Indie Film Hustle® - A Filmmaking Podcast

On the mic, today is 80s horror icon Michael Myers, also known as, Nick Castle who is also a director, writer, and actor - notable for directing The Last Starfighter (1984), Major Payne (1995), and Escape from New York (1981) among others.Nick’s fictional character, Micheal Myers, in the Box Office $255 million-grossing Halloween film is possibly one of his most well-known roles that have been strongly supported by fans for years. He appears in the 1978 Halloween film as a young boy who murders his elder sister, Judith Myers. The same role is reprised fifteen years later in the sequel where he returns home to Haddonfield to murder more teenagers. In 1986 he wrote and directed the heartwarming fantasy drama film, The Boy Who Could Fly which tells the story of an autistic boy who dreams of flying and touching everyone he meets, including a new family who has moved in after their father dies.Filmmaking came naturally to Nick for a host of reasons. For one he grew up in a showbiz family. His father choreographed musical comedy films, while an uncle of his worked as a lighting designer on movie sets. At a tender age, his dad introduced him to entertainment through smaller roles in front of the camera and summer internships behind the scenes. There he grew a fondness for directing which inspired him to pursue film school at USC.Notoriety came quickly for Nick. Along with collegemates, Carpenter, Rokos, Longenecker, and Johnston, Nick worked cinematography and co-wrote The Resurrection of Broncho Billy - a short film they created while still in college that blew up and entered the academy consideration and won the academy award for live-action short film in 1970. Nick and Carpenter reunited and worked together again on Carpenter’s 1974 sci-fi comedy, Darkstar, which follows the crew of the deteriorating starship Dark Star, twenty years into their mission to destroy unstable planets that might threaten future colonization of other planets.In 1984, Nick made his second directorial film which was quite groundbreaking. The Last Starfighter, became one of the earliest films to incorporate extensive CGI. The plot centers around video game expert Alex Rogan who, after achieving a high score on Starfighter, meets the game's designer and is recruited to fight a war in space. He’s transported to another planet only to find out it was just a test. He was recruited to join the team of best starfighters to defend their world from the attack. Its popularity resulted in several non-film adaptations of the story in musicals, books, comics, games, etcNick was making innovative films long before most of the more popular guys came along. It is appropriate to consider his 80s sci-fi films as pioneering. Please enjoy my fun conversation with Nick Castle.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Today, we are hearing from one of the cultural influencers of the 90s film industry, and that’s non-other but Gary Goldstein, producer of the iconic rom-com, Pretty Woman, starring Richard Gere, and Julia Roberts.A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love. The film's story centers on down-on-her-luck Hollywood sex worker Vivian Ward, who is hired by Edward Lewis, a wealthy businessman, to be his escort for several business and social functions, and their developing relationship over the course of her week-long stay with him.Pretty Woman was most of your introduction to Gary's work, but mine was Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death. I know. After all these years, the title still makes me chuckle. Years later, I would reference the title to people. And in case you were curious, Gary goes into the movie title origin story in this interview. Gary films have generated well over one billion dollars - consistent box office hits. Pretty Woman, for example, grossed $463.4 million - more than 30 times its budget. After the massive success of Pretty Woman, Gary collaborated once more with his filmmaking partner, writer, Jonathan Lawton to produce the action thriller, Under Seige in 1992. Like Pretty Woman, this too performed successfully at the box office and critically - including an Academy Award nomination. An ex-Navy Seal turned cook is the only person who can stop a group of terrorists when they seize control of a U.S. battleshipAs an undergraduate student, Gary briefly did talent scouting for Columbia Records and is credited for producing music concerts and cabarets for Berkeley, where he studied.After college, he practiced law briefly as a criminal defense attorney in San Francisco. Soon, he lost interest in the legal field and sought out a passion. Film and TV became the apparent choice since he had lots of friends who were in the business he could learn from. A year later, Gary opened up a management company where he put his talent scouting skills and experience to work. There, he worked with writers and directors. By cosmic aligning, he met the young brilliant writer, Jonathan Lawton who wrote the script that became Pretty Woman. In 2013 he authored Conquering Hollywood: The Screenwriter's Blueprint for Career Success, which is a compilation of strategies to help anyone; whether looking to sell a spec script, option a screenplay, land a writing assignment and get hired, attract an agent, or manager of your dreams...or get a producer to take a meeting with you.Gary blessed us with knowledge bombs in this interview, including tips on entrepreneurship and film as a business.Enjoy my conversation with Gary Goldstein.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

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)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Our guest today is 80s star, multiple-awards film, and theater actor, and activist, Edward James Olmos. Olmos's roles in films or TV shows like Stand and Deliver, Battlestar Galactica, broadway musical and film Zoot Suit, Blade Runner as detective Gaff, and many others are some of the most memorable of all time and he's still dominating our screens. While I could not resist talking about his iconic roles over several decades, we mainly discussed Olmos’ new must-see film, Chasing Wonders.The picturesque Australian/British drama was the official selection at the Adelaide film festival in 2020. The beautiful cinematography of the film was shot over a five years period to authentically capture the coming of age story by screenwriter, Judy Morris. Chasing Wonders is a story of hope, possibility adventure, and overcoming your past - a heart-warming story of a young boy, who, encouraged by his grandfather (Olmos) to live a life of hope and possibility, takes off on the adventure of a lifetime to find the magical Emu Plains. His journey through the lush landscapes of Australia and Spain leads him to the heart of the human condition – learning to acknowledge the complexity of what comes before us but struggling not to be defined by the past.The Hollywood Walk of Famer earned an Academy nomination for Best Actor in the 1988 drama, Stand and Deliver. He gave a stellar lead performance as Bolivian- American educator Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutiérrez. Olmos filmography is quite extensive. Literally, the man has stayed booked and busy since 1974. He’s appeared in over 130 films, TV shows, and plays.One of his outstanding roles is perhaps,  Lieutenant Martin Castillo in the Miami Vice (1984) as a series regular. A fan-favorite for sure. But if we do talk about Lieutenant Castillo we must mention Olmos’ role as Detective Gaff in Blade Runner (1982) and a brief reprise in the sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017).Gaff is the Los Angeles police officer who detains and escorts Deckard (Harrison Ford) throughout his mission as a ‘Blade Runner’ to track down bioengineered humanoids known as replicants and terminally "retire" them.Olmos showed the world his versatility in both the Broadway play and film adaptation of the musical comedy, Zoot Suit. The story weaves the real-life events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial - resulting in the racially fueled Zoot Suit Riots throughout Los Angeles. Olmos portrays El Pachuco, an idealized Zoot Suiter, who functions as narrator throughout the story and serves as Henry's conscience in both adaptations.Honestly, I could go on and on down Olmos' filmography, but we can’t spotlight all of his other spectacular films right now. So, let’s get into this interview, shall we?Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

I promise the title of today’s episode is not clickbait. Our guest, Wayne Godfrey is a British film producer, CEO of fintech platform, Purely Capital, and expert film financier who’ve raised nearly $325 million for more than 120 independent feature films. Wayne founded Purely Capital in 2018 to enables film and TV rights owners a way to accelerate payments from years to days, for their content from streaming platforms.This year, he became a mentor at Creative Futures Collective in the UK to contribute to unearthing the next generation of creative industry leaders from disenfranchised backgrounds and empower them to break cycles of systemic inequalities they've experienced.He’s credited as executive producer for numerous independent feature films, including , The Man Who Invented Christmas, Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, Martin Scorsese's Silence and Joe Carnahan's Boss Level. An undeniably impressive career Wayne has built as a ‘problem solver in film procurement investment - a long way from DJ-ing around London as a young guy with only a deep interest and some skill in sound production.Some of his other key production credits include The Foreigner.THE FOREIGNER, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, is a timely action thriller from the director of “Casino Royale.” The film tells the story of humble London businessman Quan (Chan), whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love -- his teenage daughter -- is taken from him in a senseless act of politically-motivated terrorism.In his relentless search for the identity of the terrorists, Quan is forced into a cat- and-mouse conflict with a British government official (Brosnan), whose own past may hold clues to the identities of the elusive killers.It was really cool getting Wayne’s perspective on what he considers as the pillars of a successful film from a marketing POV to thrive in the current diluted and competitive marketplace. He points out that a great story, recognizable talent, and capital can determine a film’s success right out of the gate. I know it has not been smooth for a lot of indie filmmakers during these COVID times and I promise, there is something in this conversation for everyone because Wayne doesn't speak only from a marketing standpoint, but he understands extensively, the development, negotiating, and production structures of film financing are always an assuring point of sale for filmmakers.Enjoy my eye-opening conversation with Wayne Godfrey.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Let me introduce to you all, filmmaker and award-winning film-preneur, Greg Hemmings - Chief storyteller and CEO of Hemmings House Pictures limited.   I wanted to address the serious problem of verbal abuse interns and other crew persons face on film sets from directors, producers, or others in charge.Why would I invite a CEO to discuss this topic? Well, Gerg’s company, Hemmings House Pictures creates content that inspires positive action. Their essence is to spread kindness and positivity within the work environment and through the content they produce. One example is the heartfelt music film When You Are Wild: A Day in the Life of J. Willis Pratt, which shows the power of friendship and how a community rallied together to help one of their own.The moral model of Hemmings House Pictures is one that many in the industry can learn from. Hemmings has produced and directed countless documentaries, branded content, and commercials, featuring some of the most inspiring stories. One of which is his 2021 documentary, Sistema Revolution - a video case study that explores the impact that the Hemmings House Pictures documentary "Sistema Revolution" had on a community.Besides film and commercial production, Hemmings Film Pictures also curates courses to employ other filmmakers to create positive social change.  Without further ado, let’s get into it. Enjoy my conversation with Greg Hemmings.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Now, I was scanning the web the other day, and I came across a book about the making of Quentin Tarantino's first feature film. Quite fascinated that someone took the time to dig into the unreleased, My Best Friend's Birthday, which I've spoken about a bit on my podcast and also written a couple of articles about the film. So, as per usual, I invited the author, Andy Rausch to the show to talk a bit more about his book. Before this interview, I did not know that Andy has spent years interviewing other prominent industry names and has authored over forty non-fiction on specific works of established entertainment contributors. Writing forty books is no small feat.Some of Rausch’s publications include Turning Points in Film History (2004), The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro (2010), Making Movies with Orson Welles, a Gary Graver memoir, and Fifty Filmmakers: Conversations with Directors from Roger Avary to Steven Zaillian (2008).But today, l would like to get into the weeds on Rausch’s 2019, My Best Friend's Birthday: The Making of a Quentin Tarantino Film book, which is the story of a group of friends who set out to make their own movie in 1983, financing it with Tarantino’s minimum-wage earnings from his job at a video store. In most biographies and Tarantino histories, this unfinished $5,000 film is mentioned only in passing and is looked upon as little more than a curiosity. But with this oral history, author/editor Andrew J. Rausch details how each of the friends came together, other early film projects they worked on, and how they ended up making (or trying to make) a black-and-white screwball comedy.Check out the show notes below for links to some of Andy’s other books, all available on Amazon.Enjoy my chat with writer, Andy Rausch.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Let’s pivot a bit, shall we? I have with me today, entertainment triple threat, Iliza Shlesinger. The award-winning standup comedian, actor, writer, producer, and author, is one of the most natural entertainers there is, out here. The Girl Logic author has not allowed the pandemic to slow her down. She’s appeared in eight films between 2020 until now and executive produced her six-part series, The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show.  A secret world filled with absurd characters, insight into the female experience, and irreverent yet poignant social commentary. Shlesinger’s comedic genius has catalysized her very successful career - currently streaming five specials on Netflix, including her 2018 masterpiece, Elder Millennial which remains a top contender on Netflix’s 2021 best standup comedy specials list.Besides being known as a phenomenal comedian, Shlesinger shared more strength and fearlessness in her 2018 book Gil Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity to empower other women and girls. Girl Logic is a characteristically female way of thinking that appears contradictory and circuitous but is actually a complicated and highly evolved way of looking at the world. The fact is, whether you're obsessing over his last text or the most important meeting of your career, your Girl Logic serves a purpose: It helps push you, question what you want, and clarify what will make you a happier, better person. Girl Logic can be every confident woman's secret weapon, and this book shows you how to wield it.You can catch more of her on the Ask Iliza Anything - Podcast. Don’t you just love getting an extra dose of content from some of your favorite entertainers via podcasts? I know you do. That’s why you are here..Enjoy my entertaining conversation with Iliza Shlesinger.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

I've been working on a new podcast for sometime now. Introduction Next Level Soul. The podcast that asks the big questions about living, evolving and thriving in the world today. The show attempts to answer those questions by having candid and inspiring conversations with thought leaders from every walk of life.Global icon, musician, and animal rights activist, Moby(né, Richard Melville Hall) has lived many lives right before the gazes and judgment of the world. Self-discovery is a continual process that each time, when done right, unravels a new purpose and even newer challenges. This conversation is about the rise and fall of ego, fame, fortune, self-destruction, and eventually self-rediscovery and redemption.Moby came onto the entertainment scene with his 1991 single, ‘Go’ --- the start of a remarkable critical and commercial success. He went on to sell over 20 million records globally; especially with his 1999 album ‘Play’. In the interview, Moby describes the success of the PLAY album as unanticipated. Each track on the record was licensed to films, television shows, and commercials making it one of the most licensed albums in history.The accomplishments brought in a wave, and he rode it. Alcohol and drugs became part of that wave, even missing his mother’s funeral because he was passed out drunk in bed.Moby’s journey to healing, self-peace, and sobriety has not been all unicorns and rainbows. In spite of living the dream life and having the world at his feet, the peak of his career was a period when he suffered deep depression. He sought to turn the course of his fears into a vision of purpose. By, regaining control of his life - sobering up since 2008, finding spirituality that works for him, and crystalizing his imperfect, yet extraordinary life and career in his new documentary, Moby Doc.Moby doc is the creative, offbeat, wry, music-filled chronicle of an eventful life examined. filled with existential discussions, extraordinary concert footage, deep cuts from 30 years of moby’s music, unconventional narrative, quirky animation, rare clips, and thoughts from moby’s friend David Lynch, it’s a vibrant, eclectic conversation between a man and his past. as music and a commitment to veganism and animal rights guide him, moby delves into himself to share honestly what he’s gone through, what it might mean to others, how he turned confusion about life into the beauty of art…and why the answers to some of the deepest questions we can ask as human beings may not be found in the way we’re actually living.It was an honor to have this conversation with this remarkable artist and human being. Please, enjoy my sit-down with the iconic, Moby.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Our guest today, RJ Cutler opened up 2021 with his raw, emotional and remarkable new documentary Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry. He’s a phenomenal documentary and TV director and producer with nearly thirty years of experience in the business. The $2 million dollars documentary film which was directed, written, and produced by Cutler centered around singer-songwriter teen sensation and Grammy Award artist, Billie Eilish --- Revealing the creation process of Eilish's debut studio album ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’The very intimate telling of Eillish’s solid support system and family, navigating the ropes of the music fame as a young artist depicted unconventionally and astoundingly.From college, Cutler started off as a theater director in New York for nine years until he transitioned to filmmaking in 1993 with his debut film, The War Room. The film follows James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, at first during the New Hampshire primary, and then mostly in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the Clinton campaign headquarters. Producing the film, he was able to combine his journalism and theater directing backgrounds. It turned out to be a great success and earned an Oscar award.He’s taken on great subject matters and big presences in his documentaries; the likes of legendary John Belushi, Anna Wintour, or Dick Cheney.Belushi, released in 2020, examines the too-short life of comedian, actor and musician, John Belushi, original SNL cast member, using previously unheard audiotapes recorded shortly after John Belushi's death.Cutler credits his storytelling to the ability to connect the subject to the processes. People’s desire to have their story told, especially in documentaries, transcends the technicalities of making a documentary.Other well-known films or shows from Cutler are, The September Issue (2009), Thin (2006), and Dear… (2020)Dear... profiles game-changing icons and the people whose lives they’ve inspired.Inspired by Apple’s groundbreaking “Dear Apple” ad for the Apple Watch, Dear... is an inventive approach to biographies of the influential people who are shaping culture and society today using letters that fans have written to them. Dear... focuses on key moments from subjects’ lives and their work that has profoundly impacted not only the individuals who have written letters, but the world at large.All episodes are available to watch now on the Apple TV app with an Apple TV+ subscription.We talked a lot about Cutler's journey in the industry and how he landed the project to direct the first TELL ALL of the coolest 19-year-old in the US right now.Enjoy my enlightening conversation with RJ Cutler.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.