An Alien in Hollywood - Ronald Shusett

An Alien in Hollywood is the story about the life and times of legendary filmmaker and “Godfather of Hollywood science fiction” Ronald Shusett. Unless you’re a Hollywood behind-the-scenes aficionado you've probably never heard of Ron. He is no less than the man who co-created, wrote, and produced three of the most influential, iconic and mind-blowing science fiction blockbusters in film history – Alien, Total Recall and Minority Report. His movies have grossed over one and a half billion dollars, have launched the careers of Sigourney Weaver and Ridley Scott, and turned Arnold Schwarzenegger into the #1 box office star in the world. Ron has been the inspiration for filmmakers like J.J. Abrams and James Cameron, and he made author Phillip K. Dick a household name. With the release of “Alien” Ron and his partner Dan O’Bannon spawned the “Alien Universe” and the first movie franchise in history. The series is hosted by Harry Duran and Robin Maxwell. Music by Vincent Covello and Vic Migenes Podcast Artwork by Barbara Mastej

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Episodes

Total Recall - The Schwarzenegger Effect

00:15 – Robin recalls the story of how she met Ron Shusett 03:57 – Preproduction in Mexico City during the summer of 1989 05:15 – Ron recounts a funny exchange with Arnold Schwarzenegger 07:27 – Early days of set building 09:52 – Special effects in Total Recall 14:35 – Ron’s thoughts on the gratuitous violence in Total Recall 18:20 – Ron recalls others attempting to throw him off the set 26:12 – How Arnold stood up for Ron and prevented his firing 27:58 – Making a spectacular film without CGI 29...

Nov 11, 2019•41 min•Ep. 5

Total Recall - Early Days

00:14 – Robin and Harry introduce the topic of today’s episode, Rom Shusett’s Total Recall 03:28 – The decision to buy the rights to Philip K. Dick’s short story 10:00 – First steps to making Total Recall 11:34 – Dan O’Bannon’s involvement 12:54 – Challenges with Disney 17:29 – Meeting with famed producer, Dino De Laurentiis 19:47 – The unique deal that Ron made with Dino 24:01 – The issue with the credits 26:36 – Ron recalls visiting a ‘spiritualist’ 30:08 – The number of directors that, at one...

Nov 02, 2019•38 min•Ep. 4

Alien - Screening and Release

00:14 – Robin and Harry share their favorite moments and stories from the season thus far 04:06 – Ron explains why he never used other films as inspiration for Alien 04:45 – The creation of the adult Alien creature 07:18 – How Ron’s editing advice led to one of the biggest scare scenes in Alien 11:11 – Ron describes the feeling of seeing his words come to life on the set 13:01 – Ron’s vision for the scene where Ripley escapes 16:10 – The first screening of Alien 18:23 – Meeting Jack Nicholson an...

May 15, 2019•28 min•Ep. 3

Alien - Nostromo, A Very Bloody Birth

Highlights 00:16 – Robin tells the story of how she met Ron Shusett 02:58 – Introducing today’s episode, Alien: Nostromo 03:21 – Pre-production of Alien 04:56 – Casting Alien 05:46 – The controversy behind Sigourney Weaver landing the lead role of Ellen Ripley 09:27 – Figuring out the pacing of Alien 14:16 – An incredible crisis that developed among the actors of Alien 18:51 – Giving Hollywood executives an ultimatum 21:11 – The Chestburster Scene 25:29 – Shooting in chronological order from the...

May 08, 2019•33 min•Ep. 2

Alien - Birth of a Hollywood Blockbuster

00:13 – Harry introduces his new podcast, An Alien in Hollywood 02:11 – Robin describes Ron Shusett 05:04 – How Harry met Robin 07:24 – Robin breaks down the format of the first few episodes of this podcast 09:01 – The genesis of the movie Alien 14:47 – The progress Dan O’Bannon made on the first act of Alien 15:46 – How Ron came up with the solution of how the alien gets on board 17:03 – How Dan met H.R. Giger, the man who eventually worked on the design work for Alien 20:15 – Ron tells the sto...

Apr 25, 2019•38 min•Ep. 1

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