Ramy Youssef has always been a creative person. The New Jersey native didn’t see showbusiness as an achievable goal, but an underlying passion directed him to create more and more, eventually encouraging him to edit, to act, and to write.

Eventually, Ramy moved to Los Angeles, where he landed roles on shows like See Dad Run and Mr. Robot, along with a small role in the James Franco-Bryan Cranston holiday comedy, Why Him?

Fast forward to 2019 and Ramy Youssef landed a special with HBO called Feelings and a series on Hulu, where he plays a fictionalized version similar to himself in Ramy.

The new series is described as: “In New Jersey, Ramy, son of Egyptian migrants, begins a spiritual journey, divided between his Muslim community, God, and his friends who see endless possibilities.”

In this interview, Ramy discusses writing personal material, the pressure cooker of creating earnest Muslim material, the difference in stand-up and writing a series, his obsession with ego and faith, and how comics should spend their free time during the quarantine.

If you enjoyed this interview, look for the print version on Creative Screenwriting’s website, and join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Mark Bomback’s screenwriting education came from reading hundreds of screenplays. While working in the mailroom, he volunteered to read and provide coverage on submitted scripts, which taught him how to write, but also how not to write.

These days, he’s known for Live Free or Die Hard, Unstoppable, Total Recall, The Wolverine, The Art of Racing in the Rain, the recent Planet of the Apes prequels, and Apple’s new series, Defending Jacob, starring Chris Evans.

The 8-episode story behind Defending Jacob started with a 13-page treatment based on the novel. The story is a character-driven thriller about an assistant DA who’s world is shattered when his son is charged with murder.

In this interview, Bomback discusses how writers can self-educate, how he uses something called the “silent partner,” why writing is a craft not an art, why writers need to occasionally just write the bad version of the scene, and how to improve bulletproof drafts.

If you enjoyed this interview, look for the print version on Creative Screenwriting’s website, and join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Michael Tucker always wanted to be a filmmaker. After attending Film School, he joined some friends for what became Finite Films, a small production company focused on short films. “We spent a year making short films and web series,” he said, “then realized that short films and web series don’t pay the bills.”

Tucker spent a few years doing editing work and helping with documentary films and small features. After working in this field for a few years, he decided he wanted to get back into creative work.

With Lessons from the Screenplay, Tucker wanted to make videos that analyze movie scripts to examine exactly how and why they are so good at telling their stories. Part educational series and part love letter to awesome films, Lessons from the Screenplay aims to be a fun way to learn more about your favorite films and help everyone become better storytellers.

In this interview, Tucker talks about how to be authentic on YouTube, how to avoid toxic messages on the platform, favorite software and apps, how Patreon works with fans of the channel, and the misconceptions of having a popular YouTube channel.

If you enjoyed this interview, join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Shannon Burke is the author of ‘Safelight,’ ‘Black Flies,’ and ‘Into the Savage Country.’ Recently, he decided to partner with his screenwriting friends - Brothers Jonas and Josh Pate - to write a coming-of-age action adventure story.

The idea of Outer Banks came from an article about a power outage on the Outer Banks. Pate said, “There was a photograph taken at dusk of these darkened mansions. It was just this evocative image that stayed with me.” Pate mentioned his fascination with this idea to Burke, and they started to unlock the story that would later become the Netflix series.

“We wanted to do something based on memories from high school and that period of adolescence.” According to the description, the series is about, “a group of teenagers from the wrong side of the tracks stumble upon a treasure map that unearths a long buried secret.”

In this interview, the writers discuss their fascination with 19th Century novels, how to cut the safety net to write professionally, lessons from Dennis Hopper, when to burn a bad novel, and why writers need resignation not confidence to build a career.

If you enjoyed this interview, look for the print version on Creative Screenwriting’s website, and join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

For nearly a decade, Benjamin Hardy felt a lack of purpose in his life. But, thanks to a church mission, he started journaling, found an interest in psychology, and then decided to become an author (while raising a family and acquiring his doctorate), despite the odds of achieving this goal in traditional publishing.

In 2015, Hardy started blogging because he knew it was a potential route to becoming an author. Through Medium, he built a massive following (literally becoming the #1 writer on the platform), and achieved his goal of finding an agent and publishing books in a traditional manner.

In addition to his first book, ‘Willpower Doesn’t Work,’ the author has recently published ‘Personality Isn’t Permanent.’ In the book, he “draws on psychological research to demolish the popular misconception that personality—a person’s consistent attitudes and behaviors—is innate and unchanging. Hardy liberates us from the limiting belief that our ‘true selves’ are to be discovered, and shows how we can intentionally create our desired selves and achieve amazing goals instead.”

In this interview, Hardy discusses deliberate practice, why writers often avoid goal-setting, lessons from Ryan Holiday, how to reverse engineer goals to find a process, why writers must be authentic today, strategic ignorance, and why kids shouldn’t take the Myers-Briggs personalty test.

If you enjoyed this interview, join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

While living in Mexico City, John Grillo saw an opportunity to work on a film set, so he came on as a translator for a Disney film. While meeting the crew, he was drawn to the lifestyle.

These days, Grillo is a Cinematographer known for ‘Westworld,’ ‘The Leftovers,’ ‘Snowpiercer,’’ Preacher,’ and various Michael Mann projects such as ‘Luck,’ ‘Miami Vice,’ ‘Ali,’ and ‘Collateral.’

In this interview, Grillo discusses what he learned from Michael Mann, how to see subtext in images, how filmmaking is like jazz, what drew him to television, the importance of paying attention on set, and why you don’t need film school.

If you enjoyed this interview, join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion met while working on animation projects. They created a short film in the horror-comedy genre (called ‘Boob’) that was accepted at SXSW.

Thanks to this film, Elijah Wood’s company called to see if the duo wanted to pitch about a project called ‘Cooties.’ Thanks to their perseverance, they eventually landed the job (more on this in the interview).

For their latest project, ‘Becky’ is about a teenager's (Lulu Wilson) weekend at a lake house with her father takes a turn for the worse when a group of convicts wreaks havoc on their lives.”

In this interview, the Directors talk about pace and character, what makes a good horror comedy, how to enhance the premise, how they divide up responsibilities as a Directing duo, and how Joel McHale and Kevin James came on board for ‘Becky.’

If you enjoyed this interview, join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Anna Winger has done a little bit of everything. She got her start in photography, where she did some commercial work and some documentary work, then wrote a novel, but if you have to summarize her career, she’s a storyteller.

The writer-producer is known for Deutschland 83, Deutschland 86, Deutschland 89, and the new Netflix series, Unorthodox. Her latest project is the “story of a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman who flees her arranged marriage and religious community to start a new life abroad.”

In this interview, Winger describes her journey from photographer to novelist to screenwriter, trusting intuitive instincts, writing her first screenplay at age 40, an interest in humor and curiosity, and her fish-out-water formula for finding intriguing characters.

If you enjoyed this interview, look for the print version on Creative Screenwriting’s website, and join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Between 2018 and 2021, Matt Liberman will have 9 features in the works. We spoke with Matt about the “creepy” and “kooky” 'Addams Family' not long ago for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, but now we’re catching up some of his other films like 'The Christmas Chronicles' (and it’s sequel), 'Scoob!,' and the new Ryan Reynolds comedy, 'Free Guy.'

In this interview, Liberman discusses how he’s so prolific, including why he’s a high-concept writer, the ironic hook of every idea, writing a script in 7 days, how to write wish fulfillment, separating writing from editing and “idea mode,” and why there is no blank page.

If you enjoyed this interview, look for the print version on Creative Screenwriting’s website, and join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5

Australian Director Justin Kurzel got his start in the theater. He started working on short films and made music videos with his brother. Eventually, he made the jump - thanks to his clips - and started making films.

Kurzel was hesitant to take on the first project he was offered, ‘The Snowtown Murders.’ Essentially, the story uncovered true events, revolving around a local murder and a spree or torture.

Regardless, he made the movie (in the area where the event happened), and continued to take on challenging films, such as ‘The Turning,’ ‘Macbeth,’ ‘Assassin’s Creed,’ and now, ‘True History of the Kelly Gang.’

In this interview, the writer-director talks about making bold decisions, how toxic masculinity plays into the film, the history of Ned Kelly, why they chose to use the word “True” in the title, and the difference between Australian and American Westerns.

If you enjoyed this interview, join millions of viewers for the new YouTube video essay series, Creative Principles, which dissects new films, series, and more: bit.ly/2FARJz5