Industry Standard w/ Barry Katz

John Heffron is an American stand-up comedian, who is best known as the winner of the highest rated season of NBC’s hit reality competition "Last Comic Standing."   Heffron first took the stage at the University of Michigan campus’s Main Street Comedy showcase and soon found himself skipping night classes to pursue his passion. His first break was branching into FM radio, serving as Danny Bonaduce’s wingman on Detroit’s number one morning show. In the television world, he has made multiple appearances on "The Tonight Show," "Chelsea Lately," "The Late Late Show," HBO, FX, VH1, A&E, and CMT.  Additionally, John has taped two separate Comedy Central specials and has an hour special, “Middle Class Funny,” on Netflix. Heffron has also produced four albums, a best-selling advice book "I Come To You From The Future: Everything You’ll Need To Know Before You Know It,” and his latest special with Brad Paisley, “Comedy Rodeo,” which just launched on Netflix. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pat O'Brien is an american author, radio host, and legendary sportscaster. He worked at CBS sports from 1981 to 1997, as well as the anchor and host of Access Hollywood from 1997 to 2004, and The Insider from 2004 to 2008.   After graduating from college in 1970, he worked as a researcher at NBC News in Washington, D.C. and was a production assistant for the Huntley-Brinkley Report. He then served as an anchor and reporter in Chicago in 1977, and moved to KNXT-TV (now KCBS-TV) in Los Angeles where he earned four local Emmy awards.  He then went on to work for CBS sports where he covered the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA finals, and Final Four as a pregame host.   He also covered six Olympic games, wrote the book “Talkin' Sports: a B.S.-er's Guide,” and released a critically acclaimed autobiography entitled, “I'll Be Back Right After This”, in 2014. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik have been partners, while successfully writing and producing television together for close to 3 decades. David Crane is best known as the co-creator of the long-running series "Friends," which ran for 10 seasons and earned him numerous awards including an Emmy for outstanding comedy series.  Crane also co-created the classic HBO comedy "Dream On," for which he received an Emmy nomination for outstanding writing for a comedy series. Klarik’s respected writing credits include "Dream On," "Half & Half," and "Mad About You," the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe award and an Emmy nomination for his work. Together, they both created the critically acclaimed show "Episodes" with Matt Leblanc, which is currently in its 5th and final season on the Showtime network.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Steve Byrne has risen through the ranks of the comedy world to become one of the industry’s most innovative and sought-after performers.  He just released his 4th hour stand-up special entitled "Tell The Damn Joke." He has been seen on TBS’s "Conan," ABC’s "Jimmy Kimmel Live," CBS’s “The Late Late Show,” BET’s "Comic View," and has appeared on NBC’s "Tonight Show" a total of 10 times. Byrne also had the honor of opening for popular musical acts such as Kanye West and Mariah Carey. His film credits include the hit comedies "The Dilemma" and "Couples Retreat." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jim Marrs is an American journalist and JFK assassination expert.    He has worked for several Texas newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where, beginning in 1968, he served as police reporter and general assignments reporter covering stories locally, in Europe, and the Middle East.  In 1989, his book, "Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy", was published to critical acclaim and reached the New York Times paperback non-fiction best seller list in mid-February 1992. It became a basis for the Oliver Stone film "JFK" where Marrs served as a chief consultant for both the film’s screenplay and production. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sasheer Zamata is a comedian, film/TV actress & writer best known for her great work on "Saturday Night Live". She received improv and sketch training from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and performs stand-up at colleges, clubs and has appeared at prestigeous festivals like Montreal Just For Laughs, Bonnaroo, SXSW, Moontower, SD Sketchfest, Vodafone, Bridgetown, New York, Brooklyn, Limestone, Woodstock, North Carolina, Great American, and Women In Comedy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rikki Hughes is a veteran producer of comedy specials, award shows and independent features. She is currently the executive producer and showrunner of "Hood Adjacent with James Davis" for Comedy Central as well as HBO’s upcoming comedy special "All Def Comedy Series". In the past few years alone, Hughes has been the executive producer of "Dear Mama," a Mother’s Day special for VH1, "The ABFF Awards: A Celebration of Hollywood" for BET, and the highly anticipated comedy special on Netflix called "Dave Chappelle: Age of Spin." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Bart Baker is an American entertainer, web-based comedian, video producer and artist known for his short videos on Youtube, Vine and also Live.ly. He started his own Youtube channel in 2010 which quickly became a success through his parodies of music videos from famous artists. His parodies include Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and many others. Today, Bart is one of the top online influencers in the world with a YouTube following of over 12 million. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

DEBORAH AQUILA is one of the most renowned casting directors in Hollywood. She began in NYC with Steven Soderbergh's "Sex, Lies and Videotape" and Uli Edel's "The Last Exit to Brooklyn" before moving to L.A to cast "The Shawshank Redemption." After several years as the head of casting for Paramount, Aquila returned to the independent casting world with Sam Raimi's "The Gift," starring Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves, and Katie Holmes, and "What Women Want," directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Mel gibson and Helen Hunt. Her credits also include "La La Land," "The Expendables," "Dexter," "The Shield," "Now You See Me 2," "Live Free or Die Hard," "Crank," and "The Underworld" series. Aquila has been recognized 15 times by the Casting Society of America, winning three Artios awards. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

PATTY JENKINS is an award winning writer/director, best known recently for directing the highest grossing film by a woman in history ("Wonder Woman") and for her debut feature “Monster,” based on the life of convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos.  The film was named best first feature by the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards, one of the ten best films of the year by the AFI, and # 3 film of the decade by critic Roger Ebert.   The movie also earned star Charlize Theron an Oscar, Golden Globe, SAG award, and numerous critics awards in the best actress category for her stunning performance. Jenkins has also directed a plethora of TV, including the Emmy award winning Fox series “Arrested Development," HBO’s "Entourage,” and was nominated for an Emmy and won the DGA award for helming the TV pilot of “The Killing." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.