We had a very open, VERY AF conversation with the incredible Tina Satter.  

Tina’s an Obie and Drama desk winning playwright and director, and (sometimes) teacher at Adult Film. Her Broadway produced play ‘Is This a Room’, was adapted into the critically acclaimed feature film ‘Reality’ with Sydney Sweeney.  

We go in depth on Tina’s writing, and directing process.   Finding a personal connection to Chekhov, and how the hell she gets her students to leave a 2 day workshop with close to fully formed plays.

Also advice to a hypothetical writer who’s written a great feature.  Now what?

We talk details on getting her movie ‘REALITY’ made as a first time director.  

And then we talk a little shit about actors not acting.  And the secret, relatively non woo woo way to turn intentions into reality.  

Also.  David saw a rehearsal of @AdultFilm production of the Seagull.  Gives thoughts.  

Enjoy.

Time codes:

4:00

Tina’s workshops, how she structures them, and deconstructing how she works into her teaching.

6:45

How Tina’s teaching process developed and using prompts.

Using personal themes and experiences in work.  

9:10

Using gestures

10:10

Specific physical behavior in direction being freeing vs limiting

14:00

Finding secret codes during rehearsal process

14:30

19:30

Brooklyn College playwriting program

22:30

Knowing what to write about

27:00

Tina’s play ‘Seagull (Thinking of You)’

Discovering her way into Chekhov.

31:00

Experience doing a Q&A for ‘Reality’ for a Russian audience. 

33:56

‘Reality’ discussion begins

35:21

Cinematographer Paul Yee having seen ‘Is this a Room’ on broadway from which ‘Reality’ was adapted. 

36:00

The play vs the movie

40:02

“Boring trap” in Chekhov, a lot of classic texts and application to ‘Reality’

Making what’s seemingly passive on the page active.  

41:50

Nuanced acting w repetitive dialogue. 

44:30

Reality’s involvement in the process

46:30

The process of actually making ‘Reality’.  From reading transcript to making the film.

51:10

Pushback on being first time director? 

52:30

Tina’s non traditional path to making her first feature.  

55:30

Dealing with resentment and developing “why not me attitude”

56:30

The process of doing. 

57:30

Advice to writers who’ve written a feature.  Now what… 

1:01:00

AF training center by necessity.  

1:01:45

Intentionality and creative/energetic output.  

1:05:00

Actors not acting.  

We have to do the thing.  

1:08:30

Tina’s relationship with setting intentions

“Intentions with actions” 

1:13:50

Writing in the age of cell phone addiction 

1:14:40

Tina coming back to Adult Film???

1:15:15

David sits in on Seagull rehearsal (Opening may 10!!!)

How Ryan is feeling with the process, acting.

David tells semi unhinged story.

Will he or wont he???? Have a panic attack as we’re recording that is ;) 

It’s a fun, slutty lil episode.  You’ll see.  

Small business ownership is hard and some people are mean.  What do we do about it?

Adult Film was featured in the @gothamist… but not everyone’s happy about it.

Alotta psychology talk.  About our responses to people talking shit, and where those responses were formed. 

Ryan just shot a movie in ATL. We get into this experience. 

We talk in depth about Kenneth Lonergan’s ‘You Can Count on Me’, the performances, and themes. And of course a great Jungian debate ensues.  

David learns big lesson from Austin Butler in Dune, and thought on the play “The Effect” that was just up at @TheShedNY.

Ryan goes on our favorite (acting) podcast @backtoonepodcast,

And David makes a resolution to give up pettiness.. 

Enjoy.  

“Hollywood Contraction: Actors Struggle To Find Jobs As TV Castings Dry Up” declares deadline.  We get into it.   

Are we all fucked? Should we find another profession?  Or is everyone playing a different game?

We talk the TV revolution, Pilot Season’s last sighting, and who exactly is to blame for the near extinction of 22 episode seasons?

Also.  Acting in NY vs LA, investing time/energy into things that don’t exist without us, and building a home at AF. 

Then we break down Mike Leigh’s ‘Naked’ (which won best director and best actor at Cannes).  And Mike Leigh’s use of improv to develop character and script.  

Okay bye.  

Time Codes:

2:00

A3 doesn’t exist anymore

2:50

The TV revolution

Girls, True Detective, House of Cards

4:10

True Detective’s supernatural through line

6:20

Sofia Coppola 

10:00

That deadline article

11:15

When was the last time pilot season existed? 

13:40

Who’s to blame for no more 22 episode seasons?

17:30

Series regulars are capped at 100k an episode oh nauuuerrrrr

19:15

Is “Peak TV” over?

20:45

Our takeaways from the article

23:40

What does being an actor mean to us.

26:00

Acting in La vs NY

28:30

We’re all living in different worlds

31:00

Building a home at Adult Film

35:40

Not putting your life on hold

37:20

Meaning.  And Investing our energy into things that don’t exist without us.

40:45

Mike Leigh’s ‘Naked’ Discussion begins

And also quick tangents to Meryl Streep, ‘Sophie’s Choice’, Charlie Kaufman, ‘Bridges of Madison County’, ‘Past Lives’

46:50

Mike Leigh’s method.  Using improv to develop character and script.

49:00

Using improv to understand dynamics that aren’t on the page

50:45

What stayed with us from “Naked”

57:45

Sheila O’Malley’s ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ essay

Cynthia Robinson came on the pod and completely shifted Ryan and David's dynamic. This is good. Very unhinged episode. I think this is excellent for us.

We broke down Jonathan Glazer's "Sexy Beast", and our slutty reasoning behind picking it to review. Ryan tells us his biggest acting/career related regret of his 20's, and we talk about the roots of our deepest egoic desires and whether they're worth following.

ALSO. Our experience being in our mid 30's at Adult Film, and in this industry in general. Expectation, and things we would have done differently.

Oh. and we even talk about everyones favorite channeled non-physical entity Abraham Hicks!

This is a good one.

Time Codes:

2:40 Sexy Beast Conversation begins. 

5:30 Why’d David pick this movie

9:00 Surprising characters qualities and casting 

13:00 How we pick the movies to talk about and differences in our tastes

Types of movies going forward

19:40 cultural/film context around Sexy Beast

21:20 Ryan’s favorite film subject 

24:20 Brief ‘Irishmen’ discussion

26:40 Sensitive movie mobsters and what we’re projecting on to them.

28:45 societies expectations of men… and are they real.  

Who actually punishes young men for vulnerability?  

37;44 Cynthia loves making guys mad.  Thoughts around jealousy and acting out in a relationship. 

41:10  Getting older and AF.    Being 35 and not having ‘MADE IT’

42:30 Ryan’s biggest regret in his 20’s.  Art vs businessmindedness

45:00 Actual timeline of a career.  Missing benchmarks.  

46:22 Trap of class and community validation.

48:00. What are we actually in control of?  Leaving a body of work…  

What is the “Meaning” of Adult Film? And defining meaning.  

52:00

Why do we want the things we want?

Should we follow purely egoic desires?

56:00

Difference between Ryan and David’s identities or non-identities as actors

58:30

Not trying as a defense mechanism to avoid heartbreak

1:01:00

Doing something for the sake of the doing.

1:04:00

Lil Abraham Hicks//manifestation debate

1:13:00

Very interesting conversation that I will not include in these notes.

1:14:00

Sex and The City discussion.  

Happy New Year!!  Wanna hear us say stuff we might regret?  Great.

We talk some of the new movies of the year, Ryan’s experience on Ariana Grande’s video for ‘Yes, And?’.  AND the original ‘Rocky’, which turns out is 95% incredible indie drama and 5% boxing movie.  

There are some spicy takes, cringy confessions and a day of Intermittent Fasting broken with 4 glasses of red wine.  

Oh.  And we discover a major plot hole in Long Day’s Journey Into Night.  Why does no-one talk about this? 

Is 2024 is the year of Adult Film?  Lets see baby.  

Time Codes:

2:55

Ryan is in Ariana Grande’s new music video

4:45 

Thoughts on new movies 

6:45

Blue Valentine 

12:10

May December and Charles Melton’s performance 

15:00

Adult Film’s end of year showcase 

16:00

Dramatic improv/fishing for compliments 

17:50

Sense memory class at AF? 

19:00

Rocky discussion 

26:20

David is a new man, Ryan watches Mean Girls

27:45

The Notebook

Rachel McAdams and Ryan ‘The King of Love’ Gosling

28:50

Sylvester Stallone documentary 

29:45 

Setting goals/intentions for 2024

Thoughts on manifestation and affirmations 

And a big embarrassing confession 

35:00

The year of Adult Film ;) 

36:30 

An interesting encounter on the L train. 

38:30

AF schedule for the year 

39:45

Big plot hole in Long Days Journey Into Night. 

41:45 

We need help making video content for the pod!!

42:30

Closing thoughts from Ryan

We sat down with Maria Dizzia!!  Maria is a Tony and Drama Desk nominated actor/Ryan’s acting teacher and mentor.  Her film and TV work includes ‘Martha Mary May Marlene’, ‘While We’re Young’, ‘Christine’, and ’13 Reasons Why’.

We talk acting process in detail, feeling numb on stage and working through blocks, using imagination vs drawing from your own life, “giving it all up” in performances, and seeing Liev Schreiber in ‘View From the Bridge”

Also learning from Maria’s journey in acting and biggest lessons learned.  

This is a good one.  Enjoy 😘

Time Codes:

1:52

Ryan and Maria’s history and experience working together

7:00

Maria’s teaching process

9:12

Ryan reads an email from Maria about what he needs to work on in scenes

13:55

How Maria started teaching

18:15

Working through acting blocks

19:35

Using your blocks as information for your process and performance

22:18

When you feel “numb” on-stage.  And using it as a springboard. 

27:30

Liev Schreiber in ‘View From the Bridge’.  Forcing audience to listen. 

30:40

“The art stands in for the world”

34:00

Connection with audience. Creating boundaries to understand what’s yours and what isn’t. 

38:00

“Giving it all up” so performances can be cathartic vs draining

41:15

Maria’s timelines.  Lessons and training that have the greatest impact.  

54:05

“You’re paying for an audience” 

1:03:00

Archetype work, drawing from your own life, imagination and using whatever tools work. 

1:13:00

“Submerging technique”

1:17:00

Maria’s transition to film/tv and working with Harold Guskin.

1:20:00

The trap of imitating your own truth.  

1:23:00

Finding freedom in theater vs film/TV

1:28:20

Learning to enjoy work that you don’t immediately like/understand.

1:29:27

Watching Antonio Campos’ ‘Christine’ with Rebecca Hall and Maria.  Maria on her performance.  

1:31:35

Maria’s favorite TV/Film project she’s worked on.  

1:33:25

How Maria started working with her agent/manager.  

And addressing reality of building a team that actually represents you.  

1:36:50

Ryan losing his manager.  

Our very first guest! Sheila O’Malley is an incredible actor-focused film critic (Roger Ebert, film comment) and cultural essayist.  Her work has had a huge impact on Ryan.  If you love film, if you love acting… this episode will make you happy.
We talk Gena Rowlands, Bette Davis, and our favorite modern actors. We discuss John Cassavetes’ ‘Opening Night’, Streetcar named Desire at Williamstown, and the ever changing pipeline of how directors discover actors.  Oh, and also a whole lot of actor process talk. Enjoy.

xo
3:00
The impact of Sheila’s work on how Ryan thinks about film and culture
7:50
Sheila’s essay on ‘Streetcar named Desire’ at Williamstown. Stella being the key to the play.
9:10
‘who am I this time?’ And ‘Opening Night’ being some of the best films about acting
12:20
How Sheila developed her artistic perspective and started writing
16:00
Director vs actor focused film critiques
20:20
‘Raging Bull’ discussion and casting
26:10
How directors discovered and fall in love with actors
34:40
Green Screen being everywhere (even in TRUE DETECTIVE?????) and what we lose.
37:50
Dan Callahan’s 2 incredible books on American film acting.
Positive vs negative responses to life in performances
40:38
“A sense of searching” in performances. Gena Rowlands as an example
46:20
“Thin air acting”
47:45
More on Dan Callahan
Bette Davis. Playing the result not the cause
53:00
Ryan: “this is the most important minute of acting pre-brando”
56:20
Modern Actors we love
1:00:45
Gena Rowlands performance in “Opening Night”. Sense of truth.
Ryan’s favorite movie.
1:12:00
Cassavettes and relationship based movies.
1:14:04
Continuing ‘Opening Night’ discussion. Why it’s Ryan’s favorite movie.
1:16:00
How consensus about a film builds and
times when Sheila got a review wrong
1:18:05
Rebecca Hall in ‘Resurrection’
1:19:45
Discussion about younger actors that we love
1:29:20
The heir of Bette Davis
1:34:00
Meryl Streep and hints about her process

This week we discuss Christian Petzold’s ‘Afire’.

The performances of the incredible leads, unlikeable main characters, and the German version of a “Summer Blockbuster”.  

We make a quick detour to psychoanalyze Franz Rogowski and to debate happiness vs. meaning.    

Then we get into all things career related.

Development as an actor, when to focus on getting an agent, how to actually get good at auditioning when you have no idea what other people’s auditions look like, and our different approaches to our careers. 

Oh! And Ryan reveals Adult Film’s next major production after ‘The Seagull’.

There’s a whole lot of other stuff in there.  Time codes below:

1:20

Afire discussion 

6:30

Unlikeable main characters 

15:45

Psychoanalyzing Franz Rogowski

Happiness vs joy vs meaning 

19:06 

Thoughts on how to develop as a younger actor

22:00

Getting an agent 

25:55

Role of pay-to-plays with casting directors/agents 

27:50

Role of private coaching 

31:00

Not delaying life while ur waiting to book something 

35:00

Ryan and David’s different approaches to career 

36:55

David wants to do a play w Ryan 

39:00

No Fun improv w/ @reunion 

42:50 

David went to Ryan’s acting class!! 

47:50 

Seeing ‘Seaguts’ at the actors studio 

48:25

Ryan reveals Adult Films next production after The Seagull!!! 

52:15

Tom Hardy/crazy talk begins 

56:30

Fanboying over Peter Rinaldi and his podcast/our favourite podcast @backbone

59:00

Thoughts on why some technically not so good actors are working. 

Watchability vs technique 

Wild one for you today!!! Apologies for the reverb. Maybe listen on 1.3/1.5 speed if it bothers you.

Ryan goes on a retreat with Adult Film, David finishes the run of his play and reads the reviews.

The guys both auditioned for Danny and The Deep Blue Sea, and then watched each other's tapes. Oh! And Ryan just did a reading at New York Theater Workshop.

We've got acting lessons and even a touch of working through shadow elements.

Time codes:

1:40
The Seagull retreat
10:15
How Ryan’s love of Chekhov was born
16:27
David’s relationship w Chekhov
19:06
Experience of doing Bite Me @ WP
Acting lessons, uncomfortable moments
24:20
Reading the reviews
26:37
Ryan‘s feedback on the play
29:25
Ryan and David both audition for Danny and the Deep Blue sea
Breakdown the difference in their auditions
37:30
Ryan did a reading at NY theater workshop!!
 Also interesting detour about working through shadow

We break down Isabelle Huppert's and Robert De Niro's performances in 'The Piano Teacher' and 'Taxi Driver.' We discuss themes, and similarities/differences in character drives. Ryan gets Jungian.

Then we discuss our own trajectories in the industry and in NY, and our lowest points. We get nice and personal :)

And we also briefly debate whether or not everyone under the age of 30 is bisexual. 🤷‍♀️

Time Codes:

3:05 

Isabelle huppert

5:30

Actors not having/or not talking about their process 

7:09

The piano teacher//taxi driver comparison 

8:29

Robert De Niro Submerging technique 

Analysing what he brings role to role and moment to moment 

12:09

What’s driving Travis Bickel 

The theme of Taxi Driver 

16:50 

Watching actors think on screen 

18:50

Surrealism in Taxi Driver

20:00

How deeply Isabelle Huppert feels vs how little her face moves 

20:50

Is the industry over? 

22:00

Why can we all relate to Travis Bickel now? 

23:00 

Jungian analysis of taxi driver and the piano teacher 

Discussion about last scene of taxi driver 

27:30

Ryan and David disagree on humanity or lack thereof in Travis Bickel 

31:25 

Getting into ‘The Piano Teacher’

45:00

‘Power of the Actor’ Book

47:00

Full(ish) story of our trajectories and lowest points in the industry 

1:00:35

The acting scene in Atlanta 

1:08:00

Feelings about career now vs when Ryan got to Ny 

1:14:02

David gets advice from older working actor 

The days of the actors studio is done? 

1:19:00

Ryan does or does not believe in an intelligent universe 

Spirishual talk