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In Season 2 we will be deconstructing the work and career of film director David Fincher on The Directors Series Podcast hosted by Cameron Beyl. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network http://www.ifhpodcastnetwork.com

I can't be more excited about the conversation I'm about to share with you. Today on the show we have filmmaker and indie film legend Albert Hughes. Albert, along with his brother Allen began making movies at age 12, but their formal film education began their freshman year of high school when Allen took a TV production class. They soon made the short film The Drive-By and people began to take notice. After high school Albert began taking classes at LACC Film School: two shorts established the twins' reputation as innovative filmmakers. Albert and his brother then began directing music videos for a little known rapper named Tupac Shakur.  These videos lead to directing their breakout hit Menace II Society (1993), which made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and grossed nearly 10 times as much as its $3 million budget. Albert followed up that success with Dead Presidents (1995). On the streets, they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran (Larenz Tate) is after when he returns home from the war only to find himself drawn into a life of crime. With the aid of his fellow vets, he plans the ultimate heist -- a daring robbery of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency! Albert continued displaying his highly stylized and visual filmmaking with From Hell (2001) starring Johnny Depp and The Book of Eli (2010) starring Oscar winners Denzel Washington and Gary Olman. The Book of Eli has the distinction of being the first studio feature film shot on the RED Camera. In the example below, you can see how Albert pushed the camera to its limits with the ground-breaking color grade he gave the film. Most recently Albert brought to the screen the epic film Alpha (2018). The project was shot on the Arri ALEXA 65 for a truly larger than life experience. An epic coming-of-age adventure set in the last Ice Age. A young boy becomes unlikely allies with a lone wolf, enduring countless dangers and overwhelming odds to survive the harsh wilderness and find their way home before the deadly winter arrives. My conversation with Albert was EPIC. We began the episode aiming for our standard 60-90 min run time but we were having such a good time talking shop we just kept going. The final episode clocks in around 3 hours and it was, by far, one of the best times I have ever had on the Indie Film Hustle Podcast. Two filmmakers talking shop and telling stories. We discuss his public beef with Tupac, his rise after the breakout success of Menace II Society, how he navigated the shark-infested waters of Hollywood, working on big-budget studio films, his creative process and Albert even throws in a story about how he stood up to Harvey Weinstein while the disgusting predator was still a power-player in the business. Do yourself a favor and listen to the entire episode. There are knowledge bombs drop throughout! Enjoy my EPIC conversation with Albert Hughes.

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our filmmaking or screenwriting journey. This show will do just that. Never stop chasing that filmmaking dream. Keep on hustling. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (ifhpodcastnetwork.com)

Today on the show we have filmmaker and author Josh Folan. He's a writer/director/editor/producer/actor – though not necessarily in that order – that began professionally making things people watch on screens in 2005, prior to which he studied finance at The Ohio State University. Filmmaking highlights since founding NYEH Entertainment in 2008 include 2018 Hamptons/Woodstock/Napa selection Ask For Jane, 2017 SXSW audience award winner The Light of the Moon, 2015 Slamdance selection BODY, 2015 Raindance selection The Lives of Hamilton Fish, 2016 SOHO Int’l selection and 2017 Queens World best screenplay nominee catch 22: based on the unwritten story by seanie sugrue, His new book, Still Filmmaking, the Hard Way, is a detailed recounting of the step-by-step process of the development, production, and distribution of three micro-budget feature films with one critical commonality – producer and fifteen-year independent filmmaking veteran Josh Folan. Josh walks the reader through each and every painstaking step of the making of three sub-$250,000 USD films featured in the case study – Ask For Jane, Love Is Dead!, catch 22 – while explaining, scrutinizing, and contrasting the experience in a voice intended to entertain, not lecture. The experience of producing sixteen feature films and a bevy of short, episodic, and commercial projects inform the words herein, across which countless mistakes and learning experiences were had by the author. Still Filmmaking, the Hard Way offers readers the opportunity to learn this laundry list of lessons at a tiny fraction of the cost of crippling your own film’s micro-budget. Enjoy my conversation with Josh Folan.

Today on the show we have director, Youtuber, and founder of the legendary Filmmaker IQ John Hess. I have been a huge fan of John's for quite some time. The videos he creates for Filmmaker IQ are, by far, some of the best and most informative film education on Youtube. Here's John's explanation of Filmmaker IQ is. Filmmaker IQ (which also goes by the aliases Who?, FilmmakerIQ.com, and FIQ to evade debt collectors) is worshiped by no less than five monotheistic religions on Earth despite their petulant childish behavior, persistent meddling in the space-time continuum, and clear bipolar disorder. FIQ is the largest black hole of film knowledge in the universe. With over 3.4 billion courses on subjects such as Ways to successfully acquire both armrests at a movie theater, Why do all the evil people in Star Wars have a British accent? and Martin Scorsese’s Eyebrows. FIQ’s video lectures are hailed by educators, non-educators as well as people who are against the concept of education on moral grounds. John and I geek out over cameras, post, and filmmaking in general. If you haven't watched his videos you are missing out. They are a must for any serious filmmaker.  Enjoy my conversation with John Hess.

Get ready to have your mind blown! I'll be releasing a 3-Part Limited Series of conversations between the legendary screenwriter James V. Hart, the writer of Hook, Contact, Bram Stroker's Dracula, and Tomb Raider just to name a few, and some of the top screenwriters in the game. First up is the screenwriter that took the world by storm with his Oscar-Winning screenplay Get Out, Jordan Peele. If you have been living under a rock for the past few years here is what the film is about. In Universal Pictures’ Get Out, a speculative thriller from Blumhouse (producers of The Visit, Insidious series, and The Gift) and the mind of Jordan Peele, when a young African-American man visits his white girlfriend’s family estate, he becomes ensnared in a more sinister real reason for the invitation. Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya, Sicario) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams, Girls), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy (Catherine Keener, Captain Phillips) and Dean (Bradley Whitford, The Cabin in the Woods). At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined. This was recorded before Jordan's next hit film Us was released. Listening to these two masters discuss character, plot, theme, and more is a rare treat. It's like being a fly on the wall. Enjoy this rare conversation between James V. Hart and Jordan Peele.

In Season 2 we will be deconstructing the work and career of film director David Fincher on The Directors Series Podcast hosted by Cameron Beyl. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network http://www.ifhpodcastnetwork.com

Today on the show we have director Raja Gosnell. He directed comedy classics like Big Momma's House starring Martin Lawrence, Never Been Kissed starring Drew Berrymore, and Yours, Mine & Ours starring Dennis Quaid. Raja is best known as the director who brought not one but two beloved children's cartoons to the big screen, Scooby-Doo and The Smurfs. We also discuss the original vision that Raja and writer James Gunn had for Scooby-Doo. Let's say we finally understand why Scoob and Shaggy always had the munchies. He also directed the relatively low-budget runaway hit Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Raja's films have grossed almost $2 billion at the worldwide box-office. Raja wasn't always a director, he started his film career as an assistant editor in the late 1970s. His first credit as a film's main editor was the romantic comedy The Lonely Guy (1984), for director Arthur Hiller. During the 1980s, Gosnell served as editor in films directed by Tom Laughlin, David Worth, Bob Dahlin, Bert Convy, Christopher Leitch, Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton, Phillip Schuman, and Chris Columbus. For Chris Columbus he edited the comedy film Heartbreak Hotel (1988), which features a 1970s teenager kidnapping singer Elvis Presley, to bring home as a gift for his mother. During the 1990s, Gosnell would serve as editor in several more films by Columbus. The 1990s started with Gosnell working as an editor in two high-profile projects: Pretty Woman (1990) by Garry Marshall, and Home Alone (1990) by Chris Columbus. Both turned out to be among the major hits of the year 1990. He then worked in the Columbus films Only the Lonely (1991), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), and Nine Months (1995). Raja and I discuss his remarkable career as an editor, why he jumped to directing, and why he choose to do the thing everyone says not to do direct children and animals. I had a ball talking shop with Raja. We also discuss his remarkable new film Gun and a Hotel Bible, which he co-directed with Alicia Joy LeBlanc. Based on an award-winning play, GUN AND A HOTEL BIBLE is the story of a young man on the verge of a violent act (Pete) and his encounter with a personified hotel bible (Gideon). Can Gideon sway Pete before Pete pulls the trigger? Enjoy my conversation with Raja Gosnell.

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our filmmaking or screenwriting journey. This show will do just that. Never stop chasing that filmmaking dream. Keep on hustling. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (ifhpodcastnetwork.com)

In my on-going series on COVID film production, I speak to creator/showrunner Colleen Krantz. She is the creator of the new series Complete Bull. The show is about a young animal scientist who must decide if she will join her family’s livestock insemination business in her fighting-to-stay-alive Midwest hometown, even as the community is torn at the seams debating whether to become a “receiving community” in the government’s forced relocation of first-generation immigrants. When she was shooting her show her production was one of only 24 SAG productions filming in the entire country. In this conversation, we discuss how she had to rewrite the script to include some nontraditional filming locations, how she dealt with negative attitudes from old-school Hollywood people because she was filming in a rural area, and what techniques she used to keep herself and her cast/crew safe during production. One of my favorite parts of the conversation is when we discuss how she was chewed out by an actress's manager, and I quote: “ You have no business trying to do this from the middle of Iowa.“ I hope listening to Colleen's story can help you run a safe film production during these crazy times. Enjoy my conversation with Colleen Krantz.

Today on the show we have returning champion Kyle Prohaska. Kyle is a Facebook Marketing Ninja. Kyle also specializes in promoting and marketing indie films. He also has created insane followings for his own films. Check out this 1,000,000 follower Facebook page he created for his film Standing Firm. Get ready to take some MASSIVE notes on this special episode. Enjoy my epic conversation with Kyle Prohaska. I wanted to bring Kyle back on the show to discuss a new system he is using to generate real money for filmmakers using Facebook ads. The problem I've always had using Facebook to promote indie films is ROI or Return on Investment. It didn't make sense to me to spend twenty dollars to promote a $2.99 rental or worse a free watch on Amazon Prime. Kyle has figured out a way to not only get a massive ROI on money spent but to also bring awareness to the film. If you are using or are thinking of using Facebook ads to sell your film this is the episode for you. Get ready to have your mind BLOWN! Enjoy my conversation with Kyle Prohaska.

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our filmmaking or screenwriting journey. This show will do just that. Never stop chasing that filmmaking dream. Keep on hustling. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (ifhpodcastnetwork.com)

Today on the show we have best-selling author and screenwriter Eileen Cook. She is a multi-published, award-winning author with her novels appearing in nine languages. Her books have been optioned for film and TV. She spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer. She’s an instructor/mentor with The Creative Academy and Simon Fraser University Writer’s Studio Program where she loves helping other writers find their unique story to tell. Her best-selling book Create Story Conflict: How to increase tension in your writing & keep readers turning pages is a must-read for screenwriters. Here's a bit about the book: Conflict is essential to story—regardless of genre. The friction between what a character wants and the lengths they will go to reach that goal is what pulls readers through your book. Great conflict is what leaves readers cheering (or crying) at the end of a story. Using humor and her deep knowledge of human behavior, counselor and award-winning author Eileen Cook will guide you through the causes of conflict, the differences between internal and external conflict, and show you how conflict resolution techniques can be turned upside down to ramp up the tension in your book. Filled with practical tips, examples, and prompts, this is a craft book you’ll keep on your shelf to use again and again. Enjoy my conversation with Eileen Cook.

Today on the show we have returning champion Peter Rader. Peter has been working with his wife Paola di Florio to help filmmakers connect with audiences and generate revenue for their projects. The story of how they self-distributed their run-away hit AWAKE: The Life of Yogananda from booking theaters to SVOD is remarkable. They did it all on their own and the film has been viewed by millions. I wanted to bring Peter back on the show to discuss how they are distributing film during COVID, methods for audience building, social media marketing, release strategy, and much more. Peter has worked as a film and television writer for 20 years. His first script, Waterworld, was produced by Universal in 1995. He has developed numerous projects for other studios, and industry leaders such as Steven Spielberg, Dino De Laurentiis, and John Davis. On today's show, we are discussing the new film Infinite Potential: The Life and Ideas of David Bohm, which his company is helping to self distribute in the hybrid model. “Infinite Potential: The Life and Ideas of David Bohm” is a feature documentary about the man Einstein called his “spiritual son” and the Dalai Lama his “science guru.” A brilliant physicist and explorer of Consciousness, Bohm’s incredible insights into the underlying nature of reality and the profound interconnectedness of the Universe and our place within it are truly transformational. Enjoy my conversation with Peter Rader.

In Season 2 we will be deconstructing the work and career of film director David Fincher on The Directors Series Podcast hosted by Cameron Beyl. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network http://www.ifhpodcastnetwork.com