAITED, listener! Kate Sisk is a stand-up comedian, writer, and former co-host/beloved “Cancel Coach” of the WHGS Podcast, but today they're back in the apartment to update us on their new, improved self. You've been asking for them back, and we're finally providing! We discuss starting testosterone injections and their journey towards doing so, getting married, growing a neckbeard, and affirming your newfound masculinity by getting into blowout fights in traffic. Ashley is on the prowl. And, in a special surprise TWIST, Producer Alex finally reveals their gay sex to the public… Follow Kate on IG, Twitter, and Tik Tok: https://www.instagram.com/thekatesisk/ https://www.tiktok.com/@thekatesisk https://x.com/thekatesisk SUPPORT OUR PODCAST: 2-4 Bonus Episodes a Month: https://www.patreon.com/WHGS Merch: https://shop.merchcentral.com/collections/ashley-gavin Watch on this YouTube: https://youtu.be/g-THoRb51C0 FOLLOW ASHLEY GAVIN @ashgavs TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ashgavscomedy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashgavs/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ashgavs Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashgavs Tour Dates & Newsletter: https://www.ashleygavin.com/#dates EDITED BY SWETSHOP: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swetshop.tv/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Welcome to a new episode of our podcast series! In this episode, I'm thrilled to have Alex Mayer with me. Alex is not only a top-producing real estate agent from Rochester, Minnesota, but also the recent winner of the Best Real Estate Agent award in his area!
The boys get together to discuss Halloween, how to get your costume approved by the Too Woke Boys (this is for women only).The boys talk about halloween plans, crashing parties, costume ideas...Producer Alex donated his costume to a homeless man, he tells the story and shows the pics.Joe Rogan had the Cheeto on, and the boys weigh in.Email from a listener about an organ harvesting case in KY.Emails from fans!Follow the IG/TikTok page:@TooWokeBoys Email the show:TooWokeBoys@gmail.com Like, Comment, Subscribe on the YouTube Channel We are doing our best to roll out new video content! - If you are interested in editing video content for the boys hit them up Donate to the show on Venmo/ Cashapp:TheSlutFund Give a FIVE STAR REVIEW for the show on iTunesMake sure to give five star reviews on Spotify also!(fun ones will be read on the show) Share a screenshot of the show on your IG stories and let everyone know YOU ARE AN ALLY @JeffZenisekhttps://beacons.ai/jeffzenisek @MalcolmKelner https://beacons.ai/malc --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toowokeboys/support
Hosts Jo Firestone & Manolo Moreno play listener-created games with callers!Games played: Manolo Dreams of Genie submitted by Dr. N. Buckley from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Six Degrees of Canadian Bacon submitted by Kyle Horning from Arvada, Colorado, and Dr. Holiday Movie Show submitted by Kelly Fino from Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaCallers: Kels from Seattle, Washington; Sammy from Truckee, California; Miranda from Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Michelle from Denver, Colorado; Rachel from Ames, Iowa; Producer Alex from Anchorage, Alaska; Bree & Alex from Hanau, GermanyOutro theme by Sean Schultz from La Plata, MarylandManolo's comic book, Supportive #1, is available at moslo.xyzThis episode sponsored by: Green Chef - Go to GreenChef.com/gameshow50 and use code gameshow50 to get 50% off plus 20% off your next two months on the #1 Meal Kit for Eating Well!
Dan briefly confuses everybody with talk about Garfield, before steering the boys into a discussion of their birthday twins, and related films. (Just listen. It'll make sense. Eventually.)Check out Howell Dawdy (aka Producer Alex)'s new album!
This week I sit down with Supervising Looney Tunes Cartoons Supervising Producer, Alex Kirwan to chat all things Looney Tunes!Join our Patreon: patreon.com/nmyheadpodFollow Alex Kirwan: https://www.instagram.com/alexkirtoon/?hl=enFollow Us On Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmyheadpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/nmyheadpodTwitter: https://twitter.com/nmyheadpodYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WhatsInMyHeadPodcast/featuredPodcast Sponsor: Animation DestinationInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/animationdestination/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/263EAbcFHuPBECSplwQ6ta?si=3782198b410c44f7Don't forget to subscribe and follow us across all social media platformsIntro Audio By: Lakey Inspired
Stuart brings a surprise guest, and a surprising new business venture for the Flop House.Catch us LIVE in Boston!Check out Howell Dawdy (aka Producer Alex)'s new album!Right now, Aura has a great deal for Father's Day. Listeners can save on the perfect gift by visiting AuraFrames.com to get $30-off on their best-selling frame. This deal ends June 18, so don't wait! Use code FLOP at checkout to save.
On this season of More Than a Movie, host Alex Fumero takes us through some of our favorite films that have impacted Latino Cinema. From Andy Garcia's 1990 breakout role in Godfather III to Natalie Morales's 2021 double directorial debut with Plan B and Language Lessons, this podcast looks at the story behind the story of Latino movies over the last several decades. Every episode will reveal something about the movie you didn't know, feature interviews with the biggest actors, directors, writers and producers behind them, and tap into the history of Latinos in film. Episodes here: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-more-than-a-movie-101826784/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.
Veteran producer Alex Baskin takes us behind the scenes of one of the best non-scripted shows on television. Hear how they balance reality with emotional storytelling, and how they prevented last season's 'Scandoval' from breaking the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The streaming wars have reached a new inflection, as Netflix and Disney+ jostle for position, and in the process disrupt post-strike Hollywood. Paramount+ invested heavily in blockbuster veteran Alex Kurtzman to turn Star Trek into a distinguishing franchise. Now Kurtzman talks with Rapid Response host Bob Safian about the future of streaming, the end of TV's golden age, and how courting Trekkies offers lessons for all customer engagement. Plus, Kurtzman shares behind the scenes stories of Star Trek's past, present and future.Read a transcript of this episode: https://mastersofscale.comSubscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter: https://mastersofscale.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The streaming wars have reached a new inflection, as Netflix and Disney+ jostle for position, and in the process disrupt post-strike Hollywood. Paramount+ invested heavily in blockbuster veteran Alex Kurtzman to turn Star Trek into a distinguishing franchise. Now Kurtzman talks with Rapid Response host Bob Safian about the future of streaming, the end of TV's golden age, and how courting Trekkies offers lessons for all customer engagement. Plus, Kurtzman shares behind the scenes stories of Star Trek's past, present and future.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
For no reason, other than Staci & Hutch making random growling sounds during recent shows, Producer Alex placed the voices of the show into a wildlife documentary.You can hear Staci & Hutch LIVE 2-7pm on 94.5 KS95!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
For no reason, other than Staci & Hutch making random growling sounds during recent shows, Producer Alex placed the voices of the show into a wildlife documentary. You can hear Staci & Hutch LIVE 2-7pm on 94.5 KS95!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Ultimate Christian Super Bowl Halftime Show | You Can Make a Big Difference in Small Steps | If You're a Writer, This is a Beautiful Moment | Your Pain is Never Wasted | Your Pain is Never Wasted - Chad's Military Perspective | Sally and Her Daughter and the Case of the Anti-Theft Tag | Good News - Maggie Lost Weight Cutting Out Diet Food | Jordan Raynor - God's a God of Work | Camille - Take Ourselves Out of the Work Equation | Mysti - Holding Onto the Negative - The Exact Date | Joy Report - Daniel's Uber Evangelism | 6-Year-Old Emma's Wise Words About Love (Hey, this is Producer Alex. Today's my last day with the Morning Show and I just wanted to say "goodbye". THANK YOU for being our friend all these years!)
We hear it all the time. KS95 listeners and Staci & hutch listeners want to know more about Staci & Hutch's “Producer Alex”! Well, with Staci away, Hutch found the perfect time to do just that. How did Alex get to Minnesota? What does he like about KS95? What did he do before coming to Minneapolis? What does he LOVE most about Staci & Hutch? We think you'll love this very deep and personal discussion between Hutch and Alex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
We hear it all the time. KS95 listeners and Staci & hutch listeners want to know more about Staci & Hutch's “Producer Alex”! Well, with Staci away, Hutch found the perfect time to do just that. How did Alex get to Minnesota? What does he like about KS95? What did he do before coming to Minneapolis? What does he LOVE most about Staci & Hutch? We think you'll love this very deep and personal discussion between Hutch and Alex. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jelly Roll is a singer, songwriter, and rapper who just won New Artist of the Year at the 2023 CMA awards. He is also nominated for “Best New Artist” at the 2023 Grammy Awards. His latest album “Whitsitt Chapel” is out now. Ernest is a singer, songwriter and producer who has written for Jelly Roll, Morgan Wallen, Florida Georgia Line, and more. His latest solo album “Flower Shops” is out now. Country stars Jelly Roll and Ernest return to the show to chat with Theo about the whirlwind weeks following Jellys' big win at the CMA's, what lead up to his viral speech, why country music is having a singer-songwriter revival, the unlikely origin of their biggest collab “Son of a Sinner”, the time Ernest had to call poison control, what they're getting their ladies for Christmas, and more. Jelly Roll: https://www.instagram.com/jellyroll615/ Ernest: https://www.instagram.com/ernest/ ------------------------------------------------ Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit https://amzn.to/3HbAtPJ ShipStation: Get a 60-day free trial at https://www.shipstation.com/theo . Thanks to ShipStation for sponsoring the show! Keeps: Thanks to Keeps for sponsoring this video! Head to https://keeps.com/THEO to get a special offer. BlueChew: Go to http://bluechew.com and use code THEO to receive your first month FREE - just pay $5 shipping. DoorDash: Download the DoorDash app and use code THEO23 to get 50% off (up to a $10 value) when you spend $12 or more after signing up for DashPass. BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp — go to http://betterhelp.com/theo to get 10% off your first month. Morgan & Morgan: If you're ever injured, visit https://forthepeople.com/thispastweekend or dial Pound LAW (#529). Their fee is free unless they win. ------------------------------------------------- Music: "Shine" by Bishop Gunn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3A_coTcUek ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload Send mail to: This Past Weekend 1906 Glen Echo Rd PO Box #159359 Nashville, TN 37215 ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https://www.instagram.com/zachdpowers/ Producer: Alex https://www.instagram.com/mralexlagos/ Producer: Nick https://www.instagram.com/realnickdavis/ Producer: Colin https://instagram.com/colin_reiner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stavros Halkias is a stand-up comedian and host of the weekly podcast “Stavvy's World”. His new Netflix special “Fat Rascal” comes out on December 5th. Stavros Halkias joins This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von for the second time to chat about cajun santa, thick love in the new world, what happens if America has a “battle of the states”, the unfolding George Santos drama, Osama Bin Laden's goth son, and much more. Stavros Halkias: https://www.instagram.com/stavvybaby2 ------------------------------------------------ Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit https://amzn.to/3HbAtPJ DraftKings: Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code THEO. New customers can get $150 instantly in bonus bets for betting just $5 on basketball. Babbel: Go to http://babbel.com/theo to get 55% off. Factor: Go to http://factormeals.com/theo50 and use code theo50 to get 50% off. BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp — go to http://betterhelp.com/theo to get 10% off your first month. Ibotta: Download the Ibotta app now and use code THEO to start earning real cash back. Morgan & Morgan: If you're ever injured, visit https://forthepeople.com/thispastweekend or dial Pound LAW (#529). Their fee is free unless they win. ------------------------------------------------- Music: "Shine" by Bishop Gunn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3A_coTcUek ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload Send mail to: This Past Weekend 1906 Glen Echo Rd PO Box #159359 Nashville, TN 37215 ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https://www.instagram.com/zachdpowers/ Producer: Nick https://www.instagram.com/realnickdavis/ Producer: Alex https://www.instagram.com/mralexlagos Producer: Colin https://instagram.com/colin_reiner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Eyewitness News Anchor Paul Folger was given lyrics by Producer Alex. Staci and Hutch become frustrated at being unable to guess the song and the segments devolves... You can hear Staci & Hutch LIVE 2-7pm on 94.5 KS95!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Eyewitness News Anchor Paul Folger was given lyrics by Producer Alex. Staci and Hutch become frustrated at being unable to guess the song and the segments devolves...You can hear Staci & Hutch LIVE 2-7pm on 94.5 KS95!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Hosts Jo Firestone & Manolo Moreno play listener-created games with callers!Games played: Those Who Can't submitted by Roxanne Harvey from Los Angeles, California, Product Recall submitted by Kyle Smestad from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Dr. Pepper Wrestler voted for by saboteurs, rules by Producer Alex from Anchorage, AlaskaCallers: David from Charleston, South Carolina; Jordan from Burlington, Iowa; Beth & Nick from San Diego, California; Rachel from Severna Park, Maryland; James from Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada; Luke from Seoul, South KoreaOutro theme by Steven Woodford from Mansfield, TexasJo's new book, Murder on Sex Island, is now available wherever books are sold. The audio book, narrated by Jo, is available wherever you listen to podcasts.This episode sponsored by: EveryPlate - Go to everyplate.com/podcast and enter code 49GAMESHOW to get started with EveryPlate for just $1.49 per meal PLUS $1 steaks!
On this week's episode, Writer/Executive Producer Alex Berger (Blindspot, Glen Martin D.D.S, Quantum Leap, and many many more) talks about his writing career, thoughts on breaking into the industry as well as his experiences taking a "Showrunners Course" through the studios.STORY NOTESAlex Berger on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1584238/Alex Berger on Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexbergerla?lang=enFree Writing Webinar - https://michaeljamin.com/op/webinar-registration/Michael's Online Screenwriting Course - https://michaeljamin.com/courseFree Screenwriting Lesson - https://michaeljamin.com/freeJoin My Watchlist - https://michaeljamin.com/watchlistAUTOGENERATED TRANSCRIPTAlex Berger:They said, when you're interviewing a director, ask if you're the showrunner and you're interviewing somebody who's coming in to do an episode of your show, ask the director, do you cook? And if so, are you a person who uses a recipe or do you like to improvise? And there's no right answer to that, right? But if you cook and you're the person who is going to measure out the exact number of grams of flour and the exact number of grams of sugar, that's kind of how you're going to approach directing. If you're going to come in with a shot list, you're going to be going to stay on time. You're going to make sure that you move the set along. And if you're the person who likes to kind throw a little salt to throw a little sugar, you might be a little more improvisational on say you might be a little more, more. There's little things like that that you're going to how to dig in on this with those. NowMichael Jamin:You're listening to Screenwriters Need to Hear This with Michael Jamin.Hey everyone. Welcome back to Screenwriters. Need to hear this. Michael Jamin here. I have another wonderful guest today and this guest, we're going to talk about drama writing because he works primarily in drama and his story is fascinating how he broke in. And we're going to get to please welcome Mr. Alex Berger and he's worked on Alex. Let me introduce people to some of your amazing credits here and you can fill in in, I'm just going to go for some of the highlights. Well, I know you did Kil, you co-created Glen Martin d d s, which is the show. My partner ran Covert Affairs, the Assets Franklin and Bash the Mentalist Blind Spot. And currently you are a writer on Quantum Leap, so you got a lot of drama. Burger. Welcome, welcome to the podcast.Alex Berger:Thank you so much for having me. It's, it's good to be here. I've been enjoying listening to it.Michael Jamin:Oh man, I'm so happy you're doing this. Let's talk. Let's start from the beginning because I think it was so interesting about your background. So many people say, how do I get a showrunner attached to sell my show? And you kind of sold your show, your show, Glen Martin, d d s. You were pretty new to the scene and then you got a show on the air without much experience. So how did that happen?Alex Berger:Yeah, I'd been out here for probably five or six years and I'd had a couple of staff jobs. I'd had a job doing a sort of comedy variety show before that. That was a very sort of small potatoes thing. But that came about because Steve Cohen Cohen, who I know you've talked about before, was a friend of mine and had mentioned this idea that Michael Eisner had for a long time about a family who traveled the country in an rv and they had writers attached for a long time. Tim and Eric of Tim and Eric Show were attached to write the thing.Michael Jamin:I didn't know any of this.Alex Berger:They got a 60 episode order on their other show, and so they had to back out. And so Steve would come in and pitch a take. So I came in and I pitched a take, and Michael Eisner, who had just left basically running Hollywood, he was running, Disney had just started a company, and he had just had larynx surgery, so he couldn't talk. So every time I pitched something, he had to write his response on a computer, which was fun, but a little challenging.Michael Jamin:But what was the idea, how much, when you pitched your take, what did they give you?Alex Berger:He had said Family lives in an rv. Basically it travels the country and animation. And he had more than that. I mean, it is been almost 20 years, so I've forgotten. But he definitely had a real idea. He'd had this idea for 30 or 40 years that he'd wanted to do over the years at Disney and he wasn't able to do it. So he had a pretty formed idea of what he wanted the show to be. ButMichael Jamin:Was it dentist you came up with that throughAlex Berger:Development? I mean, that was sort of like Steve and I, Steve became sort of a, and it was almost like an incubator instead of a typical situation in which I would come in and pitch a show, he kind of brainstormed with me and created the ideas with me, and we kind of toyed with a couple of different versions of it and came up with the idea of him being, why is he on the road and what's he driving in? And came up with the idea of a dentist that was in his mobile dentistry unit and sort of built some of the characters around that. And it kind of kept getting added to,Michael Jamin:Because all that stuff became comedy gold throughout the seasons. We were like, what kind of idiot has a dental car? Who does he think, what kind of clients? How does that work? And it all became fodder for the show,Alex Berger:For the circus at one point. And it was doing dental work on animals, if I remember correctly. But it was definitely, I didn't think I'd seen that before. So that was kind of one of the things that was fun to explore.Michael Jamin:And so you came up with all the, well, at least the dynamics for the characters, because what I remember, we watched the, I dunno if it was a pilot or presentation that you saw, but yeah, the characters you invented were funny. You had the dumb kid, he had the daughter and she had an assistant, which we hadn't seen that before.Alex Berger:It was definitely even more than other experiences I've had in development, very much a team effort. And then we had sort of come up with a script, and then I think you had Eric Fogle on the show before, and Eric came on and was also sort of added his vision both in terms of look and feel and tone and story, and was digging in with us. And then Michael on his own, paid for an eight minute pilot presentation. So they made an eight minute stop motion, basically the first act of the show. And he took it downtown and took it everywhere. And we ended up setting it up at Nick at night with this 20 episode order. And I think that's when you guys sort of made the picture, right?Michael Jamin:So you started, I'm curious. It's funny how I never even asked you about this. So at that point you had to meet showrunners for a show you created, which we're going to talk about a second. Did you meet a lot of showrunners?Alex Berger:I met none of the showrunners. I met you guys after you'd been hired.Michael Jamin:Oh, really? I wonder how many they had. SoAlex Berger:The tote system was, they wanted to sort of make that decision. And so they met with showrunners and had decided they were very much immediately captivated by you guys and were really excited about, and I don't think it was a pretty quick decision. And then they had me come to meet you guys.Michael Jamin:Now the thing is, I imagine you were very easy to work with and to your great credit, I always felt like you just turned over the keys and it was like, okay, here you go. And it was never an ego thing if you, but was it difficult though for you?Alex Berger:I mean, I can give you the answer that I was thinking at the time, and I can give you the answer that I have in retrospect. I think at the time I felt like, I don't know. It's a good question. Let me give you the answer in retrospect first, which is in retrospect, I know that I was inexperienced to know, especially about comedy writing a lot and certainly about running a show. I think at the time I was very happy for you guys to come in and run it. And exactly as you said, take the keys. I think that I felt intimidated because it was a room full of really seasoned comedy writers. I knew I was one of the least experienced writers on the show, and yet my name was on the show. So it was a kind of a weird game. It's not like a typical situation in which a more experienced writer comes in, but they've never run a show.So they pair them with a show runner and then they're really a triumvirate or something. I definitely felt like experience wise and sort of comedy chops wise, I was with folks who'd broken 2, 3, 400 episodes of cool sitcoms that I really admired. So I felt like I wanted to contribute from a character and comedy perspective as much as I could, but I also felt like I was learning on the fly that I had my name on. So it was definitely tricky to sort of figure that out. But you guys were great about never feeling like you were stepping on toes, and you always would consult with me, especially at the beginning, but it was very clear that it was your show, but it was also that you wanted me to sort be on board with what we were doing.Michael Jamin:And I mean, it was a fun room. I mean, maybe I shouldn't speak for you. I thought it was a fun room. Yeah,Alex Berger:Yeah, it was great. I mean, it was like I'd never been in a sitcom room before. I mean, I've been in a couple of drama rooms as an assistant and a writer, and those rooms are more buttoned up and a little more like, let's come in at 10 and start talking about the story at 10 15. And there's definitely bits and sort of digressions, but a comedy room has a certain energy that you can't replicate. And it was really fun to be in that room. And I've been in rooms that are a little bit like that since, but never anything that was, I laughed quite so much, just had it.Michael Jamin:I was going to ask you about that, right? I haven't worked in any, we've done dark comedy, but never drama. And so I'm curious, you've done a lot of drama. So are the rooms, are they really what you're saying? Are they buttoned up? Are they sur because it's still a creative shop?Alex Berger:It's fun. I would say this is based on a very small sample size of my two years in Glen Martin. And then just listening to comedy writers talk, I think comedy writers find the genius through procrastination. I think that it takes the tangent sometimes to get you to the gold. And I know you guys, especially more than other comedy writers I've known, were very focused on story structure. I know from your time with Greg Daniels and Seaver had bought a book at the mall,And it was very important to you that the story felt like it had load-bearing walls, but it did feel like more free flowing and there were room bits and there was a whole sitcom inside that room of three characters, both people in the room and people we were looking out the window at. So that's definitely different than other shows I've been on, other shows I've been on, it's a little more like, all right, let's get to work. And especially these days with room hours have gotten shorter and so on less. And I've been in Zoom rooms for the last couple of years, so it's even less of a roomMichael Jamin:Basic. Oh, so gotten, haven't gotten, your last rooms haven't been in person either. YouAlex Berger:Haven't? Yeah, I've been in three Zoom rooms since the pandemic.Michael Jamin:It's funny you mentioned because comedy rooms have room bits and our offices were on Beverly Hills and Big glamorous street in Beverly Hills. We would look out the window, and you're right, we would create stories when we weren't making stories for the tv, we were making stories for the regular characters that we would see outside our windows.Alex Berger:Yeah, I mean truly. I know you had Brian and Steve and a couple of other people from the show on. I have not laughed that hard in a room.It was a blast. And I also think there's value to it creatively. It's not wasted time. I think it's just a different way of getting to the process. I remember hearing once of, I can't remember which one, it was a Simpsons writer who would be on draft. He had two weeks to write his draft, and he would past around the fox lot for 12 days and then write the draft in the last two days. And someone asked him, why don't you just write the draft for the first two days and then be done? And he said, because I need those 12 days of pacing to get me to the last two days. And I think copywriter are more prone to that kind of way of thinking. I think.Michael Jamin:See, see, I don't remember that way always. I always get nervous when that story's not broken. I always want to crack the whip seavers more. Like that's, but to me, I was always,Alex Berger:When you were in the room, it was more like, let's stay on story. And when see, it was a little more. And then when you guys were both out of the room, it was even more free flowing, which is not to say that all of the eps weren't trying to keep us on story, but its like it's was a silly show about silly characters and absurd, every premise of every episode had a massive degree of absurdity to it. And so you wouldn't be too serious in a room like that, or you wouldn't be ready to make that kind of show. I mean, at least that was my take on it.Michael Jamin:I would describe that as a writer's show. It was always about what made us laugh and not the 15 year old kids who shouldn't be watching or the 10 year old kids. I knowAlex Berger:It was either Brian or Steve who said it was a show with a demographic of nobody.Michael Jamin:Yeah,Alex Berger:The demographic of the 15 people in that room for sure. We all really enjoyed watch them. They're all really funny. They'reMichael Jamin:Funny.Alex Berger:It was on the wrong network.Michael Jamin:Oh, for sure. Steve and I were horsing around procrastinating on some work we were doing, and for some reason we stumbled on, maybe it was some guy's YouTube channel where he was talking about Glen Martin and this guy nailed it. It was like he was in the room. I don't know how he knew every, it seemed like he knew where we messed up. He knew where we got it. Right. I was justAlex Berger:Amazed. I saw that video and I was like, I can't believe somebody watched the show. I thought that literally, I could not imagine that this guy was that deep into the show.Michael Jamin:Oh no. I get a lot of comments on social media like, oh my God, you ruined my childhood. Really? Like you gave me nightmares.Alex Berger:My wife's cousin is like 25 or 26, and he's dating a girl. And on the second date, he asked her what your favorite shows are. And the second show she said was Glen Martin, d d s. And when he said, oh, my wife's cousin wrote that show, she was instantly smid with him. She gave him so much gr.Michael Jamin:Oh, that's so funny. I mean, it was a wild show, man. Too bad. That was a shame. We were going to spin it off too. We all, oh yeah,Alex Berger:Stone spin off right behind. OhMichael Jamin:Yeah, there you go.Alex Berger:The Drake Stone. Yeah,Michael Jamin:All my dolls. Yeah. As soon as they went under, they go here. Here take some. You must have some dolls, right? They give you some dolls. I haveAlex Berger:Alen Martin Puppet and an Alex Burger puppet, and my kids constantly want to play with them and I won't let them.Michael Jamin:Who were you in the show? I don't remember what kind.Alex Berger:I think I was a Greek God carrying somebody at some point in some fantasy sequence and they would reuse the puppets. That was what was so funny. So I think that was one thing, and then they reused me as another thing.Michael Jamin:And did you ever get out to Toronto to see theAlex Berger:No. Did you go upMichael Jamin:There? Oh yeah. We went once and Fogel and I had a very romantic dinner together on top of the Toronto Space Needle or whatever they call that. I sawAlex Berger:Them shooting the pilot presentation, which they shy in New York. It was incredibly cool, but just I've always found set to be tedious in general, but I can't imagine how tedious it must be to do stop motion.Michael Jamin:Do you go, oh, I think they wanted to poke their eyes out, but do you go on set a lot for dramas? Yeah. Is it just your episode or what?Alex Berger:Depends on the show. I did this show called Blind Spot for five years, and basically we would have a writer on set for every episode and we would try to make it your episode, but oftentimes it was the writer who wrote the episode had a baby and is on maternity leave or they can't go to New York at this time or if they went to New York and they wouldn't be back in LA for the breaking of their next episode. So we tried to shuffle it around a little bit and it's trickier when it's out of town. You've got to make people have life that they've got to plan around. But you're going for three and a half weeks to New York.Michael Jamin:Are most of your show shot out of town?Alex Berger:It's been mixed Quantum Leap, which is the show I'm on now is Shot Year on the Universe a lot. Blind Spot was New York Covert Affairs, which I went to a lot of episodes for, was in Toronto, which was a lot of fun. And then I've had a couple Franklin, imagine the Mentalists were LA and it's been sort of a mix.Michael Jamin:How many day shoots are most of your shows? Dramas?Alex Berger:It depends on the budget of the show. Blind Spots started as nine and then was eight and a half and some tandem days and by the end was eight. They keep pulling money budget every year. Quantum Leap I think is eight.Michael Jamin:Interesting. And then what do you, as a writer on set for comedy when on set, it's like, I want to make sure they're playing the comedy right, making jokes, but what are you looking for that the director isn't covering?Alex Berger:Well, first of all, it's a lot of times if you have a great director, it's a team effort. So the director is obviously in charge of the set, but if you have a director who's collaborative, they're asking you, do you feel like that works? Or which take do you feel like was better? It's blocking work for you and your main job is just to make sure that you're the protector of the script and a protector of the story. And it's not like, excuse me, you didn't say the word there. Although there a Sorkin set, they will keep you word perfect, but it's more like, actually, I know you want to change that line. It doesn't feel comfortable in your mouth, but it's really important that you say this. It's going to set something up that we're doing in three episodes, or Hey, just so you know, when you're saying this to this character, you're actually lying and you're going to be revealed to be.It's a lot of making sure that everybody knows the episode up to the episodes we're leading to. And then, yeah, there's still a lot of shows I've worked on have a fair amount of comedy. So you're still making sure jokes, land and actors, this doesn't feel comfortable in my mouth. Do you mind if I say it like this? Or if you work with an actor who wants to have a little bit and wants to assert a line, sometimes I need to be the one to say, okay, well then that means that this person needs to say this line after to keep a joke going.Michael Jamin:Right? Right. It's interesting, and especially when scenes are shot out of order, it is easy for actors to lose track of where they are in the story. So that is theAlex Berger:Part I really like is Prep, because I've worked on a lot of big shows, big action shows and into you fly to New York with your script in hand and you're so excited. And then the first thing that the line producer tells you every single time is, we're $400,000 over budget. Before you even say hello. The fun part to me is the puzzle of how do you protect the story with the constraints of we can't shoot this in nine days. I've walked into episodes that were supposed to be seven day shoots, and the board came out and it was 10 days. And so you've got to figure out, okay, we can move this back into the house so we can take this care, we can do this here. And actually the shootout that happens after the bank robbery, maybe that happens off screen, stuff like that.Michael Jamin:So are you doing a lot of rewriting on set then?Alex Berger:It's usually in prep.Michael Jamin:Okay. In prep,Alex Berger:By the time you're on set in a drama, you're pretty close to set to go unless something changes or an actor nowadays, if an actor gets covid, then all of a sudden you're taking that actor out of the scene and rewriting the scenes and why are they, that kind of thing.Michael Jamin:And then are your showrunners ever on any of these shows ever on set? Or are they always sending proxies? Yeah, itAlex Berger:Depends. It depends on the show. So typically on the shows that I've been on, the showrunner, the showrunner was there for the pilot. They're usually going to go for 1 0 2 just to, it's been four months and they want to reestablish a tone and kind of be a leader, and then they'll try to pop in and out a bunch during the year so that it's not like they're just coming when there's a problem. And then when the show's in la, the showrunner will usually try to pop by after set, especially if before the Zoom Room thing, the writer's room would wrap at seven, the production's still going, so they usually come for the last couple scenes, something like that.Michael Jamin:How many writers are there usually on these hour shows?Alex Berger:I mean, I'm curious to hear what your answer is for comedy too, because it's really shrinking in the beginning. I mean, Glen Martin was what, 10, 12, something like that, including if you're Partners is too, and then it's gotten down to 10 and then eight. And then I think Quantum Leap were about 10, which is a big staff, but the Netflix show I just worked on was six. The show, the Assets that I did, which was a limited series was five. And this is a lot of big issues of the strike is these rooms are getting too small. What are the root comedy rooms like now? Because I know there's been, it's like sometimes it's like 25 people in a roomMichael Jamin:Well, on animation, but I think those days are kind of overAlex Berger:Or big network sitcoms aren't there.Michael Jamin:I don't think they're that big. I don't think there aren't big network sitcoms anymore, but I don't think, I mean it was never,Alex Berger:What was the Tacoma room?Michael Jamin:Oh, it's probably eight or so. But that's a small cable show,Alex Berger:But they're all small. I think they're all like that now. Even the network comedies, unless you're Abbott, they're all 13 or eight orMichael Jamin:Yeah, I think even just shoot me back in. This was in the day, I want to say maybe 10 or 12 times. Oh really? That's it. Yeah. Yeah, Roseanne. Roseanne was famously Big. Fred had a big staff, but that was Roseanne. It was a giant show.Alex Berger:And The Simpsons, I know there's these shows that have the two, I mean the drama rooms, there's a bunch of writers who having a big staff and then they like to split the room in two and break two episodes at the same time. A lot of showrunners actually want a small staff and hate having too many voices. I like a big room. I like eight to 10 people because you're always in a drama room, especially you've always got one writer on set, two writers on draft sometimes set, so there's three or four people gone every single day. So your room thins out real fast, and I think you need at least five people to break a story.Michael Jamin:Oh yeah. Now the thing is, you're a funny guy. You have a good sense of humor. You started in comedy, but do you miss at all comedy or do you feel I'm a fish in water with drama?Alex Berger:Yeah, I was in over my head in comedy, I be the guy who can do a little bit of comedy on a drama staff than that guy in a comedy room who's mostly focused on story. I mean, I felt like, obviously I wrote Pilot and I felt like I had a voice on that show, but it was clear to me that this was not the type of show that I was going to be thriving at. I really enjoyed it, but it was like just comedy wasn't my thing. I love writing on a Funny One Hour, Franklin and Bash, which was a legal show, was essentially a comedy that had the stakes of a drama, but the tone of a comedy. And I love because I like being able to go to the serious scene to have the emotional he, to not have to have a joke at the end of every scene. And then I've written some pilots and stuff that have a fair amount of comedy, but I always want, and I've written half hour dramas. It's just I want the pressure of three jokes a page and beating a joke and beating a joke and beating a joke. It just wasn't my pace.Michael Jamin:Well, I got to say, I think it was probably the last script you wrote was you and Pava teamed up to write a Christmas episode. Oh yeah. And you guys crushed it. I remember coming back, you guys turned it in, whatever you guys did together, were like, you guys, you're going to do this together. Probably because PA wanted to write a musical. I was like, Papa, I'm not writing a musical. And he probably did, but you guys turned in a great draft. And I was like, if that show had gone, I'd be like, I remember thinking, well, these guys are going to be stuck in a room together for a long time. Because yeah,Alex Berger:That was a lot of fun. That was a lot of fun. And it's funny, I want to show my kids the show. They're really young and there's not a lot of episodes that are appropriate for little, that one's pretty tame. That one's pretty tame. We did a rom-com parody sort, the Wedding planner parody, and then we did a, what was it? I forget the other ones. It was a lot of fun.Michael Jamin:Oh yeah. What is nutty stuff? So now the dramas, I'm sorry. When you go off to write your own pilots, when you're developing your own, is there a unifying theme tone that you like to pitch? Yeah,Alex Berger:I would say two things. One is fun. I don't want to write some things super dark. I don't want to write. I like watching shows like that. I watch Last Of Us and The Leftovers and a lot of shows that are real bleak and I really enjoy them. But when I'm living in the world for 12 hours a day, for eight years, I want it to be fun. I want to have a certain amount of lightness to it and sort of levity to it, which is not to say it has to be a comedy, it can still be a drama. There just needs to be something fun about it. And even when I'm writing on a show like Quantum Leap, we've had episodes that are really serious, but the ones that I do, I try to make them, I did an airplane hijacking episode, but I tried to make it fun and sort of like an eighties action movie. And then the other thing I would say is sort of optimism. I try to write something that makes you think that the world is going to be a better place. I've written a lot of political shows and politics is pretty dark these days. One, my take is sort of, but if we do this, we can all get through it. None of those have gotten on the air. So maybe that says something about what people feel about optimism these days.Michael Jamin:Well, it's also a numbers game, but how do you feel, let's say you were given the keys to run your show, got on the air somewhere, eight episodes on the air. How do you feel? Feel about that? Yeah, let's do it. I'm ready. Or like, oh my God, what did I get?Alex Berger:Both. I mean, I did the Writer's Guild showrunner training program a couple of years ago, which is phenomenal. WhatMichael Jamin:Was that? Tell me all aboutAlex Berger:That. It was great. But so essentially it's a six week every Saturday, all day, every Saturday college course on how to run a show. And it's run by Jeff Melvoin, who's a really seasoned showrunner, and Carol Kirschner, who's been working in the business forever. And then they bring in John Wells is usually a big part of the program and they bring in really heavy hitter showrunners all the way down to people who were in the program last year and then got a show on the year. And they're like, bill and Ted when they come back at the time Machine and Bill and Ted's, and they're like, you're in for a crazy journey. And so it's really cool to hear from all of those people and they focus one day is on writing, one day is on post one day on production. And what I learned from that was having been on staffs for something like 250 episodes of tv, I've learned basically all the things you can do in terms of book learning to run a show.But the last 20%, you can't learn until you're there. Sort of like if you read a hundred books about swimming, you kind of know how to swim, but if you dropped out of a helicopter ocean, you're going to have to figure it out and you're going to be drowning while you're doing it. And literally, I don't know if this was your experience when you guys had it, but every other show I've talked to says nothing fully prepares you for it. So I have a couple shows in development right now, and if you told me that they were to go, I think the first feeling would be utter terror and like, okay, let's do it. Let's go. This is the time to do it. And I've run a lot of writers' rooms and stuff like that, but I've never actually had the keys to the castle, soMichael Jamin:Interesting. Right. Okay, so you've run the room, you've been breaking stories, you're in charge of that. Now time in terms of tell me about the short run is problem You apply, how do you get in?Alex Berger:You have to be recommended by somebody and applied and they want someone, they're trying to find people who are the next shows up. And so people in the program have a pilot that's already been shot and that's already ordered a series, but they don't know how to run a show. You people who've worked in features or worked in writing novels who are transitioning into television. So all the production stuff to them is totally new. And then you have lot of people like me who sort came up as staff writer, story editor and just worked their way up the ranks who've been around for a while, who just haven't taken that next step, who want to know more about what it's like to run a show. I loved it. First of all, it was like being in college, man, it was just absorbing material and taking notes at a frantic pace and reading that they recommended. But it was just so interesting to hear. It's like this, your podcast is so great because you could hear people speak, but these are people who are specifically targeted at the demographic of you're a co eep and you're about to run a show. Here's what you need to know.Michael Jamin:And so you don't pay for this, right? Or youAlex Berger:Do, the guild pays for it and the studios pay for it. It's a phenomenal program.Michael Jamin:And then it's so interesting. And then, alright, so then how big of a cohort, how big of a group isAlex Berger:It? 30. And it's a bummer because these days it's been on Zoom and so you don't really get to the year. I did it in 2017 or 2018. And so I got to know those folks and they were sort of, yeah, again, my cohort and three quarters of them are running shows and everybody else's EPS or eps, running rooms. It's a very fun dynamic to have a group.Michael Jamin:What are they teaching you? I'm so curious as what they teach you. I bet there's stuff I don't know. And we've done three shows. What are they teaching you about post that you were surprised?Alex Berger:The overwhelming, the first thing they tell you when you walk in the door is quality scripts on time. The bug that they gave me, the showrunner program, quality scripts on time, and that was basically the theme of it was being efficient, being and knowing when to cut your losses and say move on. And knowing when to say this isn't good enough. And so for posts, it's like, are you the type of person who wants to be in post for 10 hours a day? That's fine, but then you need to have somebody who's going to be overrunning the room, or do you want the writer who produced the episode to do the first and the second cut? And then you do the last cut and they bring in editors and they talk, editors tell you about what they want to hear. A lot of things that I'd been in post a lot before I was in that room and then editors were telling me things that I was doing that annoyed the crap out of them. And I was like, oh, little thing like what? Snapping, when you say cut there,Michael Jamin:Oh,Alex Berger:That annoys.Michael Jamin:That annoys them. It's like a dogAlex Berger:Thing. Yeah, exactly. And a lot of editors, some editors want line notes. Some editors want you to say, this scene doesn't feel funny enough, I'm not getting the comedy. And then they'll say, okay, let me take another swing at it. And you need to feel like, is this the type of editor that wants to do it on their own or that type of showrunner that wants to do that. But broadly speaking, it's essentially a leadership training program. The nuts and bolts stuff with all stuff that I had seen up close being a lieutenant on a show, there are a lot of little tips that I picked up here and there and when I get a show, I will go back to my notebook and frantically look through it, but it's mostly about how do you lead, how do you manage, how do you fire people? How do you delegate? How do you tell people that they're not doing a good enough job but give 'em a second chance? Interesting. They bring a lot of directors in, stuff like that.Michael Jamin:What was the last thing youAlex Berger:Said? How to interview a director? How to interview director. A big director came in and talked to you. Here's some questions you should ask when you're interviewing. Here's a great one that they said. They said, when you're interviewing a director, ask if you're the showrunner and you're interviewing somebody who's coming in to do an episode of your show, ask the director, do you cook? And if so, are you a person who uses a recipe or do you like to improvise? And there's no right answers to that, right? But if you cook and you're the person who is going to measure out the exact number of grams of flour and the exact number of grams of sugar, that's kind of how you're going to approach directing. You're going to come in with a shot list, you're going to be going to stay on time, you're going to make sure that you move the set along. And if you're the person who likes to kind of throw a little salt to throw a little sugar, you might be a little more improvisational. I say you might be a little more, more. There's little things like that that are like how to dig in on this with those people.Michael Jamin:Now I'm learning. What else can you share with me thatAlex Berger:Might be helpful? I can get my notebook you,Michael Jamin:Hey, it's Michael Jamin. If you like my videos and you want me to email them to you for free, join my watch list. Every Friday I send out my top three videos. These are for writers, actors, creative types. You can unsubscribe whenever you want. I'm not going to spam you and it's absolutely free. Just go to michaeljamin.com/watchlist.I remember when we're running Glen Martin, which is the first show we ran a lot of this, and you probably weren't even aware of this, A lot of it was me. If I was at the board or whatever, it was me like, okay, I want to make sure I'm not losing the room. I want to make sure everyone, no one's losing focus. And I think part of that was make a decision even if it's a bad one because you can lose the room if you can't pull the trigger. You know what I'm saying? It's so frustrating. You guysAlex Berger:Did a good job with that. And then I think that decisiveness, I think is actually one of the most important qualities in the showrunner, but also willingness to admit you were wrong if you made a decision and moved on and then a day later you realize you were wrong. You have to and say, I made the wrong decision. And one of the things I've learned running that I've really tried to do when I'm running a room is if there's an idea floating around that I hate, but it's getting energy and it's getting excitement, I try not to step on it until it either burns out on its own or it's reached a critical mass and I'm like, look, I think this is not going to work, but let's talk it out because there's nothing worse as having come up on staffs. And this is one of the most valuable things when you've been a staff writer and a story editor as opposed to getting your own show as the first thing that happens to you is you know how demoralizing it is when everybody's super excited about something now it's not going to work. It's so demoralizing. Yes, A lot of times you think it's not going to work. You just sit there back and listen for 20 minutes and you're like, oh, actually, you know what? There is a version of this that'll work if I just add this one thing. It's an organism and you're leading an organism and it's very hard. You guys did a great, and you guys are a team, which is even harder because you've got to read each other's minds aboutThis works.Michael Jamin:You bring a good point. I remember one time, so when Glen Martin, I would go, I would direct the actors on Wednesdays or whatever and see would be running the room, and I remember coming back at the end of a long day directing, come back to the room and you guys had made a lot of progress on the script and everyone's excited. Everyone's excited about this idea and you guys pitched it to me. I wasn't getting it. I didn't get it. I was like, I didn't want to shit on it because I could tell everyone was so excited about it. And so I just kept on asking questions just to explain it to me so that I would get on board.Alex Berger:That's a really hard part is and because I've never been the actual showrunner, I've never been the one, I would be like, I'm sorry we're vetoing this. A lot of times what I would do, because I was a number two, was if I hated something, if I left the room and then I came back and I hated something, I'd be like, look, I'm not totally on board with this idea, but let's give it its day in short and let's pitch it to the showrunner. And I would try, when I would pitch it to the showrunner be to not give away which side I was on or to say, look, here's one side of the argument, here's the other side of the argument. But when it's ultimately up to you, it is hard because I always analogize it to in Family Feud when the first four people give their answer and then that last person has to give the final answer and they want to go against the rest of the family. It's a hard thing to do. You're wrong.Michael Jamin:Yeah,Alex Berger:I guess, I don't know. What was that experience like for you? Did you feel like it was like you had to balance? What was your favorite idea versus losing another 10 people's morale?Michael Jamin:It wasn't even about my favorite idea. It was more like I just want to make sure if sea's on board than I trust, I trust him. But it's also like I wish I can remember what the episode was. It just didn't make anyAlex Berger:Sense to me. No, I remember that a couple times. Every show I've ever been on has had that. Every show I've ever, the showrunners left the room, the room gets excited about, something comes back in and it's not what they want, it's just part of show running. The value of having a staff that's been together for a while is the longer the staff has been together, the more you can say, oh, secret and Michael are going to hate this. We shouldn't even this path. Versus early on, you're going down a million paths you don't know. But once you get to know the showrunner, you kind of get to know what they like and what they don't like.Michael Jamin:Yeah. There was another idea that we had in that, I don't remember what we were all on board, but Seaver wasn't on board. It was something crazy.Alex Berger:Oh, I think it was the radio episode and there was something about wires or no wires, and they weren't recording the music the whole time,Michael Jamin:Who wasn't recording music.Alex Berger:Glen went to, you got to cut this out of the podcast.Michael Jamin:No one's going to care. ButAlex Berger:It was like there were a lot of room bits that I think that's the problem with room bits is they take on a life of their own and then they're an inside joke. And if the runner comes in and there's a room bit in the script, it's an inside joke. It just doesn't work. You weren't there for the beginning of it, which is a good sign that it's not a good story because the audience wasn't there for it either. But I think it was Glen becomes a radio producer named Stacey Rappaport.Michael Jamin:Yes.Alex Berger:His wife was also named Stacey Rappaport. Yes. And I know he works for Stacey Rappaport. And anyway, the whole time it was the, you guys were doing the Brady Bunch, Johnny Bravo episode basically as aMichael Jamin:Yeah,Alex Berger:Remember the debate was like, were they actually recording by the way? I will say again, you can cut this out early, but it's not relevant at all. But I grew up watching the Brady Bunch for whatever reason, even though I'm 10 years younger than you guys. And that was number one reference that you guys talked about. So I did feel like at least I got those references.Michael Jamin:Oh, it's so funny. I remember that. I remember because I think I was the one who pitched the name Stacey Rappaport.Alex Berger:I remember because I had a friend named StaceyMichael Jamin:Rappaport. Oh really? That's so funny. It was just a man's name that the joke was that Glen was going to choose a new identity for himself and he chooses a woman's name.Alex Berger:What have you gone back and just watched full episodes of the show?Michael Jamin:No. And everyone, people want to know about. People ask me that a lot. I don't touch. I should. I love that show, but I don't touch anything that I've written. I just don't. It's over and I don't know why, but you doAlex Berger:Just not even about Glen Martin. That is an interesting thing about writers is whether they want to go back. I go back and watch stuff and I hate it because I'm like, but because Glen Martin was not really mine. It was such an organism of the room. I laugh when I go back and watch it except the one I wrote, which I don't like.Michael Jamin:Oh my God. We had some fun in that show. But okay, so when you take, I have so many questions for you. When you were young, when you were a kid, did you want to be a writer? I know TimeAlex Berger:Know was a profession. I loved television. I was a youngest kid. I was raised by the Cosby Show and the Brady Bunch and G I F. And my idea of a family was basically what those families were probably to go back, rethink the Cosby one. And then even in college, I interned at Saturday Night Live and late night with Conan O'Brien back when he was on, which were fantasy camp, especially the s and l one was truly a dream come true. And it still didn't occur to me that it was a profession that I could go do. I was go to law school and then a buddy of mine, we were in Jerry's Subs and Pizza, which is an East coast person you probably remember. And we were sitting there talking about what we're going to do and he's like, like I said, I'm going to go to LA and be a writer. And I said, how do you do that? And he said, someone writes this stuff, why couldn't it be us? And it just gave me this epiphany of like, oh yeah, everybody who's out there as a writer at some point wasn't a writer and just got out there and learned how to do it. And so we all went out together and we kind of got our start.Michael Jamin:Did your friend become a writer too?Alex Berger:Yeah, we all ended up creating a show together. So the earliest thing that we did was we were on the high school debate team together and we walked into National Lampoon, which at the time was doing low budget cable programming, and the head creative guy there just made fun of my resume the entire time and made fun of debate. And then by the end of it said, there's a show here. And so we came, pitched him a show called Master Debaters that was a debating society, and we ended up getting to make, it was like our film school. I knew nothing about how to make a TV show and that one, I was throwing the keys to the castle. I was casting it, writing it, producing it. I was in it, posting it with every crisis. But it was so low stakes because the budgets were tiny and they were in syndicated cable stations and college campuses. No one would watch me. So I got to learn by doing and I loved it. It was great.Michael Jamin:Interesting. And then, all right, so then you became a writer and then you just kept on writing. I guess mean it's not an easy path, but you've made a really pretty good name for yourself over the years.Alex Berger:Yeah, I mean, thank you. It was a winding path when I came out, I thought for a minute I might want to be a development executive. I read a book by this guy, Brandon Tartikoff, who used to run N B C called The Last Great. It was like basically made it out to be, you're sitting in your room and the smartest people in the world come and tell you what TV show ideas they have, and then you pick the eight of them and pick the order in America Shears. And so I worked in development for a minute and I was not what it was like at all, and I was miserable and I was jealous of all the writers who were coming in. So I said, that's the job I want. And so I quit. WhatMichael Jamin:Was it I didn't know you worked at VO for? I wasAlex Berger:Assistant. I was an assistant in development at N B C.Michael Jamin:What was it like then?Alex Berger:It's very busy and not as creative as I wanted to be. I actually really enjoyed the conversations I had with the executives when it wasn't time to do my job and it was just time to talk about tv. But the actual job I was doing, I was terrible at, I mean, it was a lot of keeping track of who was calling, and I'm an absentminded first, butMichael Jamin:That you're an assistant. I mean, surelyAlex Berger:You, but it's a long time before your branded Tartikoff, right? Almost everybody else under branded Tartikoff has a lot of business responsibilities to do. And it wasn't, that's not how my brain works. My brain needs more free time. I think if I worked at a place that was smaller that was incubating three or four shows, I probably would've enjoyed it more. But we had 50 comedies and 50 dramas in development, and I was trying to get of all of them and who was calling and the letterhead changing and all this stuff. And it was just like I was not good at it. I mean, my boss even said to me one day, he said, you're a very smart guy. Why are you not very good at this? And we had a nice conversation about that. But the main thing was the writers that came in that I was, can I get you a coffee?Can I get you a tea? Can I get you a Coke? I was so jealous of them. Door would close to the pitch, and I just wanted to be in there listening to. And so I realized I should follow that. And so I didn't last that long. I left like eight months and I quit. I at the time had been, I think had a couple of writing jobs, like smaller writing jobs lined up that show Master Debaters had been optioned of VH one. So we were writing a pilot for VH one and a couple of their small writing jobs. So I went to go do those and then got back in the beginning of the line as an assistant, I was a writer's assistant on a show, and then I was an assistant to a showrunner and then I stop.Michael Jamin:So it's a brave move for you to leave that behind in.Alex Berger:It was definitely, I mean, I had some stuff lined up, but it was definitely a risk, but I just knew it wasn't the right, I was in the wrong place. But it's interesting, it was an incredible learning experience. I knew how development work from the inside, and I still think I know more about what's actually going on at the network than a lot of my peers because I was on the other side. And then the folks I met who are the other assistants to the other executives are now all executive vice presidents of networks or presidents of networks or I met my agent because he was an assistant to an agent that used to call, and then he signed me while he was still a coordinator. One of the people on that hall now became the president of Fox, another one who I've dealt with a lot became the president of N B C. I met a ton of great folks through that who have become friends and allies over the years, and I sold Joe to,Michael Jamin:But okay, so it's probably changed lot since you were in assistant that was probably 20 somethingAlex Berger:Years ago, 19 yearsMichael Jamin:Ago. So what is it like then that we don't understand?Alex Berger:I think the main thing that I didn't understand, and this has for sure changed and certainly in cable and streaming is just a volume. They are not spending as much time thinking about your script as you are by definition. But in development, there are literally 40 to 50 scripts at least back then on both on comedy and trauma. And so my boss, who was in charge of both has a hundred scripts to keep track of. So he was very smart and could make a judgment very quickly about a script, but he would read it once, sometimes read it again, and then he was making a judgment about whether it was a show. So as a writer now I know they're reading fast, they're reading it at three 30 in the morning, or they're reading it on the plane, I've got to grab attention fast, I've got to hook you in. I cannot lean, oh, the great twist, wait till the Great Twist. It's on page 55. And when I'm pitching, it's the same thing my boss said to me, I hear 300 pitches a year. I typically hear about five ideas I haven't heard before. The other 95 I've heard before. It's about take, it's about the writer, it's about their passion. And so when I go and pitch an idea, the substance of the idea is the second most important thing. And my connection to it and why it has to be me is the first most important.Michael Jamin:And that's the hard part. I feel that's the hard part because usually you think of an idea, you can't really, I don't know, you're a hundred percent right. They always, they want to know why are you the only one in the world who can write this idea truthfully? It's like a lot of times you're not a lot of times like, well, this is the characters we created. It's a funny situation, but there's probably a lot of people who could write this idea.Alex Berger:I think that what I have seen, and I've never done this, but I know folks who have is, I knew a writer once who his sort of why me paragraph was, I just run a show for a bunch of years. I came off of running that show and I didn't know what I wanted to do next and I had an identity crisis. And so it got to the idea of identity crises and here's a spy show, an action spy show, but at the center of it as a character going through an identity crisis. So it's notMichael Jamin:GrewAlex Berger:Up and my dad was a spy, and therefore sometimes it's emotional or sometimes I had this interaction with a guy on the subway and I couldn't stop thinking about it. And it led me to this show. And sometimes by the way, you retrofitted sometimes you already come up to the show and then you've got to come up with that first paragraph that's retrofitted and sometimes often it feels organic even though it was come up with thatMichael Jamin:Word. That's so interesting because I'm glad you said that to me. It almost sounds, it gives me some soce knowing that, because a lot of times we'll say, okay, this is why we're the only ones, and this is from seabird's idea home life or my home life, and then it doesn't sell. And you're like, well, I don't know what to do now. But you're actually broadening it out into a thematically, it's more personal to you. It's not necessarily a dynamic. It's more like,Alex Berger:Here's how I think about it. I think that, and I could be wrong, and by the way, it's different in a comedy because you've got to make 'em laugh in a comedy, and I know certain comedy executives don't laugh, but for the most, if you're funny in the room, they're thinking, okay, I want to be in business with these pets, but in drama, are there twists and turns? Am I hooked on this? Is this going to fit with something that we have on the air? Do we have something similar? But I always think what they're going to remember when they've heard six, they hear six to eight a day, and then at the end of the week they go tell their bosses about the ones that they bought. So what they're going to remember is, oh my God, you'll never believe the story this guy told about the time that he was held hostage on the subway, or you'll never believe that, or a cool twist or a cool character. They're not ever going to remember the third beat of the pilot, or when pitch episode ideas, here's soMichael Jamin:Interesting.Alex Berger:I think you need that stuff to be in there, but what they're going to remember, it's like when you walk into a house, when you're looking for a house, you remember, oh, I was dazzled by the kitchen and the master bedroom had the fullest bathroom and yeah, yeah, it had five bedrooms and five baths, which is what we need. But it felt like this when I walked in. It's like, how do they feel? That's another, I'm sorry to ramble, butMichael Jamin:No,Alex Berger:For drama. I think in a pitch, if you can make the executives feel how the show is going to make them feel, that's a successful pitch to me. Comedy's a little different, I think. ButMichael Jamin:Interesting. I feel like I'm learning a lot from you actually, because I mean, honestly, we'll sell shows and we'll not sell shows.Alex Berger:We're learning all that time from you guys for 40 episodes on the murder.Michael Jamin:But a lot of this is, like I said, we will sell a show or we won't sell a show, and I won't know why. I don't know. I'm not sure why this one sold this one, the other one didn't sell. I can, but that'sAlex Berger:Why I really don't like Zoom pitches because you can't. I love, that's actually my favorite part. I think it comes from, like I said, I was on the debate team in high school and college, and I loved trying to persuade someone who was not necessarily on my side at the beginning that I'm right. And I viewed every pitch as a miniature debate. I'm debating against the person who says, don't buy this. And I love the feeling of like, oh, I've got them hooked, and they're now, they are going to buy the show as long as it continues to go on this pace. And I hate the feeling of, I think they've checked out. And actually when I've memorized a pitch, when I think they've checked out, I'm talking, but my internal monologue is, well, I guess we didn't sell it to Fox. All right, well, if we can sell it to Fox, we can go to a B, C. Because I'm sort of like, I've moved on.Michael Jamin:How much off book are you have notes or not?Alex Berger:I've developed this method that I got from this guy, Martin Garra, who I've worked for eight or nine years for some blind spot, and now on Quantum Leap, it's different, but I love it, which is, it's different on Zoom, but when we go back to in-person pitches, what he does is he brings in his laptop and he puts it on the table in front of him and it acts as a teleprompter. And so he's looking up at you making eye contact and occasionally looking down. And then he is got a remote that flips page to page and the script is there word for word. So if you're like, oh shit, I'm about to get to the part that I always mess up, then you just look down and read for a minute and they know you've written this. It's not like no one is under the illusion that you walked in and RIFed for 20 minutes off theMichael Jamin:Topic. Does he do this in person or on Zoom?Alex Berger:Both. On Zoom, it's so easy because you can have your screen, but in person, I thought, oh, they're going to think it's offputting. But because I was practiced, I got to the point where 70% of it was eye contact and the laptop was there as the security one did.Michael Jamin:And what program is he using? That's a teleprompterAlex Berger:Work.Michael Jamin:Oh, so you're just scrolling. Oh, you're just clicking.Alex Berger:There's this Bluetooth remote that he uses that I was now in my drawer, and it's just you click and it's to the nextMichael Jamin:Page. You have a Bluetooth remote that works on your lap. I didn't even know this such a thing. I'm learning so much from you Burger.Alex Berger:Oh, you know what? I've lost it. Oh, here. Yeah, so it's like a little U S B that plugs into the back of your computer, and then you're just like, you click, click, click and it's, you look like you're giving its head talk it 5% easy. And I actually think in a comedy pitch, it might come off as too dorky, but for a drama it's like, I'm going to tell you a story. I'm going to deliver a pitch. And I wrote it. And the reason I find it useful is a lot of times when you're developing with the pod and the studio and then also the non-writing show runner, so many Sunday night, you're getting notes for a Monday morning pitch and stuff's changed. So if I get to the section that just changed, I might look down a little bit moreMichael Jamin:Interest. So I was going to say, are you going in mostly with pods these days for people who don't know that they're producers on the overall deals at studios, but is that how it works in dramas as well?Alex Berger:I don't think I'm going to show on the air anymore without an entourage. So when I was on Blind Spot, it was produced by Greg Ante and I did a couple pieces of development with him and then also with Blind Spot. I just think there's the business side of it, which is that these networks want to be in business with their 800 pound gorillas and the not. So if you walk in with one of them, even if it's my vision a hundred percent, and it's my personal story, the fact that this brand is behind it really helps. And then I also, I actually enjoy the process of crafting the idea with smart people. I don't want to work with a pod who's annoying and gives dumb notes or a studio who does that. But every pod I've ever worked with, if I'm stuck on an idea, I'll say, Hey, can we hop on the phone for half an hour and work out this story problem? You guys have each other so you can get in a room and hash out a story problem. But I need to talk. I cannot think through anyMichael Jamin:Interesting,Alex Berger:And we'll work it out. Oh,Michael Jamin:So you'll really use them as a resource. It's so interesting.Alex Berger:I mean, this guy, Martin Garrow who runs Blind Spot Quantum Leap, I've developed him a bunch of times and he's a writer.Michael Jamin:Yeah, it's differentAlex Berger:Stuff is acting as a pod. But I can call him and we have such a shorthand, we've broken 150 episodes a week, butMichael Jamin:That's different because he's a writer. He is not, I mean, he's a writer, is writer producer, but he's really aAlex Berger:Writer. So it's Greg Ante. I like working with folks who are on the creative things, and I've worked with producers who weren't writers, but could be because they're a creative, the worst part of that development is when someone gives you a note and they don't realize, oh, that's going to unravel. They think it's two lines, but it actually unravel all. Whereas when you work with people who've made a lot of tv, they're like, look, I know that this blows everything up to do this one little thing, but here's why I think it's better. Or Hey, they gave a huge note. Here's easy fix. It's only two lines.Michael Jamin:Yeah, I mean, that's so interesting. You're absolutely right. There's a huge difference between, I think between working with a producer, producer and a writer producer, because the writers, they just know what's going to unravel everything. I don't know. Yeah, that's ProducersAlex Berger:Are good for like, oh, you know what? Who'd be great for this is this actress. And they make the call and they're good.I find that you find everybody's in this business, they're good at something. Nobody who's come to this business and is just dashing a check. Well, probably not true, but the people that I try to find work with are people who are in this business smart. And even if they're not totally up on exactly what I wanted to do, fix the script, they have something that they're really good at that I want to use. So even if it's, there's one person at this company who's mostly the production person have a really good idea about like, Hey, if we shot this in Buffalo, we could do this.Michael Jamin:Right. Interesting. Wow. I think I've learned a lot from you. Before we conclude, you want to write drama withAlex Berger:Me? Let's go that. Let's talk about drama.Michael Jamin:I think I'm going to get into the drama business with you. I think you're going to be my pod. What advice do you have for young writers? You must have something to Wise to say.Alex Berger:Yeah, I mean, I probably don't have anything wise to say, but I'm happyMichael Jamin:To. Or how are they breaking in the business?Alex Berger:It's funny. The answer was so different 10 years ago to four years ago. It changed rapidly, and it's very different now because of the writer's strike. So if you're talking about what should I be doing right now, if I want to break in? I was just talking to a writer today and my advice to her was, just use this time to write. It's not a good time to try to get a producer attached or a showrunner attached or an agent. It's a good time to just be writing and really writing diligently. And then this is over. And in general, my advice is get a job in the industry, even if it's as an assistant. If you can't get a job as an assistant in a room, get a job as an assistant in post or get a job as a PA on set, just get into the room. Then just keep building a network and talking to everybody. And when your cousin comes and says, you know what? I used my college roommate, I think as a writer, I don't know what he take them up on all of those opportunities because you never know what's going to result in something. The first three jobs I got were from general meetings that I didn't want to take because actually two of them were from people. My mom had metParties in Washington dc but they were another assistant who was leaving their job and happened to open up. And then the last thing I would say is, I think the thing that people don't do as much of it that they should do is engage in the continuing education piece of this. So your listeners to your podcast are obviously trying to learn how to write, and that's important. There's a lot of other good podcasts out there. There's Deadline Hollywood, which everybody should be reading every single day. There's business podcasts like The Town and the Business and Fresh Air that people should be listening to understand the macro pieces of their business. So often you get people who come out here and they have
Chris does the first ever solo podcast for the Too Woke Boys while Col is stranded at burning man, and definitely not in his hometown visiting his family. Producer Alex steps up to the plate to accept the rants of Chris. Chris discusses the debacle of rain at Burning Man, Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell has passed and Chris celebrates his life by watching a video compilation of him threatening audience members. Chris also talks about the passing of Jimmy Buffett and tries to connect that buffet restaurants may exist because of Jimmy Buffett. Mexican people had a gender reveal party and it caused the death of a pilot. Bill Cosby is somehow brought up and Chris and producer Alex watch a video from the Cosby show about his sexy barbecue sauce. Britney Spears mentions she is ready for "hot guys" after her divorce. Chris offers to take care of her in her time of need Chris describes headlining a nudist colony show in Florida. Follow the IG/TikTok page: @TooWokeBoys Email the show: TooWokeBoys@gmail.com Like, Comment, Subscribe on the YouTube Channel We are doing our best to roll out new video content! - If you are interested in editing video content for the boys hit them up Donate to the show on Venmo/ Cashapp: TheSlutFund Give a FIVE STAR REVIEW for the show on iTunes Make sure to give five star reviews on Spotify also! (fun ones will be read on the show) Share a screenshot of the show on your IG stories and let everyone know YOU ARE AN ALLY @JeffZenisek https://beacons.ai/jeffzenisek @MalcolmKelner https://beacons.ai/malc --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/toowokeboys/support
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Digital Ad Market Update: 6/2 - 6/8 2023Joe, Kiersten, and Producer Alex are in the studio to break down the latest marketing, tech, and culture news. Hear it all in 29 minutes or less.Top Story:Apple recently unveiled its first product in the VR/AR headset space, and we are doing a deep dive into the capabilities of the device and the future of Apple's headset product line.Articles Mentioned:Apple Vision Headset: https://apple.co/3oKUB5x
Digital Ad Market Update: 3/25 - 3/29 2023Joe, Kiersten, and Producer Alex are back in the studio for another Of Record episode. We break down everything marketing, tech, and culture-related in 45 minutes or less.Top Stories:Is Twitter failing? Or is Elon Musk planning something big? Let's get into it.Life By You is the newest Sims competitor that might make you wonder how close we are to living in a virtual world. We all know Kanye loves Kanye, but does Kanye love A.I. Kanye? This latest voice A.I. might give Ye a run for his money, and the future of the music industry may change forever.Articles Mentioned:Twitter's Paid For You Page: http://bit.ly/3TNgFrf Twitter is Worth Half the Bill: http://bit.ly/40JiWWI Life By You: http://bit.ly/3lMtOUHA.I. Kanye Video: http://bit.ly/40yURSi
George Kittle is an NFL Tight End for the San Francisco 49ers. He is a 4x-time Pro-Bowler, an All-Pro, and appeared in Super Bowl LIV in 2020. He's also a leader of the annual Tight End University event in Nashville. George Kittle joins Theo Von on This Past Weekend to talk about growing up in Iowa, his Grim Reaper phase in school, making it to the NFL, how to hit a 300lb linebacker, locker room cigs, WWE dreams, and more. ------------------------------------------------ Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit https://www.amazon.com/stores/CELSIUS/ShopNow/page/95D581F4-E14E-4B01-91E7-6E2CA58A3C29 ShipStation: Visit https://shipstation.com/theo to get your FREE 60-day trail with promo code THEO. Manscaped: Visit https://manscaped.com to get 20% off and free shipping with code THEO. Raising Cane's: Satisfy your Cane's fix fast by ordering through their app, online at https://raisingcanes.com, or stop by your local restaurant. Draftkings: Download the app now and use code THEO. Bet $5 on UFC 286 to get $200 in bonus bets instantly! 21+ in most eligible states but age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility and deposit restrictions apply. See draftkings dot com slash sportsbook for details and state specific responsible gambling resources. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. In New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369). Bonus issued as bonus bets. Terms at sportsbook dot draftkings dot com slash mma terms. ------------------------------------------------- Music: "Shine" by Bishop Gunn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3A_coTcUek ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload Send mail to: This Past Weekend 1906 Glen Echo Rd PO Box #159359 Nashville, TN 37215 ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https://www.instagram.com/zachdpowers/ Producer: Ben https://www.instagram.com/benbeckermusic/ Producer Alex https://www.instagram.com/mralexlagos/ Producer: Colin https://instagram.com/colin_reiner
Coming to you from Sydney again, this week Matt and Anna are joined by Producer Alex for a catch up and a Hotline! Follow Alex on instagram HERE If you would like to be featured in a future Hotline ep, send your voice notes to wheresyourheadatpod@gmail.com JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY! HOSTS: Anna McEvoy (@annamcevoy21) & Matt Zukowski (@mattzukowski) INSTAGRAM: @wheresyourheadatpod For partnership enquiries please contact alex@dm.org.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Exclusive interview with JIVE RECORDS' Steve Lunt, who was Britney Spears' A&R person! We also chat with producer of the official THINKIN ABOUT YOU (Pink Bubblegum Mix) Alex Greggs. Also included is information about the album version of THINKIN ABOUT YOU charting on Apple Music. Audio ripping, stealing and leaking is prohibited in every country in the world. Every question a guest answers we get items donated to charity! www.TheOriginalDoll.com , www.Instagram.com/The.Original.Doll , www.Twitter.com/JamesRodriguez , www.TikTok.com/@TheJamesRodriguez www.Patreon.com/TheOriginalDoll
Dave Portnoy is an entrepreneur, media personality and the creator of Barstool Sports, one of the biggest publications for sports and pop culture content in the world. Dave Portnoy joins Theo Von on This Past Weekend to talk about his humble beginnings in Boston, taking risks, getting arrested at a Patriots game, how to handle controversy, and what it took to turn a small newspaper into one of the biggest media companies in America. ------------------------------------------------ Tour Dates! https://theovon.com/tour New Merch: https://www.theovonstore.com Podcastville mugs and prints available now at https://theovon.pixels.com ------------------------------------------------- Sponsored By: Celsius: Go to the Celsius Amazon store to check out all of their flavors. #CELSIUSBrandPartner #CELSIUSLiveFit https://www.amazon.com/stores/CELSIUS/ShopNow/page/95D581F4-E14E-4B01-91E7-6E2CA58A3C29 BetterHelp: This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/theo and get on your way to being your best self. Save 10% off your first month. Babbel: Go to https://babbel.com/theo to get 55% off your subscription. Babbel – Language for Life. ShipStation: Get a 60-day free trial at https://www.shipstation.com/theo. Thanks to ShipStation for sponsoring the show! DraftKings: Download the app NOW, use code THEO, new customers bet FIVE DOLLARS on UFC 284 and get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS IN BONUS BETS INSTANTLY! This Saturday at DraftKings Sportsbook with code THEO. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. Gambling Problem? Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY), If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (CO/IL/IN/LA/MD/MI/NJ/OH/PA/TN/WV/WY), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (KS/NH), 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), visit OPGR.org (OR), or 1-888-532-3500 (VA). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA(select parishes)/MD/MI/NJ/NY/OH/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Void in ONT. Eligibility restrictions apply. $200 in Bonus Bets: Valid 1 per new customer. Min. $5 deposit. Min $5 bet. Promo code req. $200 issued as bonus bets that expire 7 days (168 hours) after being awarded. Bonus bets must be wagered 1x and stake is not included in any returns or winnings. Promotional offer period ends 2/12/23 at 11:59 PM ET. See terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com/mmaterms ------------------------------------------------- Music: "Shine" by Bishop Gunn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3A_coTcUek ------------------------------------------------ Submit your funny videos, TikToks, questions and topics you'd like to hear on the podcast to: tpwproducer@gmail.com Hit the Hotline: 985-664-9503 Video Hotline for Theo Upload here: https://www.theovon.com/fan-upload Send mail to: This Past Weekend 1906 Glen Echo Rd PO Box #159359 Nashville, TN 37215 ------------------------------------------------ Find Theo: Website: https://theovon.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/theovon Facebook: https://facebook.com/theovon Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thispastweekend Twitter: https://twitter.com/theovon YouTube: https://youtube.com/theovon Clips Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheoVonClips Shorts Channel: https://bit.ly/3ClUj8z ------------------------------------------------ Producer: Zach https://www.instagram.com/zachdpowers/ Producer: Colin https://instagram.com/colin_reiner Producer: Ben https://www.instagram.com/benbeckermusic/ Producer: Alex https://www.instagram.com/mralexlagos/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Comedians Steve Rannazzisi and Ari Shaffir join Big Jay Oakerson, Luis J. Gomez, and Dave Smith to discuss Luis' most recent public freak out at Avis car rental, a website for the National Socialist Movement, and their desire to eat Producer Alex's placenta after she gives birth. All This and More, ONLY on The Most Offensive Podcast on Earth, The LEGION OF SKANKS!!! Air Date: 01/30/23Support our Sponsors!Fans over the age of 21, head to YoDelta.com and use promo code GAS for 25% off your order!Go to zippixtoothpicks.com/ and use the promo code LOS10 to get 10% off your order today!Fans over the age of 21, visit YoKratom.com to get two kilos for just $100!NEW Legion of Skanks merchandise is available at PodcastMerch.com/LOS!You can watch Legion of Skanks LIVE for FREE every Monday & Friday at 8:00pm EST at GaSDigitalNetwork.com/live.Once you're there, sign up to GaSDigitalNetwork.com with promo code LOS to receive a 7 day FREE TRIAL with access to our entire catalog of archived episodes! Including over 350 video episodes and over 500 audio episodes that have ever been recorded! On top of that, you'll also have the same access to ALL the other shows that GaS Digital Network has to offer!FOLLOW THE WHOLE SHOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA!Steve Rannazzisi Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steverannazzisi/Twitter: https://twitter.com/steverannazzisiAri ShaffirInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/arishaffir/Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkepticTankPodLegion of SkanksInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/legionofskanks/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LegionOfSkanksBig Jay OakersonInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigjayoakerson/Twitter: https://twitter.com/bigjayoakersonLuis J. GomezInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gomezcomedy/Twitter: https://twitter.com/luisjgomezDave SmithInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/theproblemdavesmith/Twitter: https://twitter.com/comicdavesmithGaS Digital NetworkInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gasdigitalSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Hadas Thier returns to This is Hell! to discuss her In These Times Article "A Left Answer to Inflation." Producer Alex returns for one show. We have new answers to this week's Question from Hell!, and This Week in Rotten History.
As midterms rapidly approach, Charlie welcomes the Trump-Endorsed Republican nominee for Governor of Arizona Kari Lake onto the show to give an on-the-ground, close-up summary of where the contentious race in Battleground State 48 stands. With a radical Democrat opponent masquerading as a moderate, who refuses to debate Kari in front of Arizona voters, Kari exposes what her radical opponent would do if she wins this November—and spoiler alert: it would not be good. Next, he's joined by Alex Marlow—Editor-in-Chief of Breitbart News and Producer of the new film that every American should see, ‘My Son Hunter,' to discuss the film that has the Biden Regime worried. They wrap up the episode by talking about the late Andrew Breitbart and how we can all follow his example by taking the culture war to the left and ultimately defeat them once and for all. You can learn more about Kari Lake and support her America First campaign by going to KariLake.com and also be sure to watch ‘My Son Hunter' TODAY at MySonHunter.com.Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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