In 2002, Jon Erwin founded a production company with his brother, Andrew. Their first ventures were commercials, documentaries, and music videos. The brothers soon were directing videos and producing concerts and television programs for platinum recording artists such as Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, Switchfoot, Skillet, and others. They received 11 GMA Dove Awards nominations and 3 wins for Music Video of the Year. Jon and Andrew have also produced and directed several documentar...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 282
So insane and talent Australian filmmaker Mark Toia is back to tell us how he made millions of dollars self distributing his remarkable debut film Monsters of Man. After getting offered bad and predatory distribution deals he wondered if there was another way. Enter my book Rise of the Filmtrepreneur: How to Turn Your Film into a Money Making Business. When I wrote my book Rise of the Filmtrepreneur I hoped it would help filmmakers around the world. I never thought that a filmmaker halfway aroun...
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 281
I have an epic conversation in store for you all today. Our guest is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter, filmmaker, John Lee Hancock. While working as a lawyer by day back in 1986, John moonlighted as a screenwriter, writing script after script. His spec script A Perfect World caught the eye of Steven Spielberg and eventually was directed by Clint Eastwood. After that success, he went on to direct the crowd-pleasing The Rookie. A true story about a coach who discovers that it's never too late for d...
Mar 02, 2023•1 hr 36 min
Today on the show we have Katie Aselton. She is an acclaimed actor and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She may be best known for her starring role as Jenny in the FX comedy “The League.” Aselton can next be seen in Bill Burr’s comedy Old Dads . She was recently seen in The Unholy , opposite Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and appeared in Tiller Russell’s Silk Road , with Jason Clarke. Aselton was also seen in the second season of the hit Apple + series “The Morning Show.” Aselton’s breakout acting role cam...
Mar 01, 2023•58 min•Ep. 280
The film industry has had to adjust a lot since the hit of COVID. Thanks to streaming services, the hit wasn’t as volatile as possible. Now that society seems to be reaching the end of the pandemic, the future of the filmmaking and film experience post-COVID has become part of the conversation. To help us explore the subject, I have on the show today seasoned Filmtrepreneur and award-winning producer Anne Marie Gillen. Anne Marie is the CEO of Gillen Group--- an entertainment consulting firm in ...
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 279
We have for you on the show today screenwriter and director, Boaz Yakin, The writer behind The Punisher, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, The Rookie, & Safe and directing, The Fresh, Remember the Titans and the comedy-drama, Uptown Girl among others. Growing up in a talented theatrical family, it was only natural for Yakin to pursue a life in film or some sort of performing arts. His dad, who was a teacher at Juilliard and a theater director enrolled Boaz into the famous Stell Adler script anal...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 25 min
Today on the show, we have writer and director Stephen Karam. He is the Tony Award-winning author of The Humans, Sons of the Prophet, and Speech & Debate. For his work he’s received two Drama Critics Circle Awards, an OBIE Award, and is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist.Stephen recently directed his first feature film, a rethought version of The Humans for A24 films, to be released in 2021. He wrote a film adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull starring Annette Bening, which Sony Pictures Clas...
Feb 22, 2023•59 min•Ep. 278
Our guest on today's episode is Emmy award-winning filmmaker, actor, Filmtrepreneur, best-selling author, and instructor Shane Stanley. Shane's been in the business way before he could walk. He started off as a child actor at 9 months old when his father, who was a working actor volunteered him for national TV commercials, starring in commercials and films and even going on to win his first two Emmy Awards at age 16 and 19 for his role in the Desperate Passage (1987) series. Along with his outst...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 277
Tom Schulman graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Philosophy. He studied at USC Graduate School of Cinema, with Jack Garfein at the Actors and Directors Lab, Los Angeles, and with director Joan Darling. He directed the Actors’ Studio first west coast production, Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker. Tom wrote Dead Poets Society for which he received an Academy Award for best original screenplay. He also wrote What About Bob?, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Medicine Man, and Holy Man. He wrote...
Feb 15, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 276
There's no con more satisfying and lucrative than finding a way to make a living as a screenwriter. And Ted Griffin is a man who knows a good con.Anyone who tried to follow the clever criminal head games he built into his screenplays for Ocean's 11 and Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men knows not to trust this guy - except when he talks about screenwriting, which he does with great humor and insight in this enlightening interview. The conversation ranges from his early work on Ravenous and Ocean's 11...
Feb 10, 2023•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 275
The crippling student debt crisis in America threatens college the financial freedom of many students. According to Forbes 2020 student loan debt statistics, there are 45 million borrowers who collectively owe nearly $1.6 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. and student loan debt is now the second-highest consumer debt category - behind only mortgage debt. I was introduced to filmmaker, Zack Morrison’s plight when I read an amazing article in the Wall Street Journal about his $ 300,000 stud...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 274
I read an article the other day about a filmmaker who spent the better part of a decade trying to finish a movie due to unforeseen circumstances and spiral depression. I was immediately intrigued because that's part of the package that this line of work comes with that we don't talk about as much. So, I brought on the award-winning filmmaker and writer Lucas McNelly to talk about his movie, Up Country, and how depression affects his life and creativity. Lucas McNelly has written and directed fee...
Feb 03, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 273
Today on the show we have writer, director and actress Carlson Young. Carlson is the creator of the new film The Blazing World. Ever since Margaret (Carlson Young) was six years old, she has been haunted by the memory of watching her sister drown during an explosive fight between her parents. As a young woman, she slides further into her twisted inner life, ultimately finding herself on the brink of suicide. Through an epic journey down the smokiest and scariest corridors of her imagination, she...
Feb 01, 2023•40 min•Ep. 272
Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support .
Jan 30, 2023•2 min
Today we have the award-winning actress, director, producer, entrepreneur, and activist by the name of Eva Longoria. Eva Longoria has long established herself as one of Hollywood's most sought-after television directors. Named by Variety as one of their most anticipated directors of 2021, Longoria continues to hone her craft, seek new projects, and expand opportunities for others by paving the way for future women and minority producers, directors, and industry leaders in Hollywood and beyond.He...
Jan 27, 2023•49 min•Ep. 271
Today on the show we have returning champion RB Botto. For many, the holy grail of television has become Netflix. It’s a titan in the industry, and with over 200 million subscribers worldwide, no one can put out content quite like them. Just look at the recent hit show BRIDGERTON, which has already been seen by a massive 80 million households (!!) since its release. If you’re a writer or creator, getting your series onto Netflix’s platform can spell success in a big way. But first there’s the ma...
Jan 26, 2023•1 hr 42 min
Austin Trunick is a Connecticut-based film historian and author of The Cannon Film Guide, a series of books about the beloved (and infamous) '80s b-movie studio, Cannon Films. He also serves as an editor for the nationally-distributed music and entertainment magazine. Under the Radar. He has written about movies and pop culture for Mental Floss and Consequence of Sound. Enjoy my conversation with Austin Trunick. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-scr...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 270
Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support .
Jan 23, 2023•4 min
You are in for a treat today. We have legendary 80's action director Sam Firstenberg. At a young age Sam began to "create" movies to entertain his friends. Horrifying his mother, he would cut up books, stringing together the pictures and rolling them up. He would then put the roll into a box with a cut out window, shine a flashlight from behind, and manually pull the roll, revealing the pictures through the window in sequence. Sometimes he would plan a special show in which his sister narrated t...
Jan 20, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 269
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 ...
Jan 19, 2023•1 hr 22 min
At age five, Bruce Rubin had a spiritual experience playing in a sandbox in the middle of the afternoon. The sun disappeared, and a dense night sky appeared in its place. Infinite galaxies were swirling in the vastness of his own head, and he sensed the entire universe was contained within him. He knew instantly he was one with all there was. In the years that followed, Bruce became an Oscar-winning screenwriter, a spiritual teacher, and, most recently, a photographer. Each aspect of his life ha...
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 268
Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support .
Jan 16, 2023•2 min
Today on the show we have director, producer, screenwriter, actor and YouTube sensation Darious Britt I had the pleasure of meeting Darious at the Mammoth Film Festival. At the festival, we were snowed in and pretty much stuck in our hotel. We sat down and talked for hours about indie film, his journey, my journey, the state of indie film, fear, setting goals and so much more.I knew I had to have him on the show to talk shop. What you are about to listen to is a DEEP DIVE into the psychology of ...
Jan 13, 2023•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 267
NEW YEAR'S BONUS After months of the IFH Tribe asking me, I finally finished the audiobook version of Shooting for the Mob. It was a tough project to finish but I knew I had to get it to you guys. As a gift for being so patient, I am releasing four chapters of the book for FREE for your listening pleasure. If you are unfamiliar with the story of Shooting for the Mob read below. A bipolar gangster, a naive, young film director, and Batman. What could go wrong? Alex Ferrari is a first-time film di...
Jan 12, 2023•43 min
Damon Thomas is well known for making documentaries. He's documentaries includes Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and David Beckham: A Footballer's Story. He also directed the hit shows Killing Eve (2018), Beethoven (2005) and Dracula (2020). His latest film "My Best Friend's Exorcism" is a 2022 American supernatural comedy horror film from a screenplay by Jenna Lamia, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Grady Hendrix. In 1988 best friends Abby and Gretchen navigate boys, pop culture and a p...
Jan 11, 2023•50 min•Ep. 266
Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support .
Jan 09, 2023•3 min
Today's guest is Paul Dudbridge, author of Making Your First Blockbuster: Write It. Film It. Blow it Up! Paul Dudbridge is a British director, producer, cinematographer, and educator, who makes feature films, television, commercials, and music videos. Paul started producing at the age of 11 when he roped in his father to shoot his first short film. When the resulting footage didn’t match up to what he had seen in his head, Paul decided to go behind the camera himself, and from there, the whole n...
Jan 06, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 265
Today’s guest is a writer, director, producer, actor and indie filmmaking legend Edward Burns. Many of you might have heard of the Sundance Film Festival winning film called The Brothers McMullen, his iconic first film that tells the story of three Irish Catholic brothers from Long Island who struggle to deal with love, marriage, and infidelity. His cinderella story of making the film, getting into Sundance and launching his career is the stuff of legend. The Brothers McMullen was sold to Fox Se...
Jan 05, 2023•1 hr 43 min
Academy and Emmy Award-winning writer/director/producer Alan Ball is among our generation’s most important creative voices. Born in Atlanta, Ball studied Theatre Arts at Florida State University. In March 2000, AMERICAN BEAUTY, Ball’s first screenplay to get produced, won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Ball went on to create and executive produce the groundbreaking HBO drama SIX FEET UNDER. The series ran for five seasons and received two Golden Globes,...
Jan 04, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 264
Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support .
Jan 02, 2023•2 min
