Creative Principles

“In the beginning, the two shows were very different, at least for me,” says Peter Gould, in regards to writing for Breaking Bad and then being the creator of Better Call Saul. “When we started Breaking Bad, when the Writer’s Room opened, Vince Gilligan had already shot and edited the pilot.”

He continues, “We knew where the story began, but in a lot of ways, we were still discovering who Walter White was. There were some big surprises for us. Better Call Saul was a very unusual circumstance because we opened the Writer’s Room from what Vince and I had written, which was a two-page pitch of what the show would be, and it was a completely different show from the one you saw.”

Better Call Saul, somewhat of a sequel, somewhat of a prequel, with flashes of never-before-seen Breaking Bad moments worked tremendously well thanks to a single question posed by Gould and Gilligan: “What problem does becoming Saul Goodman solve?”

Warning: There are spoilers for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul in this interview. And, the documentary I’m working on that Peter asked me about, you can find more info about here:

https://www.daredevilsociety.com/docuseries

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

“I don’t know what made me want to be a writer, but I loved doing it a very early age,” says screenwriter David West Read. “I started making movies with my friends when I was in elementary school. I would have them over for sleepovers, then hand out out scripts.” Back then, the parodies were Jurassic Pork and David Read’s A Christmas Carol.

“It’s something I gravitated towards. I thought for a long-time about doing something more stable and secure, something with a clearer path through University, but it was the thing I kept coming back to and the thing in my free time that brought me the most joy. I don’t know why we’re drawn to the things we’re drawn to, but I’ve been drawn to writing for performance for as long as I can remember.”

If one were to only examine Read’s IMDb page, it looks like he came out of nowhere to land a job writing 28 episodes on Schitt’s Creek and then a showrunner credit for The Big Door Prize, but that’s certainly not the case. “I studied at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and then Julliard for playwriting.” One of the plays he wrote back then as a student, his teacher, who he somewhat apprenticed for, shared it with an agent and it was produced Off-Broadway.

“[Theater] was so immediate. When you’re just starting out writing, the idea of writing a TV show or making a movie, it seems so out of reach. With stage writing, you can bring a few actors together, have them read it for a group of friends, and it already feels like a performance. It already feels closer to the finish line.” Read’s second play, The Performers, about the backstage at the adult film awards, went straight to Broadway. Read was still a student at the time.

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles.

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Dana Stevens is a film critic for Slate and the author of Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century, a genre-defying work of cultural history based around the creative genius of the Great Stone Face.

In this interview, we discuss the work of Buster Keaton, how the industry has changed for film critics, the letter she received from Roger Ebert at an early age, why you need to see as many movies as you can and some industry secrets for finding your voice today as a film critic.

This is a special interview associated with my first documentary, Daredevil Society, a series about the history of stunt performers, including everyone from Buster Keaton to Jackie Chan to Zoe Bell to Keanu Reeves. Learn more or become an investor here:

www.daredevilsociety.com/docuseries

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

“I was particularly interested in writing comedy,” says Paul Lieberstein, who is best known for playing Toby on The Office, but has writing credits for King of the Hill, The Drew Carey Show, Ghosted, Space Force, and now, Lucky Hank. “Some Woody Allen short stories and Steve Martin albums. In my twenties, I learned there was a whole industry there, and you can do that, because I had never met anyone who had done that.”

Aaron Zelman, the co-creator of Lucky Hank, also realized he enjoyed writing at an early age, even though he didn’t feel he was particularly good at it back then. “It dovetailed with my interest in theater, acting, and improv. The more I did it, the more I wanted to be the one creating what I was doing.” Zelman’s additional writing credits include Law & Order, Criminal Minds, Damages, and The Killing. 

Together, they have adapted Richard Russo’s 1997 novel, Straight Man. The novel can be described as follows: “William Henry Devereaux, Jr., is the reluctant chairman of the English department of a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt. Devereaux's reluctance is partly rooted in his character—he is a born anarchist—and partly in the fact that his department is more savagely divided than the Balkans.”

The writers say the book is hilarious, but also very serious. “There are some darker, underlying currents of what defines the character of Hank and we didn’t want to shy away from that.” Lieberstein says, “Something we had to talk about a lot was the storytelling demands of the hour, like how little could we do. We just wanted to do people that are living, without soap stuff, or overarching concepts. We were stretching the boundaries of how little we could do, knowing we had an obligation to keep people interested.” 

To find this balance, the writers say they rewrote every single episode about four times. “The thing that we kept coming back to, doing as little as possible, we didn’t want to implode bigger concepts. We didn’t want to throw in a murder. It was a challenge to keep the audience entertained without doing that stuff, but in my life, things feel pretty damn dramatic without a murder to solve. We wanted to have an audience go on that ride too.”

To encompass all of this in one idea, the writers came up with the story driver: “The high drama of everyday life.”

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Diedrich Bader grew up in Paris, watching movies from Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Fred Astaire. Through some unique circumstances, he ended up performing as a Chaplin in front of a large crowd, getting a standing ovation, and he was hooked from then on to become a comedic performer.

Diedrich has over 200 credits, a mixture of performances and voice work, including Office Space, Napoleon Dynamite, Veep, The Drew Carey Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, American Housewife, and most recently, AMC's Lucky Hank.

This is one of three Lucky Hank interviews, so be on the lookout for my chats with actress Mireille Enos and creators Paul Lieberstein and Aaron Zelman.

In this interview, we talk about Diedrich’s love for physical comedy, appreciation for child-like characters, how sitcom audiences have changed their viewing habits over the years, the scene that made him nervous in Lucky Hank, and his view on perseverance over the course of a long career.

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Mireille Enos followed her brother’s footsteps into acting at an early age, which eventually led her to New York City to study acting. Today, she’s best known for The Killing, World War Z, Sabotage, Gangster Squad, Big Love, Hanna, and now, Lucky Hank.

In the latest project, Lucky Hank, Mireille plays Lily, the wife Hank (Bob Odenkirk), an English department chairman at an underfunded college who toes the line between a full-blown meltdown and the offbeat chaos of his personal and professional life.

This is one of three Lucky Hank interviews, so be on the lookout for my chats with actor Diedrich Bader and creators Paul Lieberstein and Aaron Zelman. We also discuss her work with Veena Sud, who can you listen to in Episode 94.

In this interview, Mireille talks about dealing with rejection, feeling embraced by New York but not Los Angeles, scripts you feel like should be yours, the unusual trajectory of The Killing, using the camera as your witness, and advice for writers to create roles actors desperately want to play.

And, if you haven’t seen Lucky Hank yet, there is a partially spoiler for Episode 4 around the 27:00 minute mark.

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

George Tillman Jr. recalls going to see his first movie while at church summer school. “Ever since then, I caught the bug,” he told me. “I started off writing, but always considered myself a director.”

This started with Soul Food in 1997.Thanks to this credibility, he was then able to make movies like Men of Honor, Notorious, Faster, and The Hate U Give. Now he’s back with another biopic, Big George Foreman.

The simple description of the latest film is “the life and boxing career of George Foreman,” but it’s actually an underdog story that focuses on the two lives of the boxer, after George’s real-life religious transformation.

In this interview, Tillman discusses making Soul Food and Men of Honor, working with Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr., sticking to your “why” as a filmmaker, the iconic movie brat pack, and how directors can find screenwriters to collaborate with.

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Javicia Leslie was always a performer, whether that’s performing in front of family members or now, in front of millions of people. Today, she’s best known for starring in Batwoman, along with God Friended Me, Always a Bridesmaid, and Double Life.

In her latest project, Double Life, the story “follows a widow who finds out from her late husband's mistress that his death was not an accident. Both women work together to unmask the truth behind the man they both loved.”

In this interview, Javicia talks about Angelina Jolie and Oprah as role models, her love for martial arts, doing some of her own stunts or action scenes, the mysteries in her new film, and what she looks for in a new role.

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Before getting involved with screenwriting and producing, Jemima Khan was a journalist for publications like Vanity Fair and The New Statesman. She’s best known for The Clinton Affair, The Case Against Adnan Syed, and American Crime Story.

Her latest project, What’s Love Got to Do with It? Is somewhat of a twist in her career. The rom-com, which she wrote, takes place in London, where “an award-winning film-maker documents her best friend's journey into an assisted marriage in line with his family's Pakistani heritage. In the process, she challenges her own attitude towards relationships.”

In this interview, she talks about getting the rights to complex true stories, her friendship with Monica Lewinsky, working on her first script for over a decade, writing fiction works that are part biographical, challenges for Indie films, and where to find the confidence to keep going as a writer.

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles.

And, if you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Andrew Newman loves all things spiritual and creative. He’s written books for families - like ‘The Hug Who Got Stuck’ or ‘The Great Love of Rose and Thorn’ - to help parents connect on those hectic days of growing and learning.

In this interview, we talk about “the web of sticky thoughts,” explaining complex ideas to children, characterizing “a hug,” the breathing meditations in the books, when to protect work from feedback, the importance of the last twenty minutes of the day, why he founded this independent book company, and the journey to selling 150,000 books.

Want more? Steal my first book, Ink by the Barrel - Secrets From Prolific Writers right now for free. Simply head over to www.brockswinson.com to get your free digital download and audiobook. If you find value in the book, please share it with a friend as we’re giving away 100,000 copies this year. It’s based on over 400 interviews here at Creative Principles. Enjoy!

If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!