Michael Tennant grew up San Diego with a “disdain” for Los Angeles. “You’re taught the Dodgers are the devil,” he jokes. “LA is the worst. Don’t do this. But my brother did a play, I heard him get a laugh and that first hit of dopamine, I started chasing that. I liked the idea of performing.” In the early days, Tennant wanted to become an actor. “Good Will Hunting was a seminal movie,” he says. “These two guys just got together and wrote something? And Gus Van Sant is directing it? How did these...
Jul 14, 2023•29 min
“I think it would have killed my career if I would have graduated from drama school and gotten all the lead parts and everything”, says actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson. “I think that would have destroyed me because I really needed to just understand what we do.” Ólafur Darri Ólafsson is an Icelandic-American actor, producer, and screenwriter who is mostly known for ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’, ‘The Meg’, and ‘Severance’. In this interview, we talk about what made him get into acting, ‘Rainn Wi...
Jul 10, 2023•26 min
“When Everyone Leads it’s a book about how people — wherever you are in your organization, your community, your company, your family — how you can exercise leadership to make things better,” says author Julia McBride. Julia Fabris McBride is Chief Civic Leadership Development Officer of the Kansas Leadership Center. She is also a certified coach and co-author of two books, ‘When Everyone Leads’, and ‘Teaching Leadership: Case-in-Point, Case Teaching, and Coaching.’ In this interview, we talk abo...
Jun 20, 2023•28 min
Ali Siddiq got his start at an Open Mic in Houston, on Apollo night. In a fresh suit, like he had seen stand-ups on television wear, he “got boo’d” for the first time, his first time on stage. Two weeks later, in jeans and a tee shirt, he felt more relaxed and eventually started to host at this location. For his latest special, The NY Times writes, “In his eye-opening "The Domino Effect 2: Loss," Ali Siddiq, a revelation of a performer, adopts a different approach. Instead of self-aware jokes, h...
Jun 16, 2023•31 min
“I don’t ever set out with a theme,” says author Dana Pettrey. “I’m gonna teach these or these is the lesson. I just write the story and where the characters land is where they land faith wise.” Dani Pettrey is the the author of ‘Coastal Guardians’ a book series that includes books like ‘The Killing Tide,’ ‘The Crushing Depths,’ ‘The Deadly Shallows,’ among others. In this interview, we talk about how to prepare yourself as an author, tips on overcoming writer's block, how she does research for ...
Jun 15, 2023•29 min
“I wanted to become a stuntman since I was eight years old,” Lauro “Lash” Chartrand-Del Valle told me. In this interview, Lash talks about his work behind Rumble in the Bronx, The Last Samurai, and Ninja Turtles - The Next Mutation. We also discuss how to break in as a stuntman, his work with Jackie Chan, how there was no script for Rumble in the Bronx, getting shot on a Chuck Norris movie two years before the Brandon Lee accident, training with Fumio Demura (The Real Miyagi), and how the stunt ...
Jun 05, 2023•27 min
As an eight-year-old, Herbert James Winterstern would sneak downstairs to watch movies with his dad. These movies, classics like Planet of the Apes (1968), which inspired him to become a writer-director. In his latest film, Supercell, “A teenage boy runs away to follow his fathers footsteps, legendary storm chaser Bill Brody.” The film stars Alec Baldwin, Skeet Ulrich, and Anne Heche. In this interview, Winterstern talks about the obligation for directors to also be writers today, his partnershi...
Jun 04, 2023•24 min
Award-winning filmmaker Robert Rippberger, filmmaker Devin Keaton, and business magnate Nathan Edwards have announced the groundbreaking of Ascent Studios, the soon-to-be largest film studio in North Carolina, amid the regions production boom. The state-of-the-art facility is located in Spring Hope, just a short drive from Raleigh, and spans on 200 acres of pristine land. The studio is being built by Nathan Edwards of Edwards, Inc., a trusted name in the region with over 35 years of experience a...
Jun 01, 2023•22 min
“I’ve always been very interested in people. Originally, I wanted to study philosophy, but by accident, I stumbled into a psychology seminar,” said neuroscientist Friederike Fabritius. “I wanted to see how people behaved rather than thinking about how people behaved.” This led her to the study of neuroscience. Friederike is the author of ‘The Leading Brain’ and ‘The Brain-Friendly Workplace.’ The latter is a smart, science-based approach to retaining talent, finding better places to work, and ma...
May 27, 2023•31 min
“I’d always been a big fan of the written word, from childhood, in different mediums,” says Maurice Williams. “Whether it be youthful song writing or my undergraduate degree in journalism. There’s just beauty in the creation, the alchemy of having nothing and then you have something, about writing.” In this case, the something from nothing is Entergalactic, an animated series about Jabari, a streetwear-clad artist on the cusp of success. The story is based on a location as much as it is a person...
May 25, 2023•34 min
“In the beginning, the two shows were very different, at least for me,” says Peter Gould, in regards to writing for Breaking Bad and then being the creator of Better Call Saul. “When we started Breaking Bad, when the Writer’s Room opened, Vince Gilligan had already shot and edited the pilot.” He continues, “We knew where the story began, but in a lot of ways, we were still discovering who Walter White was. There were some big surprises for us. Better Call Saul was a very unusual circumstance bec...
May 24, 2023•21 min
“I don’t know what made me want to be a writer, but I loved doing it a very early age,” says screenwriter David West Read. “I started making movies with my friends when I was in elementary school. I would have them over for sleepovers, then hand out out scripts.” Back then, the parodies were Jurassic Pork and David Read’s A Christmas Carol. “It’s something I gravitated towards. I thought for a long-time about doing something more stable and secure, something with a clearer path through Universit...
May 22, 2023•30 min
Dana Stevens is a film critic for Slate and the author of Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century, a genre-defying work of cultural history based around the creative genius of the Great Stone Face. In this interview, we discuss the work of Buster Keaton, how the industry has changed for film critics, the letter she received from Roger Ebert at an early age, why you need to see as many movies as you can and some industry secrets for finding your v...
May 19, 2023•31 min
“I was particularly interested in writing comedy,” says Paul Lieberstein, who is best known for playing Toby on The Office, but has writing credits for King of the Hill, The Drew Carey Show, Ghosted, Space Force, and now, Lucky Hank. “Some Woody Allen short stories and Steve Martin albums. In my twenties, I learned there was a whole industry there, and you can do that, because I had never met anyone who had done that.” Aaron Zelman, the co-creator of Lucky Hank, also realized he enjoyed writing ...
May 18, 2023•31 min
Diedrich Bader grew up in Paris, watching movies from Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Fred Astaire. Through some unique circumstances, he ended up performing as a Chaplin in front of a large crowd, getting a standing ovation, and he was hooked from then on to become a comedic performer. Diedrich has over 200 credits, a mixture of performances and voice work, including Office Space, Napoleon Dynamite, Veep, The Drew Carey Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, American Housewife, and most recently, A...
May 17, 2023•31 min
Mireille Enos followed her brother’s footsteps into acting at an early age, which eventually led her to New York City to study acting. Today, she’s best known for The Killing, World War Z, Sabotage, Gangster Squad, Big Love, Hanna, and now, Lucky Hank. In the latest project, Lucky Hank, Mireille plays Lily, the wife Hank (Bob Odenkirk), an English department chairman at an underfunded college who toes the line between a full-blown meltdown and the offbeat chaos of his personal and professional l...
May 16, 2023•33 min
George Tillman Jr. recalls going to see his first movie while at church summer school. “Ever since then, I caught the bug,” he told me. “I started off writing, but always considered myself a director.” This started with Soul Food in 1997.Thanks to this credibility, he was then able to make movies like Men of Honor, Notorious, Faster, and The Hate U Give. Now he’s back with another biopic, Big George Foreman. The simple description of the latest film is “the life and boxing career of George Forem...
May 15, 2023•26 min
Javicia Leslie was always a performer, whether that’s performing in front of family members or now, in front of millions of people. Today, she’s best known for starring in Batwoman, along with God Friended Me, Always a Bridesmaid, and Double Life. In her latest project, Double Life, the story “follows a widow who finds out from her late husband's mistress that his death was not an accident. Both women work together to unmask the truth behind the man they both loved.” In this interview, Javicia t...
May 14, 2023•14 min
Before getting involved with screenwriting and producing, Jemima Khan was a journalist for publications like Vanity Fair and The New Statesman. She’s best known for The Clinton Affair, The Case Against Adnan Syed, and American Crime Story. Her latest project, What’s Love Got to Do with It? Is somewhat of a twist in her career. The rom-com, which she wrote, takes place in London, where “an award-winning film-maker documents her best friend's journey into an assisted marriage in line with his fami...
May 09, 2023•31 min
Andrew Newman loves all things spiritual and creative. He’s written books for families - like ‘The Hug Who Got Stuck’ or ‘The Great Love of Rose and Thorn’ - to help parents connect on those hectic days of growing and learning. In this interview, we talk about “the web of sticky thoughts,” explaining complex ideas to children, characterizing “a hug,” the breathing meditations in the books, when to protect work from feedback, the importance of the last twenty minutes of the day, why he founded th...
May 06, 2023•29 min
As a teenager, Joe Hart learned about Dale Carnegie from his father. As a young lawyer, he took Carnegie’s book, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ to heart, eventually taking a course from the influential writer, which made him re-think his career and his future. These days, Hart is the President and CEO of Dale Carnegie Training. In addition to being a Dale Carnegie graduate, Hart worked closely with the company as a strategic partner for nearly 10 years. He attributes much of his succe...
May 03, 2023•31 min
Described as a “rambunctious child,” David Moscow started his acting career reading sides for ‘Stand By Me.’ While he wasn’t cast in this major film, in his second role, he was cast as Young Josh in the movie 'Big' (Older Josh, of course, played by Tom Hanks). Beyond his acting career, David found a passion around food. The series, From Scratch, “…follows actor, adventurer and urbanite David Moscow on his adventure of making meals from scratch. He teams up with various friends to hunt, gather, f...
May 02, 2023•34 min
“Why do you think I get up everyday?” joked Stephen Covey, author of ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.’ His daughter, Cynthia, had just asked him if he would ever write a book as good as the 1989 classic. The result? Live Life in Crescendo. Co-authored with his daughter Cynthia, Stephen Covey’s ‘Live Life in Crescendo: Your Most Important Work Is Always Ahead of You’ was the author’s mission statement in life. “Because you asked that, you have to help,” he told his daughter. In this inte...
May 02, 2023•25 min
Bill Bye, a self-described tinkerer, likes to make things. At an early age, he became a mechanical engineer, worked at Boeing, but was obsessed with comedy. When Warner Brothers had a Steve Martin lookalike contest, he entered the contest and won in the Seattle contest. Best known as Bill Nye the Science Guy, from his 1993 series, is a scientist and comedian who explored various aspect of science for young viewers. Now, along with co-creator Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), he’s back with The End i...
May 01, 2023•27 min
“That’s the moment I realized how powerful words can be,” writer Cole Schafer told me. Cole lives by the phrase “Live fast, write often.” As such, he’s somewhat of an all-around writer, with multiple focuses, such as a blog, books, poetry, copy, and spoken word. In this interview, we talk about concrete imagery in Cole’s work, thinking in metaphors, why he recommends specializing but doesn’t do it, being inspired by Shel Silverstein, using the pen name January Black, the difference in craft writ...
Apr 29, 2023•26 min
Sharlene Royer got her start as a dancer in Canada when she was discovered for the film, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, as a stand-in for actress Rosario Dawson. The person who discovered her was stunt coordinator Alan Oliney (Mod Squad, Armageddon). In this interview, Sharlene talks about her lists of skillsets as a stunt woman, changes in the industry, the importance of relationships in the business, the importance of rest and boundaries, and why all stunts must be repeatable. This is a special...
Apr 28, 2023•29 min
in ‘How Basketball Can Save the World,’ NYU Professor and Author David Hollander takes us out of the classroom to present a beautiful new philosophy with contributions by many of his past guests and based on values inherent to basketball, such as inclusion and the balancing of individual success with the needs of the collective. These principles move us beyond conflict and confusion toward a more harmonious and meaningful future: Positionless-ness: In basketball, players aren’t siloed into just ...
Apr 25, 2023•31 min
In ‘When Your Mind Screams,’ filmmaker and lifelong personal growth enthusiast Christopher Glatis explores anxiety from the lens of a creative, demonstrating how anxiety makes us feel fearful and stressed in an effort to help, though it’s actually doing anything but. In fact, the instinct to run from anxiety’s uncomfortable sensations does more harm than good. Glatis explains how reworking your response to anxiety—not fighting it—is the key to recovery. In addition to discussing Christopher’s bo...
Apr 21, 2023•33 min
Jesse Atlas is a writer/director that crafts high-concept, character-driven genre thrillers. His feature debut "Assassin" hits theaters in the spring of 2023. Previously, Jesse's mind-bending sci-fi short films "Record/Play" and "Let Them Die Like Lovers" have played at Sundance, Tribeca, Fantastic Fest and countless other festivals, racking up dozens of awards and accolades. Both films were picked up for feature adaptations, with "Let Them Die Like Lovers" evolving into "Assassin". Before makin...
Apr 20, 2023•32 min
“We were interns together at A Band Apart Productions, which was Quentin Tarantino’s production company,” says Justin Halpern, about his partnership with Patrick Schumacker. “We worked in commercials and music videos…we never saw Quentin, ever. Ever.” Back then, Halpern wanted to be a screenwriter and Schumacker wanted to be a commercial and music video director. “I always enjoyed writing, but I think I was more passionate about communicating through visuals, or words being secondary. That’s per...
Apr 18, 2023•33 min
