This week’s guest on the Imperfect Podcast is Jenny Frankfurt who is the founder of the Finish Line Script Competition currently in its third year. The Finish Line Script Competition is based on the premise that rewrites are essential to be a successful writer. The panel of judges provides development notes when requested in order for writers to rewrite and resubmit new drafts for free throughout the entire script competition.
Rather than submitting your script and hoping for the best, the Finish Line Script Competition acts as a partner to up and coming writers with feedback from their mentors that have worked in every aspect of the film and television industry. The competition essentially echoes the reality of the business. Writers that work for a studio or even sell a feature film based on their script will go through a number of rewrites based on criticism and feedback.
The Finish Line Script Competition is essential for any writer that wants honest feedback and takes their craft seriously enough to bring it to the next level.
A literary agent and manager with her own company, Highstreet Management based in Los Angeles for many years
Jenny went to NYU Film School but mainly about writing on the job
Reading countless scripts and books she would break down scripts for talent agents
All that experience led her to know what worked and what didn’t work
The Finish Line Script Competition Is Born
After burning out on management Jenny wanted to continue working with writers
There are many script competitions out there but they don’t provide notes until the very end
Jenny wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before which included the rewrites and feedback from mentors
Through her contacts she knew she access to a lot of talent to create the panel of mentors which proved to be valuable
As a reader for other competitions she would often say “If only this person had gotten really good notes before entering the competition.”
As writers submit new drafts they continue to work with the same script consultant on their rewrites
How Did You Get The Word Out About The Finish Line Script Competition
Budgets were small and they used Twitter and Facebook to start spreading the word its first year
Because of its unique twist and 25 mentors on board they received 300 submissions in year one
In its second year the competition grew by 500%
What Type Of Scripts Are Accepted
TV Pilots and Screenplays are both accepted
Writers can submit and not ask for notes for a smaller fee
Scripts that are over 135 pages there is an additional fee for notes
Each script is read by 3 people so there’s a balance of taste
Have You Had Any Success Stories From Past Winners
Last years winner was a TV Pilot called Sugarland by R.B. Ripley
He’s taken over 30 meetings and now has a producer attached to the script
Who Are The Mentors?
There are over 30 mentors this year from all over the world that mentor and take meetings with the winning writers.
Steven Rogers – Writer/Producer of the award-winning film “I, Tonya” starring Margot Robbie and Allison Janney.
Colin Vaines – Co-producer of “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” starring Annette Bening. Previously produced “The Gangs of New York” directed by Martin Scorsese.
Michael Andreen – Producer, “Master & Commander“, “The Day After Tomorrow“.
Karen Lunder – Senior Film Exec at Imagine Entertainment, Lunder recently oversaw production on the upcoming “The Spy Who Dumped Me” starring Kate McKinnon.
Joey Chavez – Sr. VP, Original Programming at TNT (“Animal Kingdom”,“The Alienist”, “Claws”).
Christine Conley – Director of Development, Working Title Television. Produced “Gypsy”at Netflix & “About a Boy”at NBC.
Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas – President, Nuyorican Productions & Goldsmith-Thomas Productions who used to be Julia Roberts agent and now producers for Jennifer Lopez and Halle Berry.
Advice to Screenwriters
This is your calling card and a way for people to know you
Do you research and put the time in
Your effort matters including the formatting on the page
It lets people know you’re taking it seriously and that you put the work in
We are back from the American Film Market in sunny Santa Monica, California where we spent three days learning, pitching and meeting the film industries biggest players from around the world. The American Film Market hosts one of the industries biggest events for film makers, screenwriters and distributors. We also interviewed 8 film industry heavy hitters.
Our #1 tip for success at the American Film Market is preparation. Setup your meetings in advance, don’t wait for the last minute to schedule them because the likelihood of getting into a meeting without an appointment is very low. Even if you have an appointment the odds of it being on time may dwindle the later you wait to make that meeting. Not only do you have to prepared to schedule meetings with buyers and distributors, you have to be prepared with your pitch. You need to be professional and have a plan and understand why your film may be saleable and even more importantly what aspects of your film may not be saleable.
Tip #2 for success at the American Film Market is having a completed project. Nobody wants to hear about your concept or idea. Everyone has ideas. Distributors won’t even touch you if you don’t have a completed production. Screenwriters need completed scripts. Networking and building relationships take time. If you’re a first time filmmaker, nobody is going to hand you a check after a 15 minute pitch meeting. If they do, we’d love to hear about it on our podcast!
Interviews at the American Film Market
Pilar Alessandra
Creator of On The Page Script Consultation Company. Pilar is the director of the screenwriting and TV writing program On the Page®, host of the popular On the Page Podcast and author of the top-selling book “The Coffee Break Screenwriter. She was at AFM as the moderator of the Pitch Conference for the 2nd year in a row. The Pitch Conference at AFM was eye opening to us. If you’re a screenwriter her podcast is invaluable.
We submitted our pitch for Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire and while we weren’t selected to pitch live, we learned how to craft and deliver a pitch for the meetings we were about to take.
Alex Ferrari
Filmmaker and Creator of Indie Film Hustle. Alex shares what he’s learned over the years as a writer, director, producer and post production/VFX supervisor. We were excited to finally meet Alex in person after having him as a guest on our podcast. Alex was more than generous with his time and shared a ton of insights with us. Look for his interview with AFM Director Jonathan Wolf on Indie Film Hustle.
Jason is a Los Angeles based movie distribution executive specializing in direct to consumer distribution strategies. He is the Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Distribber. Jason is also the founder of Filmmaking Stuff, a professional resource for independent filmmakers and provides tips on screenwriting, producing, crowdfunding, directing, movie marketing and film distribution.
Branscombe Richmond
A Native American actor, stuntman and singer most known for his role in Renegade with Lorenzo Lamas. Branscombe stands at 6′ 3″ and has been on the receiving end of the fists of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985), gotten pummeled by Carl Weathers in Action Jackson (1988) and tangled with Steven Seagal in Hard to Kill (1990). At the American Film Market we saw a different while he was there to represent the Southern Kentucky Film Commission.
The most fun about meeting Branscombe is that he is long time friends with Marshall Teague who was on our show as well. Check out our Interview with Marshall Teague.
Susan Yang
General Manager of Shanghai Pusheng Translation Co. Susan was there as a translator helping a producer navigate the film market.
Paul Ayre
Paul has been writing and creating comedy for 15 years now and has worked with some of the biggest names in comedy – including Jeff Goldblum, SketchShe and toured with The Umbilical Brothers through Germany, Denmark, Austria, Slovenia and Sweden. He won the biggest prize in webseries history: $70,000 for The Justice Lease in which he acted, wrote and produced. We caught up with Paul at the pitch conference where he delivered one of the most animated pitches at the AFM. Check out his work at http://severecomedy.com
Sean Crayne
Sean was another dynamic presenter at the AFM Pitch Conference where he asked the audience “Would you kill for fame?” For more on Sean and his film Twisted check out https://www.twistedthefilm.com/home. Sean also organized an indie horror filmmaker meetup on Saturday night which was a great place to meet other like minded filmmakers.
Mike Lippert
Michael Lippert is an Ontario-based Writer/Director/Producer. He was at the AFM shopping his debut feature film called Expecting. Mike had a great story to share about how managed to get Lloyd Kaufman to do a cameo in his film.
Mark Belasco
Mark is the Vice President of Sales & Acquisition at Adler & Associates Entertainment. They pride themselves on being a true indie company, one with a risk-taking spirit and an unbiased eye for new talent from around the globe. If you’re an indie filmmaker looking for distribution and a true partner we recommend a conversation with Adler & Associates Entertainment.
Share Your American Film Market Experiences
If you’ve attended the American Film Market and want to share your story, tell us in the comments. If you have questions about AFM and whether or not its right for you give us a shout on Twitter or Facebook and we will answer anything you want to know!
Have a question for our guests on this episode of the Imperfect Podcast? Leave it in the comments and we’ll make sure they answer it for you.
Director, writer, producer, cinematographer this week’s guest has done it all. Dimi Nakov is a filmmaker’s filmmaker. This New Zealander is making a big splash in the indie film community. Dimi is a multi award winning filmmaker with a diverse body of work.
Talking to Dimi couldn’t have been a better way to kick off our next season of interviews. He runs a popular Facebook group called the FilmMakers Generation Next. He’s filled with tons of inspiration. We talked about mental health and film making and his body of work that started in music videos. We hope you enjoy the interview with Dimi as much as we did and learn more about seizing your opportunities for yourself. Listen for free or read the show notes below.
Where did your passion for filmmaking come from?
I didn’t realize it until later but I got involved with photographer when I was young. My grandfather was a mathematics teacher but also conducted photography workshops for his older students. I studied with him for 1 or 2 years sneaking into his workshops during the early 1990’s. Photography was still manual and gave me a Zenit camera that belonged to my dad.
I used to take photos of my sister and brother and process them in the dark room. What was amazing that you don’t see with digital, just like animation the photo paper starts changing color and becomes this picture I took months ago. It’s unreal. Those experiences stuck with me.
Photograhy didn’t stick and I went on to appreciate movies with Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris and when I moved to New Zealand I studied film and television at the University of Auckland. 2 years I didn’t even finish the undergrad degree. I was a B student and to graduate with a degree you have to have better marks. I have trouble reading big passages and was much more prone to read things like comics.
After that I decided to go to South Seas Film & Television School where I had to choose between documentaries and drama. I chose documentary because it fit with my personality and I’m able to get my subjects to relax and open up with conversation.
How did you transition to music videos?
Before I moved to Czech Republic I was a DJ in Bulgaria for years. I love music. I’m not a musician but I love rhythm and music. When I was in New Zealand and finished school doing odd jobs as a production assistant or cable operator I decided to do music videos because they are fun and quick to produce. If the rhythm of the music grabs me most times I’ll be willing to do it for free. Plus it helped build my portfolio with diverse work.
Where did the idea for FilmMakers Generartion Next (FGN Inc.) Come From?
I finished film school in late 2008 and I didn’t know anybody except my classmates so I created a group to keep in touch. My idea was that there was always going to be a next generation of filmmakers. Almost a decade later it’s probably one of the top 5 independent film making groups on Facebook with almost 40k members.
FGN Inc Mission Statement: We Support EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & MENTAL HEALTH in Film/TV Industry & Beyond. ?#SupportIndieFilm FOR A POSITIVE FUTURE. Changing The World One Message At a Time.
How did you develop your mission statement for FGN Inc?
That wasn’t the idea from the start. It only happened only in the last year and a half. I was going through a rough patch personally, some projects were just stuck and I know that I’m capable of more and nothing was happening. Some people may think this message is overstated but it’s very important, especially for mental health.
Mental health is the first thing that will determine your level of creativity and productivity. If your mental health declines, creativity and productivity declines. It’s equation doesn’t break or lie. It’s something that determines our quality of life personally and professionally. Originally I started collecting quotes to motivate myself, to not get into the dangerous wheel of self-doubt and fear which is suffocating and difficult to get out of.
The quotes started piling up after a year and a half I decided to create an Instagram account to only post quotes. That was the kickstart to creating the blog that’s for a positive future. Only quotes was good but it’s not enough.
I wasn’t a prolific writer and reader so I always had that fear that my writing wasn’t good enough. In my early stages I only directed and produced. Even if the story was by me, somebody else wrote because I thought it just wouldn’t be good enough, or laughable. I decided to find somebody and get together to start writing because there are so many ideas I have especially in the topic of SciFi where I want to explore the human condition , the technology that surrounds us. The good and the bad side of the interactions with that technology and artificial intelligence.
I’m a director and want to pursue directing first and foremost. I teamed up with another passionate storyteller and actress Jean M. Who also felt she wanted to develop her screenwriting skills while pursuing acting. So together we started pushing each other forward. Like anything in life there is no straight path. We want to master the writing in a genre that we feel passionate about which will ensure our longevity in producing when we are not getting paid for it.
What is the system of writing you developed?
As an exercise we take existing intellectual property, Spiderman for example, where you take the main characters and what they do, the genre and a brief synopsis. Then you take it all and flip it upside down. If it’s a male character you make them female. If the character is younger you make them older. If it’s SciFi you make it a horror or a comedy. When we are turning projects upside down like we try to choose project we can turn into a SciFi. We generate ideas this way and determine which ones we want to make and work on it for a few months without even chasing a page count.
To make it even more interesting, I go on my cell phone on IMDB and pick a list of movies. I scroll down and just push my finger and choose where it stops just like Wheel of Fortune. We have over 20 ideas at the moment. Ideas are everywhere around us and you just have to seize the opportunity.
That’s another reason I created FGN, because I was asking for opportunities from others and I wasn’t creating them myself. I decided to create opportunities for myself and stop asking for permission or waiting for somebody else to see the potential in me. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask or be shy about. There’s so many talented people out there willing to help but you shouldn’t be waiting for it.
What was your experience at the Cannes Film Festival like?
Blind Side was a short film that depicts mental and physical abuse that happens behind closed doors in middle class environments. A young girl and her mom who is divorced finds a new man in her life that is sinister and bad. That’s where things start to go wrong and there’s nothing anyone can do unless the victim finds a way to speak out. Mental and physical abuse victims think they will be able to fix the problem before they may speak because they fear embarrassment or worse.
We created the film that was accepted to Cannes Film Festival. I was lucky enough to have friends and family that helped me get there for the duration of the festival. I know there wouldn’t be many options at that stage of my career. It was surreal seeing all the filmmakers and
I came home with many business cards and pamphlets and attended all the workshops. A few months before, you need to start communicating with people setting up meetings and workshops. I was busy every day from morning until night. I didn’t have time to party at all.
What is your movie ARA about ?
ARA is a very interesting project. Actually I started writing in 2012 and shooting some footage in 2013 with no budget. I tried to finish it in post-production but there are a lot of VFX. We are now looking for ways to get it finished. I encourage film makers not to listen to the little fears in the back of their mind.
I really believe in the story. A smart film maker would not make a feature with so many VFX as their first feature. Obviously I’m not one of those smart film makers so that’s why I’m stuck with it?
How do you feel about AR in film making?
You can imagine how I feel what I was thinking to be in the movie is actually happening 4 years later. We can feel these things and are very lucky. Imagination is one of the perks we have as a species. All of us have the talent of creativity and storytelling. It’s just nurturing it.
This week’s Imperfect Podcast guest is Manon de Reeper, who is the Editor in Chief and founder of independent film magazine Film Inquiry. Manon is also a screenwriter currently shopping her Screencraft Fellowship quarter finalist MORAL TREATMENT. She has two academic degrees and currently lives in beautiful Perth, Australia. Starting as her own personal blog, Film Inquiry has grown to having over 100 contributors.
Film Inquiry is an independent, crowd-funded magazine with which purposefully steers away from the current online journalism trends of meaningless click bait. Instead you’ll find long-form reviews and articles, as well as in-depth resources that are interesting to cinephiles and filmmakers. Film Inquiry also supports women and minorities in film and behind the camera.
Since December ’16, Film Inquiry is a Rotten Tomatoes approved publication and all of our reviews are counted towards their tomato-meter. To support Film Inquiry, you can join the Film Inquiry Society that will grant you complete access to all of their archives, as all posts older than 30 days (aside from a few freebies) are locked. Once a member, all the content is ads-free. Members also get a 10% discount to the Film Inquiry shop, and more.
Watch How To Get Your Independent Film Reviewed by Film Inquiry
Interview Highlights with Manon de Reeper Editor in Chief of Film Inquiry
How did Film Inquiry get started?
I founded Film Inquiry as my own personal film blog where I was doing my own amateurish film reviews. I had just graduated from university and was doing some research while studying criminology. It’s still the most geeky thing ever, where I studied how a science fiction film effected the future effects of real life policies.
It was the best time of my life and I wanted to keep doing it because I always wanted to do film. Film was my biggest passion but friends and family recommended I not go to film school but I ended up making everything about film anyway.
I moved to Australia with my partner and he got a job here and I was hoping that I’d be able to do something with my criminology degree and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. I’m not one to sit still so it was my chance to jump into the whole film thing.
People liked the blog and I wanted to involved more people so we could do more. The ball started rolling in early 2014. Every since, we’ve been steadily publishing. I don’t want to publish too much because I get too overwhelmed with how some of these magazines push out content. We want to keep the content schedule minimal but the actual articles bigger. It gives us the opportunity to go more in depth and explore one film more. More and more people are joining us to write.
People have told me they are pretty disillusioned with the current online film journalism. We really want to be able to talk about film in a context more than Marvel’s easter eggs. It’s fun and more people are picking up on it. I’m stoked an excited that all the hard work is paying off.
How do you decided which films you write about?
Honestly, at this point I have the luxury of having a team of 100 people so I have a combined amount of a time. I personally don’t review many films anymore. I’m trying to get a YouTube series going for myself but even choosing the films I’m going to watch every day is becoming a challenge. It’s starting to get so busy but I feel like I have this responsibility to watch movies.
What does a typical day as editor in chief at Film Inquiry look like?
I have to say I set it up pretty smoothly. What I do is coordinate when film makers ask us to review films, then I make sure that my team knows this film is available for review. They let me know if they want to review it, I request the screener, send it to them, they write the review and it’s reviewed by a few editors. I’m always the final review before publishing. We have a pretty strict schedule we adhere to so I make sure all the time slots are filled in. For general feature articles, its mostly all the writers pitching their good ideas. It’s a lot of work but it’s also fun.
Where does your love of films come from?
My Dad was very much into films and my Mom too actually. They would always take me to the movies. For instance, on Christmas we wouldn’t go to church, we’d go to the movies. That was our thing and it just stuck with me throughout life. I started exploring film myself when I got a little older.
What was the first article published on Film Inquiry?
I think it was a review of the film Elysium, by the South African director Neil Blomkamp. Everyone was raging on how incredibly poor it was and I thought it was pretty good. I wrote a little essay on how the criminological aspects of it were interesting.
How does your degree in criminology influence your writing?
It definitely taught me to look further than just the actor’s performances or the visuals. I always want to explore the idea of the film more. What are the film makers trying to tell us. We learn so much from film. Most of the situations these characters find themselves in, we wouldn’t ever find ourselves in. Seeing those things it teaches us a lot about life.
The way a camera is used and how a scene is framed adds to an idea. If you shoot someone from below, it elevates the person and adds meaning.
What is your screenplay Moral Treatment about?
I wrote a story influenced by academic background. It’s about a woman who is a British Royal set in the late 1800’s. It’s a Victorian era script. She has the privilege of receiving education in the UK and is married off to a rich guy in the US, an industrialists son. She starts to work at a local asylum because she’s a psychiatrist. It’s quite fascinating to me because there are so many terrible horror films set in these type of asylums. I wanted to do the opposite and give a very realistic portrayal of mental health and how these people were treated back then.
How does it differ from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?
In a way, it was quite influenced by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I personally really love that one because it’s a realistic portrayal of mental illness and what a mental hospital was like back then. It does have a big twist in the end like Moral Treatment does. I say it’s a mix between One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Shutter Island.
Is Moral Treatment your first screenplay?
No it wasn’t but it’s the first one I fully completed and edited. It was a challenge for me specifically how do you get into the mindset of writing. You need to put a lot of creative energy into writing which I did for 30 days. If you don’t keep at it every day, it’s easy to get out of that again. I adapted the National Writing Novel Month for my own needs. I was traveling and working during that time but because I had this goal of writing 3 pages a day, which is doable, I finished writing 90 pages in that month and had 30 pages before that. If you’re just focused on writing you don’t have the time to go back and edit it constantly.
Watch Manon’s video on “How I Wrote a Script in One Month”
I had seen the deadline for the Screencraft contest and gave myself that concrete goal. It was my first complete script and I wasn’t thinking I would ever win. Considering there were over 2000 submissions I was completely stoked to have made it to the quarter finals. It doesn’t even matter how good your screenplay is at that point. It’s more like a game of luck because there are so many people that submit great work. I still think there may be an audience for my script and winning one contest isn’t going to win you the Hollywood game.
What did you learn as Editor in Chief of Film Inquiry?
I learned it’s more about the people you know. I feel for the people that believe they need to win a contest to make it because that’s not the way it works. I’m in Perth Australia and trying to get to know people in Hollywood. Film Inquiry has definitely helped with that in a very casual way. Knowing people is the most important thing.
How can film makers get coverage at Film Inquiry?
Everyone can send their request to [email protected] and I will always put their requests in front of the team. It’s up to the team whether they pick it or not. It happens sometimes that nobody is interested. We also cannot guarantee a positive review.
I try to put everything out there. There is an audience for every film so I don’t filter it. I offer it up to my team for them to decide.
This episode of the Imperfect Podcast, we interview Juliette Miranda who is host of The Unwritable Rant podcast. The Unwritable Rant features storytelling, celebrity interviews, and bourbon. Lots of bourbon. She was kind enough to give us a quick review of Russell’s Reserve 10 Year bourbon during to kick off the interview. We get into her cast of characters featured in her stories like The Jackass, The Pinball Wizard and The Warden.Juliette is also the author of the book Morning Neurosis. Morning Neurosis is a mostly true story about rock ‘n roll, relationships, and reality.
Juliette is also a smooth operator when it comes to interviews. Her southern charm has been winning over audiences with conversational style of interviewing musicians, actors and authors. This past year Juliette interviewed actors and musicians such as Eric Roberts, Charlie Daniels, Ed Begley Jr. and Don McLean to name a few.
Featured character in the upcoming Snug Comics graphic novel “The Kindred” released in February
Appearing on “The Joey Canyon” show on Comcast/DirecTV in the coming months
Recently released the second best-of interview collection, featuring Eric Roberts, Charlie Daniels & more
Watch the full interview with Author Juliette Miranda
How’s that bourbon you’re having tonight?
First I gotta take a sip. This is a genius bourbon. It truly is. I’m having Russell’s Reserve 10 Year. It’s got this smokey sort of flavor to it with a little bit of vanilla and it’s so smooth. It’s from the Wild Turkey family which is surprising because necessarily associate a really high quality bourbon with Wild Turkey. This stuff, aged 10 years and so awesome!
[bctt tweet=”Writing is a big passion of mine. Hemingway, Fitzgerald those are my idols.” username=”hecklerkaneinc”]
When did you start writing?
I’ve been writing since birth I think. It’s always been a part of my life, whether it’s journaling or telling stories to friends.
What was the inspiration for your book Morning Neurosis?
It’s based on my experiences living in Los Angeles, working in the music industry and the events that let me back to Chicago. I say they’re mostly true stories because I had to change a few of the details to make sure it made sense. For the most part they are all things that have happened to me. It’s kind of like my podcast in book form.
Have you used your book as inspiration for podcasts episodes?
No, not at all. Some of the characters in the book have appeared in other stories on the podcast, but the book stands alone. I wouldn’t want to repeat the stories for people who’ve bought the book or want to buy the book. I like to keep separation there.
I can tell you that hair bands were having a moment. I was doing a little bit of everything. I went out there assuming I was going to be the next big thing on MTV and that never really happened. As a writer I was able to find tons of gigs. Writing rock reviews for magazines. Then I wound up doing publicity for a couple of record labels. I did PA jobs in TV. Whatever I could get my hands on to try.
Ultimately after being there for 7 years, I had been laid off from 7 different jobs. I hit a wall where nothing was working for me. That’s what brought me back to Chicago. I had opportunities out here that I didn’t have in Los Angeles.
Is there a hidden tape you auditioning to be an MTV VJ ?
I do a lot of commercial work here in Chicago. If you’re watching late night TV you can see me in some random late night spots. One day you’ll be watching late night cable at 2am and be like, “I know that chick.”
Where were you born with a pen?
I was actually born in Chicago in the south suburbs. Everyone thinks I’m a southern gal but the closest I’ve come is the south side of the burbs. We spent so much time in the south though. I practically lived in New Orleans for a while. We’re in Nashville a couple months out of every year. It’s a place that I’m very familiar with.
What’s the theme song for the Unwritable Rant podcast?
He’s an independent artist. That one particular song is so New Orleans. It really sets up the vibe for the show. Just kick back and ease into this great conversation.
[bctt tweet=”I would kill for some gumbo right about now.” username=”@hecklerkaneinc”]
Tell us about your latest flambé incident in the kitchen?
I love cooking and I have had success doing it. I’m a good cook but the stories that are the most fun are the ones where things don’t turn out the way you want them to. With that particular story I went in with the best of intentions thinking that I was going to make this New Orleans style flaming Cajun shrimp dish. I was ready. I had my lighter with the pot sizzling in front of me. For whatever reason, those stupid shrimp would not catch on fire. It was one of the most frustrating things I’d ever been through.
I had this lighter in my hand, sloshing Cognac into the dish hoping that something would catch on fire. Finally, my guy had to wedge this thing out of my hands asking me to back away.
[bctt tweet=”I went to a casino and one of my exes was the dealer!” username=”hecklerkaneinc”]
His name was “The Jackass.” He earned that name
Give us a rundown of your cast of characters?
There is ‘The Jackass’ there’s the ‘Pinball Wizard’ and ‘The Warden’ and I have a new character coming up called ‘The Crazy Blonde.’ She was the one who accompanied me in the episode where we did that scavenger hunt with the Pinball Wizard.
How long have you been podcasting?
With 70+ episodes of The Unwritable Rant that puts me at about a year and halfish.
What was the inspiration for launching the Unwritable Rant?
It was two things. For starters I was feeling frustrated as a writer. The way the publishing industry works right now is that it’s incredibly hard. It doesn’t matter that I’ve already released one book. People aren’t reading the same way that they used to. Books aren’t being published the way that they used to. Creatively I was feeling a bit stifled.
My guy and I were sitting on the driveway having some cocktails and we were listening to Bill Burr. He’s my favorite comedian on the planet. His podcast was just so cool. It’s laid back and conversational. I’m thinking I can totally do that. I looked at my guy and said let’s give it a shot. He had some gear that we could use and we went from there.
Did you have a cocktail on your first episode?
Yeah, I did it on my first podcast just because I thought it would loosen me up a little bit. I was drinking it throughout the episode. I like bourbon and I like talking about it and I liked the way it lent itself to the conversational aspect of the show. If you listen to the shows please don’t listen to the first episode but if you do you’ll hear that it’s kind of rambling and crazy. They develop as they go along. We’re sitting down, having a drink and telling stories. I think it flows really well.
[bctt tweet=”My goal all along is to make it feel familiar.” username=”hecklerkaneinc”]
Who was your first interview?
That was my producer’s idea. He thought it might bring in some new listeners and it might be a cool thing for me. We initially started talking to people who had written books. My first interview was with Gary Wright who sang the song Dream Weaver. He also wrote a book about his relationship with George Harrison of The Beatles. From there we started targeting other authors.
After him came A.E. Hotchner who was Ernest Hemingway’s best friend. That is hands down my favorite interview. Talking with someone who went to Spain with Hemingway, who went to bull fights with him. Who has a book dedicated to him by Hemingway. He’s the man. Then we started expanding. We started talking to musicians and actors and it just became its own entity.
What got you into film?
When I was living in Los Angeles I did a bunch of work in production. I was a PA in a couple of different movie sets. I worked with a couple of different directors as a personal assistant. I’ve always liked the process of making movies and I love the creativity of it. It’s all about storytelling in the end. Movies are just another way to do that.
What are your top 3 movies of all time?
Number 1 would have to be Midnight in Paris, the Woody Allen movie. It’s beautiful, set in the 1920’s and it’s got Ernest Hemingway in it and Fitzgerald. Beyond that I am a huge horror movie fan. I like the weird messed up horror movies, like the 1970’s exploitation style ones. Maybe the original Last House on the Left. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original is great. This is going to sound really weird after saying that but I love The Muppet Movie.
If you could interview anyone living or past who would it be and why?
I gotta say that would be Jim Henson. He was such an innovator. He came up with something that is beloved by people. What I love about The Muppets so much is that they’re kinda like regular people. They’re wacky, they’re crazy, they’re snarky and a little mean sometimes. It’s the best combination, with such heart at the same time. Just the legacy that he left behind, I would love to hear his inspiration right from him.
You might also like our interview with Director David Bousquet
What was your experience like interviewing actor Eric Roberts?
It was crazy. Going into interviews where you’re talking to someone you’ve admired, whose work you’ve watched for decades, it’s a little daunting at first. He’s such a nice guy, open and friendly that you can just roll with the conversation. The moment I had to just pause and picky my jaw off the floor is when he did his character from Pope of Greenwich Village. He did this quick impression of him.
It was so incredible to know that I was talking to this guy and he’s telling me his stories. He’s telling me how he created this character. It’s moments like that where all the hard work, all the hours spent prepping for these interviews that just makes it all worthwhile.
What’s the reason for sharing so many of your personal stories with your audience?
It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there that way. I think it initially started off as therapy for me. My book kind of was. I was trying to work out the details of a really messed up relationship and I did a lot of that through writing the book. Now it’s just fun.
Michael Price is an Emmy Award winning writer and producer. Michael is best known for his work on The Simpsons where he joined the team in 2002 and is also a co-executive producer. Curious who Michael’s favorite Simpsons character to write for is? Understanding what it’s like to write and produce an animated series was a great learning experience for us.
We discuss how Michael landed his sweet gig at the Simpsons, growing up in New Jersey and his favorite childhood cartoons. Following up on his success with The Simpsons, Michael was tapped for the wildly popular Lego Star Wars animated TV Series. Installments include The Yoda Chronicles, The Empire Strikes Out and Droid Tales. Striking a chord with fans young and old, Michael has proven he has is one of the great comedic writers of our time.
Michael Price Writer for F is For Family Starring Bill Burr on Netflix
Michael partnered with comedic mainstay Bill Burr for his latest project F is For Family. Together they created the animated series, available now on Netflix. Finding a home on Netflix makes sense with its built in audience of Bill Burr fans from his exclusive stand-up specials.
Watching F is for Family is a reminder of a simpler yet more complicated time. The show takes place in 1973 and is beaming with its roots in classic comedy. F is For Family also stars Justin Long as the 14 year old stoner misguided son. Laura Dern stars as the lovely house wife who’s appearance of happiness to the world is merely a cover-up for her unfulfilled dreams.
Look out for Season 2 of F is Family coming to Netflix soon!
We talk everything movies with blogger and author Clint Harrington of the popular movie blog Clintington on Film. Clint turned his blog into a book called Growing Up Movies where he discusses his experiences growing up with his family watching iconic movies such Ghostbusters. For anyone that grew up in the 80s and 90s, it’s a nostalgic look at movies in an era when family entertainment was accessible. While reading his book you’ll realize how similar your memories of these movies may be and how movies were responsible for bringing the family together.
Interview Highlights with Author Clint Harrington
When Did You Start Clintington on Film?
Started in January 2014
Clint always wanted to be a writer growing up and idolized Stephen King growing up.
He was taken by the story ‘The Body’ which as we all know and love ‘Stand By Me.”
Meeting independent author Matt Russo was a turning point. He said that if you’re going to start a blog and try and develop a platform you have to write about things that you love.
“You have to have a passion behind the things that you love and I gotta tell you guys I love movies.”
Watching Movies With Your Kids
Clint’s son wasn’t even born and he was thinking about what movies to show him
“Maybe 2 months into the pregnancy and I’m already thinking okay, when can I show him E.T., when can we watch the trilogy. I’m probably gonna have to wait on the Godfather a little bit but not too long.”
He’s waiting on Goonies until his son has a bigger group of friends so he can experience it better.
Favorite Movies
I love to quote Mel Brooks when I’m asked about my favorite movies.
I always think of the movies that impacted me and Ghostbusters was that first movie really when I was growing up that was like I finally was allowed to be an adult.
Clint thinks the Ghostbusters reboot wasn’t even close to what the original could be and I think it’s unfair to expect it to be.
“I really like gangster movies but a comedy would have to be in there just because the amount of respect I have for people that attempt comedy. Comedy is so hard to do.
He has a ton of respect for people that are good at comedy. Kevin Smith is one of his favorites.
Blazing Saddles is one his favorite Mel Brooks movies.
For Clint Ghostbusters is 1a and The Godfather is 1b.
Growing Up Movies
Clint grew up in what he likes to call Morman-ville USA. It’s a Southeast Idaho and its land of the Mormons.
He grew up Lutheran which made them the rebels of a town like that.
They wanted to be everything opposite of Mormon, which kind of led to underage drinking every now and then and those kinds of things.
Clint used to criticize his parents for how conservative they were but blogging brings back memories and he realized they weren’t that bad. They let him see a lot of things probably earlier than he should. He saw JAWS at the age of 8.
My Cousin Vinny will be appearing on his blog and if it shows up on my blog he liked it.
He goes on to say actor Fred Gwynne’s (aka Herman Musnster) performance is one of the greatest performances by a supporting actor he’s ever seen.
Marisa Tomei earned the Academy Award. It’s one of the best performances in decades for from a woman.
Clint goes on to praise actor Joe Pesci for his roles in ‘JFK’, ‘My Cousin Vinny’ & ‘Lethal Weapon 2’
“Joe Pesci in ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ I mean they don’t even have an Academy Award for how good that performance was. He stole the show across from Glover and Gibson. He stole the show. Every scene he’s in your like I can’t wait for Pesci to get back into the scene.”
Screenwriting and Being an Indie Author
He wrote a screenplay and I couldn’t find anyone to make it and didn’t think it would ever get made so Clint converted it to a novel.
The novel is called Get Back. It’s a romantic comedy for a coming-of-age adult. He says it’s also about college relationship angst. The lead character is a guy who has been with the same woman for about seven years and then she ups and leaves right before they’re about to graduate. She’s just out of his life like that. He’s coming to terms with how to move on. It’s about loss and how he’s going to get back on with his life basically.
Growing Up Movies is a compilation of the blog Clintington on Film.
He wanted to make the book free but Amazon won’t let you.
The book includes 89 movies from the 80s and earlier films like Butch Cassidy and that he watched with his parents
He’s planning on doing the 90s and that would be called ‘Growing into Movies’.
“I was 13 or 14 in the early 90s and then I later went into college through the 90s. Don’t get me wrong I love the 80s but the 90s for me?! Some of my movies that I have on my top ten from the 90s they’ll always be in my top 10. I probably have 5 movies on that I just watch over and over again. Like ‘Pulp Fiction’ was in ’94 and that changed everything for me.”
Advice on starting a blog
“You have to love what you’re writing about. That passion is going to be that fuel for you to keep going and even I have some nights where I’m like I don’t know if I want to write about that movie just yet and it’s kind of like well I’m trying to do these in order but I’m not ready to do that one yet.”
I held off on the Godfather for a long time because it had to be right. That movie had to be right. But Ghostbusters I jumped in earlier on that one. I wrote til like 4am I was like I’m doing it, I don’t care like I have to say this about this.
Download the Interview with Indie Film Blogger Ruth Hill
We are lucky to have the opportunity to interview indie film supporter and blogger Ruth Hill. She is a single mother of a 13-year-old girl and lives in Yelm, WA, the Seattle/Tacoma area. She’s a substitute teacher, singer, film and television show reviewer, blogger, writer and interviewer. She runs the blog MyDevotionalThougts.net which started back in 2009. You can reach her on twitter @RuthHill74.
Watch the Interview with Indie Film Blogger Ruth Hill
Highlights from the Ruth Hill interview:
If you’re an independent film maker, actor, producer or writer, Ruth Hill is a person you want to get to know. She’s wonderfully charming and intelligent. She cares so much about the work she’s doing to promote independent film and does it all selflessly. Ruth gets to know the people she interviews and that’s why we wanted to get to know Ruth. An important takeaway is that this business takes passion and hard work. If you’re looking for fame and money, independent films are not the place to “get rich quick”.
Ruth’s story is inspiring. Our favorite part of the interview is where she tells us about the person that inspired her childhood creativity from playing piano and writing songs of her own.
How did you get started with your blog MyDevotionalThoughts.net?
It was almost by accident. I had been following a lot of blogs. I had recently moved back toWashington State and had some extra time on my hands because I was now a substitute teacher rather than being a regular classroom teacher and I’d always had a love for writing and I started following all these blogs and I remember one day just finally saying to myself, well, I could do it just as well as these people and probably even better. So i just sat down and started blogging and had no idea what I was doing. So I jumped in, learned how to build a website, asked a lot of questions.
It really has only been in the past couple years that I started to review movies and TV shows. Then in January this year I started interviewing actors. I had made a lot of connections through reviewing movies and TV shows.
What’s you’re interviewing process like? Phone calls, Skype or written questionnaires?
All of the above! Okay, seriously I try to make it as easy as possible. At first it was all going to be phone interviews when I first started. That was what I thought you always did and as I started talking with actors they’d say, “Well my schedule’s really crazy” or “I live in England and I’m 8 hours ahead of you” and so it’s the time difference that can be an issue as well. And they said is there any way I could just email it to you and I thought yeah sure, that’s great.
And then I’ll never forget the time that one of the actors, actually an older actor. I want to say he’s close to 60 and so it shocked me when he said, “Well why can’t we go ahead and Skype?” And I’m thinking almost 60 and you want to skype? I remember being very, very nervous the first time skypingwith an actor because you hear all the horror stories online. Well, what if this person is not really who they say they are? What if they’re a serial killer out to get me or something? I mean I know its crazy but being someone who doesn’t really know anything about the process it was a little intimidating at first. But then once I got going with it it was perfectly fine
I try my very best when I reach out to actors, I usually reach out on Twitter most of the time. I’ll ask for an interview and I kind of try to work it however is easiest for them. I want them the most comfortable and about half the people do say emails the easiest just because their schedules are so crazy.
That’s cool. So here’s a fun question.
Who was your first interview?
Oh I remember my first interview. That was back in January and it happened to be one of my favorite actors. I happened to do a lot with the Hallmark network. That’s kind of how I started. I was working with a lot of those actors from their shows and movies. The first actor was an actor named Brennan Elliot who is best known outside of hallmark for being in the Lifetime show Unreal. He plays a small part in that and he was also in one of the Chucky films back many years ago. He had been one of my favorite actors and I asked him and seriously within like 10 minutes he responded and said yes!
Then I found out that night that I was interviewing him in 2 days. It was not so much that I was intimidated talking with him. It was that I wanted to do a good job because he’s a really great actor and he’s been so supportive of my reviews. I’ve reviewed a lot of his works and he’s always very supportive. I wanted to do a good job. I wanted to make sure that whatever I did that I was asking the right questions and everything came off really well.
What was really funny was I didn’t know that my phone was not set up to accept private callers. I didn’t know that my phone company automatically blocked private callers. So I get this message from him saying I tried to call and it won’t let me through. So we’re trying for about 45 minutes. He’s really patient trying to get thisworked out because I live in the country. I don’t get cell phone reception out here. So I told him, ok we’ll do it on my cellphone but I’m gonna have to wait about 15 minutes. I’ll let you know.
I decided to drive to where I could get service. So my first interview was in front of a nearby gas station, in the parking lot.
That’s great. You gotta roll with the punches and do what you can do.
Oh yeah and it really was great. It was, honestly. He was great about it and he was actually cool about it. He was excited, as excited to talk to me as I was to him because he was interested to know who I was because I had been such a supporter of his career.
That’s awesome. That’s kind of the whole point of any interview. That you’re excited to talk to the person. When Sal told me that we were setting this up with you and I’d seen you on your twitter feed everything, I was excited when this was all a setup just to talk to you too! So it’s always a fun thing.
What drew you to independent films in particular?
Well I knew nothing whatsoever about independent films until I happened to interview, and as it was again, an interview really almost by mistake. I don’t even have any clue why I contacted this guy, except that he was following me and somehow I was following him and my friends knew about him. Kyle Hester, which I think you guys are familiar with from Zombie with a Shotgun. I reached out to interview him and we set something up and I had no idea, I could not have told you. I didn’t even know what indie film meant. I would never be able to even tell you what that was. I just didn’t know but we had a really great conversation and he explained everything about independent films. All the funding. I had no idea about any of this.
This was a whole new world to me and he just kind of opened it up for me and I thought this is really cool. This is great that they’re able to do these projects that the studio’s aren’t doing. Studios put some great stuff, that’s true. But it’s great to be able to have these stories that maybe nobody else would get to tell. And these people are going out and they’re raising funds for it. They’re involving people in the whole process and so he got me so excited that I started supporting independent film projects and reading up on them. And so that led me to continue to checkout more independent films.
But the thing is every single one of those films I got to watch, people went in and did so much work behind the scenes. They had a vision, in fact I remember I had somebody tell me this. Somebody that I interviewed for independent films:
“Maybe it wasn’t the way you would have done it but they did something. They actually got up one day and decided, I’m going to do this. I’ve got this passion.” Some of them have to work for years to raise the money. To get all the crew and to get the actors and I’m honestly in awe of what independent filmmakers do when I realized all the work that goes into what they do. It’s amazing!
How many interviews and reviews do you think you’ve conducted at this point?
Interviews I think I figured out it’s been around a 125 interviews that I’ve done.
Yeah, some of them were not featured on my site because when I first started interviewing I actually did work with an online magazine. They were actually the ones that I kind of originally started interviewing people for. It just became that they had a different vision than I did as far as interviews went. I tend to be one that goes very much in depth and also I’m very conversational. I’m not one that tends to just talk about their project.
Sometimes I’ve read interviews where they take the film or the show and they just dissect it in great detail and the person’s character and they start asking things that for me I’m not really that interested in. Sometimes I get bored reading interviews. I’ll be honest that sometimes and it’s not so much the interviewers fault even. It’s just that they’re sometimes asking things that I’m not that interested in because what I really want to do is I want to find out who the person is.
I had the opportunity a few months ago to interview Marshall Teague. I don’t know if you guys know him he’s most known for being in the movie Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze. He plays Jimmy, I think that’s his character’s name. If remember right he’s like the bouncer and there’s like a big fight scene and all that. Marshall Teague, I actually got to know him through Rick Ravanello because they made a movie together a few years ago.
So, again I didn’t know much about Marshall when I first interviewed him and so I had the opportunity and it was really something to get to talk to him because he has these fantastic stories. He’s been in the business for many many years. We end up talking nearly 2 hours.
I actually had to break it into two parts because there was so much. And what’s really cool about Marshall also is he also is very big on independent films. In fact tonight, one of his, one of the independent films that he was in is actually at the Long Beach film festival in California.
What if you could interview anybody through history alive or dead?
I was actually thinking about this last night. I was thinking through that question I was thinking, who would I interview that could be anyone. Honestly I think the person that I would interview and it does happen to be somebody who was connected with television but someone who I think was influential in my life was actually Fred Rogers. Mister Rogers Neighborhood.
It’s kinda funny but when I was growing up I was even quieter or even shyer than I am now. And there were a lot of family issues. There were a lot of things going on and I was usually by myself a lot and I didn’t have a lot of confidence in who I was and I can remember turning on his program and I was even older when I really got into it. I wasn’t like a little tiny kid. I was in elementary school and just somehow I hadn’t even realized the show and I started turning it on and since he was a musician I connected that way because since I knew he played piano and I play the piano.
He’d write songs and I remember even that kind of got me going oh, I can write songs. I remember actually kind of playing around with that idea, writing songs and so I think that although I never knew him, although before he passed away, the coolest thing that happened is I was able to send him an email and I did get a response back and that was really cool. Because I wanted to let him know how influential he’d been in my young life and I think that it would be really cool if I could interview anyone I think I would choose him.
Do you make a living with your blog MyDevotionalThoughts.net?
I do not at this point. On occasion I have been able to do a sponsored post or something like that and I will get some money off of that. I was at a point where i was starting down that road but when I changed over to doing the reviews and interviews I think that that changed a few things and it’s kinda like I had to in some ways start building things again.
I had a social media following which I’m grateful for. I’ve worked extremely hard to build the social following that I have. I concentrate on that sometimes more than I do building the following on my blog. So at this point it’s not been for money. I’m making money on the site necessarily but I think that it’s getting closer to that point. I guess I’d say I hope to one day and I hope to sometime in the near future to have it at least making a part time income. That would be nice.
What recommendations would you have for somebody starting an independent film blog?
You have to figure out why you’re wanting to do this. I have followed enough blogs. I follow the blog community and I’ve seen blogs that make it and blogs that fail. A lot of times the blog’s that fail, they’re doing it for the wrong reasons. They are going into it thinking that they’re going to be rich. They heard the success stories of these big-time bloggers that make a $100k dollars a year blogging or something like that and I’m not making that up. There are bloggers of course that are able to get that kind of money. So if some people go into it with the whole mindset of I’m going to make lots of money. I’m gonna get free products that I can review.
I’ve even had people that will look at what I’m doing. Oh you’re getting to interview all these great people and I think sometimes these people think that quite literally I sit around all day and interview famous people and that it’s not a lot of work. People are not willing to put the work into it and the time that’s necessary especially when you get started. You’re not going to make anything and probably you’re gonna have to put out some money initially to get yourself started.
You have to realize, why I am doing this. Am I doing this because I really have a passion? I’m passionate about writing. I’m passionate about reviewing these things. Whatever your focus is you need to figure that out first. So if you’re doing it for the right reasons then you next need to do some more research to figure out what blogging platform you’re going to start on and all that. But I think the main thing is get your focus right because the results are not going to become rich and famous.
That’s the same kind of thing as acting. I’m always asking actors what’s your advice for people who want to become actors and want to be a part of the entertainment business. Well course it’s not to be rich and famous because there’s a good chance that’s not gonna happen.
What’s next for you? Where are you going with your site? Maybe you’ll be doing a podcast soon?
Interestingly enough I think it was a few months back because I was having to make a decision. Do I stick with the online magazine? Do I come back to my blog? I was going back and forth with that decision and it was actually Sebastian Spence and Rick Ravanello. I go to both of them regularly, they’re both really great at giving advice. I think it was actually Rick that made it clear. I need to definitely go back to my blog. That’s where I’m happiest. He was actually kind of my deciding voice on that. He has a way of a way of talking that in no uncertain terms this is what you need to do and that was what I needed to hear.
Then Sebastian and I have talked about topics back and forth messaging back and forth. He has even offered that maybe he could help with this. We’ve talked about maybe eventually having some live interviews. If it’s possible we might get to that stage. We’re not there yet but it’s something that would be maybe off in the future. I’ve only been interviewing since January. So yeah I mean that would be something, but I know that no matter what, even if I do start doing live interviews like that, that I would still always go back to the writing.
What I’ve really been focusing on with the interviews even more so as I go along, because of course I go back and I read the interviews that I did back in January-February and I just think, what was I thinking? I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. It’s very clear now. I can see it. I can look back and think those are really not very good compared to what I do now because I’ve learned so much more.
I’m looking more towards just continuing to refine my interviewing style. To refine the questions that I ask. I’m trying to not always ask the same questions. I’m trying to make it very interesting and really trying to bring the level of my writing skills up and always trying to strive to be better. I guess it’s a real treat when the person I’ve interviewed, and this happens very regularly, especially now. They come back and they just are blown away by what I say in the interview. Because a lot of interviewers and this is kind of I think something that separates me a little bit from a lot of interviewers. It’s really easy I think, anyone who wants to interview anybody can just put a transcript of an interview up and that’s extremely easy.
The difference is that I take the end of each interview and try to synthesize everything together and get an idea, present a perspective on that person. Again going back to the thing of I want you to be able to see the person as I see them and I can’t tell you how many people, the messages that I’ve gotten back from these actors and directors whom I have interviewed. They read that ending, that concluding paragraph about what I’ve said about them and they’re just blown away. They say if they’re having a bad day they’re going to come back and read that.
I’m very sincere in what I do and they know that I’m putting positivity out there which is something I’m very passionate about. I want everything that I do on my blog to be very positive. So immediately probably not live interviews, probably not a podcast but eventually I’m definitely open to that.
