Over the years I have mentioned my meditation practice and how important it is in my daily routine on the show. Many of the #IFHTribe have asked me to do an entire episode on meditation and the importance it has in the creative process. Today is that day. In this episode, I go over: My personal meditation practice Why it's impossible to CLEAR YOUR MIND How to embrace your minds inner voice How science view meditation Neuroscience and what actually happens to your brain when you meditate How medi...
Apr 11, 2019•28 min
Today on the show we have an author, writer, and former development executive, Danny Manus. Danny parlayed his career as a development executive in Hollywood to becoming an in-demand script consultant and founder of No BullScript Consulting. The author of “No BS for Screenwriters: Advice from the Executive Perspective,” which is now in its 2nd Edition, Danny was ranked in the Top 15 “Cream of the Crop” Script Consultants by Creative Screenwriting Magazine and was named one of Screencraft’s “25 P...
Apr 03, 2019•1 hr 18 min
We have all heard about Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey by this point but what is it really. Chris Vogler, the author of The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers and the man who brought the Hero's Journey into the film industry, breaks down the ordinary and special worlds of the hero's journey. Enjoy. These videos on screenplay structure are from his best selling online course: Story and Screenwriting Blueprint - The Hero's Two Journeys. In more than 4½ hours of lecture, discussion an...
Mar 27, 2019•18 min
Before we begin I need to reveal a truth to you. "The Matrix is not a movie, it's a documentary" Believe it or not, this is true. Our internal operating system in our mind was programmed years ago when we were children. That programming runs our life through the subconscious. Don't believe me? Did you drive a car today? Did you brush your teeth? Did you think about walking to the kitchen to make breakfast? Did you think about breathing or making sure your heart beats? Probably not. You would be ...
Mar 20, 2019•30 min
Today on the show we have Emmanuel Oberg. Emmanuel is a screenwriter, author and script consultant with more than twenty years of experience in the Film and TV industry. After selling his first project to Warner Bros as a co-writer, he went on to be commissioned by StudioCanal and Gold Circle before writing solo for Working Title / Universal and Film4. He has also designed an internationally acclaimed 3-day Advanced Development Workshop - based on the Story-Type Method® - which he delivers with ...
Mar 14, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Today on the show we have screenwriter and producer Erik Bork. Erik Bork is a screenwriter best known for his work on the HBO miniseriesBAND OF BROTHERS and FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, for which he wrote multiple episodes, and won two Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards as part of the producing team. Erik has also sold series pitches (and written pilots) at NBC and FOX, worked on the writing staff for two primetime dramas, and written feature screenplays on assignment for companies like Universal, ...
Feb 27, 2019•58 min
Today we will tackle the toxic screenwriter mindset. That screenwriting mindset. That artist mindset. We discuss the mindset. How the beliefs we have stop and derail our dreams and life. So many of us have belief systems that limit us. Today we are going to break this down and give you some tools to reprogram yourself into the person and screenwriter you want to be. "To have results that very few people have you have to start doing things that very few people do." Please share this episode with ...
Feb 20, 2019•26 min
Today on the show we have screenwriter and author Jeff Schimmel. Jeff wrote Maximum Screenwriting: 25 Commonly Asked Questions and Straight Answers. Jeff Schimmel began his Writing/Producing career in the 1980's, while attending law school in Los Angeles. When not studying for the bar exam, Jeff wrote and sold his original Cold War spy thriller, Archangel, to Phoenix Entertainment Group. Soon after, Jeff was chosen by comedy legend Rodney Dangerfield and award-winning Writer/Director Harold Rami...
Feb 13, 2019•1 hr 7 min
What are you willing to sacrifice to make your screenwriting dream come true? How bad do you want it? These are the questions I'll be discussing in today's episode. If you are looking for something to get you revved up look no further. This is my "tough love" episode. I keep running into filmmakers and people in the business who just like to talk or hide behind excuses. I have two things to say about that. Life doesn’t care about excuses. The film business doesn’t care about your circumstances. ...
Jan 30, 2019•26 min
Today on the show we have comedy legend, author, and writer Steve Kaplan. For years, Steve Kaplan has been the industry’s most sought-after expert on comedy. In addition to having taught at UCLA, NYU, Yale and other top universities, Steve created the HBO Workspace, the HBO New Writers Program and was co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan Punch Line Theatre. He has consulted and taught workshops at companies such as HBO, DreamWorks, Disney, Aardman Animation, Sony Pictures Network India,...
Jan 23, 2019•1 hr 36 min
Today on the show we have Jim Mercurio. Jim is a filmmaker, writer, and author whose screenwriting instruction has inspired tens of thousands of writers around the world. Creative Screenwriting ranked him as one of the country’s top story analysts: “The best example of how an analyst can give concrete help without veering off the track of your story... (Jim) is not just telling you how to rewrite a particular script... but how to apply it to future work as well.” Jim works with Oscar-nominated a...
Jan 16, 2019•1 hr 27 min
Have you ever had writer's block? We all have at one point or another and it sucks! Today's guest, Matthew Kalil, has the cure. He has written a new book called The [easyazon_link identifier="1615932860" locale="US" tag="whatisbroke-20"]Three Wells of Screenwriting[/easyazon_link]. Working from a writer’s perspective, the book explores these Three Wells and helps you consciously draw from them to develop new scripts, or strengthen old ones. It includes 29 exercises and techniques that help you t...
Jan 09, 2019•1 hr 25 min
Have you ever wondered what it takes to break into a network television writer's room? Then this episode is for you. Today's guest is Steven Vitolo and he did just that. His latest written episode is on the hit ABC show Black-ish. Steven has over 10 years of experience working in writers rooms, most recently as a script coordinator on the TV series Black-ish, where he co-wrote the episode "Dream Home." Steven Vitolo also is the CEO and founder of Scriptation, the script reading and annotating ap...
Dec 20, 2018•58 min
Today's guest is writer and showrunner, Daniel Knauf. Daniel Knauf had a couple of small credits to his name—a TV movie here, a stint on Wolf Lake there—when he managed to sell the intricate Great Depression-era genre show Carnivàle to HBO. The series, an intricate blend of meticulously researched period detail and secret-history fantasy, purported to tell the tale of what happened when the last two “Avatars”—superpowered beings of light and darkness—met in the United States on the eve of World ...
Dec 05, 2018•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 30
First off thank you for all the support that the IFH Tribe has given to IFHTV. It has been overwelling and that's why I'm so busy acquiring and producing amazing new content for you every month. I'll be doing these posts one a month to tell you all about the new releases I have in store for you on Indie Film Hustle TV. I've been a busy beaver and December will have over 20 hours of new content for your streaming pleasure. Also, I'd like to announce IFHTV is now available on Apple TV, Roku and A...
Dec 01, 2018•14 min
You walk onto an elevator and just before the door closes Steven Spielberg gets on. You have 60 secs to pitch him your latest screenplay. What do you do? Your goal is to have your audience say “yes, I understand, and I care” after reading or watching your brand story. If your audience just says “now I know” then you have successfully informed them but not enough to make them care, to make them stay to whatever you have to say next. Your career can be made in 60 seconds - if you make the right pi...
Nov 08, 2018•47 min
Today is the day. IFHTV is LIVE! Go check it out at www.indiefilmhustle.tv . It's taken me months getting this ready for you and I hope you love it as much as I do. It has been a dream of mine to have a place where filmmakers, screenwriters and content creators could go to get their "fix" of filmmaking behind the scenes, interviews, documentaries, online education, and feature films. This has truly been a labor of love. Here's what you can expect from Indie Film Hustle TV. IFHTV will be the worl...
Nov 01, 2018•18 min
If you ever wanted to know some of the secrets of how to write a comedy then today's guest might be able to help. Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis are the authors of Now That’s Funny! The Art and Craft of Comedy Writing, a new book that provides an intimate look into the minds of twenty-nine of Hollywood’s funniest comedy writers from movies and TV shows like: Saturday Night Live Frasier The Simpsons Everybody Loves Raymond Monk Modern Family The Honeymooners There's Something About Mary Dumb and...
Oct 24, 2018•1 hr 17 min
Today's guest is author Daniel Calvisi. Dan wrote the book Story Maps: How to Write a GREAT Screenplay. He breaks down stories and shows you how to map out your own by analyzing how the masters construct their screenplays. Here's a bit more on today's guest. Daniel Calvisi is a story analyst, speaker, screenwriter and an author. He is a former Story Analyst for major studios like Twentieth Century Fox, Miramax, Twentieth Century Fox, Miramax Films, and New Line Cinema. He coaches writers, teache...
Oct 11, 2018•1 hr 3 min
The wait is over! This is what I've been working on for months. May I introduce you to IFHTV (Indie Film Hustle TV), the world's first streaming service dedicated to filmmakers, screenwriters, creatives and content creators. I wanted to create a place where film creatives and storytellers could be informed and inspired, no matter where you lived in the world. When I was younger I would hunt for any content on filmmaking, behind the scenes, screenwriting, etc. Combing through DVDs, Laserdiscs and...
Oct 03, 2018•16 min
Today on the show we have Lucy V. Hay from Bang2Write. Lucy is an author and script editor, living in Devon with her husband, three children, and six cats. Lucy is the associate producer of Brit Thrillers Deviation (2012) and Assassin (2015) both starring Danny Dyer. In addition to script reading and writing her own novels, Lucy also blogs about the writing process, screenwriting, genre, careers and motivation and much more at her blog Bang2write, one of the most-hit writing sites in the UK. Bec...
Sep 27, 2018•1 hr 7 min
Have you ever really wanted to know what goes on behind the scenes at Hollywood's major production companies and studios? How do new screenplays get read, approved and pass on by the script reader? What are the politics behind the scenes that make it almost impossible for a screenplay to make it through the Hollywood System? Today on the show we have a former development executive, current script coverage reader and professional screenwriter. In order for him to be completely honest, he asked to...
Sep 12, 2018•1 hr 29 min
Today on the show we have author/veteran script consultant Jill Chamberlain who's book The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting has taken the screenwriting world by storm. Jill Chamberlain discovered in her work that an astounding 99 percent of first-time screenwriters don't know how to tell a story. What the 99 percent do instead is present a situation. In order to explain the difference, Chamberlain created the Nutshell Technique, a method whereby writers identify e...
Aug 30, 2018•48 min
Today episode is a CROSSOVER between the IFH Podcast and the Bulletproof Screenplay Podcast. I do this every 6-8 weeks when I find a guest that would be great on both podcasts. On this episode, we have Michael Tucker from Lessons from the Screenplay. LFTS is a YouTube channel that analyzes movie scripts to examine exactly how and why they are so good at telling their stories. I've become a HUGE fan of what Micahel is doing and wanted to have him on the show to drop some knowledge bombs on both t...
Aug 16, 2018•47 min
Today on the show we have Hollywood Story/Career Consultant and former Studio Executive Jen Grisanti. Grisanti is also a Writing Instructor for Writers on the Verge at NBC, a former studio executive, a blogger for The Huffington Post and author of Story Line: Finding Gold In Your Life Story, TV Writing Tool Kit: How To Write a Script That Sells, and her recent book, Change Your Story, Change Your Life. Over twenty years ago, Jen Grisanti started her career as an assistant to Aaron Spelling, who ...
Aug 01, 2018•1 hr 4 min
This week we have a returning guest, screenwriting guru Michael Hauge. On this episode, he discussed The Six Stages of Character Development. A very eye-opening episode. These videos on screenplay structure are from his best selling online course: Story and Screenwriting Blueprint - The Hero's Two Journeys. In more than 4½ hours of lecture, discussion and Q&A, Michael Hauge, author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenpla...
Jul 18, 2018•21 min
For screenwriters, navigating the shark-infested waters of the Hollywood system can be a daunting task. You never know what the producer or studio is looking for. How do you pitch your story properly? So many questions. I hope today's guest can help guide you a bit through those waters. Scott Myers has been a professional Hollywood screenwriter for over 30 years. Since selling his spec script K-9 in 1987, Scott has written 30 projects for every major Hollywood studio and broadcast network. His f...
Jul 04, 2018•1 hr 26 min
Ever wanted to learn the dark craft of being able to pitch your story idea successfully? Stephanie Palmer has made it her life's mission to help people do just that. Stephanie Palmer is a former MGM Pictures executive and best-selling author of the book "Good in a Room: How To Sell Yourself (And Your Ideas) And Win Over Any Audience" Stephanie Palmer was the Director of Creative Affairs for MGM where she supervised the acquisition, development, and production of feature films. During my time at ...
Jun 27, 2018•49 min
If you were a kid of the late 80s or early 90s then today's guest definitely had an impact on your life. Larry Wilson is the co-creator of the cult classic Beetlejuice (directed by Tim Burton), writer of Addams Family and worked on the legendary television show Tales from the Crypt. Larry Wilson was also a screenwriting teacher at UCLA, arguably one of the best screenwriting programs in the world. He has continued to teach through his very popular workshops. Enjoy my spooky and funny conversatio...
Jun 20, 2018•1 hr 17 min
Today's guest cracked open a door to a part of the industry I had no idea about, television. Matthew Doyle is a television lit agent at the Verve Talent and Literary Agency. He's an up and comer in the industry and definitely a hustler. My co-host Sebastian Twardos and I wanted to get an "in the trenches" perceptive on the television market and Matthew delivered. He tells a great story on how he got promoted to an agent with a prank by the partners at Verve. Here's a bit on Matthew Doyle: Doyle ...
Jun 13, 2018•54 min
