At a very early age, Wayne Roberts knew he wanted to be involved with filmmaking. Inspired by Tim Burton and Stanley Kubrick, he loved the idea of creating new worlds. But, outside of film, he was inspired by Ernest Hemingway and various other classic authors. Roberts’ is relatively new to the scene, but his first two films have made a big impact. In ‘Katie Says Goodbye,’ Olivia Cooke, Christopher Abbott, Mireille Enos, and Mary Steenburgen star in a film about a 17-year-old waitress-prostitute ...
Aug 23, 2019•23 min
Nick Hamm loves working with actors. With a background in theater, he’s very familiar with proper blocking, on set relationships, and the dynamics of storytelling. The British director is perhaps best known for the Robert DeNiro film ‘Godsend,’ ‘Killing Bono,’ and now, ‘Driven.’ In his latest film, audiences are invited to uncover the story of John DeLorean, his vehicle creations, and his unusual involvement with big business, narcotics, and the FBI. The thriller comes from screenwriter Colin Ba...
Aug 23, 2019•16 min
As an actor, improvisor, and photographer, Jason Winer took an adventurous route that led to his work as a director. Winer is known for his work on ‘Arthur,’ ‘New Girl,’ ‘The Crazy Ones,’ ‘Life in Pieces,’ and for directing the pilots for both ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Don’t Trust the B—— in Apartment 23.’ His latest film, ‘Ode to Joy’ is a fresh take on the romantic comedy. Starring Martin Freeman and Morena Baccarin, the story actually comes from a segment on Chicago’s “This American Life.” The off...
Aug 09, 2019•17 min
“We never knocked on a door. We built our own house,” said the writing team behind ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon.’ Newcomers Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz wanted to create a Mark Twain-inspired story set in the outer banks of North Carolina. In the latest film, Zak runs away from his care home to pursue his dreams of becoming a wrestler. The film stars Shia LaBeouf, Dakota Johnson, Bruce Dern, John Hawkes, Thomas Haden Church, and Zack Gottsagen in the lead role. In this exclusive interview, the...
Aug 09, 2019•16 min
Writer-director Aaron Harvey was drawn to film at an early age. Inspired by complex characters with unique arcs, the creator often starts with a thematic idea, then moves into character. His new film stars Luke Grimes (Yellowstone) and Frank Grillo (Captain America), but he’s also known for ‘The Neighbor’ and’ Catch .44.’ For ‘Into the Ashes,’ “Nick Brenner believed he had safely escaped his violent, criminal history. But his old crew hasn't forgotten about him or the money he stole, and when th...
Jul 29, 2019•17 min
We originally spoke with James Vanderbilt for his film ‘Truth’ in Episode 50, along with his other films such as ‘Zodiac,’ ‘Basic,’ ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ and ‘Independence Day: Resurgence.’ In Vanderbilt’s latest film, ‘Murder Mystery,’ Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston team up again for the romantic comedy. The Netflix original re-creates the classic who-done-it murder mystery. In this interview, the screenwriter talks about his 10-year journey to bring ‘Murder Mystery’ to audiences, his lo...
Jul 09, 2019•24 min
Eric Newman got his start as a PA on the comedy, 'Wayne’s World.' Working his way into the role of Producer, Newman took on jobs like ‘Dawn of the Dead,’ ‘Children of Men,’ ‘In Time,’ ‘RoboCop,’ and ‘Hemlock Grove.’ Then, in 2017, he started to use his knowledge to write scripts for ‘Narcos’ and ‘Narcos: Mexico.’ For the sequel to Netflix’s ‘Narcos,’ Newman and company wanted to create something familiar, but original to the Pablo Escobar world. Specifically, the newest version discusses the ris...
Jul 01, 2019•34 min
Steven Canals found screenwriting an escape to a difficult childhood in the 1980s Bronx. While working on a documentary in high school, a classmate was shot and killed. The horrific event encouraged Canals to pursue a life of educational and inspiring storytelling. Inspired by movies like 'Flashdance,' 'The Terminator,' and 'The Color Purple,' the screenwriter knew he wanted to create an authentic story to help others feel seen and heard. Eventually, he created a series about the never-before-se...
Jun 19, 2019•22 min
“Deadlines take away writer’s block,” said screenwriter Chris Mundy. The writer started his career writing for Rolling Stone, before he made the transition into film and television. Known for ‘Cold Case,’ ‘Criminal Minds,’ ‘Hell on Wheels,’ ‘Low Winter Sun,’ ‘Bloodline,’ and the hit new series ‘Ozark.’ For ‘Ozark,’ Mundy is fascinated with the character of Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman). The father of the series, a man who launders money for his survival, is the type of person focused on logic rath...
Jun 17, 2019•26 min
Wendy Chuck got her education on the job. Lessons like “don’t take anything too personally” and “collaborating on ideas” helped her find her footing as she learned to share ideas, create wardrobes, costumes, and designs. Chuck’s early assignments included ‘Varsity Blues,’ ‘Election,’ ‘About Schmidt,’ ‘Bad Santa,’ ‘Sideways,’ ‘The Descendants,’ ‘Nebraska,’ ‘Spotlight,’ ‘Downsizing,’ and now, Matthew Weiner’s ‘The Romanoffs.’ For the hit Amazon mini-series, the ‘Mad Men’ creator wrote an anthology...
Jun 04, 2019•22 min
After leaving his career as a criminal prosecutor to volunteer with rescue animals, Glen Zipper eventually found his way to producing films so he could better defend issues he believed in. Rather than describing himself as an advocate filmmaker, Zipper is someone who likes to highlight issues, uncover injustices, and simply discover the truth. That said, he’s also uncovered tales about Bill Murray, Elvis Presley, Pauline Kael, and now Muhammad Ali. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), HBO's...
Jun 03, 2019•25 min
Like many costume designers, Claire Anderson got her start in theater. After experiencing “creative exhaustion” on a film, she fell in love with the industry and actually bumped into someone who offered her work at the BBC. Fast forward and now Anderson has worked on two projects from Neil Gaiman books. Both ‘American Gods’ and ‘Good Omens’ are interesting genre pieces, where the audience expects a great deal from production. In the latest series, Amazon’s take on ‘Good Omens,’ audiences are inv...
Jun 02, 2019•20 min
Jed Mercurio worked as a hospital doctor for three years before he joined the Royal Air Force and learned flying training and aviation medicine. He was originally hired as a script consultant, before he was asked to write episodes on his own. Credits include ‘Cardiac Arrest,’ ‘Bodies,’ ‘Line of Duty,’ and now ‘Bodyguard.’ In his latest series, a 6-episode mini-drama, Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) stars as David Budd, a Specialist in the Protection Branch of London’s Metropolitan Police Servic...
May 31, 2019•20 min
From an early age, Donna Zakowska had an appreciation for vintage fabrics. Her childhood love for clothing led to a fascination with dance, studies at Yale, and the overall joy of a collaborative art. As a costume designer, Zakowska’s credits include ‘Harriet the Spy,’ ‘Forces of Nature,’ ‘John Adams,’ ‘TURN: Washington’s Spies,” and the new Amazon hit, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.’ In this interview, the costume designer talks about wardrobe as an intellectual activity, characters who say things...
May 30, 2019•22 min
Michael Tolajian got his start on 'NBA Inside Stuff,' but additional credits include 'Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,' '30 for 30 (Once Brothers),' 'The Drive: Pac-12 Football,' and now the FS Sports documentary, 'Q Ball.' With the help of Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant, Tolajian and company was able to move forward with his documentary on a prison basketball team, which consisted of teammates and inmates at “the Q,” as well as their journeys of redemption. In this interview, Tolajian discuss...
May 30, 2019•22 min
As a young stuntman, Jesse V. Johnson learned the ropes of directing on films like ‘Total Recall,’ ‘The Shawshank Redemption,’ ‘War of the Worlds,’ ‘Mission: Impossible III,’ ‘Hell or High Water,’ and dozens more. In this interview, Johnson discusses the various types of stuntmen (including his “ground-pounder” days), how life experience brings something extra to the film, how actor-stuntmen like Keanu Reeves or Matt Damon have changed over the years, and what it’s like to work with world-class ...
May 24, 2019•22 min
Luke Davies is a poet, novelist and screenwriter, known for ‘Lion,’ ‘Candy,' 'Life,' 'Beautiful Boy,' and now 'Catch-22.' His books have won many awards, including the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award for Poetry for his volume Interferon Psalms, and the Age Book of the Year prize for his volume Totem. A fan of 'Catch-22' from an early age, it was Davies’ original idea to turn the story into a series. Finding a way through the craziness of the novel was the first challenge. Joseph Heller...
May 07, 2019•33 min
Alan Elliott is a man of perseverance. After working with Warner Brothers Records, along with Steven Bochco, and on the infamous television musical ‘Cop Rock,’ Elliott sunk his teeth into Sydney Pollack’s (Out of Africa, Tootsie) abandoned project, ‘Amazing Grace.’ The documentary presented Aretha Franklin and a choir at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Watts, Los Angeles, January of 1972. After Pollack’s successful film ‘The Way We Were’ launched Barbra Streisand’s film career, the studios prom...
May 06, 2019•22 min
Fascinated by Stephen King, Brian De Palma, and Steven Spielberg, Mike Flanagan grew up making movies with friends. Around the time he got to college, he started making shorts, digital features, and skits until he realized his fascination with the horror genre. As the creator of 'The Haunting of Hill House,' Flanagan wanted to create something unique for the streaming platform, Netflix. The description for the 10-episode series reads, “Flashing between past and present, a fractured family confro...
May 06, 2019•30 min
Iain Canning has an impressive resume. Currently, his films include ‘Hunger,’ ‘The King’s Speech,’ ‘Shame,’ ‘Slow West,’ ‘Life,’ ‘Macbeth,’ ‘Widows,’ and now, ‘Mary Magdalene.’ In the latest film, Rooney Mara stars as Mary Magdalene, with Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus. Directed by Garth Davis (Lion, Top of the Lake) and written by Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett, the movie showcases a different point of view on the classic, biblical tale. In this exclusive interview, Canning discusses his love f...
May 02, 2019•20 min
