Rachel K. Caulker loves telling genre stories with her unique West African background, having shunned 'traditional' employment for the entertainment industry. She's made contests work for her while pursuing deeper education & making contacts.
Shayna and Max spend the bulk of the episode discussing audience response to films, both in terms of box office hits and misses and why critics and audiences often have drastically different viewpoints of films. They take a deep dive into Damien Chazelle's Babylon.
Jason Goldberg has already produced "Glorious" for Shudder & served as writer/producer of "Stay Out of the F*ing Attic." He's got a large & growing resume as a producer who loves finding new talent while developing his own writing career.
Max & Shayna look back at the Golden Globes while taking a deep dive into writing spec scripts and what your expectation should be when writing them. Finally, they discuss some current series and the Weinermobile.
Successful and further emerging screenwriter, Lisa Garvey, made the shift into novel writing as part of her screenwriting journey.
Max & Shayna kick off the new year with a look ahead to the movies that should make waves in 2023 and unfortunate news about diversity among film directors. Plus, diving into some basic screenwriting issues with "Glass Onion."
Sci-Fi & horror writer-director Christopher Hatton joins us to discuss a variety of topics including Edgar Allan Poe, Singapore spiritual beliefs, Area 51, his own terrifying ghost story & his newest movie: Shudder's paranormal mystery "Raven's Hollow."
With countless productions under his belt as an assistant director, Ted Campbell has always wanted to tell his own stories. Now, he's directing his own screenplays. He was also once an ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch.
We sit down with producer and former studio executive Navid McIlhargey to discuss the state of the industry and the current challenges and opportunities for feature filmmakers and writers.
Shayna & Max take on one of the most controversial Christmas movie topics, react to the Golden Globe nominations and discuss their favorite holiday films.
Table Read of the award-winning pilot script, The Work, by Adelita Lopez and Amanda Lopez, directed by Princess Monique Filmz w Q&A after. View program here: https://tinyurl.com/ISA-TRMS
Jasmine Leyva embraces life to the fullest, which then influences her writing. She's not afraid to take the plunge, whether that's fostering a child or becoming a mermaid, all of which has lead to a unique, celebrated writing voice.
Sight & Sound recently released their once-a-decade list of top films of all-time with a surprise at number 1. What's your all-time top 10?
Max & Shayna discuss a number of entertainment news including the return of Bob Iger to Disney, She Said's opening weekend struggle & the importance of having a growth mindset.
We will be hearing pitches from our newly named Fast Track Fellows: Emma Barrow and co-writers Kate Holland and Marlowe Mitchell and the three winners of this round of the ISA TV Pilot Pitch Challenge: Barbara Blomquist, Caden Douglas and David Green.
Meg Swertlow knows how to just go for it! From getting Alyssa Milano for a short she directed to shadowing Ryan Murphy, Meg has found ways to pursue her storytelling passions.
Max & Shayna talk about the pilot ratings from new fall broadcast TV season and other news including the big box office weekend from Black Panther. Creatively, they dive into the elements needed to make a scene really work & how they first got into screenwriting.
Steve Feld is a multiple Emmy winner as a producer and has made major progress in his screenwriting career, winning Shoot Your Sizzle and being named an ISA Top Screenwriter to Watch. He has also turned heads in the festival circuit with his short films. Hear his advice for writers and his next goals in this chat with Shayna Weber!
Rob "R.B." Ripley put a music, then theatre career behind him to focus on screenwriting, keeping emotion at the core of every aspect of his screenplay, which lead him to the Warner Media Access Writing Program.
Max & Shayna discuss the top comedy creators of the year, utter chaos at Twitter, being on the hunt for new ideas (and actually remembering them), plus finding positive gifts for the holidays.
Feature and television writer Katie Crone writes stories are female-driven comedies with hard truths at the core. Get to know this Midwestern writer who came to LA after learning the music scene in Nashville.
See how Rachel McClard's journey went from the least glamorous aspects of looking after a writer/director's pet to working on Wilford Brimley's diabetes commercials to now being a top screenwriter to watch!
Max & Shayna celebrate the return of AFM while also tackling some common questions about page counts (assist to Lee Jessup) & determining when a new scene starts. Also, did you hear they found Santa?
Screenwriters Jim Hart may be known for some modern classics like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Hook, Contact and may others, but it's also a witness to multiple strange events in the sky and stayed in an absurdly haunted house while in college.
Max & Shayna celebrate the launch of the new ISA website and discuss the importance of creating a writing 'ritual' (routine) to help you get down to business more efficiently and then dive into Halloween and horror movie fun.
Life-long Harry Houdini researcher John Cox join us to discuss the origins of Houdini's battles with fraudulent mediums, his odd death, the 'final Houdini seance,' and his time in Delavan, WI... all without getting stung by a single wasp!
Shayna & Max look at the top 50 show runners of 2022 & discuss why it's important for writers to know who runs which shows. They also discuss logline writing, the many shows and movies they're watching & relaxing via cat purrs.
Max & Scott dive into working on ghost hunting TV shows with producer and investigator MJ Dickson, who has looked into paranormal stories & haunted locations across the globe. Her fantastic story alone is worth tuning in for!
Max & Shayna love the new controversial (fictionalized) bio pic "Blonde," and discuss why it's so debated, while going over how to identify the production budget of your script. They also geek out over the new Hocus Pocus sequel and Rings of Power.
Max & Shayna celebrate the 100th birthday of the Hollywood sign, discuss writing horror films with meaning, telling true stories that are also entertaining before thinking about their next vacations.
