#18 - Tamako Akiyama & Markus Nornes (professors of Chinese cinema)

Tamako Akiyama (Rikkyo University) and Markus Nornes (University of Michigan) speak about the history and state of current independent film in China.    We Talk About: Navigating government censorship oversees Foreign distribution practices and circulation A new film festival in Inner Mongolia Th…

#17 - Peter Horton (actor/director/producer) in Santa Monica

Peter Horton (Thirtysomething, Grey's Anatomy) talks about his journey from musician to actor to a director and writer/producer of film and television. We Talk About Finally agreeing to act in "Thirtysomething" Writing and producing "American Odyssey" for Netflix Directing the pilot for "Grey's An…

#15 - Jim Burnstein (screenwriter) at University of Michigan

Jim Burnstein (Love and Honor, D3: The Mighty Ducks, Renaissance Man ) discusses his screenwriting career and shaping the next generation of young writers at UofM   We Talk About: Working in Hollywood while living in Michigan The journey to the first feature film production Teaching Shakespeare t…

#13 - Ben Jacobson (literary TV agent) at United Talent Agency

Ben Jacobson (United Talent Agency) discusses representing drama and comedy television writers, directors and producers and the nature of today's industry     We Talk About: Staffing season and the selling cycle Developing and branding for a network vs. cable Different kinds of working writers to…

#11 - Emily Maya Mills (actress & comedian) in Burbank

Emily Maya Mills (Upright Citizens Brigade, Orange is the New Black, Parks and Recreation) talks about writing and performing comedy for the stage and on television   We talk about: Creating and writing her one-woman shows All about Upright Citzens Brigade and the process Her debut stand-up album…

#10 - Alexander Mirecki & Morgan Krantz (creators of Neurotica) at Atwater Village

Alexander Mirecki (All Together Now) & Morgan Krantz (Babysitter) talk about making indie features and creating a webseries, Neurotica, currently in its second season   We talk about: The fundamentals of making a webseries The importance of episode length Deriving stories from real life Translati…

#9 - Bec Smith (literary & indie film agent) at United Talent Agency

Bec Smith (United Talent Agency) discusses her work as both a literary agent and an independent film agent.   We talk about: Growing up in Australia with movie maddness A background in journalism, film criticism and development at Working Title Producing and selling Animal Kingdom at Sundance Wha…

#8 - Stephen Nathan (TV writer-showrunner) in Santa Monica

Stephen Nathan (Bones, Joan of Arcadia, Family Law) discusses career in executive producing sit-coms and one-hour drama series and offers a detailed look into a ten-year run on the hit comedy-procedural Bones.   We talk about: The future of consuming visual content Writing and executive producing…

#6 - Rick Rosenthal (film director & TV producer) at White Water Films

Rick Rosenthal (Transparent, Bad Boys, Halloween II) discusses wearing multiple hats in both film and television, and the efforts of his production company, White Water Films. We talk about: Selling vs. Not Selling Scripts Bonding in Television vs. Film Producing vs. Directing in Television Workin…

#5 - Joe Swanberg (writer-director-producer) from Chicago

Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies, Happy Christmas) discusses his new 8-episode series Easy for Netflix using the same improvisational style he developed to make his numerous indie features. We talk about: Writing, directing and producing Easy Casting over Skype Improvising vs. sticking to a script S…