Podcasts about usc film school

Imagine being greeted in the dead of night by a small alien creature, running toward your bed.  This disturbing experience set author Whitley Strieber on a dark and devastating path that culminated in the publishing of 1987's Communion.  Strieber's life changed on the night of December 26, 1985 – and he has spent the last forty years trying to sort out exactly what happened. When Richard Hatem first stumbled upon the book Communion, he refused to pick it up.  But after two years of post-USC Film School misery, he suddenly found dark solace within the story of Strieber and his strange encounters.  As Richard struggles to find his writing voice, the story of Strieber's frightening journey begins to resonate in strange ways.  And when Richard and his best friend Matt Reeves start working on the script that will one day become the Steven Segal movie Under Siege 2: Dark Territory – he learns that sometimes, friendship, humor and terrifying books can be the key to everything.  Join Richard as he navigates the rough waters of screenwriting, alien abduction – and tries to figure out how to make the great film Die Hard even greater (as if that were possible). NOTES & LINKS Sign up for Patreon at the “Obsessed Fan” level by June 30, you'll receive a SIGNED AND INSCRIBED printed copy of your favorite RHPB episode!  Join here! https://patreon.com/RichardHatem?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink  Buy Communion here! https://bookshop.org/p/books/communion/18948208?ean=9798986205502&next=t “Heidi's Frogen Yozurt” was a real thing! (But sadly, not anymore -- they've all been sold and no locations exists, even in Los Angeles).    BUT -- check out this article on the company's founder Heidi Miller.  She sounds like a great person! https://www.donatelifefloat.org/si/participants/pages/2020-heidi-miller.html “Blockbuster Video” was a real thing! (But sadly, not anymore -- they've all been sold and only ONE LOCATION STILL EXISTS!).  BUT -- check it out here and maybe go visit if you're ever in Bend, Oregon!  https://bendblockbuster.com/about/

This week on Urban Valor, we hear the extraordinary story of Army Staff Sergeant Robert Ham—a combat videographer whose job was to document war through the lens. Serving from 2007 to 2017, Robert captured footage most Americans will never see—graphic, haunting, and real. But it wasn't until he reviewed the footage later that the emotional weight truly hit him.In this week's episode of Urban Valor, Robert shares the reality of filming dying Afghans, surviving mortar attacks, and embedding with combat units across Afghanistan. He opens up about the toll that job took on his mental health and what happened after he came home. Despite enrolling at USC's top-ranked film school, he struggled with depression, identity loss, and nearly took his own life.Now a filmmaker dedicated to preserving the stories of those who served, Robert is the creator behind Interpreters Wanted and Searching for Bergdahl. His story is one of service, trauma, survival, and healing.

Director/Actor Nick Castle remembers growing up in Hollywood with his Italian-American family eating traditional ethnic fare, having his famous movie choreographer father home for dinner after working at a nearby film studio which young Nick would often visit, and meals with his extended family in Queens, NY. He also talks about his writing collaborations with fellow USC Film School director/alum John Carpenter and ...a fortuitous visit to the original 'Halloween' movie set and the unbelievable result. A down-to-earth and sometimes unpredictable conversation with this veteran director.Don't forget to follow all of the social media!  @Sarandon_Chris on Twitter @TheOfficialChrisSarandon on Instagram Chris Sarandon on Facebook  www.chrissarandon.com linktr.ee/theofficialchrissarandonSubscribe on Youtube at https://youtube.com/shorts/-vGUyj0TK-Q

This week Ken welcomes author of the absolutely life changing "Cult Movies" series of books, among lots of other great things, Danny Peary. Ken and Danny discuss the massive volume of guests Ken has had on the show, wanting to expose people to art they never would have known about otherwise, growing up in the 1950s, loving Westerns, Danny's brother Gerald and his film criticism, loving television, Abbot and Costello and Jack and the Bean Stalk, Lone Ranger, foreign cinema, college campus cinema clubs, Hopalong Cassidy, Red Rider, Baseball, Igmar Bergman, seeing subtitled movies as a small child, The Harder They Come, Midnight Movies, NYC, seeing movies alone in the theater, Rocky Horror, word of mouth, why The Wizard of Oz is a cult movie, the niche cults, John Waters, the classics, the weird, and the wonderful, why horror isn't always cult, not just writing about plots, real film criticism, analysis, how you can't have a wrong insight into a movie, giving people something to think about. Eraserhead, doing research in the pre-internet days, Freaks, loving Val Lewton, how the flow of cult movies has damartically slowed in the 21st Century despite more movies than ever and more movies than ever trying to be cult movies, giving things time to build, how you can't make a cult movie on purpose, film festivals, The Substance, Basket Case, The Wasp Woman, The Alternative Oscars, Ken being baffled at how Speed Racer never developed a cult, Howard the Duck, Heaven's Gate, George Cukor, retiring, the lost Val Lewton movie, The Ghost Ship, making movies with zero heroic characters, I Walked with a Zombie, going to USC Film School, writing for Thundercats and Silverhawks, having a love of comedy, James Gray, the film Deep End, Phatom of the Paradise, and the early days of Brian DePalma. 

After earning her BS in Dental Hygiene from USC, Dr. Holden found her calling in a pediatric dental office in Beverly Hills. After five years, she returned to USC to earn her DDS and a certificate in Pediatric Dentistry. She was fortunate to return to the same practice for a year as an associate before opening her own Pediatric Dental office in Manhattan Beach, California. As the only female pediatric dentist in Manhattan Beach, Dr. Holden created a thriving practice. She also has a second office that serves teens and college students, catering to her older patients. The idea for Tanner's Tasty Paste came after struggling to find a toothpaste that her sons would actually use. The concept was born when her son first tried the toothpaste and excitedly asked, “Mom, can I brush my teeth again?” Tanner's Tasty Paste is available in Vanilla, Chocolate, and Orange Vanilla. Dr. Holden is married and has two sons. Her older son, Chase, just graduated from USC Film School and is seeking an entry-level position. Her youngest son, who has special needs, is the happiest guy and still uses Tanner's Tasty Paste! It has touched so many special needs and sensory children! She still practices full time as a pediatric dentist in Manhattan Beach. It is time to take a ride on the flavor wave!

In this episode of the Work at Home Rockstar Podcast, host Tim Melanson interviews Lita Quetnick, the CEO of Private Space. Lita shares her journey from managing employee travel for Daimler Chrysler to launching her own company focused on improving passengers' air travel experiences. She discusses the challenges she faced, like re-engineering Airbus planes to fit United's first-class seats, and the importance of having a resourceful team. Lita also talks about the innovative technologies her company is incorporating, such as humidification systems and low cabin altitudes, to enhance passenger comfort by reducing toxicity in the air. Additionally, she emphasizes the significance of authentic communication and effective marketing strategies in today's age. Who is Lita Quetnick? Lita-Nadine Quetnick stands at the helm as CEO of The Silverair Group, Inc., and Private Space Airways, dedicated to transforming how we experience commercial air travel. As a former airline pilot, she knows how planes operate. She moved on to enhance the journey of thousands of top-tier executives on transatlantic travel. Today, technology exists to dramatically alter how passengers breathe, eat, and sleep on planes, and she is committed to revolutionizing what passengers experience. Lita's diverse heritage and work experience have contributed to her unique perspective. She has lived in both Europe and the US, fostering a broad cultural understanding. Lita studied art at Stanford and Film at the USC Film School, which have honed her design and environmental skills. Her goal is to enhance the air travel experience for one billion travelers by 2029. Connect with Lita Quetnick: Website: https://privatespaceair.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/lquetnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/litaquetnick LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lita-nadine-quetnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lita.nadine.quetnick I love connecting with Work at Home RockStars! Reach out on LinkedIn, Instagram, or via email. Website: https://workathomerockstar.com WHR Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/workathomerockstar Feel free to DM us on any of our social platforms: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workathomerockstar Email: tim@workathomerockstar.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmelanson In this Episode: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:30 Story of Success 01:15 Overcoming Challenges 03:15 Building a Strong Team 05:50 Funding and Technological Advances 09:25 Marketing Strategies 18:00 The Importance of Mentorship 22:25 Exciting Business Developments 28:00 Conclusion and Farewell

In today's episode, I sit down with Tim Chey, the director and producer of the upcoming film "The Firing Squad," set to release on August 2, 2024. Tim shares his remarkable journey from Atheism and Buddhism to his radical conversion to Christianity, his career highs and lows, and his commitment to making faith-based films. His story is one of transformation, perseverance, and unwavering faith in the face of adversity. We also talk about the movie and how the concept impacted Tim. It is based off of the story of the Christians who were executed by firing squad in Indonesia on April 29, 2015. It stars Kevin Sorbo and Cuba Gooding Jr. Keep an eye out for advanced ticket sales near you to get the interest going and get it in more theaters! Bio: Educated at Harvard University, USC Film School, and Boston University School of Law. Chey's work has been seen on E! Entertainment, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, VIBE TV, MTV, Daily Variety, Hollywood Reporter, TNT, USA Networks, the Dove Awards, MovieGuide Awards, People Magazine, and the New York Times. Chey has produced, written and directed nine feature films, including his latest ‘Epic Journey' (2013) which took him to 27 countries and ‘Final' (2013) based on his novel. He also produced ‘The Underground Railroad' (2013) starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. William Sadler, and Sharon Leal. In 2011, his film, 'Suing the Devil' starring Malcolm McDowell, Tom Sizemore, Corbin Bernsen, Rebecca St. James ranked #8 nationwide out of 17,000 movies on Walmart's On Demand. The film was shot in Sydney, Australia and won the coveted 5-star Dove Award. Chey is the winner of two 5-Star Dove Awards and was the recipient of the prestigious 'Spirit of the Independent' award for Best Director. He served as chairman of the Student Awards committee at the Director's Guild of America. He divides his time between Honolulu and Los Angeles. He's happily married with two children. Anchor Verse: Romans 8:28 Hebrews 6:10 Ephesians 4:31 Philippians 4:13 Connect with Tim: Movie Website: https://www.firingsquadfilm.com/  Website: http://timchey.net  https://www.instagram.com/tim_chey FB: https://www.facebook.com/TimChey ***We love hearing from our listeners! Sharing your thoughts through reviews is a fantastic way to be a part of our podcast family and contribute to the conversation. If you've enjoyed our podcast, leaving a review is quick and easy! Just head to Apple podcasts or wherever you are tuning in and share your thoughts. Your feedback makes a big difference!***

[Can a movie touch a Million lives for salvation? Check out the movie's link https://www.thefiringsquadmovie.com/ to find out more on how you can be a part of making that happen - it already won many on the film set to Christ. Listen to hear more. In Theaters this August. BTD]Timothy Chey's latest project, 'The Firing Squad,' starring James Barrington, Kevin Sorbo (“God's Not Dead”, “Let There Be Light”), and Cuba Gooding, Jr., is a compelling true story of redemption that delves into transformation through faith. The film showcases the power of Christianity in turning the lives of drug dealers into devout believers, offering a message of hope, healing, and renewal. Tim Chey Timothy Chey was a former Harvard-educated atheist who found Christ in his 30's. Before he found Christ, he was a litigation attorney who worked for two of the top, largest law firms in LA. He wasn't happy and decided to go into film directing/producing. He directed his first film that Universal Studios acquired in 1998.Educated at Harvard University, USC Film School, and Boston University School of Law. Chey's work has been seen on E! Entertainment, The Wall Street Journal, The LA Times, VIBE TV, MTV, Daily Variety, Hollywood Reporter, TNT, USA Networks, the Dove Awards, MovieGuide Awards, People Magazine, and the New York Times.Chey has produced, written and directed nine feature films, including his latest ‘Epic Journey' (2013) which took him to 27 countries and ‘Final' (2013) based on his novel.He also produced ‘The Underground Railroad' (2013) starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. William Sadler, and Sharon Leal.In 2011, his film, 'Suing the Devil' starring Malcolm McDowell, Tom Sizemore, Corbin Bernsen, Rebecca St. James ranked #8 nationwide out of 17,000 movies on Walmart's On Demand. The film was shot in Sydney, Australia and won the coveted 5-star Dove Award.Chey is the winner of two 5-Star Dove Awards and was the recipient of the prestigious 'Spirit of the Independent' award for Best Director. He served as chairman of the Student Awards committee at the Director's Guild of America.He divides his time between Honolulu and Los Angeles. He's happily married with two children.Tim CheyThe Firing Squad

We had way too much fun chatting with THE amazing, glorious human that is THE Gretchen Schreiber!! Gretchen has so many cool stories to share about publishing and just life in general! We can't wait for you all to tune in. But first, here's more about Gretchen: Gretchen Schreiber grew up between the hills of Kansas and the hospitals of Minnesota, but now call the hills of Los Angeles home. After getting her MFA from USC Film School, she now works as a professional bookworm for Hello Sunshine, Reese Witherspoon's media company. She is always down to run away to Disneyland or a bookstore. ELLIE HAYCOCK IS TOTALLY NORMAL is her debut novel! Get your copy here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250892164/elliehaycockistotallynormal Add it to Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127305899-ellie-haycock-is-totally-normal You can find Gretchen here: Gretchen's website: https://www.gretchenschreiberwrites.com/ Gretchen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretch_schreiber/ #OfthePublishingPersuasion #podcast #writingcommunity #writing #Publishing#elliehaycockistotallynormal #GretchenSchreiber #hellosunshine #podcastsforwriters #newrelease #writingcommunity #writingpodcast #authortube #authorsofinstagram #authorssupportingauthors #authorsofig #authorscommunity #writersofinstagram #writerspodcast #writeradvice #podcasting #podcasts #podcastersofinstagram #Query #querying #disabilityarts #diversereads #2024debuts

For the second season of the Marvel series Loki, cinematographer Isaac Bauman decided to bring his own unique look to the show, especially when it came to the lighting design. Loki Season 1 DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC brought a lot of herself and her own unique look to the show. But Isaac feels that his approach to cinematography is very different from Autumn's, and he wanted to creatively stick his neck out to define his own voice for season two. During his initial interview for Loki, Isaac presented a detailed vision to directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead of how he would have shot scenes differently for season one. Once he was hired for season two, Isaac created an extremely detailed bible for the lighting and look of Loki. Season 2 is a mix of 1970's-inspired lighting and color palette, with warm browns, yellows and oranges within the TVA, shifting to cooler blues and greens with rainbow hues further down in the control room as the timelines begin to collapse. Loki Season 2 utilizes wide angles, handheld camerawork and monochromatic colors. As with season one, the sets are often full 360-degree builds, so that every possible environment has four walls and a ceiling. The lighting was also achieved with all practicals on set, with a lighting rig built into the ceiling. Isaac had to learn to work with the scenes being lit from overhead, which is not a very flattering look for the actors. He introduced a lot of handheld camera movement into season two, which would have made it challenging to have lights on the set. Instead, for a little extra light on the actors' faces, they often used a battery powered gem ball LED on the eyeline of the actors. The shoot for season two was more dynamic, as the actors were allowed to move more freely around the set, with the cameras just following and panning between the characters, using wide spherical lenses. Isaac loves shooting on a stage, because he loves being able to control all of the lighting. Isaac went to USC Film School where he met his friend, director Lee Roy Kunz, who convinced him to drop out and shoot their first feature film, A Beer Tale. He then started shooting low budget rap videos, which led to bigger music videos, which led to commercials and feature films. Growing up, he made his own video projects at home using a camcorder, but it wasn't until film school that Isaac realized that working with the camera, image and lighting was his true passion. Find Issac Bauman: https://www.isaacbauman.com/ Instagram: @isaacbauman Loki Season 2 is currently available on Disney+. Hear our interview with Loki Season 1 cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC. https://www.camnoir.com/ep193/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Cinematographer Todd A. Dos Reis, ASC went to USC Film School a few years ahead of The Blackening director Tim Story. There were so few Black filmmakers at school that they knew of each other. Once Todd graduated and was working professionally, he and Tim finally worked together on several different TV pilots. Todd started out as a camera assistant for Russell Carpenter and worked on a few scary movies with him such as Critters 2: The Main Course and Pet Semetary Two. But Todd is not a big fan of horror movies. As a young kid growing up in the New Bedford, Massachusetts housing projects, Todd watched The Godfather, Blackspoitation movies and Bruce Lee martial arts movies. His grandparents bought him a camera and Todd learned photography in high school. Once he started at USC, he knew he wanted to become a cinematographer. The Blackening is a horror/comedy film about a group of African-American friends who go away for the weekend to a cabin in the woods. The friends are forced to play a game as the killer stalks them. Director Tim Story is more a fan of the horror genre than Todd, and they used The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Don't Breathe as references for the look. Todd kept the lighting very dark, focusing on lighting for drama rather than for comedy. The location only had track lighting, so Todd mainly used the practical lights in the house, keeping any additional lighting to a minimum. They shot on location at a house in Brentwood, Los Angeles, where it actually felt pretty remote. The crew tented the entire house to be able to shoot during the day, since Brentwood had a 12 AM curfew for film crews. Filmed in just 20 days, both Todd and Tim's experience of working in television enabled them to move quickly between setups on The Blackening. Once the master shot was established, Todd only had to adjust the small lights for tweaking shots. Todd's advice for shooting on an accelerated schedule is to have lots of prep and preproduction planning time, and to have an experienced director who knows what they want. The Blackening is in theaters and available on VOD platforms July 7. Find Todd A. Dos Reis: https://www.todddosreis.com/ Instagram: @todddosreis Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by ARRI: https://www.arri.com/en The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCinematographyPodcast Facebook: @cinepod Instagram: @thecinepod Twitter: @ShortEndz

Outlook Amusements' Founder and CEO, Jason Freeland, joins Coruzant Technologies for the Digital Executive podcast.  He shares his journey from USC Film School to being a limo driver, to launching several businesses over his career. Today, Outlook Amusements and California Psychics are the successful fruits of his labor.

Earlier this year, host Jesse David Fox was invited by USC Film School to moderate a panel for the USC Comedy Festival: The Changing Flavor of Series Comedy, featuring Rachel Bloom, Steve Levitan, and Gina Yashere. Follow Rachel Bloom on Instagram. Follow Steve Levitan on Twitter and Instagram. Follow. Gina Yashere on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram. Pre order Jesse's book, Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture–and the Magic That Makes It Work here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374604714/comedybook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today episode of Made in Hollywood Mark and William discuss the recent Oscars telecast. You my also hear irrelevant things on this episode about Nicole Kidman, AMC Theaters, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Ke Huy Quan, Triangle of Sadness, All Quiet on the Western Front, An Irish Goodbye, The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and the Horse, Le Pupille, The Red Coat, Brendan Fraser, Austin Butler, Paul Mescal, Aftersun, Normal People, To Leslie, Andrea Riseborough, Tom Cruise, Indiana Jones, Encino Man, SAG-Aftra, USC Film School, Top Gun, Scientology, Jimmy Kimmel, L. Ron Hubbard, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, and KCAL 9 news.  

This week on “ARW RAW,” ARW interviews her production mentor Monica Sotto about how the two connected about being slaying female USC film school alumni, why Monica became an Art Director, and exactly how to succeed & carve your own path in the entertainment industry. Follow her on all socials @msottovoce --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon.   This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying.   And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s.       But first, as always, some backstory.   Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research.   Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee.   That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940.   In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man.   In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee.   In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics.   Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men.   And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series.   But movies were a different matter.   The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract  that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company.   Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films.   Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself.   So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming.   Spider-Man.   A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay.   There was just one small problem.   Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character.   Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death.   To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement.   Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man.   Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later.   In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter.   By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies.   And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman.   Who?   Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa.   Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else.   But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits…   Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone.   A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later.   There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s.   But the one that would stick?   Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years?   The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character?   Howard the Duck.   Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero.   Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero.   He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City.    Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly.   The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie.   A PG-rated movie.   Enter George Lucas.   In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism.   Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for.   “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask.   Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck.   Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen.   Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office.   It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character.   For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.   Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene.   To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier.   After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date.   Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time.   As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung.   By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics.    The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m.    The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet.   Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales.   Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott.   Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit.   Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller.   Phew.   If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford,  and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film.   And it sucked.   Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills.   And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres.   In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle.   And a debacle it was.   But just how bad?   So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!”   And it did.   Well, sort of.   When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate.   And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews.   But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film.   Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married.   For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades.   And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky.   Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.   But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If…   There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment.   It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

This week, we talk about the 1980s Marvel Cinematic Universe that could have been, and eventually was. ----more---- TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the undisputed king of intellectual property in the entertainment industry. As of February 9th, 2023, the day I record this episode, there have been thirty full length motion pictures part of the MCU in the past fifteen years, with a combined global ticket sales of $28 billion, as well as twenty television shows that have been seen by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. It is a entertainment juggernaut that does not appear to be going away anytime soon.   This comes as a total shock to many of us who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, who were witness of cheaply produced television shows featuring hokey special effects and a roster of has-beens and never weres in the cast. Superman was the king of superheroes at the movies, in large part because, believe it or not, there hadn't even been a movie based on a Marvel Comics character released into theatres until the summer of 1986. But not for lack of trying.   And that's what we're going to talk about today. A brief history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the 1980s.       But first, as always, some backstory.   Now, I am not approaching this as a comic fan. When I was growing up in the 80s, I collected comics, but my collection was limited to Marvel's Star Wars series, Marvel's ROM The SpaceKnight, and Marvel's two-issue Blade Runner comic adaptation in 1982. So I apologize to Marvel comics fans if I relay some of this information incorrectly. I have tried to do my due diligence when it comes to my research.   Marvel Comics got its start as Timely Comics back in 1939. On August 31, 1939, Timely would release its first comic, titled Marvel Comics, which would feature a number of short stories featuring versions of characters that would become long-running staples of the eventual publishing house that would bear the comic's name, including The Angel, a version of The Human Torch who was actually an android hero, and Namor the Submariner, who was originally created for a unpublished comic that was supposed to be given to kids when they attended their local movie theatre during a Saturday matinee.   That comic issue would quickly sell out its initial 80,000 print run, as well as its second run, which would put another 800,000 copies out to the marketplace. The Vision would be another character introduced on the pages of Marvel Comics, in November 1940.   In December 1940, Timely would introduce their next big character, Captain America, who would find instant success thanks to its front cover depicting Cap punching Adolph Hitler square in the jaw, proving that Americans have loved seeing Nazis get punched in the face even a year before our country entered the World War II conflict. But there would be other popular characters created during this timeframe, including Black Widow, The Falcon, and The Invisible Man.   In 1941, Timely Comics would lose two of its best collaborators, artists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, to rival company Detective Comics, and Timely owner Martin Goodman would promote one of his cousins, by marriage to his wife Jean no less, to become the interim editor of Timely Comics. A nineteen year old kid named Stanley Lieber, who would shorten his name to Stan Lee.   In 1951, Timely Comics would be rebranded at Atlas Comics, and would expand past superhero titles to include tales of crime, drama, espionage, horror, science fiction, war, western, and even romance comics.   Eventually, in 1961, Atlas Comics would rebrand once again as Marvel Comics, and would find great success by changing the focus of their stories from being aimed towards younger readers and towards a more sophisticated audience. It would be November 1961 when Marvel would introduce their first superhero team, The Fantastic Four, as well as a number of their most beloved characters including Black Panther, Carol Danvers, Iron Man, The Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Thor, as well as Professor X and many of the X-Men.   And as would be expected, Hollywood would come knocking. Warner Brothers would be in the best position to make comic book movies, as both they and DC Comics were owned by the same company beginning in 1969. But for Marvel, they would not be able to enjoy that kind of symbiotic relationship. Regularly strapped for cash, Stan Lee would often sell movie and television rights to a variety of Marvel characters to whomever came calling. First, Marvel would team with a variety of producers to create a series of animated television shows, starting with The Marvel Super Heroes in 1966, two different series based on The Fantastic Four, and both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman series.   But movies were a different matter.   The rights to make a Spider-Man television show, for example, was sold off to a production company called Danchuck, who teamed with CBS-TV to start airing the show in September of 1977, but Danchuck was able to find a loophole in their contract  that allowed them to release the two-hour pilot episode as a movie outside of the United States, which complicated the movie rights Marvel had already sold to another company.   Because the “movie” was a success around the world, CBS and Danchuck would release two more Spider-Man “movies” in 1978 and 1981. Eventually, the company that owned the Spider-Man movie rights to sell them to another company in the early 1980s, the legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, New World Pictures, founded and operated by the legendary independent B-movie producer and director Roger Corman. But shortly after Corman acquired the film rights to Spider-Man, he went and almost immediately sold them to another legendary independent B-movie production company and distributor, Cannon Films.   Side note: Shortly after Corman sold the movie rights to Spider-Man to Cannon, Marvel Entertainment was sold to the company that also owned New World Pictures, although Corman himself had nothing to do with the deal itself. The owners of New World were hoping to merge the Marvel comic book characters with the studio's television and motion picture department, to create a sort of shared universe. But since so many of the better known characters like Spider-Man and Captain America had their movie and television rights sold off to the competition, it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon, but again, I'm getting ahead of myself.   So for now, we're going to settle on May 1st, 1985. Cannon Films, who loved to spend money to make money, made a big statement in the pages of the industry trade publication Variety, when they bought nine full pages of advertising in the Cannes Market preview issue to announce that buyers around the world needed to get ready, because he was coming.   Spider-Man.   A live-action motion picture event, to be directed by Tobe Hooper, whose last movie, Poltergeist, re-ignited his directing career, that would be arriving in theatres for Christmas 1986. Cannon had made a name for themselves making cheapie teen comedies in their native Israel in the 1970s, and then brought that formula to America with films like The Last American Virgin, a remake of the first Lemon Popsicle movie that made them a success back home. Cannon would swerve into cheapie action movies with fallen stars like Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson, and would prop up a new action star in Chuck Norris, as well as cheapie trend-chasing movies like Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. They had seen enough success in America where they could start spending even bigger, and Spider-Man was supposed to be their first big splash into the superhero movie genre. With that, they would hire Leslie Stevens, the creator of the cult TV series The Outer Limits, to write the screenplay.   There was just one small problem.   Neither Stevens nor Cannon head honcho Menachem Golan understood the Spider-Man character.   Golan thought Spider-Man was a half-spider/half-man creature, not unlike The Wolf Man, and instructed Stevens to follow that concept. Stevens' script would not really borrow from any of the comics' twenty plus year history. Peter Parker, who in this story is a twenty-something ID photographer for a corporation that probably would have been Oscorp if it were written by anyone else who had at least some familiarity with the comics, who becomes intentionally bombarded with gamma radiation by one of the scientists in one of the laboratories, turning Bruce Banner… I mean, Peter Parker, into a hairy eight-armed… yes, eight armed… hybrid human/spider monster. At first suicidal, Bruce… I mean, Peter, refuses to join forces with the scientist's other master race of mutants, forcing Peter to battle these other mutants in a basement lab to the death.   To say Stan Lee hated it would be an understatement.   Lee schooled Golan and Golan's partner at Cannon, cousin Yoram Globus, on what Spider-Man was supposed to be, demanded a new screenplay. Wanting to keep the head of Marvel Comics happy, because they had big plans not only for Spider-Man but a number of other Marvel characters, they would hire the screenwriting team of Ted Newsom and John Brancato, who had written a screenplay adaptation for Lee of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, to come up with a new script for Spider-Man.   Newsom and Brancato would write an origin story, featuring a teenage Peter Parker who must deal with his newfound powers while trying to maintain a regular high school existence, while going up against an evil scientist, Otto Octavius. But we'll come back to that later.   In that same May 1985 issue of Variety, amongst dozens of pages of ads for movies both completed and in development, including three other movies from Tobe Hooper, was a one-page ad for Captain America. No director or actor was attached to the project yet, but comic book writer James L. Silke, who had written the scripts for four other Cannon movies in the previous two years, was listed as the screenwriter.   By October 1985, Cannon was again trying to pre-sell foreign rights to make a Spider-Man movie, this time at the MIFED Film Market in Milan, Italy. Gone were Leslie Stevens and Tobe Hooper. Newsom and Brancato were the new credited writers, and Joseph Tito, the director of the Chuck Norris/Cannon movies Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A., was the new director. In a two-page ad for Captain America, the film would acquire a new director in Michael Winner, the director of the first three Death Wish movies.   And the pattern would continue every few months, from Cannes to MIFED to the American Film Market, and back to Cannes. A new writer would be attached. A new director. A new release date. By October 1987, after the twin failures of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace and Masters of the Universe, Cannon had all but given up on a Captain America movie, and downshifted the budget on their proposed Spider-Man movie. Albert Pyun, whose ability to make any movie in any genre look far better than its budget should have allowed, was brought in to be the director of Spider-Man, from a new script written by Shepard Goldman.   Who?   Shepard Goldman, whose one and only credit on any motion picture was as one of three screenwriters on the 1988 Cannon movie Salsa.   Don't remember Salsa? That's okay. Neither does anyone else.   But we'll talk a lot more about Cannon Films down the road, because there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Cannon Films, although I will leave you with two related tidbits…   Do you remember the 1989 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Cyborg? Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk martial-arts action film where JCVD and everyone else in the movie have names like Gibson Rickenbacker, Fender Tremolo, Marshall Strat and Pearl Prophet for no damn good reason? Stupid movie, lots of fun. Anyway, Albert Pyun was supposed to shoot two movies back to back for Cannon Films in 1988, a sequel to Masters of the Universe, and Spider-Man. To save money, both movies would use many of the same sets and costumes, and Cannon had spent more than $2m building the sets and costumes at the old Dino DeLaurentiis Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, where David Lynch had shot Blue Velvet. But then Cannon ran into some cash flow issues, and lost the rights to both the He-Man toy line from Mattel and the Spider-Man characters they had licensed from Marvel. But ever the astute businessman, Cannon Films chairman Menahem Golan offered Pyun $500,000 to shoot any movie he wanted using the costumes and sets already created and paid for, provided Pyun could come up with a movie idea in a week. Pyun wrote the script to Cyborg in five days, and outside of some on-set alterations, that first draft would be the shooting script. The film would open in theatres in April 1989, and gross more than $10m in the United States alone.   A few months later, Golan would gone from Cannon Films. As part of his severance package, he would take one of the company's acquisitions, 21st Century Films, with him, as well as several projects, including Captain America. Albert Pyun never got to make his Spider-Man movie, but he would go into production on his Captain America in August 1989. But since the movie didn't get released in any form until it came out direct to video and cable in 1992, I'll leave it to podcasts devoted to 90s movies to tell you more about it. I've seen it. It's super easy to find on YouTube. It really sucks, although not as much as that 1994 version of The Fantastic Four that still hasn't been officially released nearly thirty years later.   There would also be attempts throughout the decade to make movies from the aforementioned Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk, Silver Surfer and Iron Man, from companies like New Line, 20th Century-Fox and Universal, but none of those would ever come to fruition in the 1980s.   But the one that would stick?   Of the more than 1,000 characters that had been featured in the pages of Marvel Comics over the course of forty years?   The one that would become the star of the first ever theatrically released motion picture based on a Marvel character?   Howard the Duck.   Howard the Duck was not your average Marvel superhero.   Howard the Duck wasn't even a superhero.   He was just some wise crackin', ill-tempered, anthropomorphic water fowl that was abducted away from his home on Duckworld and forced against his will to live with humans on Earth. Or, more specifically, first with the dirty humans of the Florida Everglades, and then Cleveland, and finally New York City.    Howard the Duck was metafiction and existentialist when neither of these things were in the zeitgeist. He smoked cigars, wore a suit and tie, and enjoy drinking a variety of libations and getting it on with the women, mostly his sometimes girlfriend Beverly.   The perfect character to be the subject of the very first Marvel movie.   A PG-rated movie.   Enter George Lucas.   In 1973, George Lucas had hit it big with his second film as a director, American Graffiti. Lucas had written the screenplay, based in part on his life as an eighteen year old car enthusiast about to graduate high school, with the help of a friend from his days at USC Film School, Willard Huyck, and Huyck's wife, Gloria Katz. Lucas wanted to show his appreciation for their help by producing a movie for them. Although there are variations to the story of how this came about, most sources say it was Huyck who would tell Lucas about this new comic book character, Howard the Duck, who piqued his classmate's interest by describing the comic as having elements of film noir and absurdism.   Because Universal dragged their feet on American Graffiti, not promoting it as well as they could have upon its initial release and only embracing the film when the public embraced its retro soundtrack, Lucas was not too keen on working with Universal again on his next project, a sci-fi movie he was calling The Journal of the Whills. And while they saw some potential in what they considered to be some minor kiddie movie, they didn't think Lucas could pull it off the way he was describing it for the budget he was asking for.   “What else you got, kid?” they'd ask.   Lucas had Huyck and Katz, and an idea for a live-action comic book movie about a talking duck.   Surprisingly, Universal did not slam the door shut in Lucas's face. They actually went for the idea, and worked with Lucas, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics and Howard's creator, Steve Gerber, to put a deal together to make it happen.   Almost right away, Gerber and the screenwriters, Huyck and Katz, would butt heads on practically every aspect of the movie's storyline. Katz just thought it was some funny story about a duck from outer space and his wacky adventures on Earth, Gerber was adamant that Howard the Duck was an existential joke, that the difference between life's most serious moments and its most incredibly dumb moments were only distinguishable by a moment's point of view. Huyck wanted to make a big special effects movie, while Katz thought it would be fun to set the story in Hawaii so she and her husband could have some fun while shooting there. The writers would spend years on their script, removing most everything that made the Howard the Duck comic book so enjoyable to its readers. Howard and his story would be played completely straight in the movie, leaning on subtle gags not unlike a Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker movie, instead of embracing the surreal ridiculousness of the comics. They would write humongous effects-heavy set pieces, knowing they would have access to their producer's in-house special effects team, Industrial Light and Magic, instead of the comics' more cerebral endings. And they'd tone down the more risqué aspects of Howard's personality, figuring a more family-friendly movie would bring in more money at the box office.   It would take nearly twelve years for all the pieces to fall into place for Howard the Duck to begin filming. But in the spring of 1985, Universal finally gave the green light for Lucas and his tea to finally make the first live-action feature film based on a Marvel Comics character.   For Beverly, the filmmakers claimed to have looked at every young actress in Hollywood before deciding on twenty-four year old Lea Thompson, who after years of supporting roles in movies like Jaws 3-D, All the Right Moves and Red Dawn, had found success playing Michael J. Fox's mother in Back to the Future. Twenty-six year old Tim Robbins had only made two movies up to this point, at one of the frat boys in Fraternity Vacation and as one of the fighter pilots in Top Gun, and this was his first chance to play a leading role in a major motion picture. And Jeffrey Jones would be cast as the bad guy, the Dark Overlord, based upon his work in the 1984 Best Picture winner Amadeus, although he would be coming to the set of Howard the Duck straight off of working on a John Hughes movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.   Howard the Duck would begin shooting on the Universal Studios lot of November 11th, 1985, and on the very first day of production, the duck puppet being used to film would have a major mechanical failure, not unlike the mechanical failure of the shark in Jaws that would force Steven Spielberg to become more creative with how he shot that character. George Lucas, who would be a hands-on producer, would suggest that maybe they could shoot other scenes not involving the duck, while his crew at ILM created a fully functional, life-sized animatronic duck costume for a little actor to wear on set. At first, the lead actor in the duck suit was a twelve-year old boy, but within days of his start on the film, he would develop a severe case of claustrophobia inside the costume. Ed Gale, originally hired to be the stuntman in the duck costume, would quickly take over the role. Since Gale could work longer hours than the child, due to the very restrictive laws surrounding child actors on movie and television sets, this would help keep the movie on a good production schedule, and make shooting the questionable love scenes between Howard and Beverly easier for Ms. Thompson, who was creeped out at the thought of seducing a pre-teen for a scene.   To keep the shoot on schedule, not only would the filmmakers employ a second shooting unit to shoot the scenes not involving the main actors, which is standard operating procedure on most movies, Lucas would supervise a third shooting unit that would shoot Robbins and Gale in one of the film's more climactic moments, when Howard and Phil are trying to escape being captured by the authorities by flying off on an ultralight plane. Most of this sequence would be shot in the town of Petaluma, California, on the same streets where Lucas had shot American Graffiti's iconic cruising scenes thirteen years earlier.   After a month-long shoot of the film's climax at a naval station in San Francisco, the film would end production on March 26th, 1986, leaving the $36m film barely four months to be put together in order to make its already set in stone August 1st, 1986, release date.   Being used to quick turnaround times, the effects teams working on the film would get all their shots completed with time to spare, not only because they were good at their jobs but they had the ability to start work before the film went into production. For the end sequence, when Jones' character had fully transformed into the Dark Overlord, master stop motion animator Phil Tippett, who had left ILM in 1984 to start his own effects studio specializing in that style of animation, had nearly a year to put together what would ultimately be less than two minutes of actual screen time.   As Beverly was a musician, Lucas would hire English musician and composer Thomas Dolby, whose 1982 single She Blinded Me With Science became a global smash hit, to write the songs for Cherry Bomb, the all-girl rock group lead by Lea Thompson's Beverly. Playing KC, the keyboardist for Cherry Bomb, Holly Robinson would book her first major acting role. For the music, Dolby would collaborate with Allee Willis, the co-writer of Earth Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland, and funk legend George Clinton. But despite this powerhouse musical trio, the songs for the band were not very good, and, with all due respect to Lea Thompson, not very well sung.   By August 1986, Universal Studios needed a hit. Despite winning the Academy Award for Best Picture in March with Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa, the first six films they released for the year were all disappointments at the box office and/or with the critics.    The Best of Times, a comedy featuring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends who try to recreate a high school football game which changed the direction of both their lives. Despite a script written by Ron Shelton, who would be nominated for an Oscar for his next screenplay, Bull Durham, and Robin Williams, the $12m film would gross less than $8m.    The Money Pit, a comedy with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, would end up grossing $37m against a $10m budget, but the movie was so bad, its first appearance on DVD wouldn't come until 2011, and only as part of a Tom Hanks Comedy Favorites Collection along with The ‘Burbs and Dragnet.   Legend, a dark fantasy film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Cruise, was supposed to be one of the biggest hits… of 1985. But Scott and the studio would fight over the film, with the director wanting them to release a two hour and five minute long version with a classical movie score by Jerry Goldsmith, while the studio eventually cut the film down an hour and twenty-nine minutes with a techno score by Tangerine Dream. Despite an amazing makeup job transforming Tim Curry into the Lord of Darkness as well as sumptuous costumes and cinematography, the $24.5m film would just miss recouping its production budget back in ticket sales.   Tom Cruise would become a superstar not three weeks later, when Paramount Pictures released Top Gun, directed by Ridley's little brother Tony Scott.   Sweet Liberty should have been a solid performer for the studio. Alan Alda, in his first movie since the end of MASH three years earlier, would write, direct and star in this comedy about a college history professor who must watch in disbelief as a Hollywood production comes to his small town to film the movie version of one of the books. The movie, which also starred Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Michelle Pfieffer and screen legend Lillian Gish, would get lost in the shuffle of other comedies that were already playing in theatres like Ferris Bueller and Short Circuit.   Legal Eagles was the movie to beat for the summer of 1986… at least on paper. Ivan Reitman's follow-up film to Ghostbusters would feature a cast that included Robert Redford, Debra Winger and Daryl Hannah, along with Brian Denny, Terence Stamp, and Brian Doyle-Murray, and was perhaps too much movie, being a legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller.   Phew.   If I were to do an episode about agency packaging in the 1980s, the process when a talent agency like Creative Artists Agency, or CAA, put two or more of their clients together in a project not because it might be best for the movie but best for the agency that will collect a 10% commission from each client attached to the project, Legal Eagles would be the example of packaging gone too far. Ivan Reitman was a client of CAA. As were Redford,  and Winger, and Hannah. As was Bill Murray, who was originally cast in the Redford role. As were Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the screenwriters for the film. As was Tom Mankewicz, the co-writer of Superman and three Bond films, who was brought in to rewrite the script when Murray left and Redford came in. As was Frank Price, the chairman of Universal Pictures when the project was put together. All told, CAA would book more than $1.5m in commissions for themselves from all their clients working on the film.   And it sucked.   Despite the fact that it had almost no special effects, Legal Eagles would cost $40m to produce, one of the most expensive movies ever made to that point, nearly one and a half times the cost of Ghostbusters. The film would gross nearly $50m in the US, which would make it only the 14th highest grossing film of the year. Less than Stand By Me. Less than The Color of Money. Less than Down and Out in Beverly Hills.   And then there was Psycho III, the Anthony Perkins-directed slasher film that brought good old Norman Bates out of mothballs once again. An almost direct follow-up to Psycho II from 1983, the film neither embraced by horror film fans or critics, the film would only open in eighth place, despite the fact there hadn't been a horror movie in theatres for months, and its $14m gross would kill off any chance for a Psycho IV in theatres.   In late June, Universal would hold a series of test screenings for Howard the Duck. Depending on who you talk to, the test screenings either went really well, or went so bad that one of the writers would tear up negative response cards before they could be given to the score compilers, to goose the numbers up, pun only somewhat intended. I tend to believe the latter story, as it was fairly well reported at the time that the test screenings went so bad, Sid Sheinberg, the CEO of Universal, and Frank Price, the President of the studio, got into a fist fight in the lobby of one of the theatres running one of the test screenings, over who was to blame for this impending debacle.   And a debacle it was.   But just how bad?   So bad, copywriters from across the nation reveled in giddy glee over the chances to have a headline that read “‘Howard the Duck' Lays an Egg!”   And it did.   Well, sort of.   When it opened in 1554 theatres on August 1st, the film would gross $5.07m, the second best opener of the weekend, behind the sixth Friday the 13th entry, and above other new movies like the Tom Hanks/Jackie Gleason dramedy Nothing in Common and the cult film in the making Flight of the Navigator. And $5m in 1986 was a fairly decent if unspectacular opening weekend gross. The Fly was considered a massive success when it opened to $7m just two weeks later. Short Circuit, which had opened to $5.3m in May, was also lauded as being a hit right out of the gate.   And the reviews were pretty lousy. Gene Siskel gave the film only one star, calling it a stupid film with an unlikeable lead in the duck and special effects that were less impressive than a sparkler shoved into a birthday cake. Both Siskel and Ebert would give it the dreaded two thumbs down on their show. Leonard Maltin called the film hopeless. Today, the film only has a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 81 reviews.   But despite the shellacking the film took, it wouldn't be all bad for several of the people involved in the making of the film.   Lea Thompson was so worried her career might be over after the opening weekend of the film, she accepted a role in the John Hughes movie Some Kind of Wonderful that she had turned down multiple times before. As I stated in our March 2021 episode about that movie, it's my favorite of all John Hughes movies, and it would lead to a happy ending for Thompson as well. Although the film was not a massive success, Thompson and the film's director, Howard Deutch, would fall in love during the making of the film. They would marry in 1989, have two daughters together, and as of the writing of this episode, they are still happily married.   For Tim Robbins, it showed filmmakers that he could handle a leading role in a movie. Within two years, he would be starring alongside Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon in Bull Durham, and he career would soar for the next three decades.   And for Ed Gale, his being able to act while in a full-body duck suit would lead him to be cast to play Chucky in the first two Child's Play movies as well as Bride of Chucky.   Years later, Entertainment Weekly would name Howard the Duck as the biggest pop culture failure of all time, ahead of such turkeys as NBC's wonderfully ridiculous 1979 show Supertrain, the infamous 1980 Western Heaven's Gate, Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman's Ishtar, and the truly wretched 1978 Bee Gees movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.   But Howard the Duck, the character, not the movie, would enjoy a renaissance in 2014, when James Gunn included a CG-animated version of the character in the post-credit sequence for Guardians of the Galaxy. The character would show up again in the Disney animated Guardians television series, and in the 2021 Disney+ anthology series Marvel's What If…   There technically would be one other 1980s movie based on a Marvel character, Mark Goldblatt's version of The Punisher, featuring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle. Shot in Australia in 1988, the film was supposed to be released by New World Pictures in August of 1989. The company even sent out trailers to theatres that summer to help build awareness for the film, but New World's continued financial issues would put the film on hold until April 1991, when it was released directly to video by Live Entertainment.   It wouldn't be until the 1998 release of Blade, featuring Wesley Snipes as the titular vampire, that movies based on Marvel Comics characters would finally be accepted by movie-going audiences. That would soon be followed by Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002, the success of both prompting Marvel to start putting together the team that would eventually give birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we all know and love today.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again soon, when Episode 102, the first of two episodes about the 1980s distribution company Vestron Pictures, is released.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about Howard the Duck, and the other movies, both existing and non-existent, we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

We are in post-production on new episodes, so our host, Gigi Johnson, shared a story about "Postcards" and Postcard Moments that has come up in prior episodes and in many recent conversations. She shares how a single postcard created a pivot that changed her direction when a TA offered the suggestion that she apply for USC Film School after a single class. She challenges us to explore "postcards" in our lives -- both given and offered. She also suggests that postcards are all over past episodes, which we'll call out with additional content in the future. Mentioned: Happenstance Theory - Krumboltz, J. D. (2009). The Happenstance Learning Theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 17, 135-154. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1069072708328861 Example article: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/careers/2019/04/30/how-planned-happenstance-can-help-your-career/ NextCareer.me resources: https://nextcareer.me Find Innovating Music on your favorite player: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/innovating-music/id1107854634 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6tlu2VMRUff34wIRUKmSJf Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0bcdc276-7fee-42ec-9e09-6ca9daceb07b/innovating-music iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-innovating-music-28334239/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InnovatingMusicPodcast Sibling Shows: ♦️ Creative Innovators: https://www.youtube.com/@creativeinnovatorspodcast ♦️ Amplify Music Conversations: https://www.youtube.com/ @Amplify Music 

Award-winning, writer, director, actress Christina began her career acting in such cult films as Suburbia, Boys next door and Dudes. She was one of three women accepted into Fox Searchlights new director s program, her IFP nominated Best screenplay, debut feature, PERFECTION was part of their rough-cut labs, Independent film week and winner of The Adrienne Shelly female directing award.PERFECTION screened at The Oxford film festival where Christina won Best Actor and Best Narrative feature and also screened in the San Francisco International Women's film festival, the USA film festival in Dallas, Texas, The Egyptian theatre in Hollywood, CA, premiered at the RIO cinema London, The Quad cinema, New York and screened at The Laemmle' s Monica 4plex in Santa Monica, CA.Christina has sat on the juries for the London feminist film festival, the Eastern European film festival, the 100 word film festival, NC and has served head of the jury at the USA film festival, Dallas.Her upcoming projects include, EXPECTING GRACE set in Marseilles France, her short, HOOKER #2 and the punk rock pilot, POSEUR. Christina has lectured at The New York film academy, The Met School, London, Harvard Westlake, Cal State Fullerton and is an adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles in the film and television department.Show NotesChristina Beck's Website - https://www.christinabeck.comChristina Beck on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cbrubylee_xtinabeck/Michael's Online Screenwriting Course - https://michaeljamin.com/courseFree Screenwriting Lesson - https://michaeljamin.com/freeJoin My Watchlist - https://michaeljamin.com/watchlistTranscripts Are Auto-GeneratedChristina Beck:I always say to my students, Pick stories that you love. Pick stories that you feel like you have to tell because you're gonna be living with that story and pitching that story way beyond the script. You're gonna be pitching it for grants, you're gonna be pitching it for festivals, you're gonna be pitching it for people to watch it online. You're forever pitching these stories. But to say something visually is powerful. I think it can change minds and hearts.Michael Jamin:You're listening to Screenwriters Need To Hear This with Michael Jen. Hey everyone, this is Michael Jamin and you're listening to Screenwriters. Need to Hear This. We got a special guest for you today. If you are an indie filmmaker, an aspiring indie filmmaker, you're gonna wanna listen to this. You're gonna wanna meet Christina Beck, who I've known forever. She's an old friend, independent filmmaker, but she's you. She also teaches at Loyola Marmont University and the Fame Stella Adler Theater where she teaches screen screenwriting as well as film producing filmmaking, all that stuff. Well Christina, welcome to the big show.Christina Beck:Thank you. Thank you so much. I was gonna call you Mr. Jam and it's a habit. I can't help it.Michael Jamin:It's a habit. There it is. Cause cuz Christina briefly worked for me as an assistant for me and my partner on a show. And then I force you to call me Mr. JaminChristina Beck:. it just kind of fell into this thing. Yeah, no, you did not force me. You didn't force me at all.Michael Jamin:I never did that.Christina Beck:But I will correct you Mr. Jamin. So I actually don't teach at Stella Adler. I teach at least Strassburg, but I could see where you would choose that. Oh, at least Strasberg. Yeah,Michael Jamin:Just I would think,Christina Beck:Right. Well, they're all,Michael Jamin:They're East Strasberg. Go to that one.Christina Beck:Yeah, but sad. They're not around anymore. But the legacies are for sure.Michael Jamin:I haven't been to West Hollywood forever. Yeah. And you guys see, you got your one sheet from, That's from Perfection. Let's talk about what you're at, some of your movies that you've done, cuz Christina is an indie filmmaker. She's a hustler. She makes her movie, she writes your stuff. You also started as an actor, right? Where, let's take me back to the beginning. You basically started, you wanted to be an actress, right?Christina Beck:Yes, yes. Yeah. So I grew up here in Hollywood, actually not in Hollywood. I grew up in the Valley. Let's get real about that. So I like to call it the main streets of Studio City. And although it was very different back then, I know today it's a unaffordable, you can't even get in there. But back in the day it was the suburbs, basically. And my folks were in show business. My father was a screenwriter and an actor, and my mother was an actress, a model kind of actress. She ended up studying in New York with some very significant people. Sandy Meisner had a full scholarship for the Neighborhood Playhouse, which was a big deal back in those days. But my beginning with acting really started just as a kid. being extremely bored in the valley and putting on shows. I was that kid. I was putting on shows, arranging the stuffed animals. If we ever had company, they were held hostage to my extravagant. Really? Yeah. It was Cabaret 24 7 and . I know. Yeah. You didn't know that about me. Yep. I didn't know that. Yeah.Michael Jamin:I also didn't know your dad was a screenwriter. I didn't know that as well. Did he work aChristina Beck:Lot? Yes, he didn't work a lot as a screenwriter. He worked a lot as an actor. So when he came out to Hollywood, he's from Texas originally, and he came out to Hollywood and straight away got signed to William Morris, got put under contract at Universal and did a bunch of movies. But then he did westerns. I always played the bad guy on Bonanza andMichael Jamin:Yeah, Christina, I didn't know your Hollywood royalty Well,Christina Beck:A little bit, yeah. Yeah. Oh wow. Definitely the lineage is there. Yeah. But his real love was screenwriting. He didn't love acting. He really did fall into it. And he had a great look and he was a cowboy, so he played a cowboy, but he wasn't even really a cowboy. He's just from Texas. But yeah, there's this really great story. So Robert Blake, who some of us know strange stuff all around that guy. But that said, back in the fifties, he was friends with my father was friends with him, and Robert Blake had a part where he had to ride a horse. And my dad said, All right buddy, I'll take you out. And they went to, I think probably, well, I don't know what it's called now, but it used to be called Pickwick, which is in Burbank near Disney. They went out over there and not only did he teach him how to ride a horse, he helped him learn his lines. And because I heard this story later after my father passed Robert said, Your father, he really sat with me in this tiny little apartment and he had me drill my dialogue and I got the roof because of him and just very sweet old school. Wow. Hollywood, stuff like that. But that said, when my father wasn't working as an actor, he was always in his, it was dad's den type, type type, type type. He was always working on screenplays and he loved writing.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Do you feel the same? Do you acting more, writing more for you? Well, are you like your dad orChristina Beck:Not? No. Yeah. No, I'm not like my dad. I, there's bits of me that I like him, but it's more acting was definitely the first bug. And like I said, putting on shows at home. But then I got kind of lucky, I was in the valley still. So on Ventura Boulevard near Vineland there was this place called Moral Landis Dance Studio. And my mother used to go and take a jazz class there. This is the late seventies. And next door was a place called the American National Academy of Performing Arts. So I kind of wandered over there and at this academy place, and I ended up joining an acting class. And my very first acting class, an acting teacher, was a man named Francis Letter. And I didn't notice at the time, so I'm like nine years old, 10 years old, and he is about 80 or maybe seven in his seventies. And so I joined this acting class and then he asked me to be in the adult acting class, and I gotta play all the juicy, the bad seed and just fun stuff like that. Oh wow. And so it turns out that later on I found out that he was a big deal and he was in Pandora's Box, the silent film starring opposite Louise Brooks. And he's, and he did a ton of stuff for a long time. And then he was part of the actor studio in New York, and he was from Eastern Europe, but came over here right before the war, I think, . So that's when I really just was in heaven as a kid acting in this class. And then I also did some commercials with my brother. We were in some commercials. And then I became a teenager, , and then I became really rebellious and mm-hmm got into the punk rock scene and completely fell in love with music and artistry. I mean, really at that time too, this was the early eighties when punk rock wasn't necessarily vi What's so funny,Michael Jamin:Cause I can't picture you doing being into punk rock. I guess it,Christina Beck:I got pictures. I got pictures, and I've actually written the whole show about it. Yeah, I . But all that to say, yeah, I, I never wasn't like the punk rock chick. I more, I liked the artistry of it. I liked the right, And when I say that, I mean there were a lot of wonderful, cool artist people that I'd met mostly, much older than me at the time, but they were musicians and writers and actors. But they were on this kind of rebellious thing where we don't need permission to do anything, we just get to be creative. And that's what I loved mostly about that whole scene. And then there were different facets of it that were cuckoo and, and intense and lots of drugs and lots of alcohol and lots of inappropriate stuff. But then I got cast in a movie, so now it's my late teens.And my best friend, she was well there is a woman named Penelope's Theorists who has made films that we know of Wayne's World and different Hollywood films. But at that time she had made a documentary called The Decline of the Western Civilization, which is a really amazing film even to this day because she really got into that la punk rock scene at that particular time in space. And it was an incredible film. And she wanted to make a narrative film. So she wrote a script and got it produced by a furniture salesman guy. And I think Roger Corman of course. And so I got cast in that. And like I said, I was in my late teens and at that time I was kind of over punk rock and I was like, Eh, don't wanna, this is stupid. But I ended up doing it. And that is where I really was like, okay, this is the way I wanna spend the rest of my life.I loved being on set. And to answer your question, it's really tricky. I love in the realm of all that we do in terms of writing has its moments and then the pre-production, but being on set to me is definitely my favorite. And post is a whole nother exploration. But yeah, so it was from that moment on that I was just like, Okay, this is what I wanna do. And I did a couple more films with Penelope and then I moved to New York City and I wanted to be a real, I also felt like, okay, I didn't really, I need to be a real actor. I really have. And soMichael Jamin:A theatrical actor, is that why you moved toChristina Beck:New York? Well, yeah, I mean I love theater and my very best friend, you might know her, Cynthia, Man. Oh, okay. Yeah, it's Shannon. Familiar . Yeah. So we wereMichael Jamin:Frozen. That's how I met my wife. That's how I met her. I met you through her. I met you honestly, Christina. That was the first time it was really, I met you really on real early on, but go on. When I was with Cynthia. Really? Yeah. Tour or something.Christina Beck:I know, it's so great. Michael Jamin:But go on. AndChristina Beck:So Cynthia was in New York and at that time, for me, I felt like I really wanted to study and be a serious actor because I come from more of a film background. I did study a bit with Francis, but I really wanted to pay my dues as an actor. And I, I studied with a bunch of different great people. I auditioned for everything that was there at the time. AndMichael Jamin:Tell me, I'm gonna interrupt for a second, hold on. But tell me what your thoughts are, the difference between acting for film or television and acting for the stage.Christina Beck:Well, in my experience and what I'm also kind of revisiting lately, well when you're acting in film, it's very subtle. There's a camera and the camera picks up everything. And so when you're on stage, you are playing to the back row. People in the back need to see and understand what's going on. And it's just a very different, and I think most actors can do both. Some are, I guess more comfortable doing one or the other.Michael Jamin:But when you study and you train, do you sometimes study specifically or did you specifically for film versusChristina Beck:No, no, I didn't. No.Michael Jamin:Are are classes like that? Yeah. Just forChristina Beck:Fun. Yeah. Yeah. There's like on camera classes where people, it's for auditions I think, but also to get to practice how you come off on camera. Yeah. I never did that . I never, yeah. Really did that. But here's a weird, maybe creepy thing. Ever since I was a kid though, I always felt like there was a camera on me. , I would visualize, I could almost disassociate a little bit, this is a psychological thing here, but I felt, I would kind of imagine walking to school, what would it be if this character was walking to school? I almost was above myself a little bit watching myself. And that's a weird thing to say cuz actually when you're acting in a film, you really shouldn't be watching yourself. But that's where I am also a director. SoMichael Jamin:In other words, you were visualizing visualize how you would shoot yourself or is it more of Yeah. Was it more of a fantasy thing or how would I appear on, I wanna shoot myself if I was walking down the street?Christina Beck:Yeah, it's more the that one. And of course a little bit of fantasy, but it was escapism. But it was also, I was sort of able to take myself little Christina walking to school fifth grade out of it and see it from this other angle. And I don't know what that's about, but I do now I I see things that way all the time.Michael Jamin:Really How you would shoot it, where you would place the camera Christina Beck:Or where is the camera? Yeah. And it's such a funny thing cuz we live in a world now where everyone has a phone and everyone is documenting, everyone is shooting themselves. And that's a little different. But I guess it's similar in a way.Michael Jamin:Did you have film equipment when you were that Young? Christina Beck:I mean, Well my dad I none. We really didn't. My dad, no, my dad did my made some super great films and actually. Yeah, we did a lot of home movies when I was little. So I was usedMichael Jamin:To with sound.Christina Beck:No, no sound. No, it'sMichael Jamin:Interesting.Christina Beck:So yeah, yeah, being tied up on a tree and then my brother coming up on a horse and all sorts of me crying. Yeah, I got it. I got it all.Michael Jamin:Wow. Then so after New York, so how long were you in New York?Christina Beck:Three years. I was there for three years. AndMichael Jamin:Then what made you decide to come back?Christina Beck:Well, I wrote a play and that's kind of what happened. So I'm in New York, I'm studying, I'm auditioning for Everything film. I remember that there was one year where I really went out for everything that was shot in New York or anywhere around there and didn't get anything. And at the time I was studying with a woman at Playwrights Horizons who was a writer and an actress. And she said, Listen, you guys really should start writing characters that you feel you could play or just more of an empowerment in terms of instead of waiting around for everyone to give you a role, write something. So a bunch of us did, and it really started out by writing monologues. So I was in a group of women and we formed a little theater company and so we wrote characters and monologues for these characters and then we put it up and that was really great. And then I gotMichael Jamin:You. Don't skip that step. How did you put it up? How do people stage playsChristina Beck:You a lot of time? Well, at that time, at that time, which was a long time ago we raised a little bit of money, kind of similar to a lot of independent film stuff. But we raised a little money, family and friends type of thing. We actually did it at the Samuel Beckett Theater, which was where Playwright Horizon, I think they're still there on 42nd Street, I think eighth and ninth, 42nd Street, . And we put it up for a weekend and we got reviewed and we got in. It was great. It was super fun. And it also felt like I started to feel more complete as stuff that I could do as an actress. I always, I didn't, waiting around, I don't waiting for, I just felt like I have more to do and I was always journaling and stuff as a kid and as I got in my teens.And so writing to me didn't feel that far off from what I was already doing. And coming into it as an actor, I knew I've read enough plays and I've read enough monologues to understand how to write in that form. So I ended up when I was living in New York, I'd come back to LA and visit in the summers. Cause summers are horrific in Manhattan. So there were some musicians that I met that were doing some kind of cool stuff. And this one guy played, he had a character that he did. And so I wrote a play. I kind of inspired me to write this play about him. He was playing a lounge singer and he, his friend had this group and it was kind of rock and roll stuff, but then they would go into a lounge sort of thing. And I thought, oh, that would be funny to, what would it be if these lounge singers had a kid and tried to live their life? And it was a little autobiographical, the father's alcoholic and the mother's sort of obsessed with her beauty. And so these themes started to come up in my work. So I wrote this full length play and there was music in it too. And then we also shot some video footage, so it was sort of like a multimedia thing. So I kind of had to come back to LA to do that.Michael Jamin:So you staged it?Christina Beck:Yes. I didn't direct it, so I wrote it and I starred in it. But a friend of mine this woman named Modi, who I met from the punk rock days, but also she was Penelope's assistant on some of the film stuff I worked on with her and was a video director in her own. And so she came in and she directed it and it was great. It was amazing. It was.Michael Jamin:And how do you even get the theater to put it up?Christina Beck:We raced a little bit of money and then we got producers and they put it up up.Michael Jamin:What do you mean? How does that work? You got producers, what doesChristina Beck:That mean? Yeah, so the woman who played my mother in this is an amazing singer, artist, actor. Her name is Jane Cotillion. And so she loved the play and she said, Oh, I know this guy Billy DeModa and he's a casting director and maybe he could produce it. And he didMichael Jamin:. This is just from being out here, just from honestly, just meeting people, being in circles, taking acting classes and because that's the thing about la everyone's trying to do something right?Christina Beck:Absolutely, yeah. I mean think it's now because of Zoom and different things in the world and there's so much more accessibility. I think it's possible to collaborate and not be here. But all that said, especially at that time, you had to be here. And I do think it's still important to be in the place where you wanna be if you can. And these people I knew, so I knew about the guy, his name is Manny Chevrolet and he and his friend had this act and they were opening up for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and I knew them from suburbia, which was the movie I did with Penelope I knew. And so it was kinda a group of people that I already knew. And then the musical directors, this guy named Tree, who's good friends with, and they were just all these people that kind of organically came on board.Michael Jamin:Interesting. And tell me, but how do, you're also, obviously you've written and directed and produced a bunch of movies, indie movies, some are shorts, some are full length, but do you go about, alright, so you work on the script. How long do you work on the script and when do you know it's done?Christina Beck:Yeah, that's a great question. And then everything's a little bit different. So with short films, well I'm teaching a course right now, so I feel like I already have this in my mind. Short film is one idea and that script can take a long time to write. It's not easy to write a short film because basically you're trying to squeeze in this one idea in a way that has a beginning, middle, and end. So you don't have the luxury of necessarily three acts, but you have to have this.Michael Jamin:How long is it short for you? Well,Christina Beck:Okay, so that's another great question because what I have learned now, I think a sweet spot for a short is anywhere from 10 to 12 minutes. I think if you can sit, do it in a shorter amount of time, even better because depending on what you wanna do with it. So there's a whole film festival world, which is pretty much the best place for your shorts to be seen if you can get them produced. So it's a matter of programming these films. So if you have a film that's 20, 25 minutes, that obviously takes up more time. And most film festivals, they program the short films in a block. So they're literally trying to pack in as many as they can and good ones. And it's all different too because the academy nominated films, they can be up to 40 minutes. But even again,Michael Jamin:When you say program, when they're looking for blocks, what is their intention?Christina Beck:Well, they'reMichael Jamin:Showcasing what I mean, you have to understand that right as well. How does the film festival, how do they make money so that they would want you?Christina Beck:Right. Well that's a whole other thing. So there's different kind of aspects to that. So there's short films that are star driven, meaning you can put a star name in it. Now that always brings money and cache to a festival but not you can make a great short film and not have a star in it, is really what I wanna say. Because a good short film is something that has a very original idea. Again, it's short enough where you want more basically. And it's not making a feature and then picking a scene from the feature and making a short out of it. Sometimes you can create characters or create a separate script. So I made a short film for Fox Searchlight, I got in this new director's program with a feature script and they would not let us just take us a scene from the feature.They were like, no, no, no, you have to make a short on its own, but with the same characters and the same relative premise. So that's kind of how I learned about that trap. But to answer your question the short films that get noticed at festivals or can even get into a festival are ones that are very authentic to whatever the genre is and the writer's vision. What are you talking about? Is it something, And that's also a weird trap too, because as a writer, I don't wanna be thinking about a festival, you know? I mean that's way down the line. But you have to live in both of those realities in a way. Because if this is a calling card as a writer or as a director of Indy films you have, it's good to keep in mind, okay, I'm not gonna write a 45 minute short film and expect it to be programmed. That would set myself up to fail if I could write. WhenMichael Jamin:You say programmed, you mean, what do you mean by programmed? Are they gonna play for that weekend?Christina Beck:Yeah, so in a film festival, they have a program of films they have, whether the festival is a week long or a weekend , depending on what festival it is. But for instance, let's just say Sundance, I believe a week. So there's some pretty intense statistics that I just found out from a friend of mine. So they had the largest amount of submissions of short films this past year than ever over 10,000 short films. And they only program 59 films. So wow. like, oh my God. And Sundance is wonderful and amazing and if you can get in, great, It's not the only festival. There's a gazillion festivals and anyone is a great experience to get in and go to have that festival experience. But to answer your question about programming , are we there? The people that program the festivals are people that watch the films and decide, we have a three short film programs, A, B, and C. This is just making this up, but it's kind of how they do it. We have 30 minutes in each block, so I gotta squeeze. It all depends. Sometimes there's a film that's a little longer, but they really like it, so they're gonna put that in there. And then there's less room for other films.Michael Jamin:. And how much does it cost to submit to a festival? Usually?Christina Beck:It varies. It definitely varies and it varies. Sometimes they have early submissions that are always a little cheaper. Also depending on you can always ask for a waiver. Sometimes they give them to you, sometimes they don't. So it can be anywhere from 20 bucks to 75 to 150 bucks. It definitely can add up.Michael Jamin:When you make a film, how many festivals will you submit to?Christina Beck:Again, that all depends. There's certain festivals that you can target for. Again, there's the big five seven festivals, Sundance and Berlin and Toronto Telluride and then those are kind of the biggies. But then there's everything that tears down from there. So yeah, it can get very expensive and super daunting. And that's a whole other conversation. The film festival world. Huge, big.Michael Jamin:Now let's say you get into a festival into a big prestigious one. What is the goal? Eventually I And what is the goal? You got, you're short, eight minute film is in Sundance. What are you hoping?Christina Beck:Right, right. Well you're hoping for Eyes on the Film and that's a really also interesting question that you asked because back when those festivals, especially Sundance is a very different festival today than it was when it first started as most things are. But those, that would be the eyes, all the, everyone would be there and you would get would just get the cache of this is a Sundance film. It would give you opportunities to meet agents and if you don't have representation it'll help with that. And it's still, those things can still happen, but now you can get eyes on your film, on the internet, you know, can generate that if that's what you really want, if that's your goal. So know we need those things, but we don't as much anymore. It's a very different business today. But initially you wanna get eyes on your film people to see your work, hire you for more stuff.Michael Jamin:And when you say on the internet, you mean YouTube or Vimeo or what's the platform? Both.Christina Beck:Yeah, I think YouTube is, I don't know if Jimmy I don't know how many people, I mean you can certainly send people there, but I think YouTube a little more, right,Michael Jamin:People find right. But what do you tell your kids in your class today? Are you telling to do more on social media? Are you like a TikTok or what else are you telling to get found?Christina Beck:Well don't more talking about the actual craft of the work, whether it's directing or screenwriting. I don't come up with all of that in terms of my work is as a writer director when I made my feature, I was very fortunate to I submitted the script to well I got into that Fox Searchlight program, which no longer exists. But there are other programs, there's lots of diversity programs, different studios have programs for emerging writers. And that one at the time I was one of two women, there were all men. There was like 40 men and two women. And nowadays it's definitely even doubt a lot. But all that to say that helped with, oh she was in that program, so let's take a look at her script. And then I submitted to an organization in New York called the If P, which now is called Gotham, but they do the spirit awards and Filmmaker magazine, which is something that I started reading very early on and I got nominated for best screenplay. So from that I got on their radar. So it's kind of just taking steps to be seen. It's always about people. Knowing what you're doing and what your vision is for this work,Michael Jamin:Do you go to a lot of film festivals even when you're not in them? Do you go just to watch or to meet people or anything?Christina Beck:I do in town. Yeah, in LA I will. I went to right Berlin when I didn't have anything in Berlin sadly. But I was there, I for a meeting with some European producers and then just happened to watch some amazing films. Film festivals are great cuz you meet like-minded people, whether it's people in the industry but also you meet other filmmakers, other writers, other directors, people that are maybe a little above you, maybe you've done a little more than them, but it's a really cool, cause the energy at most festivals I went to Can God, when was it 2006? I was trying to get my feature made and I was very naive. I made a short film version of my feature and I went to Can and I had my DVDs and I had my little pitch idea and I didn't really know that these meetings that they have, cuz there's a film market, some festivals have a film market and that's always really great. Berlin has one there's a film market here at afm. Kind of different energy though for sure, but can, it was like, oh my god, I was so lost. I was just like, what am I doing here? It was amazing and it was horrible and it was like that within each hour I just felt like I was in, was so over my head and yet really cool, wonderful things happened and I met people there that I'm still in touch with today.Michael Jamin:Hey, it's Michael Jam. 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 could unsubscribe whenever you want. I'm not gonna spam you and it's absolutely free. Just go to michael jamin.com/watchlist. People ask me this a lot, but do you find from where are that, it's that right meeting writers and actors and directors. Do you feel it's like collaborative or is it competitive?Christina Beck:Well, I think it's collaborative and you can kind of sniff out people that are competitive. I, I've been in quite a few groups of women especially, so back a couple, one when my first short film screened with the American Cinema Tech, not my very first short film, but the first short that I directed. And I met a woman there named Kim Adelman and she's amazing. She's written a book about short films. She's incredible and she supports a lot of female directors. And her and this guy named Andrew Crane created a program at the cinema tech. And so through that we made this thing called the Female Filmmaking Collective. And so we would bring other women directors and this was kind of, well this is like 15, 16 years ago. And then there's been other women's filmmaking groups. The film Fatals, a member of the a w Alliance of Women Directors.So all that to say there's, for the most part, the energy is very much like, yay, how can I help you? And then there's a few people that are anywhere in the world. It is, it's their personalities, the spirit of, I try to stay in the spirit of that there's enough for all of us. Cause otherwise that makes me uptight and I don't wanna be uptight. But definitely, yeah, I think I don't write with other people. I haven't yet. I've tried to in different increments, but it just hasn't quite felt right. But I do collaborating for sure. And especially filmmaking when you're actually getting in production that's like all about collaboration,Michael Jamin:Especially with the good dp, you know, What are you shooting? What do you like to shoot on? Or do you care that much? What kind of camera?Christina Beck:Well, I like things to look like film . I mean, we shot my first short that I wrote Disco Man that was shot on 16. And my dp, I found him at USC Film School and he's a really good friend and we just shot something this last spring. So that was a long time ago. He became chair of the film school that I teach at now. But all that to say, yeah, again, it's the people that you meet here, you meet them there, we're all still here and still love film making. So that said, my DP for Perfection, my feature, his name's Robert Psal and he's amazing. Cause this guy, not only is he super talented, we shot that film for two years on the weekends, two and a half years. So to get someone to literally, okay, we got a little more money, Rob, come over, we gotta shoot this other would. And then a lot of times just he and I would jump on a bus and I'd borrow a camera from a friend. We had prime lenses, which if you put that on digital cameras, it gives a more cinematic look. So we had those for a while. We shot that film literally in four different formats, meaning four different cameras. And I DidMichael Jamin:You find it matched? Okay, Did itChristina Beck:Worked for the film? I don't know. Recently someone asked to see it, this wonderful DP that I was talking to, he lives in France and I felt a little self, cause I'm like, Oh my God, he's gonna see how, And he is like, Oh, it's shot so beautifully. And I'm like, wow, nobody knowsMichael Jamin:All this.Christina Beck:Yeah,Michael Jamin:Why you don't have to worry about that stuff. Well, and what aboutChristina Beck:It's gotta be in focus, let's put it that way, . Yeah. And sound is a big deal too,Michael Jamin:For sure. Absolutely. That's huge. It's hugely important if you can't hear it. Right. But what about how concerned are you when you shoot the stuff crossing the line or the cameras? Are you relying your DP for that, making sure that you know, don't have these jump cuts because the character's looking the wrong way? AndChristina Beck:IsMichael Jamin:That your concern or you let the DP handle that?Christina Beck:Well, because so far I've been mostly acting in the stuff that I've shot. I definitely rely on my DP as well as my script supervisor. . I mean, I can tell myself when we're setting up a shot and then sometimes you can cross that line and it's okay, it's not gonna be an editing nightmare, but you sort of have to gauge it. And I don't make those kind of decisions by myself. And I really do rely so much on my DP and my script D because it's, it's that funny thing for me. What the reason I became a director in film was because I made a short that another different short besides Disco Man that it's called Blow Me. And I didn't direct it. And I did a lot of directorial stuff on that project. And my director at the time was busy with other things.And so we weren't really able to finish the film for a long time. And actually my co-star was an editor as well. So he kind of got the film and he edited and we worked on it together. And what I learned, and this goes back to the film festival thing. So in film director has the say in everything in terms of how final say on music and different stuff. And being a screenwriter and an actor and even a producer, I didn't have the same access to the vision that I had. So I thought, ooh, I need to direct this stuff . SoMichael Jamin:Yeah,Christina Beck:That's how that shifted. HowMichael Jamin:Do you go about, but how do you go about fundraising for all this stuff and what kind of budget do you usually try to get?Christina Beck:Well, it's tricky. That's the hardest part. And I just was at a film festival here in la, it's the American French Film Festival. They have it every year at the dga. And I was listening to a panel of producers and directors and from Europe and the UK and Los Angeles. And the thing is, those foreign countries, they have film funding built into their system, literally the government. And there are different types of ways that those more character driven films. This is what I'm pretty much more interested in what we would call art house films. , especially right now, there's just this huge divide, which is very mm-hmm , much like the whole world that we're in right now. So there's tiny budgets and huge budgets and the middle size budget isn't really around anymore. No support for it. And it's happening in Europe too right now. So I was listening to see, okay, are they going through it too? So that said, yeah, there's different ways. And I would say for first time directors that are making a feature or a short film for the first time, Crowdfunding's great, there's amazing platforms. I did that with a company called Seed and Spark and they were really supportive and helpful. And we haveMichael Jamin:Some, Well what do they do? What do they do that's better than putting it up on what's some crowdfunding site?Christina Beck:Well they are a crowdfunding site, butMichael Jamin:Why not just use your own, I don't know what's the difference between, well go fund me or whatever.Christina Beck:Well I don't, yeah, get, well go Fund Me I thought was more for donations. Yeah, so there's fiscal sponsorship, which is something you'd need so that people that are donating to your project get an actual tax write off that's properly done. So you wanna do that but they help curate and they have a platform. I mean, look, you've written the thing, you're doing all this work. Are you gonna set up a website so people can give you money? So, and maybe you're really good at that. Places. Well indeed, Gogo and Kickstarter, and I mentioned Student Spark because they're someone that I did it with, but all those places haven't already. It's like, why reinvent the wheel? They've done all that work. So literally you can just send people there. They take a small percentage of whatever you get and different platforms have different things. I don't know. I know there's one that if you don't make your gold then you don't get any of the money. So I didn't do that one , butBut going back to someone who's starting out and wants to make something a short or a feature and hasn't already exhausted their family and friends, there's nothing wrong with doing that. Also there's grants and And those aren't easy to come by, but they're there. And depending on, there's different places. There's like in San Francisco, there's the San Francisco Film Society has very specific grants for people that shoot in the Bay Area. And a lot of films have gotten made through that grant. They give a significant amount of money. So there are ways, and it's not easy. I mean really, ideally a private investor is great and there's gonna be a loss. So now most of the indie films, and these aren't Es, and I'm not an expert, I'm just speaking from my own experience. But an indie film may not get a theatrical release. I did not with my feature. What I did get is I got the theatrical experience in film festivals and I was lucky to be programmed in Los Angeles through the American Cinema Tech. And I got to see my film at the Egyptian Theater, which was heaven. And I was there for that. You were there. So, and now it's available to stream. So most projects go to streaming and huge projects go to streaming now. So it's just in this very differentMichael Jamin:World. Is it, where is your playing, where is the streaming now?Christina Beck:On Tubby? Tubby . AndMichael Jamin:This is per perfectionist. Which one isChristina Beck:Yes. Perfection.Michael Jamin:Which, yeah,Christina Beck:Yeah. Okay. And all that's on my website. Christina Beck do com.Michael Jamin:Christina beck.com. Interesting. Wow, that's interest. ButChristina Beck:This is, and my shorts are on there too.Michael Jamin:All your short. Is there a down, getting to a big festival, that's gotta be a game changer. But can a little festival help you?Christina Beck:Well, yes, because again, you see your film on a big screen, you see your film with an audience, you meet other filmmakers and yeah, as you know, Mr. Jamin, everything in this business is preparation and luck. So you're honing your craft , you're doing what you love. There's no slam dunk guarantee. Even with the bigger festivals. I know people that have gotten into huge festivals and got big representation and then a year later nothing. So it's like nothing. Yeah. Yeah. I guess I always say to my students, pick stories that you love. Pick stories that you feel like you have to tell because you're gonna be living with that story and pitching that story way beyond the script. You're gonna be pitching it for grants, you're gonna be pitching it for festivals, you're gonna be pitching it for people to watch it online. You're forever pitching these stories.But to say something visually is powerful. I think it can change minds and hearts. So I come to it with that. And it is frustrating. I have a feature that I wrote last year that I have not made yet. We shot a few scenes in the spring with some of my students and my first dp, me, Kyle to kind of see where it lands and figure out do we wanna do a crowdfunding thing? Do we wanna try to get in Grant? Like what? And I don't know honestly, I don't know if I have the bandwidth to go through that hustle for getting financing right now. Right now. BecauseMichael Jamin:If not that, Oh well I was gonna say, if not that, then what? You know.Christina Beck:Well, right. Well, I mean look, ideally if we were all Henry Ja or somebody who has a trust fund, independent filmmaking is for people that have a trust fund basically.Michael Jamin:Or can fund, right? Or you,Christina Beck:Yeah, I'm teasing, right? Yeah.Michael Jamin:, how many, when you shoot, how many people on set, How many crew members do you wanna have? What's your skeleton crew?Christina Beck:My skeleton is probably 12 peopleMichael Jamin:That I'm surprised it's that big. So who,Christina Beck:WellMichael Jamin:Let's walk. You mean you've gotta skip supervisor DPChristina Beck:Happens fist. Yeah. Okay. Scripty, dp, ac sound mixer, boom. Makeup, hair. That could be one person blah. Who am I forgetting? Producer. Of courseMichael Jamin:You're gonna want someone with the lights.Christina Beck:Well, right. Lights, gaffer, grip. Then we have,Michael Jamin:How many cameras are you rolling at once?Christina Beck:Oh, one . Yeah, one. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. This isn't like tv, but I did actually, I made a short film with three cameras. Once I did that one I did for search site. Yeah, that's true. But that was a, people were like, Why did you do that?Michael Jamin:But that's still not even year 12. That might be, I don't know. I lost count.Christina Beck:Well, I'm missing people. I'm on the spot here. I'm trying to think. I'm totally missing people. I mean, there's craft service,Michael Jamin:Right?Christina Beck:Oh my God. Probably like the most You got people person, Yeah. Anyways, yeah. 10 to 12. It just adds a pa. You need a pa you need, yeah. Yes. But yes, you can do it with five people. I've done it with three. I mean,Michael Jamin:Are you pulling any permits or are you sort of shootingChristina Beck:That? I do permits when I am renting equipment. And I have, I've also completely gorilla so many things.Michael Jamin:Wait, if you have, why do you have to have a permit if you rent co equipment they requireChristina Beck:Because yeah, you have to have insurance and there's film LA and yeah, there's a whole thing that needsMichael Jamin:To happen. Yeah. People get paid off. Yeah.Christina Beck:. Well, it's kinda a, Yeah,Michael Jamin:It's hard and happens. Yeah, it's hard. It's a hustle. But you do it cuz you love doing it, right?Christina Beck:Yes. Yes. That is true. Right? That is true.Michael Jamin:And how many scripts do you have that are just sitting around that? Are you, I guess I won't even try with that one or,Christina Beck:Yeah, I know that breaks my heart cuz I was at a ratio of, at one point having everything produced. I was like, I don't remember everything's been produced. But now I've written more scripts. I like, Yeah, I have probably, but not a ton. I have a couple features and I've written a few series, so yeah, Not yet. Not yet. ButMichael Jamin:What about just something you could do and now we'll wrap it up cause I don't wanna keep for chill up. But what about doing something where you could just shoot it in your apartment? Write it specifically for your apartment?Christina Beck:Yeah, well I would still need to get permission from my landlord. I'd still need to get equipment. Cause you can't shoot without permission if you wanna have insurance and you have to have insurance. Now look, my , my feature perfection in my old apartment, I actually did have permission from my landlord, but we shot so much of it just really running gun. And that can be done. That can have, But you still, And also I wanna pay people. I'm at a place where I can't ask people to work for free. Now if it's your first project and stuff, I encourage everybody to ask people to work for free if you treat them well. And if they're newbies too and it's a shared experience of discovery and stuff and they feel connected to the work and you feed 'em well, you gotta feed well. You gotta giveMichael Jamin:'em some very, But it seems like you have the perfect person for that because you have a bunch of students who wanna just get their names on stuff.Christina Beck:That's true. That's true. Yeah. Well, and I would probably and probably will end up shooting this feature with, And look, my students are amazing. They are so talented and professional when I get on their set. So this year I've had two students cast me in their short films. So I got to show up really as an actor on these. That's fun. Well, it's great because I was talking to the other film professors, because we work with them on the scripts and we sign off the scripts and then they go off and shoot. So these, they're kind, they're on their own, they're chaperoned and then they come back and bring, and we work on the edit and stuff, but we don't know what really goes on in those sets. So I was saying to this other professor the other day, I'm like, Yeah, I was there. I gotta be there and see what, And the truth is these students are wildly professional and I wouldn't really honestly wanna work with anyone else. But then they are so good. SoMichael Jamin:Someone called me up a student, I don't wanna say where they needed a 50 year old man. Now I don't play 50. We all know that. I play mid thirties ofChristina Beck:Course.Michael Jamin:But I was like, right, I didn't really wanna do it. I was like, all right. And then he goes couple weeks later he's like he's like, Yeah, well we're gonna need you to read . I wasChristina Beck:Like,Michael Jamin:I'm off only . Oh my God. I didn't want it that bad. But I think that was part of the experience that they wanted to have was they wanted actors. I'm not reading dude Christina Beck:Great. Well they're trying out their stuff I guess. Who knows? In terms of, Yeah, but wrong guy. They got the wrong guy with you.Michael Jamin: offer only.Christina Beck:That's right. That's right. Mr. Jam .Michael Jamin:How funny. Yeah. So, alright. This is so fascinating cuz this is a world I know nothing about this whole people cause people ask me all the time I got India. I don't know, Ask Christina. So where do people follow Christina back on? How do they learn more about what you're doing?Christina Beck:Well, like I said, my website and then myMichael Jamin:Give it to you again so that,Christina Beck:Okay. It's christina beck.com. There you go. And yeah, and then I'm on Instagram X Beck. AndMichael Jamin:What do you mean wait, X dyna? How do you spell that?Christina Beck:X I don't remember that. T I n a.Michael Jamin:Oh it. So it's X.Christina Beck:Yeah.Michael Jamin:I dunno why you said Ina. We'll work on this later. Christina Beck:Put a little thing up there. We don't have to talk about it. Yeah, yeah. And I just wanna say lastly, I am so not an expert on this. Please. I've been just finding my way as I go. But you know, I've watched other writers, The path is just, it's just not a straight line. And I think to stay connected to purpose and okay, I feel like I gotta tell certain stories. And when I talk to my students about this, okay, why do you have to tell this story? And we ask ourselves those questions and why now and all those things. Which in as far as indie film goes, I feel like we're in a little bit of a dip right now where the character driven independent films, at least in America, are not being celebrated as they once were. . And I believe that that'll shift.And I talk, I've talked to many people about this and we've gone through so many different, you know, can look back in the 1970s where Paramount was like studios were making beautiful character driven films. And I don't know if we'll ever go back to that, but I do think like you said, you can have a tiny crew and you could make something. I could make something in my living room. Absolutely. And one of my favorite filmmakers is a woman named Barbara Loden. She sadly passed away a long time ago. She was an actress. She actually was married to Ilie Kaza and she made a film called Wanda. And it's an amazing film and you can find it online. It's on the Criterion Channel and different places like that. But she had a tiny crew. She had maybe six people. And , sometimes people besides the attacks right off, they wanna contribute. They wanna be a part of it. They wanna be a part of this passion storytelling.Michael Jamin:Sometimes they also wanna give you their notes. Right?Christina Beck:WellMichael Jamin:Sometimes that money goes and comes with strengthsChristina Beck:Or here's the other thing. Yeah. Find an actor who really wants a great part that has some dough that wants to coce or something. And you guys can collaborate on that and you can write something that's really great for them that they would never get cast in. There's a lotMichael Jamin:Of you recommended. That's a great idea. That's a great idea. You recommended to me to watch Thunder Road. Remember that? Oh yeah,Christina Beck:I watch that. The short.Michael Jamin:And I loved it That and I loved, and I didn't realize I didn't, it was actually, I watched the scene from it, but it was actually, I guess a feature or whatever, but the scene stood on its own. I go, this is a beautiful it short. But it was a beautiful scene.Christina Beck:Oh, so you watched from the feature or did you watch the short film?Michael Jamin:Yeah. Yeah. Cuz I think you gave me the link to Vimeo or something. OhChristina Beck:Okay.Michael Jamin:I just watched that one church scene where he wasChristina Beck:Like, Yeah, yeah.Michael Jamin:So over,Christina Beck:Yes. That guy is amazing. He's the real deal. He's a guy to follow. Cause he's Joe Independent film. He, Jim is his name actually . And he makes stuff and he works as an actor. He'll do commercials, whatever. And then he'll take that money and that's what caves did. Caves made whatever he was working in television stuff he wasn't crazy about. And then he would take that money and then he would just make the films he wanted to make. So maybe it hasn't changed at all. It just goes back to that thing again where if you have this story you gotta tell and it does start with theMichael Jamin:Story. What kinda stories do you feel you have to tell?Christina Beck:Well I feel like I almost keep telling the same story, but I, I'm reallyMichael Jamin:Love different versions ofChristina Beck:It. That's right. That's, as I get older, I get this different perspectives of it. But I do, I love the story of people, characters that have perceived limitations or real ones and they slowly find their way out of that predicament. And yeah, I like happy and things. I like to see the journey of someone of starting off in a place where they don't feel and they get a little better.Michael Jamin:And you said before I cut you off, you was, it all starts, the focus has to be on the script.Christina Beck:It's all about the script. That's the blueprint. That is the blueprint. Especially if you're shooting with no money and no time. And because you don't have the luxury and we never have the luxury. You see it all the time and any budget level. But the truth is, the script really is everything starts there. That's how you get anybody on board. That's how you can refer if a DP who's maybe a great DP and wants to do something small because he loves the story or he loves the subject matter and that script should be tight and ready to shootMichael Jamin:. Right. And because you could shoot something and you get the biggest crew and the biggest budget and it looks like a movie. But if the script sucks, so what? No, it's not anyone's gonna wanna watch it, but it may look like a movie. Yeah,Christina Beck:Yeah, that's right. And then it won't get programmed really in festivals cuz there's so much competition. I just think that thing that we kind of all know, make it a personal story, doesn't have to be autobiographical, but make it something that you really connect to or a topic that really you do have some experience in that you can bring something that maybe we haven't seen yet or we haven't seen from that angle, like you said. Yeah. That's the stuff that's really gold. I love that Thunder Road short. It's such a great example of a guy who just took a very, very simple premise. And the other kind of novelty of that short is he shot it in one take, which is pretty cool. That's not easy to do.Michael Jamin:That's not easy. What I'm saying. He did it and that's a novelty. But as you pointed that out, I forgot. I like the story of it.Christina Beck:Well that's the thing, you should just be looking at it like, oh, where's the cut? No, we wanna be engaged. And that was very engaging and that was a very personal story. I mean, I don't know about his personal story, but I know that I felt that in his work. Yeah,Michael Jamin:Yeah. It's all about that. It's all about being vulnerable and about sharing something that's that only you can do, right?Christina Beck:Yeah. Yeah. I mean hopefully, I mean, I don't know, I think it's two, there's too many topics now that people are dealing with in terms that need to, voices that need to be heard in the world, I believe. And yeah, this is a powerful way to get our voices out,Michael Jamin:But that means writing. So that's what I think cuz everyone's looking for diverse voices and voices that have been underrepresented. So that means writing about, I think your experience, that's what we want from youChristina Beck:Because Well, I think so too.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Now's your shot.Christina Beck:Yeah, I think so too. No one can steal your idea. That's a whole thing too. Sometimes people are like, Oh no, someone's gonna steal this idea. Well there's real, there's not that many ideas really when you think about it, the same story over and over. I'm still telling the story of someone overcoming. I love characters that overcome their limitation or their perceived limitations or their background. I come from alcoholism and all sorts of other things. And that doesn't mean that I'm gonna keep getting it on the nose with those topics, but it informs the way I look at the world growing up in that environment. And today I'm really grateful for that. But when I started writing, I was still very tortured by that. So , but keeping it, that process of keeping it personal and having that point of view with those circumstances makes it only something that I can sayMichael Jamin:I Christina, I think everyone should start taking your class one of either your classes, but the LMU one is a little difficult cause they have to enroll, but the other one Yeah.Christina Beck:Well, yes, is different. Yeah. I mean, I'm also, I do workshops too sometimes, so,Michael Jamin:Oh, you do private workshops?Christina Beck:I do screenwriting workshops.Michael Jamin:And Is that on your website as well?Christina Beck:Yeah, not right now, , but it was, Oh,Michael Jamin:How would that basically work? Yeah.Christina Beck:Well, I've worked, so I've done six weeks workshops where we really start off with, Okay, what's the story you wanna tell that's most personal to you? And so it's literally creating a character or that story from the point of view of the storyteller and the steps to take, whether it would turn into a series or a short film, or a feature or a play.Michael Jamin:And it's six weeks and it meets once a week or something.Christina Beck:Correct.Michael Jamin:That sounds really good. How many people are in that course, or outta time?Christina Beck:Well, it's different times I, It's been usually pretty intimate. Not a ton of people , but now we can do stuff on Zoom, which is great. Right.Michael Jamin:Wow, that sounds pretty cool. Yeah, people should check you. Yeah, you better put that up once this, IChristina Beck:Guess. I guess I'm Do that. Yeah, I guess so. ButMichael Jamin:Tell people where to find that again, so in case that you make that happen, that sounds like a beautiful thing.Christina Beck:Oh, thanks. Yes. Christinabeck.com.Michael Jamin:Christinabeck.com. Christina, thank you so much for joining me. This is a good talk. I thought this wasChristina Beck:Really helpful. Thanks, Mr. JaminMichael Jamin:Now I wanna be an independent filmmaker.Christina Beck:No, you don'tMichael Jamin:. No, you don't.Christina Beck:If you wanna make money. No. There are some that make money. There are some that make money, right? Yes, yes, yes, yes. But yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. It's so fun to talk with you, Mr.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. I'm gonna sign up, right? Everyone, Thank you for listening. And yeah, for make sure you get on my free weekly newsletter michaeljamin.com/watchlist. What else we gotta talk about? We have a course. Yeah, we can check out my course at michaeljamin.com/course. And if we post this in time, I don't know, but I'll be doing two shows in Boston, November 12th and 13th from a paper orchestra. It's my stage reading, and then two shows in December 10th and 11th. And for tickets, go to michaeljamin.com/live. All right. Thank you again, Christina. Wonderful.Christina Beck:My pleasure. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for asking. Yeah.Michael Jamin:Hey, it's Michael. One more thing. Come see me perform. I'm going to be in Boston area, actually, Amesbury, Massachusetts on November 12th and 13th at the Actor studio, performing my show, a paper orchestra. And then I'm gonna be back in Los Angeles on December 10th and 11th again at the Moving Arts Theater Company. So tickets are on sale. Go get 'em at michaeljamin.com/live. It's a small, intimate venue. I'm gonna be performing for my collection of personal essays, and each one's gonna be followed by like a 20 minute q and a. We get to talk about the work. It's a fun event. So I hope to see you there. Go get them tickets again are at michaeljamin.com/live, and of course, sign up to my weekly newsletter that's called the watchlist at michaeljamin.com/watchlist.Phil Hudson:This has been an episode of Screenwriters. Need to Hear This with Michael Jamin and Phil Hudson. If you'd like to support this podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review ,and sharing this podcast with someone who needs to hear today's subject. For free daily screenwriting tips, follow Michael on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @MichaelJaminWriter. You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok @PhillaHudson. This episode was produced by Phil Hudson and edited by Dallas Crane. Until next time, keep writing.

This week, Alrik and Liz chat with Zoe Salnave about making her first feature, Voodoo MacBeth, along with 9 other directors as part of a graduate program at USC Film School. We also play another installment of The Game and discuss the importance of reviews after a film is released. Enjoy! Order The Alternate on Itunes Out Now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-alternate/id1640576609?ls=1 Sign up for the BlueCat Screenplay Competition Today: https://www.bluecatscreenplay.com/submit/ Use the discount code BCHARD23 for $10 off your submission! Sign up for Casting Networks today at: https://www.castingnetworks.com/movies/ For 20% off your Jambox subscription use code MMIH @ jambox.io Check out the ISA at: www.networkisa.org

Reinhard Denke grew up in Texas and is a graduate of USC Film School. He got his start as a writer in 2009 with his spec script “Sex, Greed, Money, Murder and Chicken Fried Steak” about the Cullen Davis murders in Fort Worth, Texas. The script was chosen for the prestigious Hollywood Blacklist. The film is currently in pre-production with Amicus Pictures and Mercury Media. In 2013, he wrote “Far Below” for David Oyelowo, and was hired to rewrite 2015's “Captive," starring Oyelowo, Kate Mara, and Michael K. Williams. He also wrote a TV pilot and series entitled “Golden Gate” about 1960's era San Francisco that has been optioned by Demarest Films, and wrote the limited TV series “Vanished” for Straight Up Films and Truly Original Entertainment. Reinhard adapted “The Lives of Beryl Markham” for Rock Island Films; it is now entitled “Undaunted." He wrote the screenplay “Ackia” for the Chickasaw Nation and award-winning director Nathan Frankowski. Also for the Chickasaw Nation, Reinhard wrote “Montford; Chickasaw Rancher," which currently plays on Netflix. He adapted “The Madman of Music”," a bio of composer George Anthiel and movie actress Hedy Lamar. He also wrote “Moonchild," the story of Linda Kasabian and her ordeal with the Manson Family, for director Marcus Nispel and producer Adam Krentzmann. 

Today, on Art of the Cut, we're speaking with the editor of this year's Academy-award winner for Best Picture CODA. I think we can all agree that you can't have a Best Picture winner without also having a beautifully edited film, so I'm excited to share my discussion with its editor, Géraud Brisson, ACE. Géraud was born and raised in France - south of Lyon. He came to the States and graduated USC Film School with an MFA. In addition to CODA, Géraud has edited the feature films Camp X-Ray, and Big Sur, which were both official selections for the Sundance Film Festival. He's also edited TV series, including This Close, Counterpart, Looking and Little America - which is where he met CODA's director, Siân Heder.

This interview features James Creech, SVP Influencer Strategy at Brandwatch and founder of Paladin. We discuss how former GE CEO Jack Welch inspired James to be a number one category leader, using his down payment on a house to start Paladin, his make or break pivot when the creator economy evolved in 2018, working till 3AM over Christmas to sell his company, why James and I are kindred spirits, and the power of recasting your success.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com---EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders.James Creech:Thomas and Ole and I all put considerable capital into the project. To put that in perspective, at the time, Thomas was getting married. His fiancé, she was amazing to say, "We believe in this dream, and we want to put that money that we would have saved for a big, nice wedding with our family and friends towards investing in this startup." I had been saving to buy a house, so I took essentially a down payment on what I would do to buy a house and said, "I'm all in on the business." Every penny to my name and probably even some I didn't have like went into Paladin. Then, Ole had recently gone out and bought a Tesla. He ended up driving back to the dealership and returning the Tesla, so he could take all of that money and put it into Paladin. So, every single one of us was all in from day one.Chris Erwin:This week's episode features James Creech, SVP influencer strategy at Brandwatch and founder of Paladin. So, James was born in Houston, Texas and grew up in Bakersfield, California with parents who worked in oil and gas. Early on, James was a creative. In high school, he made sketch comedy videos with his friends and thought film and TV was his future. So, he went to USC Film School and ended up running the college TV station, but soon realized that he really enjoyed and was good at the business side of entertainment. His career started at a video advertising startup, where he helped scale the team to over 40 employees, but then moved on to Bent Pixels, which started as an early YouTube MCN.Chris Erwin:While there, James took a big bet on launching a technology SaaS product for the early creator economy, which he ended up spinning out and leading as CEO, until its recent sale to Brandwatch just a few months ago. Today, James leads influencer strategy at Brandwatch and stays busy on the side, advising over 10 different companies and publishing content on his podcast and blog. Some highlights of our chat include how former GE CEO Jack Welch inspired James to be a number one category leader, when he used his down payment on a house to start Paladin, his make or break pivot when the creator economy evolved in 2018, working till 3:00 AM over Christmas to sell his company, why James and I are kindred spirits, and the power of recasting your success. All right, let's get to it. James, thanks for being on The Come Up podcast.James Creech:Hey, Chris. Thank you, excited to be here.Chris Erwin:This has been a bit of a long time coming. I think I was on your podcast a year or two ago, and I said, "James, I'm going to have to get you on mine someday." And, we're finally making it happen. When we were doing the prep, I just got even more excited, because I realized just how cool and exciting your story is. So, excited to share that with the listeners, and as always, let's rewind a bit. So, we're going to go back. Tell us about where you grew up, what your household and what your parents were like.James Creech:So, I was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up mostly in Bakersfield, California. So, I always tell people, "You could probably guess what my parents did for a living, right?" We worked in oil and gas. So, I spent most of my life, yeah, in Bakersfield, from ages four to 18, essentially. My childhood was great. I have a younger brother and sister. We're a close family. We had the chance to do a lot of traveling when we were younger, which was fun. I remember soccer practice and tennis and Cub Scouts, mock trial. We were involved in a lot of activities, and our parents were very much a part of those activities and the stuff that we enjoyed as kids.Chris Erwin:Quick interjection, how far did you get in Cub Scouts?James Creech:To the end of Cub Scouts. Never made it to boy Scouts.Chris Erwin:Did you achieve the Webelos badge?James Creech:Yeah, I was a Webelos. I think that's about as far as I made it.Chris Erwin:Nice. I did one up you a bit. I got to Eagle Scout with my twin brother.James Creech:Congrats. Wow, that's a huge achievement.Chris Erwin:It's a lot of work. Back to you, so grew up in Bakersfield, had some younger siblings. Early on, what were your passions? What were you into? Was there any glimpse into the career that you have today?James Creech:I think when I was a kid, I used to tell people what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said I wanted to be the governor of California. I don't know where that came from. I don't know that I have any sort of interest or passion in politics. I think as I got older, I would say I lacked the moral flexibility to pursue a career in that field, but was interested in politics and government early on. Somehow, that morphed into maybe being interested in law and going to law school at a certain point. I was pre-law at USC, so that was certainly a passion. I ended up doing the mock trial, as I mentioned, and then interned at a law firm and realized, hey, a lot of love for the legal profession, a lot of great friends who are lawyers, et cetera, but that probably wasn't the path for me.James Creech:In high school, the thing that really captured my intention was making videos with my friends, essentially comedy shorts. It's interesting, the timing, right? I was inspired by SNL and all these other amazing sketch comedy programs. Had I been a generation later, let alone maybe even five years later, the videos I made probably would've ended up on YouTube and now TikTok. But, because of the timing, I just made videos with my friends, and we made DVDs and shared them with our friends and family. But, it wasn't any sort of big distribution.Chris Erwin:It's never too late, James. It's never too late.James Creech:Yeah. There's an archive of a lot of old, embarrassing footage somewhere.Chris Erwin:Yeah, IP libraries are in high demand, high valuation. So, there could be something there.James Creech:So, that's what I was doing and figured, okay, well, I'm interested in media and entertainment. I applied and was accepted into the USC Film School and thought, okay, I'm going to go into film production, right? Fast forward a little bit, and I realized in college, well, I'm way more interested in the business side than I am in say the creative or the technical side. The stuff I liked doing in high school with my friends was making videos, which was really more about the experience of being together, less about the filmmaking process. But, yeah, that was kind of the early days.Chris Erwin:Yeah. So, I have to ask, what was your role in doing these sketch comedy or sketch segments? Were you a director? Were you a writer? Were you an actor? Was it all the above? And, I also want to hear, if you just have an example of one of the things that you guys did, I'd love to hear about it.James Creech:Oh, boy. So, I was an instigator. A ringleader is maybe the right word. We did all sorts of stuff. We were filming on these really small handheld cameras. I would certainly come up with sketch ideas and get my friends involved. We would shoot them. I would edit them. We would share them. There's plenty of stories that I can tell you, many of which are maybe too embarrassing for the podcast. So, we'll save that for a beer sometime, but one that definitely stands out is we kind of faked this kidnapping of our friend. He had a new girlfriend. He was really invested in that relationship, not spending as much time with our buddies. So, I said, "Okay, let's go to his house one afternoon, dressed all in black like ninjas," and his parents knew. We gave everyone a heads up, but we went in and kidnapped him for the day, which was a lot of fun. So, that's probably one that stands out.Chris Erwin:It's funny, hearing you tell these stories. So, I just started listening to This Is Important Podcast from the crew of Workaholics. They started just by making different sketch videos. They were filming wrestling matches in their backyard. Just hearing about some of their stories and how they started, and then they talk about, yeah, and then we sold the show to Viacom. How did this happen in Comedy Central?James Creech:Yeah, I wish that was the journey, was certainly inspired by Derrick Comedy and some of the other early, early YouTube sketch groups. We didn't get that far, right? It was fun to run around in our backyard and make videos, and that's where it ended for us.Chris Erwin:Yeah, cool. All right, so you get into USC Film School in 2012. I believe that you end up with a marketing and poli sci focus. But, tell us about you showed up at school. What was your initial focus? And, then it seems like it pivoted as you started to understand that you realized the appeal of the business side of entertainment, versus the creative side.James Creech:Yeah, so I went to USC, 2008. So, it was right around the housing crisis, financial crisis, which I don't know, as an 18 year old, you're fairly oblivious to. But, I was passionate about filmmaking. I was excited to be in the film program, also in the poli sci school. So, I was kind of running this dual track of, okay, well, I'm earning my political science degree, but I'm also taking these film courses and think that's what I want to do after I graduate. I got involved at the college TV station, called Trojan Vision, which is the largest TV station in the country. We broadcast to over a million homes, and I just kind of fell into it and fell in love with it. So, I was a producer on a show my freshman year, worked hard, got promoted to senior producer, second semester.James Creech:I was like, "Hey, I really like this TV thing. I like being involved at the station, meeting other students," applied for a staff position the next year and became an executive producer of a show. Okay, my first experience running a show, working in live television, it's exciting. It's the adrenaline rush of making something go on the air Monday through Friday. Through that experience, said, "Okay, I like the organization of the show, coming up with new ideas." We were experimenting with new technologies like HD broadcasts and live remotes and stuff at the time. So, I was like, "Okay, I'm excited about this," and people kept saying, "Maybe you should take some business classes." And, I thought to myself as a sophomore, well, hey, no. I'm doing the film path. I've got political science. I don't know what the business thing's about.James Creech:But, luckily USC has a very flexible structure and approach to curriculum. So, you could kind of dabble and take a couple classes. So, I said, "What's the worst that could happen? I'll take a business class or two," found out right away, hey, this is where I should be, and ended up transferring into the business school as a junior. So, I'm taking these intro 101 classes surrounded by freshmen. So, I had a very different mindset, let's say, going to the business school. I'm really excited to be here. There are certain things I want to learn. I'm finding ways to apply this over at the television station. I had been promoted to the general manager, so I was running the whole station at this point, which is a real budget.Chris Erwin:That's a lot of responsibility at a young age. What you said, it's one of the largest college broadcast stations in the US, and you're going ... Is there live programming Monday to Friday? That's a big deal.James Creech:Money through Friday, yeah, hours and hours of content. I was working essentially a full time load, basically 40 hours a week while going to school. But, I loved it. I loved every minute of it, creating television, working with students, and making something out of nothing, and putting it on the air every night, sometimes better, sometimes worse. But, I loved it.Chris Erwin:Okay, so you start taking these business classes, and right away, you're like, "This is a good fit." Then, what are you starting to think about what you want to do when you graduate?James Creech:Between my junior and senior year of college, I got an internship at Blizzard Entertainment. I grew up as a gamer. I wasn't necessarily a desktop gamer. I was more of a console gamer, but loved the opportunity to get exposure to another form of entertainment and work in a bigger company and try to decide what was right for me. So, as I was going through that process, had a great summer internship experience, came back, and had the opportunity to say, "Do I continue as the general manager of the TV station one more year as a senior?" But, kind of realized, maybe it was time to pass on the baton. So, it was hard to say goodbye, but I ended up getting another internship opportunity at this ad tech startup, this company in LA that was helping brands and media agencies promote video content on YouTube.James Creech:This was pre TruView, very early days, helping to make videos go viral. I was just, I guess, really interested in social media, but also, a USC alum was the COO. She was hiring. It was close to campus. It paid. I'm interested in this career path, but also it checks a lot of the boxes as a student that I want to make sure it's a good fit. So, I fell into that internship opportunity and just got hooked right away on the adrenaline rush of working in early stage companies. So, meanwhile, I had been recruiting, trying to figure out what do I want to do after I graduate. I had out law school or becoming a lawyer from my internship opportunity. I realized, okay, I'm more interested in the business side, so I'm gravitating towards that.James Creech:I like this startup company I'm working at, but I had always thought of myself as going into corporate America. So, I did recruitment on campus. I was offered a job to do business consulting and move to New York, which was kind of my dream. I was very excited as an almost 22 year old getting ready to graduate, moved to the Big Apple, and have this, what seemed like a really exciting, glamorous job at the time with travel and everything else. But, long story short, fell into working at Channel Factory, this ad tech startup, loved the team and the mission and the opportunity. They convinced me to stick around, so ended up declining the offer to do consulting and stay on the startup trajectory.Chris Erwin:I think what I'm starting to see here is you're on a unique path where you have both the creative know how and understanding, as well as the business savvy. That's very rare in Hollywood, right? I think of people like Bob Iger at Disney that has both of those sides of the brains, but it's a pretty rare profile, which probably explains a lot of the success that you've had in a very young career to date. Okay, so you go to Channel Factory, and what do you focus on there? Because, it seems like you start at the company when it's pretty early on, and they're on a really high growth trajectory. And, you facilitated some incredible wins there. Tell us about that.James Creech:Yeah, it was ground floor, right? It was in the founder's living room, essentially. We were building a business out of thin air, which was enticing to me and kind of felt similar to live TV production. Okay, there's this excitement. There's this adrenaline rush. You can have a big impact. So, I was basically the fifth employee, came in as an operator, doing a little bit of everything, strategic projects, built out ad operations group, hiring, training, commercial ops. I ended up working quite a bit coaching and supporting and at some points managing some of the sales team.Chris Erwin:This is all in like your young mid-20s, right? Because, you just listed off a lot of different things.James Creech:Yeah. We were all young, for the most part at that time. We were early 20s. It was a young company. It was an exciting opportunity in an early stage of the business. We ended up, of course, bringing in some more senior experienced folks, but there was this meritocracy to an extent, this excitement for youth and passion. So, we were all kind of figuring it out as we went along, and I was this person who didn't know anything going into it, but was just excited about where the company was going and the type of impact that I could have. So, we grew that business to whatever, 40 plus people, and close to or exceeding eight figure revenues. We opened offices in New York and Chicago. It was this wild ride for two and a half years, so learned a lot of lessons, both good and bad.Chris Erwin:Can you elaborate on some of those lessons?James Creech:I learned a lot about how to treat people, right? I didn't always agree with the founder and the leadership at Channel Factory. I had some great people that I learned from and supported me. Then, there were certainly some differences of opinion at times. I would say the other thing is it taught me a lot about the type of leader that I wanted to be and the type of business that I wanted to build one day. It's instructive to learn what not to do sometimes, as it is to learn what to do. But, I got great contacts and relationships. A lot of the people at Channel Factory have also gone on to do some amazing things, many of whom have become very talented entrepreneurs. So, it was this kind of amazing talent pool and this breeding ground for incredible individuals who were passionate about digital video and making an impact on the space, and that's been exciting to be a part of. There were certainly some things that we did really well, and being a young company, made a lot of mistakes, myself included. And, you learn from that and keep going.Chris Erwin:I love what you said. I always repeat this in interviews. It's very important to learn what not to do or what you don't like. In the beginning of my career where I was an investment banker, I worked with some incredible people and developed some incredible skills. But, there was also a lot of experiences and things that I was exposed to that I really did not enjoy, I thought were not good influences to the rest of my career. I consider that very valuable. When I talk to young people that are emerging from the undergrad and entering the workforce, it's this thought of, I have to nail my first few jobs, and that sets up everything for me. The answer, no, I don't recommend that.Chris Erwin:Try new things and experiment, and if it doesn't go well, that's totally okay. And, you're going to learn from that. That was some of the most valuable experiences for me. So, I like what you just said there, James. I think that's spot on. So, after a few years there, you then end up at Bent Pixels, where you also realized some great wins for the company. So, tell us about some of the work that you were doing there and how this set you up for your first big entrepreneurial venture, which is Paladin.James Creech:So, I entered Bent Pixels as an operator. That's what I had done at Channel Factory. The company at the time was a multichannel network in the heyday of MCNs, right? So, there was this time of excitement around Maker Studios and Fullscreen and Awesomeness TV, and Machinima, this early wave of digital disruptors helping YouTube talent grow their audience, monetize their content, figure out the early stages of influencer marketing, and what now we've grown to know as the creator economy. But, this was ground zero, right? You remember. You were there, too. So, this was the very, very early stages of what these future digital businesses were going to look like.Chris Erwin:And, tell us exactly, what did Bent Pixels do specifically? Were they a software platform for the early creator economy?James Creech:They did three things, right? They were a traditional YouTube multichannel network, so they provided services to YouTube channel owners and creators to help them monetize their content. They offered digital rights management services, so they would help IP rights holders monetize and enforce anti-piracy against their content on YouTube. So, they were using the content ID tools and additional manual services to help manage those content libraries. Then, they did audience development, so they were doing channel management and audience growth for brands that wanted help with their YouTube presence, so not unlike Fullscreen, Maker, many others at the time, right? So, when we came in, Bent Pixels was probably a top 30 global MCN. It was probably in the top five for rights management. I don't know, hard to say where it fell in the audience development or channel management services business, just because so many people were trying to get into that space.James Creech:We were doing all of this and facilitating it through technology, right? So, when I came into the business, I mentioned I started as an operator. And, I looked around, and I said, "This business doesn't need operators, right? We have a very capable COO, a general manager." I was looking for ways to do process improvement, cut costs, or optimize systems. There just wasn't much of that to do. The company was profitable and growing, and it had been fairly well managed, right? Well, what the business needs is growth. That's completely new to me.James Creech:I don't really know the space I was coming from, I say is the demand side. I was working with brands and media agencies, and all of a sudden, I kind of end up on the supply side, right? Now, I'm working with talent and content creators. This business doesn't really need all of the skills that I necessarily have historically had. So, we've got to figure this out, right? So, I just reached out to as many people as I could in my network and then through LinkedIn and said, "Hey, I'm curious to learn more about this space. Are you up for getting together for coffee or having a conversation?"Chris Erwin:This is very interesting. What was your primary networking tool? Were you using LinkedIn back in the day for this?James Creech:I was super early to LinkedIn, and I would just reach out to people. I would say, "Hey, I think what you're doing is really interesting. I think this space is early on. There's probably a lot we could learn from each other. Are you open to meeting for coffee or jumping on a call?" And, you'd be surprised, so many people said yes, especially all over the world, right? I was meeting people in Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific. It was this amazing opportunity to meet these other entrepreneurs who were like, "Yeah, everyone's early. We're all trying to figure this out. What are the things that are working for you? What are the challenges?" So, it was a lot of just connecting and sharing and learning from one another. But, obviously LinkedIn has changed a lot, A, over the years, B, post-Microsoft acquisition. But, in those early days, I was a young, snotty nosed kid, very earnestly trying to meet people and be helpful to the extent that I could. And, people were very kind to share their time and experience with me.Chris Erwin:I love that. You and I were actually just talking about this, I think, on LinkedIn. I just started a 30 day LinkedIn challenge. I think LinkedIn is one of the most powerful social networking platforms for professionals, hands down. I've been pretty active on it for the past few years, but our team is definitely ramping up our investment in it in terms of the type of content that we're creating. We've been doing a lot of experimenting, as well as the cadence of content as well.James Creech:Which is amazing. I can't wait to follow your content journey. I did something very similar in 2021, where I wrote every weekday, and it was such a stretch goal. I learned a ton from it, which we can talk about at some point, but I love LinkedIn, very supportive of the platform's evolution into becoming more of a content destination, and like you said, showcasing professional stories and helping people connect. It's getting back to some of those early roots of what it helped me pursue in my career.Chris Erwin:I love that. Well, maybe we'll have to do a mini series of a podcast about LinkedIn best practices. So, you start reaching out to all these different contacts across the world, focused on how do we share mutual learnings, and how do we grow? So, what did you learn? Then, what did you take from your learnings and apply to Bent Pixels?James Creech:So, what I kept hearing was everyone was facing similar challenges, especially as we tried to figure out how to scale. You have to remember at the time, people were focused on initially hundreds of creators. Then, it became thousands of creators. At the highest levels of Maker, Awesomeness, we were managing tens of thousands of creators. Bent Pixels had tens of thousands of YouTube channel partners that they were supporting. This was before YouTube had the infrastructure tools, resources, support to help those creators themselves. So, MCNs were the first line of defense. The demand, the excitement for the space was so dynamic that it was this gold rush mentality, this exciting time of help and enable as many channel creators as possible.James Creech:So, we had been building some software internally at Bent Pixels at the time out of necessity to figure out, okay, how do we find the right creators? How do we manage those relationships, pay them accurately and on time? Eventually, that would become, how do we manage branded content projects with them? Everyone else was doing the same thing. They were trying to build tools in house. They were trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. How do we take Salesforce and DocuSign and all these other tools off the shelf, stitch them together into this Franken-suite, and hope for the best? And, it was expensive, and it wasn't working. So, I kept hearing this, and I thought to myself, well, hey, if everyone's facing the same problems, and we're building what to me feels like a pretty good software solution for this, that should be the business, right? I was a big acolyte of Jack Welch back in the days. I would read a lot of his books, this legendary CEO and leader of GE.James Creech:One of the things that stuck out to me is, if you're not one or two in a category, you should cut it, right? So, it just occurred to me at every leadership meeting, I was like, "We have an opportunity. There's this untapped market potential to build software for this new breed of creative companies, and no one's doing it right. So, we should be first to market. We could be a leader there. It's great that we have this profitable growing business, but we're never going to win, right? We're not going to be one or two in the category. We're going to be ... Maybe we move from 30 to 20 or five to three, right?" So, I was advocating for that. Now, the way it was perceived on the other side is, well, wait a minute. We've built this business, at that point I think over five or six years. It is growing. It is profitable.James Creech:All these other companies have raised massive VC investment. They have a lot more resources. We're happy with our business, and we want to keep developing it, but we're not going to bet the house on James's crazy idea, right? They were advocating, hey, let's get into paid media. It's what a lot of other people are doing at the time. There's a big opportunity. I had that background from Channel Factory. So, they kept saying, "No, forget about that. Focus on paid media." I don't know. I was persistent, probably very annoying, young naivete, saying, "I really believe in this idea. Just give me a shot." They shut me down a few times and just said, "No, let's focus on the paid media thing."James Creech:Until, finally one day in some leadership meeting, with the support of our CTO Ole at the time, they said, "You know what?" I think maybe just to shut me up, "Okay, fine, right? You can have two months, 60 days. Give it a shot. Let's see what happens, right? And, if it doesn't work," which they fully expected it wouldn't, "After the field experiment, we'll go back to focusing on paid media." And, I said, "Sounds like a fair deal to me, right? I'll take that bet." So, in those next two months, I signed Maker Studios, Defy Media, Me Too, Networks, and 2btube, which would later go on to become the largest Spanish language creator community in the world. So, all of a sudden, they said, "Wait a minute. This is really interesting. We didn't think you would sign a customer, let alone four of the top players in the space. This is absolutely what we're focusing on, and you should do this full time."Chris Erwin:Did you have to evolve the technology product to service these clients as well as reposition your services to actually close these prospects? So, you had to do both, because you didn't have a technology background before this. You hadn't built tech products. You weren't a project manager, but you had to become this for this new role, correct?James Creech:Yeah. I am passionate about technology, had never been in product, had been adjacent to it, but said, "Yeah, we've got to figure this out." We built a software application that's meant for internal use. We have to figure out access rights, provisioning, white labeling, to make this an externally consumable tool. We need to figure out how to price it. We have to figure out how to sell this to our essentially competitors, right? We were working with these companies that were also in many respects offering the same services or going after the same talent. So, in some conversations, that was a bit awkward, right?James Creech:It said, "Well, how do we know that you're not going to take this data or use this technology to better your business and not ours, right?" So, that was a tricky thing to dance around and navigate. Huge props due to our technical team, Ole our CTO, [inaudible 00:25:56], a lot of our early engineering design product resources who were making this thing happen behind the scenes. I was out there kind of selling the dream, but they were the ones executing on this. A lot of it was just need finding, listening to the market. What do you need? Does the current tool in some form serve that? How do we adapt it to fit what you need? And, what else should we be building in the future so that we can help you get there?Chris Erwin:Hey, listeners, this is Chris Erwin, your host of The Come Up. I have a quick ask for you. If you dig what we're putting down, if you like the show, if you like our guests, it would really mean a lot if you can give us a rating wherever you listen to our show. It helps other people discover our work, and it also really supports what we do here. All right, that's it, everybody. Let's get back to the interview. It's interesting, because just listening to this story, one version would be ... And, James builds this incredible business at Bent Pixels, and he does that for the next 10 years of his career. But, the reality is that actually, you're there for a couple years, and then you found Paladin. So, after this initial two months of success, what actually caused you to say, "Hey, I want to break out and create a different suite of technology tools for the creator economy?"James Creech:So, I think in success, we got even more excited and probably a bit persistent on my idea that, okay, this is really working. We're now signing more and more customers. We're going to put more resources into this. Now, we are the market leader. We're first to market. We're building a name for ourselves in this category. People are rethinking the perception of Bent Pixels as a software company, as a technology vendor, whereas to creators, there's still this brand identity around being an MCN, being a services business, being a media company. But, I'm kind of casting Bent Pixels in this new light and trying to position or change the branding to be this enterprise software tool. Meanwhile, that business segment is growing. Engineers are expensive, so we're adding a lot of headcount to service the need and the customers.James Creech:It got to a certain point where I'm still advocating, hey, let's sell off or shut down the other business units, because look around. A number of other acquisitions had happened. Awesomeness was acquired by Dreamworks. Maker Studios sold to Disney. There was all this M&A activity happening. So, I'm like, "Okay, it's probably a good time to think about what does an exit look like for the media business?" Then, we can focus. We can really double down on this technology play. So, I was advocating for that. The rest of the leadership team said, "It's very clear that you're passionate about this. We don't necessarily all share the same vision or belief in that strategy, but obviously, the way you run a media company and a tech startup, a high growth tech company, require different fundamentals, principles, capital. So, maybe these businesses should live on their own, right?"James Creech:So, that's when the idea was floated that we should spin it out, right? So, it was at the time myself, Ole, our CTO, and I had convinced my good friend and partner in crime, Thomas Kramer, who worked with me back in the Channel Factory days. So, he and I kept in touch. We would catch up and talk about a lot of these challenges. I said, "Would you come over here and lead product for us?" He got excited about that vision and that opportunity, so it was really the three of us advocating for this opportunity. Initially, I was kind of resistant, to be honest. I said, "No, like, I think this is where the business is going. We should focus on this." Ultimately, saw the light that, yes, okay, we should separate these companies.James Creech:For a long time, I wanted the software business to continue to be called Bent Pixels, and that maybe the media company should rebrand as something, Millennial Studios. There were some other ideas that were floated, but after whatever, six months of back and forth and working it out cooperatively as a team, we decided, okay, Thomas and Ole and James will basically buy the software IP and spin out and form a new company, and then will rebrand it, come up with a new name. Bent Pixels will continue as a customer of Paladin, but there will not be any formal relationship between the two businesses. I wanted to be very clear that Paladin is its own company and eliminate that conflict of interest idea. I think Bent Pixels was very happy to say, "Okay, we can offload these expenses from developers and sales people and everything else off our books, focus on our knitting, and get back to the growth of the media business." We worked that all out to happen April of 2016. So, that was when we took the leap and said, "Okay, we're going to set out on our own."Chris Erwin:Did you raise outside capital to give you and your two other founders the ability to purchase the software, purchase the IP, and kickstart what you called Paladin in April, 2016?James Creech:We didn't. We thought about it, but the way we originally structured the deal was Thomas and Ole and I all put considerable capital into the project. Then, some of our partners from Bent Pixels also came in as angel investors. They said, "We like you guys. We believe in what you are doing. We want to support you." So, they were kind enough to give us a little bit of seed capital to help us get through the early days of burn and very kindly help us figure out how to set up our books and transfer the employee leases and all these things that as first time entrepreneurs, you have to figure out. So, they were very helpful and kind and patient with us. But, Thomas and Ole and I were pretty much all in.James Creech:So, to put that in perspective, at the time Thomas was getting married, and he had promised his fiance this amazing wedding. She was amazing to say, "We believe in this dream, and as part of starting our life together, we want to put that money that we would have saved for a big nice wedding with our family and friends towards investing in this startup, right?" So, that was Thomas's contribution. I had been saving to buy a house, so I took essentially a down payment on what I would do to buy a house and said, "I'm all in on the business."James Creech:Every penny to my name and probably even some I didn't have like went into Paladin. Then, Ole has the best story of all, was living in Norway. He's Norwegian and had recently gone out and bought a Tesla, right? Because, he loved the sustainability mission. He loved electric cars, this beautiful new vehicle, right when they had first come out, 2016. He ended up driving back to the dealership and returning the Tesla, so he could take all of that money and put it into Paladin. So, every single one of us was all in from day one.Chris Erwin:Dude, this is wild, because typically, VC backed founders, if the founders have a new business idea, they will mitigate the risk by saying, "Okay, I'm going to contribute a significant amount of my time, right?" It could be a few years in building out this venture, but they're not putting in their own capital. They're going to get capital from third parties, venture funds. Then, that capital is going to be at risk. You are essentially doubly invested with your time and your own savings. But, I think what that means is that you probably had so much belief in what you are building that you wouldn't have done it otherwise.Chris Erwin:I think that belief is clearly very powerful, and for all of you guys to have had that, where you have Thomas contributing his wedding funds, and you have Ole contributing his Tesla funds, and you're even getting from former Bent Pixel employees, angel investment. I think that shows there's really something there. It's almost like with those dynamics, it would've been easy to raise venture capital, because they would've looked at the founders and said, "Oh, my God, their gumption that this is going to happen is so powerful, we want to be in." But, probably better for you guys, because I know you will tell the story of how you sold the company. You guys owned the majority of the equity. I had never knew that story, James. I never knew those dynamics around your business. That's incredible.James Creech:Thinking back to the time, imagining how I felt, I remember being 25. Your goals and your priorities at 25 and whatever, early 30s, are very different. But, something inside me just said, "We have to do this, right? We have the right team. It's the right time. It's the right opportunity." You look at the data. Most successful entrepreneurs are in their 30s, 40s, 50s, right? They've had-Chris Erwin:The average entrepreneur is older than 40.James Creech:Right, and they've had time to build a network. They've had experiences, failures along the way. I had not thought of myself as an entrepreneur up until this point, but something just tugged at me where I was like, "I can't imagine doing anything else." Although I had historically been very risk averse, I was just like, "We can't miss this, right? We have to do it, and we have to do it now. And, if it means going all in, if that's what it takes, then yeah, let's do it. There's no better time to do it than when we're young." So, having that conviction, which I think again is a lot of ... We didn't know any better, right? We were just hoping for the best.Chris Erwin:Which, actually I think is a good thing, to be delusional. You have to be delusional as an entrepreneur. The odds are stacked against you.James Creech:Big time.Chris Erwin:And, you are delusional, but it worked in your favor.James Creech:Yeah, exactly.Chris Erwin:So, you start the company. All right, you all contribute your capital. Paladin is now a thing. So, what are the first steps? Do you rent an office together? Is it, okay, we've got five new hires that we've got to make? What did that first year look like for you?James Creech:Yeah, terrifying, right? You've just jumped off the cliff, and you have to figure out how to build the airplane. Everyone was excited. I don't know if other people were nervous, but we had engineers. We had sales people. We had product folks who were working with us.Chris Erwin:What was the total team size from the beginning?James Creech:It was small. I want to say it was eight to 10, right? We had three founders and then the engineering team and then some of the business folks in LA. We had an office. So, we continued to rent the office. Basically, everything that was in Los Angeles became Paladin, and Bent Pixels had historically been based out of Las Vegas, so they just kept their operations. But, yeah, we had the office lease. We had all these salaries and payroll we had to be responsible for. So, all of a sudden, it's a lot of responsibility overnight to take eight plus people's livelihoods into account. We were losing money every month, right? We're looking at the burn. We knew we had to sell like crazy to just get out of the hole. Our reserves were not very high. We're talking about, we started this business with a few hundred thousand dollars, not any sort of big investment and no VC capital. So, it was all our money and very quickly needed to figure out, okay, how do we make this thing work?Chris Erwin:What were some of the early proof points where it was, okay, this thing is going to exist for more than just six months? What were some of those early wins? And, did you ever think about raising venture capital?James Creech:So, we sold like crazy in order to get to the break even point, and that was 100% of my time and energy in those early days. I think one of the biggest turning points was closing Awesomeness TV. So, I was working with a lot of your former friends and colleagues, Matt Levin, Parker Jones, Kelly Day, also worked a lot with Jen Robinson, the CTO. This was the first six figure deal that we closed as Paladin. I'm trying to remember if that's true. Maker Studios, I think also ended up being a six figure deal, but I think the original commitment was smaller. So, when I closed the Awesomeness deal, it was the biggest customer we'd ever signed. It was like, wow, we're a real business all of a sudden, that this huge venture backed company is going to make a bet on this small startup and offload a lot of its cost. Awesomeness was spending significant sums of money and engineering headcount on these processes at the time.Chris Erwin:Awesomeness spent a lot of money back in the day.James Creech:And, look, they were managing probably the largest network in the world at a certain point, 90,000 creators. We said, "We want to come in and make that easier for you." I think in many respects, we could. Jen Robinson and others saw the opportunity and believed in us and worked really closely with us to make that happen. But, that was absolutely a turning point of, okay, we're signing, as customers, some of the biggest players in the world. They're making this bet on us, and these are real contracts with real budget behind them. That was certainly a turning point.Chris Erwin:This is great to hear, considering the current macro-economy that we're going into, right? So, we are recording this podcast in the middle of May. We have faced, over the last quarter, the 1.4% decline in GDP in the US. I think there's a lot of signals of the global macro-economy slowing. Out of China, there's supply chain issues, rising interest rates, inflation. You name it. I say all of this, because companies are going to need to start thinking about ... I think access to venture capital is going to become a lot more challenging.Chris Erwin:So, what's the best form of capital? It's revenue, and it's having a business that works. So, you guys, that was your approach in 2016, which is, if we're going to finance this business, we're going to create a product that meets the market need, and we're going to sell it successfully. Then, so you closed some big deals like Awesomeness. So, that early validation must have been very rallying the team, and we got something here, right? So, it seems like that success continues for a bit. But, then there's a point in your business where you were telling me a pivot had to happen, right? So, kind of tell that journey from that founding. You have some initial success like the deal you just mentioned, and then what is happening until you realize something's got to change here?James Creech:So, first of all, I love putting it in context, because at the time, people would ask us, "Oh, are you venture backed, right?" As if that were a sign of stability, right? We would do info-sec evaluations through Disney, through Viacom for Awesomeness. People wanted to make sure we weren't going to go out of business tomorrow. I remember thinking to myself, yeah, I would tell people kind of jokingly, "Yeah, we raise money from our customers, and we call it revenue. We have this different model. We're bootstrapped. It's very unusual," and people got a kick out of that. But, to me, it was, okay, we got over the hump. Now, we're break even, profitable. We're reinvesting everything back into the business. So, we closed the deal. We hire another engineer. We hire a new salesperson. But, you had asked, did you ever entertain the idea of raising capital?James Creech:We did. Probably the most serious thought we had around it was we looked at potentially acquiring Epoxy. I don't know if you remember those guys back in the day. They had raised a significant sum. They were great entrepreneurs with a good idea that was probably just a few years ahead of their time, backed by some of the biggest VCs here in LA. I think they raised something like $8 million and just were having a tough time figuring out the business model. This was before people thought, well, can we get creators to pay for anything? And, I really liked Juan and Jason, and they introduced us to Mark Suster at Upfront. We spent a lot of time together, saying, "Does it make sense for Paladin to get an additional capital infusion and then acquire the Epoxy asset and turn it into an enterprise product?"James Creech:We figured we have relationships. We know how to sell this. For a variety of reasons, we decided not to proceed, and it's a shame. They ended up selling the business to someone else, but that was the most serious discussion we had around it. The business certainly changed significantly over the years, right? So, in those early days, we were primarily focused on helping multichannel networks and other digital businesses, so talent management companies and agencies, figure out how to manage digital talent. First, it was YouTube. Very quickly, it became a multi-platform world. So, it was Vine for a little bit, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, et cetera. Then, you have things like Twitch come on the scene, and obviously later in our history, TikTok. So, the business was becoming much more multi-platform. The YouTube MCN business evolved significantly, right?James Creech:There were phases or stages to that business, but it became very clear that the 1.0 model of mass aggregation and monetizing off of the passive AdSense revenue was a bit of a dinosaur, and the new business model was focused on branded content and paid media and other incremental ways to build a business around the creative portfolios that these talent were were producing. So, we knew our business needed to change to keep up. The biggest signal was influencer marketing, right? If you looked at, well, how are creators making money, sure, they make millions of dollars a year in YouTube AdSense revenue, but there's this enormous opportunity from brands in branded content.James Creech:Then, of course later on, we'd see e-commerce, but at the time, we said, "Okay, we need to build tools to help our customers and ideal future customers support this activity. So, let's build better influencer identification and discovery tools. Let's build a much more robust CRM for not just agencies, but for brands. Let's think about creating sales materials, because people are spending so much time generating pitch decks, right?" I remember running influencer campaigns, and it was, okay, go ask the influencer for screenshots and put that into a PowerPoint presentation. Email it over to the client, and then they're going to ask for revisions.James Creech:You go back and forth, right? Why don't we just tap into the social APIs, pull all that data on demand, and create this robust real time reporting around the campaign, so that, A, you deliver better results, and B, you can actually monitor and optimize campaign performance in real time. So, that was really the direction that we started to go, was saying, "Okay, as much as we still want to support these customers and this opportunity, we're slightly modifying our strategy, and we're adjusting course to go pursue this influencer marketing opportunity, because it's brands and agencies figuring out how to work with creative talent in the digital economy."Chris Erwin:Got it. That was a big pivot that happened around what time, James?James Creech:Around 2018, 2019.Chris Erwin:And, so did that cause some real friction at your company? Did you have to rethink, hey, do we have the right team? Do we have the right sales strategy? Do we have the right relationships? Do we have to rethink how we're doing coverage? Do we need to build new products and services? And, do we have the right director of engineering to do that? So, what were some of those big key decisions that you had to work through as you pivoted the business?James Creech:Well, certainly, changing the identity and the branding of the business a bit, also the product offering, right? So, again, going back to need finding, what do the customers want? How do we build that out? It's easy to build something for one customer, but how do we build something for hundreds or thousands of customers? And, what is the right team composition that will help us to get there, right? It's classic innovator's dilemma of, well, we're still very dependent on these existing customers and their business needs. And, we want to continue to support that. But, at the same time, we need to be investing in this new direction. And, there were some hard conversations and hard decisions that came about from that, right? Some people on the team were very excited, made the transition easily. Other people said, "Maybe this is my stop on the train, and I'm going to get off and pursue other opportunities."James Creech:Other people were excited about the direction and couldn't make it work, or performance started to slip as we shifted strategy. So, you have to make some tough calls, but the team worked really hard through that time period to help us change course. It's not the most dramatic pivot in the world, but it certainly felt like a big shift at the time. It didn't happen overnight. We've got this North Star. We're going to move towards it over the course of 12, 24 months. And, I remember we got our entire team together in Poland. We've historically had a big operations center for engineering in Kraków. We brought the whole team in to Poland and said, "This is our vision. This is what we're going to build together." I think that was really energizing, to harness the energy of everyone and say, "We have this shared mission and objective. Here's why we believe it's going to drive business value, better opportunity." And, it wasn't easy, but certainly was the right choice to start to move in that direction.Chris Erwin:I like that a lot. We had a team reflection last week, and we're realizing that just having run an advisory business for five years that has gone through a rebranding and a transformation in the last couple years, as we're entering this new macro-economy and just also thinking about who are the clients we work with when we provide certain services? What feels great and is right in our wheelhouse, versus what feels like we're stretched or doing something different? And, there was a big kumbaya moment where we came together. To better service our clients in the industry, we need to really rethink things. It was some tough conversations, but when you just face it head on, and then you empower your team and be like, "You guys are all here for a reason. What are your ideas for how to fix this? And, how do we all rally behind that?"Chris Erwin:And, it was a very powerful moment. I'm saying that, because it feels like when you had this conversation with your engineering team in Poland, you have to face this stuff head on. There's certain people, like you said, this is their stop on the train, and they're going to get off. But, for those that it's the right fit, keep going forward. That's best for everybody. I particularly feel very reinvigorated after this conversation, and I see this incredible potential for success going forward. I have a much smaller business than what you have. Did you feel coming out of that, you're invigorated, you're excited? And, did you have that same feeling when you first founded Paladin of, we got this, we're going to crush this? There's no doubt in the world. Were you feeling that?James Creech:I wish I could say yes, but I don't think so. Founding a business and running a business is an emotional journey. I'm so privileged to have two amazing co-founders, because sometimes you have a bad day, or you lose sight of what you're building towards. They can help lift you up, and vice versa. But, there were some tough times around 2018, 2019, where we were making this change, because the environment, the business conditions around us had changed. We realized we needed to do something to continue to grow and to survive. Again, I started the business with youthful idealism and ambition. Sometimes, we set really high goals for ourselves, and we don't always live up to them. I'm still very proud of what we built and how we had done it, but it's easy to move the goal post on yourself.James Creech:So, looking at that time in our journey, I remember we were committed to figuring it out and moving forward. But, I have to tell you honestly, there were some very tough times in those years of ... Are we doing the right thing? Are we making the right choice? And, are we going to get through it? Because, it was really challenging. Once it started to work, absolutely, it felt amazing, right? Things really started to click in 2020, and I had more passion and enthusiasm for the business than I had back in 2016. It re-lit this fire in us of, okay, we got through the hard work, the two years of making this change. We see where it's going. We're rebuilding in this new direction, and it's fun. We're hitting our stride. Everything's growing really quickly. We're bringing on new customers, new team members. We're winning, and that's the exciting part. But, in the slog of making that transition, it wasn't always fun. That's for sure.Chris Erwin:I hear that, but I think you're right. There's just something as an entrepreneur and a founder and a CEO. You have to trust your gut. Are we having fun? Does this feel right? You can have all the KPI dashboards in the world and follow all the numbers, but there's just some intuition that's really important. As I reflect in my career, there's moments where I can specifically say I felt differently about a business decision, and I didn't listen to my gut, and it was a major miss. So, as a business owner, now I'm listening to my gut more. I want to be a database decision maker, but I think instincts are very, very valuable when you have to pivot and move quickly and also really energize your team. I hear that.James Creech:You need both.Chris Erwin:You end up selling the company to Brandwatch, which I think was just announced over the past month. So, I'm curious to hear the story to exit right after this success, the 2019 pivot to now. How did you end up selling to Brandwatch?James Creech:We were evaluating, what is the next step for us in 2021? As I mentioned, the business started to really hit its stride in 2020. We were looking around at the overall market landscape, and look, influencer marketing is a crowded, competitive space. It's great. It keeps us sharp, but we realized if we want to continue to grow and compete in this space, then we need to either raise money and start to double down on sales and marketing or execute on a broader roll up strategy. Or, we can find someone who shares our vision and our passion for this category, but has more resources and can help accelerate our growth, right? So, the calculus for us at the time was ... You look at our well known, well funded competitors. Do we go out and raise money? It's certainly a path. That's an option.James Creech:Paladin had customers in over 35 countries, across five or six continents. So, we were competing against different people in Germany, than we were in Singapore, than we were in Dubai. So, it was different by market, but we recognized that, okay, we need to raise capital to help accelerate, or we need to find an exit. So, thinking about the fundraising process, as I mentioned, we're bootstrapped. A lot of us had good, favorable positions on the cap table. If we raise money, you dilute the ownership, and you kick out the goal post, I don't know, two plus years, let's say. And, the other thing I was cognizant of is, well, it seems to be this interesting moment in time where things are happening at such a rate, people want to get into this space. It's probably the right time for us to find a partner. We had had a lot of inbound interest, so we said, "Let's test the waters and see what the reception is. If we don't find anyone we like, we can always fall back on our current plan of just keep growing, or we can look at the fundraising alternative."Chris Erwin:So, you were getting inbounds from companies that were interested in kicking the tires around you potentially in an acquisition?James Creech:Yeah. We have throughout the history of the business, but it became especially acute interest in, let's say Q1, Q2 of 2021. So, I reached out to my banker friend, Jason Rapp at Whisper and said, "It seems like there's some interest here. We should probably run a process. How should we handle these conversations?" So, he came on to help us with that, very quickly had some phenomenal conversations with great people that I think saw what we were building and wanted to help add fuel to the fire. But, I was fortunate to meet Giles Palmer, the original founder of Brandwatch, who now works at Cision, the parent company. We just hit it off. He said, "Can you spend some time with our product team?" We met the product and engineering team. It was like magic from the first call.James Creech:They loved the product. They saw what we were doing. It fit very neatly into their thesis and what Brandwatch has been building in and around consumer intelligence and being a leader in social listening. They have been merging with Falcon.io, which is an amazing social media management tool. Influencer marketing was very clearly just the third leg of the stool. So, we got excited about that. They said, "Hey, can we talk tomorrow? Can we talk Monday after that?" And, very quickly, it escalated where they made an offer, and it was the right offer and the right time. We said, "Yeah, let's go into diligence." So, we ran diligence over the holidays. So, I was at Christmas with my family, Christmas 2021, hanging out with family during the day, and then working until about 3:00 AM every night, because A, I had a lot of work to do.James Creech:And, B, I had these colleagues in Europe who were also burning the midnight oil on their holidays. So, going through all of DD, and then we kind of finished that in early to mid-February. At the same time, we were running a parallel path on the purchase agreement documents with legal, reached an agreement on that in end of February. Then, we had to do a 30 day hold for DOJ approvals, announced in March, and then finally closed the acquisition at end of March. So, long process, but a lot of learnings and an exhilarating outcome. So, it's been amazing to see it all the way through.Chris Erwin:Wow.James Creech:It is such a process, right? It's probably the hardest thing I've ever done. People tell at the end, "Oh, congratulations. We're so excited for you." And, that's amazing, right? You experience all the emotions of joy, excitement, elation, but at the same time, strangely, at least I also experienced this feeling of loss, which I think is natural. It's kind of closing of one chapter and beginning of another, where you're saying goodbye to this thing that you've built and you've poured so much of your energy and time and money and everything else into. It's like a kid maybe growing up and going to college.James Creech:It's exciting. It's the next evolution, but it's also saying goodbye to the thing that I knew in its past form. Then, honestly, there's this just overwhelming sense of relief, because a lot of it feels like deliverables and juggling so many plates and keeping everyone happy. Every different constituency has something else they want from this outcome. So, if you're able to get to a point where everyone's satisfied, or as much as you can, you just get it done. It's this amazing feeling of, whew, right? We did it, and that relief is also very comforting and satisfying, I suppose.Chris Erwin:One last quick question before we get into rapid fire is, what's next for James? You're going to stay on at Brandwatch for a while. Are you going to go start your next company? What are you thinking?James Creech:So, I have come on to Brandwatch as the SVP of influencer strategy. So, I get to work with the global leadership team to help think through how do we inject influencer and creator economy strategy into the entire business, which is so exciting, right? I've spent too much time and energy on this to walk away for now, so I'm very excited to be in this new phase of the business, doubling down on what we've built, adding more resources, combining that with the amazing product suite that Brandwatch has. So, I'm still all in, excited about what we're doing. As you mentioned earlier, I'm still involved in a lot of advisory engagements, and it's fun for me to get to give back and support other early stage entrepreneurs. So, still a big passion for me and something I make time for, but in terms of my day to day focus, yeah, it's 100% all in on Brandwatch.Chris Erwin:Before rapid fire, James, I just want to give you some kudos. I have known you for a while in the industry. I think our LinkedIn posts have crossed paths for at least over five to seven years. I think our relationship, we've gotten to know one another better, I think over the past couple. I was on your podcast. Now, you're on mine. I think there could be a fun future ahead where we collaborate on different things. That's a separate convo, but I just want to say, as I've gotten to know you, learning about just how thoughtful that you've been in building your business, how thoughtful, how you are in building for the creator economy, I think one of the things that got me excited when I entered the whole YouTube MCN space back in 2012 was this positive sum mindset.Chris Erwin:We can all grow together. There's incredible opportunity. I think that you embody that feeling incredibly well. You just put out a lot of positive, good juju into the world. You're very supportive of so many people. I think it has a really big impact, and I think it's a great inspiration for so many others. So, massive kudos, and I hear you on this notion of loss, loss and relief. You had this baby. You took a huge bet on it. It's worked out incredibly well for you and your team and your co-founders, but James, you're a young guy with a very bright future ahead. You have many, many more exciting wins that lie ahead in your future. Just have faith and the trust that we are lucky that you have the time to go and do that work.James Creech:Well, thank you. Thank you for all of that. It's very kind. I'm flattered, and I've felt for a long time that you and I are maybe kindred spirits in a sense, right? Oh, I've got to spend more time with this Chris guy, because you're very obviously very intelligent, well connected, thoughtful in the content that you share, the communities that you curate through your events and dinner series, and things like that. Also, I just think we have a lot of personal interests, like your real estate investing and everything else. So, any chance, any excuse I have to get more Chris Erwin in my life, I will take it. So, just putting that out there, because very much excited about that. And, one other note, maybe just to kind of close things out is, as I mentioned, started the business in my mid-20s. I'm now in my early 30s.James Creech:As you go through this process, I think the most impactful thing that I've learned is recasting what defines success. For a lot of peop

Following up on last week's celebration of the 2000 film "Up Against Amanda" we are joined by the film's writer, director and editor Michael Rissi and its star Justine Priestley to discuss their film and their careers in cinema. Written, Directed & Edited by Michael Rissi. Starring Justine Priestly, David DeWitt, Karen Grosso, Chuck Williams, Daniel Roebuck, Skippy McGriff & Reggie Bannister How is the world wrong about Michael Rissi & Justine Priestley From Andras: It's tempting to think the people who get famous in the film industry are its greatest talents but anyone who delves deeply into a study of its history quickly realizes that Hollywood is not always hospitable to its best (like Michael Rissi) or its brightest (like Justine Priestley) thus it is an incredibly lucky thing when film artists who are not embraced by corporate Hollywood find a way to make an independent film that, although it may have gone unnoticed at the time, finds its audience in ways its creators could never have imagined. UP AGAINST AMANDA: http://upagainstamanda.com http://upagainstamanda.com/ownit.htm ANNABELLE LEE http://annabelleemovie.com http://annabelleemovie.com/on-dvd.html MICHAEL RISSI http://michaelrissi.com/store.html Find all of our episodes at www.theworldiswrongpodcast.com Follow us on Instagram @theworldiswrongpodcast Follow us on Twitter @worldiswrongpod Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKE5tmbr-I_hLe_W9pUqXag The World Is Wrong theme written, produced and performed by Andras Jones Check out: The Director's Wall with Bryan Connolly & AJ Gonzalez & The Radio8Ball Show hosted by Andras Jones See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today in conversation with multi-talented musician, filmmaker and producer Doug Stebleton. He came to Hollywood at age 19 and has lived and worked in southern California since then. His expertise is music publishing for #film and #television. His company owns a catalog of songs that are licensed to film and television studios and to independent productions. Some of the company's credits include #BloodDiamond, Borat, Little Miss Sunshine, #Zoolander, Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, #TheSopranos, Ugly Betty, #CSI, Scrubs, and ER. Doug is also a film producer. His first film was a documentary titled Mother of Normandy: The Story of Simone Renaud. His next film, I Want Your Money, was released in over 500 theaters across the nation in 2010. In 2014, Doug produced and directed Reagan at Normandy, a short film for the Airborne Museum in Normandy, France, and in 2017, he produced Heroes of WWII: The European Campaign. Other projects he is producing include a cable TV show on film and TV cars called Kars & Stars and a feature film, Big Life. Doug has a love for history and hopes to keep making films and documentaries that are inspiring, informative and educational. His passion for Hollywood films and time travel inspired him to create The #HollywoodTimeTravelSeries. It's a Wonderful Time is his debut novel, which he coauthored with Reinhard Denke. Reinhard Denke, a native of Texas and graduate of USC Film School, got his start in 2009 with his spec script Sex, #Greed, Money, Murder and Chicken Fried Steak about the Cullen Davis murders in Fort Worth, Texas. The script was optioned by Johnny Depp's infinitum-nihil company and chosen for the prestigious 2009 Hollywood Blacklist. In 2013, he wrote Far Below for David Oyelowo, and was hired to rewrite 2015's Captive, starring Oyelowo, Kate Mara, and Michael K. Williams. He also wrote a TV pilot and series entitled Golden Gate about 1960's era San Francisco that has been optioned by Demarest Films, and wrote the limited TV series Vanished for Straight Up Films and Truly Original Entertainment. Reinhard adapted The Lives of Beryl Markham for Rock Island Films; it is now entitled Undaunted. He wrote the screenplay Ackia for the Chickasaw Nation and award-winning director Nathan Frankowski. Also for the Chickasaw Nation, Reinhard wrote The Chickasaw Rancher, which is to be released in 2021. He adapted The Madman of Music, a bio of composer George Anthiel and movie actress Hedy Lamar. He wrote Moonchild, the story of Linda Kasabian and her ordeal with the Manson Family, for director Marcus Nispel and producer Adam Krentzmann. Reinhard also co-wrote Mizmoon, about the Patty Hearst kidnapping, for director David Brown and Clear Horizon. The Hollywood Time Travel Series is a compendium of novels that revolve around a young time traveler named Evan West. Evan lives in present-day Hollywood, California, a typical millennial working in the entertainment industry as a #filmtrailer editor, a job he does not particularly relish. Evan dreams of one day becoming a successful screenwriter and Hollywood film director, climbing to the top of the very slippery pole called success. He has the typical problems in his life – never can find a girlfriend who appreciates him and always at odds financially. But he lives, breathes and exists for everything film, his heart beats at 24 frames per second. He's an expert in film #history as well and a stickler for detail. Highlights of the Episode: Doug and his early journey What was his inspiration behind the time travel series Who is his favorite character How did he escape the writer's block Why write an old Hollywood inspired plot

This week Ben sits down with one of the original Collaborists, Carolyn Adams, to talk about her storytelling journey through the worlds of screenwriting, novel writing, and stand up comedy. A USC Film School graduate, Carolyn Lee Adams began her career writing for the screen, and her sensibility remains informed by cinematic storytelling. Her debut novel, Ruthless, was published by Simon & Schuster and recognized by the Washington State Book Awards and Missouri’s Gateway Awards. In addition to that YA thriller, she has written a collection of middle grade short stories for Amazon. Beginning with her work for the story departments at CAA and Summit Entertainment, and continuing to her editorial work today, Carolyn has developed a keen understanding of the transformative power of storytelling, both for the writer and the reader. As always thanks to Self Help for the music.

Get ready for a crazy ride! On the show this week we have indie filmmaker and screenwriter, Kevin Lewis. He's been active on the scene and directed several indie films between 1996 to the present. Kevin's vastest film is the trippy indie (soon to be a cult classic) feature, Willy's Wonderland, starring the legendary Nicolas Cage. Lewis has definitely paid his dues. He started out making films in Highschool with his VHS and Super 8 comers. Between the short film releases amongst his peers earlier on, to internships at Columbia Pictures, he was in the right position to secure a scholarship into USC Film School where he graduated from.The Method, Lewis' directorial debut was his first feature film right out of college. It is about four guys' college life centered around a theater production of a bank robbery and how to make it better.In 2003, he directed and wrote Malibu Springbreak, about two Arizonan girls who headed out to the Malibu beaches for a spring break of partying and fun in the sun.He met an actor on the set, Jeremy Daniel Davis who didn't play a big role in the film, but Lewis stood up to producers and kept Davis's scene. Fast forward to some years later, Davis joined the production team of a project he was working on at the time and the two kept in contact.The universe realigned and Davis popped up with the script of Willy's Wonderland for Lewis out of the blue. This cosmic aligning of a movie, Willy's Wonderland was directed by Kevin and released in Feb 2021, after his thirteen years of filmmaking sabbatical.The action-comedy horror film stars Academy Award® Winner Nicolas Cage - A quiet drifter who is tricked into a janitorial job at the now condemned Willy's Wonderland. The mundane tasks suddenly become an all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of demonic animatronics. Fists fly, kicks land, titans clash -- and only one side will make it out alive.Get ready for a wild ride. Enjoy my entertaining conversation with Kevin Lewis.

Act One Podcast - Episode 27 - Interview with Screenwriter and Director, Brian Baugh.Brian Baugh is a director, screenwriter, and producer known for creating socially relevant and inspiring human stories that cross genres.  He has spent the majority of his time working in feature films, but also has extensive experience in television, commercials, documentaries, and web content. He had an eclectic upbringing from being born in New Jersey, spending his youth in South Florida, and growing up in Seattle.  His creative endeavors began as a flannel clad high schooler in the Northwest directing theater, making comedic videos, and producing grunge music in basement studios.Brian started his filmmaking journey in earnest at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where he wrote and directed many films.  His achievements earned him the USC School of Cinema Distinguished Scholar Award, and he was a member of the Order of Troy, Mortar Board, and Phi Beta Kappa. After graduating, he decided to pursue cinematography, and spent time on several studio films interning under world class cinematographers.  Then he was awarded a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship which took him to Cape Town, South Africa for a year of additional education in the liberal arts...and African township life. Shortly after returning from Africa, the budding Director of Photography shot his first feature film at the young age of twenty five.  He spent the next ten years shooting over twenty films (THE ULTIMATE GIFT, JACK & THE BEANSTALK, AN AMERICAN CAROL), and shooting and directing dozens of commercials (Ford, NHL).Brian transitioned into feature directing with a high school drama, TO SAVE A LIFE.  The film was released in theaters nationwide and earned an 'A' cinema score.  The independent film's strong performance in the box office surprised many in Hollywood. Since then, he has written over twenty screenplays, several of which he is attached to direct.  His film, I'M NOT ASHAMED, was nominated for a Dove Award for Most Inspirational Film. He directed the award winning comedic television pilot THE COMEBACK KIDS.  Next, THE WORLD WE MAKE, a young adult interracial romance he wrote, produced, and directed, got picked up by Universal and Netflix and was released in 2019.  His latest feature, FINDING YOU, was released theatrically in 2021 and also received very positive audience reviews.  It was distributed by Roadside Attractions, Lionsgate, and Amazon domestically, and Universal internationally.  The film is a spirited, upbeat, romantic dramedy shot in Ireland starring Jedidiah Goodacre, Katherine McNamara, Tom Everett Scott, and Vanessa Redgrave. Brian's desire is to be a part of telling stories that inspire audiences, foster justice and healing, or expand imagination and wonder in the world.The Act One Podcast provides insight and inspiration on the business and craft of Hollywood from a Christian perspective.Support the show (https://actoneprogram.com/donate/)

These are very busy days for Dr. G! On this journey, he pauses for a moment to talk with his good friend Tim Jones. Tim lives and works in Denver, is an ordained minister, gifted filmmaker - a graduate of the world-famous USC Film School - and he runs a studio. As always, Dr. G lets Tim ask any questions he wants. As always, too, Dr. G will be checking in with Tim about the latest developments in his love life. Please pray for Tim! DappyKeys Piano Music DappyKeys' Life Story Dr. G wants to hear from you! So join the conversation with him and your fellow travelers now on his FACEBOOK PAGE. Or email Dr. G directly by clicking HERE. ORDER DR. G's NEWEST BOOK! Believing is Seeing. * Tyndale * Books-A-Million * ChristianBook * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

These are very busy days for Dr. G. But on this journey, he pauses to get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with his family and to sit down with his good friend Tim Jones. Tim lives and works in Denver, is an ordained minister, gifted filmmaker - a graduate of the world-famous USC Film School - and he runs a studio. As always, Dr. G lets Tim ask any questions he wants. As always, too, Dr. G checks in with Tim about the latest developments in his love life. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family! DappyKeys Piano Music DappyKeys' Life Story Dr. G wants to hear from you! So join the conversation with him and your fellow travelers now on his FACEBOOK PAGE. Or email Dr. G directly by clicking HERE. ORDER DR. G's NEWEST BOOK! Believing is Seeing. * Tyndale * Books-A-Million * ChristianBook * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Joanna Johnson the co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of Freeform's critically acclaimed series “Good Trouble.” She is also the creator, executive producer and director of Freeform's limited series “Love in the Time of Corona,” the first scripted series shot entirely during the quarantine. Previously Johnson was an executive producer and showrunner on Freeform's groundbreaking series “The Fosters,” which ran for five seasons.Joanna Johnson was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended USC Film School and, after graduating, pursued an acting career. Most notably, she played twins Caroline and Karen Spencer on the CBS soap opera “The Bold & the Beautiful.”Johnson's primary focus is on writing, producing and directing. She wrote the independent feature “The Shrink Is In,” starring Courtney Cox and David Arquette, and went on to create and show run the sitcom “Hope & Faith” for ABC, which ran for three seasons. She was co-executive producer on ABC Family's “Make It or Break It,” “Fairly Legal” for USA Cable, and the CW's “Emily Owens, M.D.”Johnson currently resides in Los Angeles with her wife and children.Show notes:

Michael Rousselet and Michael Eugene Peter (producers of CHRONICLES OF A LOVE UNFOUND and 5SecondFilms.com) sits down with the Producers Lounge podcast to talk about how they developed their first feature film and also were disillusioned by USC Film School and by Sleazy Producers in the industry.Credits Include...Dude Bro Party Massacre 3 starring Patton OswaltChronicles of a Love Unfound starring Jeannie BoletFollow Us on Social Media!Greater & Grander on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/GreaterGrander  Greater & Grander on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/GreaterGrander Greater & Grander on Twitter - https://twitter.com/GreaterGrander  Greater & Grander on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/GreaterGrander

Becca's origin story: how she got into special effects work (2:10)Defining what is special effects (6:05)Working your way up in the special effects world (13:30)What is it like in the day of a special effects professional? (21:10)What is something in real life that doesn't actually happen the way special effects makes it seem like in the movies? (25:40)Thinking of the overall story/storytelling when doing special effects (28:30)How does faith life affect your work in special effects? (43:50)Spiritual Question: What have you learned about yourself and the world this past 1.5 years during the pandemic? (49:05)Bye for now!  

Alice Brooks grew up on Broadway musical theater and movies as a kid, and loves shooting music and dance oriented films and TV shows. Alice has always been in awe of dancers, and though she isn't a dancer herself, she is inspired by their work ethic and loves that she can capture dance with her camera. Working on In The Heights has fulfilled a lifelong dream for Alice. She and director Jon M. Chu have known each other since college at USC. The two bonded over musicals- she shot his she shot his student short, a musical called When The Kids Are Away in 2002 and worked together again on the film Jem and the Holograms. Alice and Jon were shooting the Apple TV+ series Home Before Dark when he asked her to shoot In The Heights. Jon, choreographer Christopher Scott and Alice had also worked together on a Hulu series called The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers for three seasons, and they got used to working together and working quickly, figuring out how tell a story and develop characters through dance. Jon, Alice and Chris Scott felt their whole careers came together to make a musical like In The Heights. The characters' hopes, dreams, fears and anxieties can be played out not only through song and dance but in the environment around them, which sometimes shifts to where they are emotionally. With just 49 shoot days, preproduction for In The Heights was essential. Alice and Jon Chu would location scout in the mornings and then spend afternoons in the dance rehearsal space with Chris Scott. They would share their input and make suggestions from each location scout on how to face and orient the dance. Alice and Jon thought at first many more locations would be done on a soundstage, but they found that shooting in real places on the streets looked and felt so true- even the theater and the subway station were real locations. During shooting, every Sunday they would meet and go through the coming week because the schedule was so tight and the camerawork so complex, looking at videos from dance rehearsal to discuss the shots and angles to use, deciding if a crane shot was needed, and how many cameras to use for each scene. Jon made animatics detailing each scene from storyboards and dance rehearsal footage. With 17 song and dance scenes in In The Heights, Jon had huge goals for the musical numbers, and Alice, the dancers and the entire film crew were able to pull it off. Alice grew up in New York and got into acting at a young age. She and her family then moved to Los Angles, and she realized as a teen that she did not want to be an actor. Being on set around the camera crew made her realize that she wanted to shoot movies, and that being a DP was her true dream. After graduating from USC Film School, Alice asked many of the graduate students if she could shoot their projects, knowing that the key to honing her craft was practice, practice, practice. She shot about 20 shorts, including Jon M. Chu's musical short, When The Kids Are Away. Alice thinks it's important to find the right people to work with, since you're spending so much time together, and forming that bond helps everyone. She wants to make movies that inspire her daughter. For anyone with a family, it's important to pick the projects that are worth it, since filming can take so much time away from loved ones. Find Alice Brooks: https://www.alicebrooks.com/ Instagram: @_alicebrooks_ You can see In The Heights in theaters, the best place to experience the film's immersive sound design and visuals. You can also find it streaming on HBO Max. Alice's new musical film directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda is tick, tick...Boom! releasing in the fall. Find out even more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links: http://camnoir.com/ep130/ Sponsored by Hot Rod Cameras: www.hotrodcameras.com Sponsored by Aputure: https://www.aputure.com/ The Cinematography Podcast website: www.camnoir.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.

Pastor Tim Jones once again gets to ask Dr. G any question he wants! Catch up on what Dr. G is thinking and doing on this fun and informative journey. Tim, Emmy-award-winning graduate of the USC Film School, and co-founder of Truce Media Collective, runs an exciting new studio in the heart of Denver. For more information, see Truce Media. Check out: Dino Don LessemJack Horner (paleontologist) Dr. G wants to hear from you! So join the conversation with him and your fellow travelers now on his FACEBOOK PAGE. Or email Dr. G directly by clicking HERE. PRE-ORDER DR. G's NEWEST BOOK! Believing is Seeing. * Tyndale * Books-A-Million * ChristianBook * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Pastor Tim Jones once again gets to ask Dr. G any question he wants! Catch up on what Dr. G is thinking and doing on this fun and informative journey. Tim, Emmy-award-winning graduate of the USC Film School, and co-founder of Truce Media Collective, runs an exciting new studio in the heart of Denver. For more information, see Truce Media. Check out: Dino Don Lessem Dr. Jack Horner (paleontologist) Dr. G wants to hear from you! So join the conversation with him and your fellow travelers now on his FACEBOOK PAGE. Or email Dr. G directly by clicking HERE. PRE-ORDER DR. G's NEWEST BOOK! Believing is Seeing. * Tyndale * Books-A-Million * ChristianBook * Amazon * Barnes & Noble

In part 2 Melanie McGraw and I discuss her beverage company MONK Drinking Botanicals* and how it has helped reinforce her identity and self-confidence, her realization that it's time to nurture her creativity,  and she explains the steps she's taking to create boundaries and protect her sacred time.  She discusses focusing only on the next right thing, and finally this very important point about the vocational choices we have to make in life.  She says  “no matter what -it's all going to be hard, so at some point you have to choose where you want your hard to be.” That really sticks with me as I think about my next moves.*In full disclosure, I am an investor, and recipe development consultant to her brand MONK Drinking BotanicalsPit Stop Short FilmMONK Drinking BotanicalsSupport the show

There is a kind of power in storytelling.  In taking control of the narrative, in writing the characters, in defining the terms.  We hear about the powerful storytellers,  airbrushed beyond a flaw, lifted as a shining example of what to emulate to be successful.  But were they always so skilled, so creative, so untouchable?  The power isn't in the perfect.  The power is is in the owning.  Sometimes though, it takes time for us to unlearn ways of denying our needs, and learn to tap into our inner voice, and clear space for that voice to emerge.  Yes, that process...that PROCESS is the real story, and it's ongoing.  So there is a kind of power in digging deep, in capturing the unspoken inside us and bringing that to the surface for examination.This week, we get to bare witness to some serious excavation and growth from an incredibly tuned-in and talented woman, Melanie McGraw. Growing up Mormon in a family of 10, she became a caretaker at an early age and married young. Without much time to herself, it became second nature for her to set aside her needs for the good of those around her.  Her mom lovingly called her "my right hand man" because of her incredible sense of responsibility. Later in life,  unlocking her authenticity came at the price of her church, marriage, and a redefined family life.  I was so heartened by this conversation and can't wait for you to listen.  Pit Stop by Melanie McGraw The Artist's Way by Julia CameronSupport the show

In #144 futurists tune into an EPIC podcast diving deep into the film industry with Hollywood legend, producer, and entrepreneur Jon Glickman, who is making his second appearance on Our Future since first coming on the show last summer. Glickman is the former President of MGM Studios, where he guided a bankrupt company into a thriving studio amd oversaw production on Eon’s Skyfall and Spectre, the two highest grossing installments of the James Bond franchise, as well as the forthcoming No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s final outing in the series. Other notable highlights of his tenure include overseeing the production of the Rocky spinoff Creed, and the sequel Creed 2, starring Sylvester Stallone and Michael B Jordan, as well as the 2019 animated hit recreation of The Addams Family. Notably, during Glickman’s term at MGM, he was ahead of the industry’s diversity hiring initiatives, with 24% of his slate featuring female filmmakers and 27% featuring directors of color, far exceeding the industry average. Jon is now the Founder & CEO of Glickmania, where he is on a quest to build out a formidable library of IP in the entertainment world through myriad forms of content. He describes his current company as a next generation incubator focussing on established and emerging storytellers across all platforms – including franchise films, television, music, podcasts, comics and new media – in order to make high quality productions while creating an IP rights library. DO not miss this episode–it's full of gleaming takeaways like when Jon convinced Joe Roth to give him an internship in an elevator when he was at USC Film School. He talks everything from nearly getting blown up on the set of James Bond to how young people can break into entertainment. Follow Jon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/glickmania?lang=en Check out Glickmania: https://glickmania.com/#about Get 50% off Verb Energy's caffeinated energy bars, which have just 90 calories and pack the same punch as a cup of coffee, coming in delicious flavors like Vanilla Latte, Double Chocolate, and Peppermint Mocha. You, the Our Future listener, can get 16 Verb energy bars for just $12 by purchasing through our unique link here: https://www.verbenergy.com/ourfuture Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2htIc3-njRI5BKTJ2QqNfA Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

Get ready for a crazy ride! On the show this week we have indie filmmaker and screenwriter, Kevin Lewis. He’s been active on the scene and directed several indie films between 1996 to the present. Kevin's vastest film is the trippy indie (soon to be a cult classic) feature, Willy’s Wonderland, starring the legendary Nicolas Cage. Lewis has definitely paid his dues. He started out making films in Highschool with his VHS and Super 8 comers. Between the short film releases amongst his peers earlier on, to internships at Columbia Pictures, he was in the right position to secure a scholarship into USC Film School where he graduated from. The Method, Lewis’ directorial debut was his first feature film right out of college. It is about four guys' college life centered around a theater production of a bank robbery and how to make it better.In 2003, he directed and wrote Malibu Springbreak, about two Arizonan girls who headed out to the Malibu beaches for a spring break of partying and fun in the sun.He met an actor on the set, Jeremy Daniel Davis who didn’t play a big role in the film, but Lewis stood up to producers and kept Davis scene. Fast forward to some years later, Davis joined the production team of a project he was working on at the time and the two kept in contact. The universe realigned and Davis popped up with the script of Willy’s Wonderland for Lewis out of the blue. This cosmic aligning of a movie, Willy’s Wonderland was directed by Kevin and released in Feb 2021, after his thirteen years filmmaking sabbatical.The action-comedy horror film stars Academy Award® Winner Nicolas Cage - A quiet drifter who is tricked into a janitorial job at the now condemned Willy's Wonderland. The mundane tasks suddenly become an all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of demonic animatronics. Fists fly, kicks land, titans clash -- and only one side will make it out alive.Get ready for a wild ride. Enjoy my entertaining conversation with Kevin Lewis.

What is Dr. G up to these days? Once again, on this fun and interesting journey, he sits down in Denver with his friend Tim Jones, filmmaker and ordained minister. Dr. G has no idea what questions Tim will ask, so the conversation is far-ranging and totally spontaneous! Tim, Emmy-award-winning graduate of the USC Film School, and co-founder of Truce Media Collective, runs an exciting new studio in the heart of Denver. For more information, see: https://www.truce.media/

When I called Robert Pennybacker a “Renaissance Man” during my interview he seemed not to know why I attached the term to him. I can say with some confidence that folks in Robert's network see him as exactly that. He is a poet, writer, producer, director, traveler, technologist, deep thinker and the very definition of both a specialist and generalist. He is also one of the founders of HIKI NŌ, arguably the most remarkable state student news network on Planet Earth. This is no joke, listeners; I am not engaging in hyperbole. There are lots of student news programs around the nation, but none with the mission and vision, nor the scope and reach of HIKI NŌ. A USC Film School graduate, Robert has driven HIKI NŌ forward for 10 years now, the last year a remarkable pivot during this Covid-19 pandemic. He is the Vice President of Learning Initiatives at PBS Hawai'i, where HIKI NŌ lives.  This program's impact on kids is simply staggering and today we are going to hear how it was built and what drove Robert to move it forward. Robert Pennybacker's resume is long and deep. Early on he was a local television marketing director. In late 2000 he started his own advertising/production company called Pennybacker Creative, LLC, then joined PBS Hawaiʻi as Vice President of Creative Services in late 2007. His awards and recognition include the 1984 Regional Emmy Award for Television Promotional Spots; 3 Pele Awards (Hawaii's ADDY Awards) for excellence in advertising; he oversaw the promotional campaign for one of the most successful network affiliation switches ever (when Hawaii's NBC affiliate switched to FOX). Robert is an independent filmmaker who has written more than 20 documentaries about life and people in Hawaii. As I wrote earlier, he is a poet and writer. In 2007 he became the Vice President of Creative Services at PBS Hawai'i and oversaw all local programming, on-air promotion, interstitial production, station branding, and the production of on-air fundraising for the station, as well as management of personnel. Robert and I go back pretty far. We played high school football together back in the 70s at Punahou School. He was a tight end, I played center, which makes this moment special for me. As always, our post-production and original theme music is provided by Daniel Gilad at DG Sound Creations. Check out Daniel's website to learn more, or to book him for your next music gig. If you love these episodes please write us a review and rate us in your favorite podcast store. Stay safe, wear your masks and get vaccinated when it is your turn. And bring kindness and compassion into the world!   The post 62. Robert Pennybacker, Hawaii's “Can Do” Renaissance Man appeared first on @MLTSinHawaii .

7-time Emmy nominated producer Bruce Rand Berman sits down with television director and 2012 recipient of the Directors Guild of America Frank Capra Career Achievement Award Honoree, Katy Garretson, whose many credits include Frasier, Girlfriends, Titus, George Lopez, One on One, True Jackson VP, Sullivan & Son, Young & Hungry, 2 Broke Girls, The Odd Couple, Fuller House, School of Rock, The Cool Kids, Cousins for Life, Carol's Second Act, Broke and the just released reboot of Punky Brewster.  On the side, Katy also hosts her popular podcast Mojo Girl Madness - which I highly recommend -  found on all major podcast platforms.  In Katy's sit-down with Bruce she gives the insiders' view of her life as a successful director, what someone who might be considering it would have to do to break in......and lets you in on her own Hollywood story as she talks about her career, her craft, her life and all the different projects and people she's worked on and with along the way.  

Today on the show we have author Pamela Jaye Smith. She is is a mythologist, international consultant-speaker, and award-winning writer-producer-director with 30+ years in features, TV, music videos, commercials, documentaries, web series, corporate and military films. She has worked at major studios and with wildly independent companies in Hollywood and around the world, always enjoying the process of bringing creative ideas to worldwide screens.Credits include Fox, Disney, Paramount, Microsoft, Universal, RAI-TV Rome, UCLA, USC Film School, American Film Institute, Women in Film, Natl. Film Institute of Denmark, LA and Marseille and Roma WebFests, Romance Writers of America, Children’s Book Writers LA, and many media festivals andPamela founded MYTHWORKS a consulting and information resource offering Applied Mythology for individuals, organizations, and the media arts. She teaches and consults on fiction and non-fiction, writes for others, coaches writers and actors, and helps individuals discover and use their personal archetypes.Smith authored "SHOW ME THE LOVE: All Kinds of Love for All Kinds of Stories", "INNER DRIVES: How to Write and Create Characters Using the [chakras] 8 Classic Centers of Motivation", "SYMBOLS.IMAGES.CODES: The Secret Language of Meaning in Media", and "BEYOND THE HERO'S JOURNEY: Other Powerful Mythic Themes".She was the mythologist interviewed on Fox's ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT Special Features and has appeared on national TV and radio programs as a mythology expert, including the "Forbidden Secrets" TV series. She was on-camera spokesperson for Microsoft's "Age of Mythology" on-line computer game and designed their "Which God Are You?" quiz.Her book The Power of the Dark Side: Creating Great Villains, Dangerous Situations, & Dramatic Conflict is why I wanted her on the show. I wanted to go deep into what makes a good multidimensional villain. Conflict is the very heart and soul of drama, and Pamela's latest work explores character conflict and the various ways to portray it both in scripts and on the stage.Enjoy my conversation with Pamela Jaye Smith.

Director of the documentary film “At War with the Dinosaurs,” John Michael Parkan is a hydrogen energy evangelist extolling the virtues and promise of a burgeoning hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is the third most abundant element on earth and is a sustainable green-energy alternative to fossil fuels that has been around since the early 1800’s. All the major car manufacturers have produced a hydrogen fuel cell car and the technology is more planet-friendly than battery-powered electric vehicles.   So why is it that, when so many of us think of hydrogen, our primary reference point is images of the fire-engulfed Hindenburg, an image rife with the misappropriation of danger, while hydrogen fuel is actually so much safer than gasoline?   Join us for this VERY illuminating interview and hear the true story of hydrogen and learn how this technology may be the solution for a transition away from a fossil fuel economy to a truly sustainable future. John Michael addresses the perceptions and prejudices related to hydrogen power and provides us with cogent steps we can take to support the emerging hydrogen economy.   About John Michael: John Michael Parkan attended the prestigious USC Film School and has shot, produced and directed multiple commercials, music videos, and shorts, in addition to special features for theatrical and library films. At War with the Dinosaurs is his first feature length documentary film.   More resources and links at https://www.sustainabilitynow.global/2021/01/30/43-fueling-the-future-with-hydrogen/

Tim Jones is an ordained minister, Emmy-award-winning graduate of the USC Film School, and co-founder of Truce Media Collective, an exciting new studio in the heart of Denver. For more information, see:

The Sponsors Thank you to Underground Printing for making this all possible. Rishi and Ryan have been our biggest supporters from the beginning. They're also behind our Ann Arbor Institutions t-shirt program. They have awesome custom tees and hoodies and low, affordable prices. They also have tons of great Michigan apparel that you can wear proudly to support the maize and blue! Check out UGP’s holiday gift guide at ugp.io/holidaygiftguide and use the promo code HOLIDAY for 25% off your next purchase! Our associate sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, The Phil Klein Insurance Group, FuegoBox, and Information Entropy. 1. Across the Crooked Blue Line, wsg Steve Lorenz of 247 starts at 1:00 Steve wants to be like J.J. McCarthy when I grow up. TJ Guy could be a 10-year pro at OL, McBurrows underrated because he may be too small to play in the pros. Finishing:s still look good for Rayshaun Benny, who was Michigan head-to-toe until they lost to MSU. Rooks probably isn't an option. They have a 6'8"/235 potential edge guy from Brother Rice who may get some real offers. Ceyair Wright stars as LeBron's son; we're hoping he's more interested in Michigan Business School than USC Film School. The rest of the writeup and the player after The Jump] 2. Across the Crooked Blue Line Pt 2: The 2022s starts at 24:26 All eyes on the two five-star cornerbacks that Michigan has a legit chance with. Lots of other cornerback options out there as well, especially once you include all the athletes who could play running back or receiver or safety. We also run through the 2022 in-state class. 3. Hot Takes, Basketball Around the Big Ten starts at 50:49 We're more scared of Wisconsin, less afraid of Iowa, more impressed with Rutgers, and unmoved by three point luck. 4. Gimmicky Top Five Best Advice for New Parents starts at 1:35:35 Brian went with parenting rules in general while I believed the prompt was what it says on the tin and suggested things first-timers need to know, like put your newborn in a laundry basket in the middle of your bed, not a bassinet, not a drawer. Seriously, the laundry basket. You won't tip it over in the middle of the night like you would the $60 Bed, Bath & Beyond thing that is basically a pretty laundry basket. You can use it to transport the little creature as it sleeps. It can sense both parents nearby, so it won't panic at noises. And those times you do have to wake up and do something about it, you don't have to leave a warm blanket. MUSIC: “Tomorrow Never Knows"—801 “California Dreaming”—Bobby Womack “Kids with Guns”—Gorillaz “Across 110th Street”

In this episode, Smish interviews Ezra W. Nachman (aka @whinefields), staff writer on NBC's MANIFEST. They talk about Ezra's journey to becoming a writer, from his parent's aspirations for him to be a lawyer, to not being allowed to watch movies or TV as a child. Ezra discusses how his time at USC Film School led to his first job as a writer's PA and ultimately placing in contests & fellowships. Smish & Ezra discuss the trajectory of his career, becoming a staff writer, and the effects the pandemic has had on a writer's room. Ezra breaks down the positions on a show, and best of all, shares his invaluable advice for successful networking! Highlights: (1:04) How Ezra began his journey in screenwriting (6:45) THE SOPRANOS sparked a love for TV & film that he couldn't ignore (18:47) How to break into TV and the roles on a show (31:55) Job of a Writer's Assistant on LETHAL WEAPON (48:48) Ezra's tip to networking (52:21) Becoming a staff writer on MANIFEST (1:08:49) How has the writer's room & production been affected by the pandemic? Sponsored by ScriptUp ScriptUp provides in depth coverage to help screenwriters improve their work! Head to https://scriptupstudio.com and enter discount code TSN10 for 10% off today! Join the Discord Server Interact with over 6000 screenwriters around the world, including Ezra! http://thescreenwritersnetwork.com/ You can find Ezra on the Discord server: @whinefields. Get Exclusive Extras VIP members get a bonus segment with Ezra. We learn the meaning behind @whinefields, his process to outlining a feature, and his career goal before he dies. Most importantly, Ezra shares his go to order at Canter's Deli! More about Ezra: IMDB Page: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2837457/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 To become a VIP on Patreon and get ad-free episodes 2 weeks before everyone else plus exclusive bonus audio content: http://www.patreon.com/screenwritersnetwork Did you enjoy the podcast? Let us know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/screenwriters-network-podcast-screenwriting-podcast/id1488865880 Follow us on Twitter @SCRNWritersNTWK !

Learning Fillmaking by Watching the USC Nina Foch Course

Tayo Amos is a director and filmmaker from the Bay Area now currently living in Los Angeles. After double majoring at Stanford, Tayo went on to earn her MFA in Film Production at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, where she focused on Directing. She is the winner of USC's First Look Faculty Award for Excellence in Directing, and her thesis film, “On The Clock” screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In this conversation Tayo and I discuss her experience and key takeaways from USC film school, what qualities make a good director, and how recent events in our country around race and diversity are pushing our respective movie industries to take a good hard look in the mirror. LINKS: Tayo's Website On The Clock film on Amazon Follow Tayo on Insta Follow Austin on Insta Subscribe to Austin's monthly newsletter 

In this episode, we dive deep into my YouTube journey and how many influences in my life got me to where I am today. Stick around to the end to hear my growth tips you can use for your own channel! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/influencermoney/support

Ryan Farley became a TV writer in Hollywood after leaving the Detroit fire academy at 18 and heading across the country to LA. Graduating from USC Film School, he had the opportunity to work on the CBS hit show Cold Case as a researcher. Ryan writes every day, and does not like the term “writer's block.” He says you have to be willing to write even if all ten of your ideas suck. Especially when turning in a script on a network deadline… there is no time to think twice about whether your work is good or not. He has put in his time in this business and continues to never question his love for what he does, which keeps him in the game.

Christina Brinkerhoff is producing a documentary about her mother, past Cars Yeah guest Renee Brinkerhoff – as she conquers 7 continents driving in a 1956 Porsche 356. They are fresh off the 36-day Peking to Paris endurance rally that took place this past summer. The next challenge will be in Kenya in the East African Safari Classic Rally, a 9-day, 5,000 km run through Kenya and Tanzania. Prior to Africa Renee ran the La Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, The Targa Tasmania in Australia, and The Caminos del Inca in South America. They will challenge the Antarctica Ice Challenge in 2121. Christina is a graduate of the USC Film School and a former talent agent. Through their Valkyrie Gives Foundation, she and her mom raise awareness of and funding for efforts against the global problem of child trafficking.

 I recently met up with my friend Jared DePasquale who is a phenomenal at scoring, arranging and orchestrating music for audio dramas and tv productions.  He has won multiple awards for his work and was kind enough to talk with me about his musical journey and give insight for you to put into practice if you want to create music for media. Show Notes:Sponsors: Edenbrooke Productions - We offer consulting services and are offering listeners a 1-hour introductory special. To request more info on consulting services, email Marty at contact@johnmartinkeith.com. Talking Points:*John Williams who scored Star Wars and Indiana Jones made me fall in love with music.*Determination beats talent any day of the week.*I wanted to tell a story through music.*Tenacity and ability to take risks allowed me to transition from college into the real world more than talent did.*I applied for grants for USC Film School but missed the deadline. The person I talked with said he had a friend doing what I wanted to do and connected me with composer Joseph LoDuca. He hired me to do some work to reprogram a synthesizer. I worked hard and he kept giving me more responsibility until it turned into a full time assistant job.*Most of the time relationships are going to be what get you the work.*I worked on the tv show Hercules: The legendary Journeys assisting Joe.*A one hour tv show will include about 30 minutes of score and you have a week at most to get it done and move on to the next episode for 22 episodes.*I was a jack of all trades for him on that show. I did temp tracks, programming, played on some sessions, I helped do some orchestration, etc.*When you are an assistant or apprentice to an orchestrator, you have to learn how to think like that person and what their tendencies are.*I also worked on a lot of commercials. The boss sets the tone and is guiding you the whole way and you execute it and he will give you changes to make until it’s where he wants it.*For commercials you usually only get a few hours to create something and turn it in.*You have to learn to go with your instinct and choose a direction and go with it.*The biggest drawback of working for another composer is that it’s hard to find your own voice.*Finding your own voice is a life long journey.*I now score audio dramas.* I hired an agent to pitch my demo reel and it took about 2 years to get work after I left working for Joe.*My first composer job on my own was scoring an indie horror film and I had 3 weeks to complete it.*They liked my work and I kept getting hired to do those kinds of films.*My agent pitched me to do work on audio dramas for Focus On The Family.*I got hired to work on a project and I was able to conduct an orchestra and have since worked on lots of audio dramas for Focus On The Family and other companies.*A 3 hour score for Robin Hood took 6 months to write.*What is the difference between an audio drama and a book on tape?*An audio drama is a fully emersive story like a movie without the visual. It’s professional actors, sound design, music and production crew.*You can stream them through sites like Audible.*Books on tape essentially use canned music that hit transition points from chapter to chapter.*Audio dramas that are 30 minutes will have 15 minutes of custom score.*The old style of scoring is called “The Light Motif” which is: Characters have themes. It’s thematic driven.*Modern scores are very “anti-theme.” Very Static, atmospheric and vibey.*People love a melody.*Audio dramas are looking for big time melodies because characters have melodies.*Not having a visual has made me better as a composer because it has made me think of what the character is thinking about and his motivation. Or what it means when there is a mountain in front of you and you have to make it feel huge because even though you can’t see it, you can feel it.*There’s no such thing as a bad day making music.*I don’t give the word “inspiration” a lot of validity.*If you’re going to write music for a client with a deadline, you have to learn how to write music.*It’s a balance of discipline and understanding your craft and techniques and doing all the hard work that will internalize and come out.*I wrote 50 themes for Robin Hood before it got approved.*If you don’t feel inspired or don’t feel like writing music, go write music.*Keep at it and you will find what you are trying create.*It’s not glamorous and it’s hard work, but it is fun.*You’ll never get there if you don’t do the hard work.*Advice for getting into scoring :*If you’re going to create music for any kind of media, love the story telling process more than you love music.*They are hiring you to understand the story, go deep and emote.*You have to love working with people.*Music for media is a collaborative process.*Starting out as a new composer you might have to work for free on low level entry projects with student film makers.*Connect with your peers that are trying to do their first projects and get experience. That can lead to more work down the road.*Build relationships.*It’s a slow build.*There is always something to learn.*What’s the difference between composing and ghost writing?*Shows require a lot of music in a short period of time. The composer will have a team helping create music but typically only the composer is getting credit for the work, so the other people are called ghost writers.*They do not get credit for making the music and they don’t get paid the same as the composer. You’re basically an independent contractor that is getting paid to do work for hire. You’re signing away all your rights to the music so you get paid one time to create it but no back end royalties.*Jared’s website is www.jareddepasquale.com*Jared’s You Tube Channel Jared is a storyteller.  Music is his language.For over twenty five years Jared has composed the musical scores for some of Western culture’s most celebrated stories and iconic characters.The recipient of numerous awards and critical acclaim, his work is widely recognized for its ability to musically capture complex characters amidst stories that are rich in texture and meaning.Jared has contributed music to over a thousand different projects including scores to The Legends of Robin Hood (Gwilym Lee of Bohemian Rhapsody), The Secret Garden (Dame Joan Plowright of Driving Miss Daisy),  Little Women (Gemma Jones from the Harry Potter series), Les Miserables (Brian Blessed of Star Wars Episode 1), The Trials of Saint Patrick (John Rhys-Davies of Lord of the Rings), Ode to Saint Cecilia (Hayley Atwell of The Avengers series), and Brother Francis (Owen Teale of Game of Thrones).Early in his career, Jared apprenticed under Emmy and ASCAP Award winning composer Joseph LoDuca. With LoDuca, Jared learned the business of composing for A-list projects including the globally syndicated television shows Xena: The Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.  Immediately following his apprenticeship, Jared was recognized by Music from the Movies as one of the three most promising and interesting talents among film composers today. He has won or been nominated for multiple awards over the years for his contribution to audio dramas.2018: The Adventum, Volume 1, Wise King Media: WON for “Best Score for an Audio Drama” Audio Theatre Central Seneca Awards2018: David & Absalom: Adventures in Odyssey, Focus on the Family: Nominated for “Best Score for an Audio Drama” Audio Theatre Central Seneca Awards2018: Operation Mosul: The Brinkman Adventures, Season 7, Beachglass Ministries: Nominated for “Best Score for an Audio Drama” Audio Theatre Central Seneca Awards2017: The Trials of Saint Patrick, AIR Theater: WON for “Best Score for an Audio Drama” Audio Theatre Central Seneca Awards2017: Brother Francis, The Barefoot Saint of Assisi, AIR Theater: WON for “Audio Drama of the Year” by the Audio Publisher’s Association (Audie Awards)2017: The Trials of Saint Patrick, AIR Theater: Nominated for “Audio Drama of the Year / Historical Non-Fiction” Category by the Audio Publisher’s Association (Audie Awards)2017: Les Miserables, Focus on the Family: Placed in the Top 5 for “Best Score, New Archival (Digital) Release” by REEL MUSIC2016: Brother Francis, The Barefoot Saint of Assisi, AIR Theater: WON, “Best Score for an Audio Drama” by Audio Theatre Central2015: The Hiding Place, Focus on the Family: WON, “Best Score – Other Media” by REEL MUSIC.2006: At the Back of the North Wind, Focus on the Family: WON, “Achievement in Production” by the Audio Publisher’s Association (Audie Awards). This award encompasses music score, sound design, and sound mixing2006: The Hiding Place, Focus on the Family: Nominated for “Audio Drama of the Year” by the Audio Publisher’s Association (Audie Awards)2006: The Hiding Place, Focus on the Family: Nominated for “Achievement in Production” by the Audio Publisher’s Association (Audie Awards)2005: Little Women, Focus on the Family: Nominated for “Achievement in Production” by the Audio Publisher’s Association (Audie Awards)

In this age of huge, million-dollar tentpoles and audience-pleasing spectacle, it's important to remember how we got here in the first place -- two little films called Jaws and Star Wars. Coming off the later years of New Hollywood, where auteurs handled studio money for increasingly sophisticated, niche projects, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg ushered in a new era of populist entertainment that would change the film industry forever.   But how did they get there? How did two enthusiastic kids from USC Film School with a huge love for B-movies and science fiction serials become the godparents of popular culture? That's the subject of Blockbuster, a six-episode audio drama podcast courtesy of Epicleff Media (the minds behind Score: The Podcast) -- which dramatizes Lucas and Spielberg's early friendship, their struggles for success, and the rivalry that came with it. Drawing from extensive research and hundreds of hours of archival material, Blockbuster crafts an intimate portrait of the two iconic filmmakers' rocky road to cultural immortality -- an outcome they couldn't have possibly anticipated.   For this week's podcast, I sat down with series creator Matt Schrader (who also directed the excellent doc Score: A Film Music Documentary) to talk about Blockbuster, Score (in both podcast and doc form), and the struggles of adapting such an intriguing Hollywood story to the narrative podcast medium. Along the way, we discuss John Williams, what composers are on our respective bucket lists and the American landscape that helped make something like Star Wars possible. (More of a Comment, Really… is a proud member of the Chicago Podcast Coop. Thanks to Lagunitas for sponsoring this episode!)

Jason Russell is a director and activist who co-founded Invisible Children, the organization on the front line of an international movement against the Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader, Joseph Kony, in Central Africa. Jason is also the man behind the viral campaign Kony 2012 (y’all, it has over 102,242,971 views on YouTube alone). That campaign produced an onslaught of criticism and accusations and negative publicity which led a sleep-deprived, stressed out Jason to a mental breakdown that was equally as publicized. He shares his experience candidly in our interview with a candor and strength that is inspiring, and he shares his experience in the aftermath of that experience. He has since stepped back in his role in Invisible Children (although he is still on the board) and has stepped back out into the world. Quite literally. He and his wife recently sold all of their stuff and took their kids around the world on an activists’ adventure. Radical.   (But y’all, most importantly, OPRAH HAS BEEN TO HIS HOUSE.)   Shop Soul CBD www.mysoulcbd.com     IN THIS EPISODE WE TALK ABOUT: How Jason got into USC Film School, one of the most competitive programs in the country (hint: he didn’t take no for an answer) The creation of Invisible Children and the process of putting it out into the world (hint: he didn't take no for an answer) How Jason talks to his kids about the tragedies and injustices of the world, and what it was like for him to bring his children to the Rwandan Genocide Memorial How every single person is really doing the best they can (yes, really) How Jason got Oprah’s attention… more than once (hint: he didn’t take no for an answer) Using social activism to move legislation and create a movement His experience with having a public mental breakdown The importance of sitting with the shadows of life and getting really honest about ourselves and the world around us Plus much more…   RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE Mentioned: Onsite Workshops   Invisible Children     Connect with Jason: Website: www.alittleradical.com Instagram: Jason Radical Twitter: JasonRadicalRussell Email: jason@broomstickengine.com   QUOTES   “When I look at approaching any project, I’m always really curious about how to do it differently. How to do it, like, no one has ever done it like this before… and then taking the risk.”   “I didn’t really know about the tragedies or injustices of the world until I went to college or post-college and I think that is a disservice to young minds. I think it is important for them to grasp some of the challenges in the world early on. I think that they actually have solutions or ideas that grown-ups aren’t thinking of. The older you get, the more you start to believe that the way things are is the way things have to be, but children don’t see it that way because they haven’t been brainwashed into the politics or media.”   “I can’t tell you how freeing it has been to tell my story, which is different than yours, but there are similarities. And you can look at each other and say, me too.”   “My story might help someone else. I love the idea of encouragement because encourage at its root means to give courage. So it’s like I am giving courage to other people to go speak their truth.”   “Even just right now I feel like I am coming out of the idea that life will go on outside of Invisible Children, even though my identity was so wrapped around it. I didn’t view it as my work, I viewed it as my life.”     LET’S CONNECT Website: Bryannadee.com Instagram: @bryanna_dee Facebook: Facebook.com/bryannadee Pinterest: Pinterest.com/bryannadee/       I said to God, ‘Let me love you.’ And he replied, ‘Which part?’ ‘All of you, all of you.’ I said.   ‘Dear’ God spoke, ‘You are as a mouse wanting to impregnate a tiger who is not even in heat. It is a feat way beyond your courage and strength. You would run from me if I removed my mask.’   I said to God again, ‘Beloved I need to love you – every aspect, every pore.’   And this time God said, ‘There is a hideous blemish on my body, though it is such an infinitesimal part of my Being- could you kiss that if it were revealed?’   ‘I will try, Lord, I will try.’   And then God said, ‘That blemish is all the hatred and  cruelty in this  world.’   -St. Thomas Aquinas

Jeff was born in an abandoned town in the California desert, raised in Hawaii, and educated at USC Film School. After working at a dilapidated film studio in Russia, he began to edit for the likes of NBC, Paramount, Warner Bros, Capitol Records, and Lucasfilm's Skywalker Ranch. Craving the unexpected, Jeff directed the offbeat feature documentary Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea, which was narrated by John Waters. The film screened at 200 film festivals worldwide, winning 37 awards for Best Documentary. After living in London and Berlin, Jeff has gone on to shoot several feature documentaries, including Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, which was narrated by actor Laurence Fishburne. Jeff lived in Afghanistan to edit the documentary In-Justice, about women imprisoned for supposed moral crimes. He also directed and photographed several short docs and an Emmy-nominated special for the show Artbound for KCET in Los Angeles. Jeff most recently directed and photographed the acclaimed documentary, Rodents of Unusual Size, about giant invasive swamp rats called nutria, who are threatening coastal Louisiana.

The CHIEF sits down with Memphis-native, filmmaker, St. Mary's graduate, and current USC Film School student, Vivian Gray, for a fantastic conversation on IN THE CAN — part of The BarnBurner Podcast Network. They discuss her introduction to film, yoga trailers, Blockbuster, TV and Netflix, never nudes, Boots Riley's disturbingly effective 'SORRY TO BOTHER YOU', her upcoming short film, her fears and triumphs making the short, St. Vincent's influence on her life and creativity, and much more. Film fans will enjoy this delightful conversation with Vivian:

The Cinematography Podcast Episode 23 - Jaron Presant, ASC Director of Photography Jaron Presant, ASC From giant feature films like Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Rampage, to indie darlings such as Brick and Don Jon, over the past 20-years Jaron Presant, ASC has amassed a notable body of work.  In this interview Jaron discusses his career including his days in USC's prestigious film program 1st unit vs. 2nd unit, and his work on the feature films of Rian Johnson. The War Story is from Robert Mclachlan, ASC Our featured cinematographer Robert McLachlan found a photograph of himself posing with “Girl With a Pearl Earring” from 30 years ago. Take another listen to the “War Story” here to find out its significance and see his Instagram post about it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BnQ9RRjFJnk/?tagged=robertmclachlancsc Yes that is the original "Girl with a Pearl Earring." Illya's Short End this week is the Univisium. Ben's Short End this week is the the software "Fade In." Podcast Credits: Episode Sponsors Hot Rod Cameras Arri Editor in Chief:  Illya Friedman Host: Ben Rock Producer: Alana Kode Editor: Mike Willbanks Composer: Kays Alatractchi Subscribe to the Podcast on iTunes or click on the link below to listen here

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast. Cory Buckner is an architect, artist, and author from LA.  She is one of the world's experts on A. Quincy Jones Modernist houses loved by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Ellen Degeneres.  Los Angeles Magazine named Cory as one of Six Women who Changed The Face of LA Architecture and her architecture firm specializes in Modernist design. She was the force behind preserving Crestwood Hills in LA, a neighborhood full of Modernist houses that by now would likely have been extinct if not for her efforts.  Producer Leo Zahn premiered "Sinatra in Palm Springs – The Place He Called Home" at Modernism Week, exploring Frank Sinatra’s primary home for almost 50 years. From his houses to where he ate to where he entertained, the film features interviews with Barbara Sinatra, Mel Haber, Tom Dreesen, Nelda Linsk, Bruce Fessier, Trini Lopez, Michael Fletcher, and others who knew and lived and played with Frank Sinatra.  After completing USC Film School, Zahn studied architecture and design in Europe. Over the course of his 30 year career in advertising he directed and photographed more than 600 commercials.

Host Paul Booth Interviews Madison Campione as part of the Female Filmmaker Friday series. Madison is a multi-award-winning director who now attends the U.S.C. Film School (School of Cinematic Arts).

In this episode, Phil talks about the decision to go to USC Film School, takes us through the whole experience and along the way shares some very interesting stories!!! Phil's Website : www.philjoanoudirector.com Help support this show by going to www.patreon.com/howisthismovie For one time donations go to https://www.paypal.me/DanaBuckler www.twitter.com/howisthismovie www.facebook.com/howisthismovie hitmpodcast@gmail.com www.hitmpodcast.podomatic.com

Jonathan Kesselman got his big break directing the 2003 cult hit The Hebrew Hammer, which he had directed as a short film at USC Film School. And while he continued his career directing major commercials and comedies like Jimmy Vestvood, Kesselman always thirsted to make a sequel of Hammer. A window of opportunity opened up last year when investment rules changed, allowing non-accredited investors to participate in a film’s equity. To capitalize on this, Kesselman shot a short earlier this year with stars Adam Goldberg and Judy Greer, previewing a possible sequel called Hebrew Hammer vs. Hitler that you can find on Microventures.com. And as we discuss the path forward for the project, we continue our trip through Burgundy by drinking three bottles from the village of Fixin.

Cinematographer, director, and writer Elle Schneider came on to our new INDIE Shooter podcast for a fantastic talk about her history in filmmaking, career in the industry and her latest project shooting the short film “Near To Superstition” with Panasonic’s new EVA1. A USC Film School graduate, Schneider explained how her multiple interests (writing, programming, […] The post 1. Podcast: Cinematographer Elle Schneider & the Panasonic EVA1 appeared first on INDIE Shooter.

Wanna learn how to manage pain and addiction without resorting to dangerous pills that wreck your health? I discuss those topics and more with Chris Bell on the new #RenegadeRadioPodcast. Chris is an accomplished filmmaker and the director of the outstanding documentaries including Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Prescription Thugs and Trophy Kids.  In this episode, we discuss his struggles with pain and addiction, and how he found natural ways to regain sobriety and alleviate his pain. We delve into what inspired him to become a filmmaker, how his brothers have influenced and inspired him, his latest documentary, and so much more. Topics Include: His struggles with arthritis, depression, pain, and addiction.  4:09 Sobriety and ways to relieve pain naturally with your diet.  8:04 How a keto diet once put Chris in the emergency room.  11:12 A few reasons for Mark Bell’s massive success.  16:21 The Chris Bell Reading List to transform your life.  16:35 His impressive weight loss and total health transformation.  21:34 Mad Dog Bell’s gift to his brothers and, ultimately, the world.  28:09 Where the Bell brothers’ drive comes from 33:44 Government job or USC Film School?  How Chris ended up going to the best film school in the US.  37:29 The School of Hard Knocks: Chris’ first 10 years in the film industry.  40:39 The origins of Chris’ most popular documentary to date “Bigger, Stronger, Faster”. 41:34 The inspiration for creating “Prescription Thugs” and what happened to Chris during the making of the documentary.  48:12 Chris is introduced to Kratom by a Pro Wrestler and his new film “A Leaf of Faith”.  52:59 The dream that Chris says changed his life.  56:59 The benefits of CBD oil and THC and why everyone should feel euphoria.  57:59 Is there a new-age “pothead”?  59:57 How Chris’ training has evolved over the years, the crazy methods he and Mark have used and the influence of Westside.  1:02:54 Meeting Dorian Yates and getting more out of less training.  1:06:44 Chris and Mark’s childhood inspiration to start training.  1:07:36 Chris’ new documentary “A Leaf of Faith” about natural pain relief with Kratom.  1:16:04 Connect with Chris Bell Netflix Instagram - Big Strong Fast Instagram - A Leaf of Faith YouTube  Listen to Renegade Radio: To listen, you can either hit the flash audio player below or browse the links to find your preferred format … Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to listen on SoundCloud Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Right click here and choose “Save As”to download this episode This episode is brought to you by Audio Books Click HERE to start listening to critically-acclaimed, best-selling audiobooks including some of my favorites like Essentialism, How to Win Friends & Influence People and The Art of Noncomformity! With Audiobooks, you can learn and generate new ideas anywhere, anytime. Download or stream audiobooks on your smartphone or tablet with our free apps for iOS and Android Choose from more than 100,000 titles, including top-rated business books written by leaders and innovators in the field Listen to your first audiobook for FREE and if you like the service, enjoy a new book every month Access our Member Deals section where you can take advantage of great bundles and BOGOs Click HERE to get your free book. This episode is also brought to you by Athletic Greens. With 75 ingredients working together to help with eleven different areas of health. You never know what’s going to come up in your day; however, with just one scoop of Athletic Greens when you wake up or add it to your morning smoothie, you know you have all of your bases covered. It’s easy, and it tastes great. Go to http://www.AthleticGreens.com/Jay to receive a special offer as a listener of the podcast. Also, if you are not on the VIP Insider Renegade Newsletter List, you're missing out. Go to http://badassblueprint.com and I'll send you a free copy of "The 7 Keys to Physical and Mental Strength". You'll get tons of great content, early access and discounts to material, but you gotta go to http://badassblueprint.com to sign up. If you have questions, use the hashtag #RenegadeRadioPodcast and shoot them my way on Twitter or Instagram or email podcast@JasonFerruggia.com Thank you for tuning in and subscribing. I appreciate every one of you that takes the time to listen.

Michael Tolajian, acclaimed filmmaker, has been crafting stories his entire life. He joins the LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS podcast with Yogi Roth to discuss the storytelling process—ranging from the creation of the story to the collaboration of all of those involved.In a candid conversation, Michael, once an Economics major, shares how much he enjoys ‘pressing play' when a film is completed and that the process to becoming one of the worlds most talented filmmakers is done with discipline, desire and an limitless love for sharing stories.Currently the Senior Coordinating Producer of Original content at the Pac-12 Network, Michael created and currently directs the documentary series THE DRIVE, which has followed each Pac-12 football team and coaching staff since 2012. Taking fans inside the helmet and headset, THE DRIVE has become the standard in college football filmmaking.Michael is often known for writing/directing/producing the 30 for 30 documentary ONCE BROTHERS, which follows the friendship of Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac amid the backdrop of the fall of the Soviet Union. He shares that his path logging NBA games, learning how to create features for NBA's Inside Stuff & his time at USC Film School taught him the structure necessary to tell a story that moves viewers.If an aspiring storyteller, current filmmaker or fan of gripping content listen as Michael takes you for a short ride along his creative path.To follow Michael on Twitter you can find him @MichaelTolajian.

Mac Smith was born into a family of tuba players in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents and older siblings exposed him to films that were a bit mature for his age, and a wide variety of musical styles. Mac experimented with video cameras, and picture editing throughout his childhood. He went off to Los Angeles at age 17 to take the Summer Production Workshop at USC Film School, and then made his home in Iowa City at the University of Iowa. Mac marched in the sousaphone section of the Hawkeye Marching Band, and studied film at Iowa. During his time in Iowa City, Mac decided to audition for the Madison Scouts drum & bugle corps in Madison, Wisconsin. He marched as a contra player for only one year due to age eligibility in 1995. Mac has worked on post production sound for over 75 films (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”, “The Birth of a Nation”, “Toy Story 3”, “Tron Legacy”, “Rango”) and has been nominated for 10 Golden Reel awards (Motion Picture Sound Editing). In 2011, Mac and Tom Tollefsen started developing the concept of a documentary film that focuses on the drum corps activity that they wanted to direct and produce. The film, “Scouts Honor: Inside a Marching Brotherhood" screened at four film festivals from 2014 to 2015 and took home 3 awards. The film will be released on iTunes November 8th. Mac enjoys living in the Bay Area with his wife Ashley, his son Admiral, and daughter Maven. For more information: http://www.scoutshonormovie.com

Chuck and Stacey bring you the respected Casting Director of animation, video games, film and television, Ivy Isenberg of Ivy Isenberg Casting. She is a USC Film School graduate who went on to work at MGM Studios on Stargate and Stargate Atlantis, the Species movies with Natasha Henstridge and now on projects like Comedy Central’s Jeff and Some Aliens, Trip Tank, Robot Chicken and Call of Duty. Ivy discusses her process for casting Performance Capture for video games and animation and why she goes overboard with submissions to make sure there are plenty of choices which includes giving deserving new talent an opportunity. She answers what she needs to hear in voiceover auditions to garner a callback and why she saves every audition for future consideration. Ivy mentions the kinds of actors she won’t hire and challenges actors to train and educate themselves, be dedicated and proactive with their careers. Striving to be the best at everything she does, Ivy discusses the importance of why talent needs to balance both art and commerce to be successful and that finding talented actors who are reliable and deserving are actually in the minority. She explains that she casts through agents and managers and will consider people outside Los Angeles for projects if they are actively working. While talent can’t do much to get on her bad side, she has zero tolerance for actors who do boring auditions, have a bad work ethic, lack commitment and are unprepared. She attends showcases and monologue festivals to scout new talent and listens to demos when casting to find a person’s range, accents, tone, comedic timing and cadence. Ivy offers insights on what “natural, not cartoony” means in audition specs from interpreting it with engaging, emotional connection based on what it’s for, the platform, network and time slot. Follow on Twitter @IvyIsenberg Watch more videos and get the latest voiceover news, advice and updates on contests and giveaways at http://vobuzzweekly.com

Tonight, we leave European shores to discuss two prominent directors of homegrown cult cinema! Worshipping at the unlikely altars of John Ford and Howard Hawks, USC Film School student John Carpenter dropped out to kick off what was one of the most distinctive American directorial careers of the 1970's and 80's! While few would defend his post-1995 productions as a rule, it's unquestioned that for almost 20 years, John Carpenter was one of the most important American directors. From classics of urban action like Assault on Precinct 13, biopics of Elvis and postapocalyptic favorites like Escape From New York to one of the most famed slasher franchises ever and some of the most distinctive horror films ever made, John Carpenter kept his options open and made as many non-genre oddities as he did cult classics, right from the dawn of his career. College professor and documentarian Tobe Hooper, on the other hand, seemed to come out of left field with his gruesome (yet strangely bloodless) take on the Ed Gein murders, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  Parlaying the film's unprecedented success into a career in oddball horror, he would give us strange but often effective chillers like Eaten Alive, Salem's Lot, The Funhouse and Lifeforce, not to mention the strangely mainstream CG-fest Poltergeist! Join us as we discuss two American cult film directors, only here on Weird Scenes! Week 28 American Gothic: John carpenter and Tobe hooper

Reinhard Denke is the writer of “Captive” starring Emmy nominated Kate Mara and Golden Globe nominated David Oyelowo. Prior to this his spec script “Sex, Greed, Money, Murder and Chicken Fried Steak” was optioned by Oscar nominated Johnny Depp, and made the 2009 Hollywood Blacklist. A graduate of USC Film School, Reinhard has completed writing assignments for BN Films, Echolight Studios, Rock Island Films, and One Good Man Productions, amongst others.

Tyrone Jackson and Alyson Steel chat with Larry Morgan. Larry is a writer, director, DJ, voice artist, producer and associate programmer who has worked in radio for 20 years. He has worked on many of the top radio stations in Los Angeles. He considers himself an LA cliché because he does a little bit of everything and always has a script up his sleeve.  Larry started in radio at a small station in Texas before moving out to LA to go to USC Film School. After school he pursued a career in radio. When he decided to add voice-over work to his skill set he really had to concentrate on having conversational reads because the tendency in radio is to push.  Larry explains that the program director of a radio station is the person who is directly responsible for programming. He has a hand in everything from managing the on-air personalities to the execution of promotions and contests. The program director is basically the radio version of a producer.  To find out more about the voice-over world from radio to television, film, and more visit www.sixfigurevoice.com. Six Figure Voice is your one stop shop for everything VO.  Click here for more!