Ep125 - Andrew Jenks Talks #1 Podcast & Partnering With The Rock

Chris Christie's Bridgegate scandal, Michael Jordan's early retirement and Britney Spears' infamous 2007 meltdown. These are a few of the topics Andrew Jenks tackles in his hit podcast, "What Really Happened?"

The series takes deep dives into historical or widely-publicized events over the past century, such as the lazy coverage of Princess Diana’s death, Muhammad Ali talking a man down from suicide, and the real reason Dave Chappelle quit his iconic comedy series.

In our conversation, Jenks discusses campfire stories, the importance of facts and substance, what it’s like to work with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and upcoming stories coming to his #1 podcast.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

In ‘Ozark,’ a financial adviser drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder $500 million in five years to appease a drug boss. The Netflix series stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney.

In this interview, screenwriter and producer Alyson Feltes discusses her role on the series, the Ozarks as a setting, the importance of avoiding television tropes, how intimacy can save a character, and she gives a few details about an upcoming project based on memoirs from Chelsea Clinton.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

In the movie ‘Final Score,’ Dave Bautista stars as Michael Knox, an ex-soldier who must deal with deadly terrorists who take his niece hostage at a professional soccer match. The movie also stars Pierce Brosnan and Ray Stevenson.

The film comes from Scott Mann, director of ‘Heist’ and ‘The Tournament.’ Mann grew up as a fan of movies like ‘Commando’ and the film ‘Terminator 2’ is still his favorite movie of all time.

In this interview, the director talks about working with Dave Bautista, seizing opportunities or using assets as a filmmaker, making fun movies that don’t take themselves too seriously, how he avoids the safe zone of not making certain films, and how to turn weaknesses into strengths.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

The film ‘Blindspotting’ moves from buddy comedy to dramatic reality. As such, the film needed a nimble score to make it powerful and relatable to audiences across the globe.

In this interview, movie composer Michael Yezerski discusses working with Oakland natives, filmmakers, and stars Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal on ‘Blindspotting.’

In addition, the composer gives advice on responding to visions and inspiring visions, what it means to have gut-instinct musical responses, how repetition can hurt a composer, and what it means to add emotional layers to the big screen.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

Lisa Dapolito started her career as an actress before she moved into commercial production. After meeting up with leaders of Gilda’s Club, the filmmaker decided to make a documentary about the iconic comedian and her cancer foundation.

In the film, comedienne Gilda Radner looks back and reflects on her life and career. Weaving together recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with her friends, rare home movies and diaries read by modern day comediennes, the movie offers a unique window into the honest and whimsical world of a beloved performer whose greatest role was sharing her story.

During our conversation, the director discusses Gilda’s ongoing presence at her foundation, how she acquired interviews with SNL alums like Amy Poehler, Lorne Michaels, Bill Hader, Chevy Chase, Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and countless more during this four-year project.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

Todd Berger wouldn’t describe himself as a comedy writer. Known for 'It’s a Disaster,' 'The Scenesters,' and a handful of Smurfs and Kung Fu Panda shorts, Berger’s latest film, 'The Happytime Murders,' has just cemented the screenwriter into a world of “writers who write comedy.”

Fifteen years in the making, the film somewhat follows Berger’s idea to remake Heat with puppets. According to the official description, “When the puppet cast of an '80s children's TV show begin to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case.”

Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, and Maya Rudolph star in the film, which is led by Director Brian Henson. The son of Jim and Jane, Brian Henson has additional directing credits such as 'The Muppet Christmas Carol,' 'Muppet Treasure Island,' and 'Muppets Tonight.'

But, 'The Happytime Murders' is no Muppets movie. In fact, the marketing campaign focuses on the “Hard R” rating, just to make sure no parents accidentally take their children into the film.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

From an early age, actor Chris Messina looked up to icons like Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, and Robert DeNiro. His fascination with flawed characters led to intriguing roles in films like ‘Away We Go,’ ‘Argo,’ ‘Ruby Sparks,’ ‘Live By Night’ ‘The Newsroom,’ ‘Damages,’ ‘Six Feet Under,’ and countless other titles.

In Messina’s latest project, HBO’s ‘Sharp Objects,’ he plays Detective Richard Willis, opposite Amy Adams (Arrival). The mini-series comes from ‘Gone Girl’ writer Gillian Flynn, Creator Marti Noxon, and ‘Big Little Lies’ Director Jean-Marc Vallée. The story follows a reporter down a path of psychological demons as she returns to her hometown to cover a violent murder.

In this interview, Chris Messina discusses lessons from Directors Sam Mendes and Ben Affleck, how to elevate as an actor, living a life of ridicule, creating your own work, taking your career in your own reins, and pursuing work that “scares the shit out of you…”

During this conversation, we also discuss past guests Marti Noxon (Episode 88) and Bryan Sipe (Episode 6). Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

For over 25 years, Jonathan Watson has been a fundamental assistant director and shepherd within Hollywood. After working on films like ‘Bad Boys,’ ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ ‘The Disaster Artist,’ ‘La La Land,’ and 'This Is the End,’ Watson finally received his big break thanks to Danny McBride.

The film, ‘Arizona,’ takes place during the 2009 housing crisis. The story follows Cassie Fowler (Rosemarie DeWitt), a single mom and struggling realtor whose life goes off the rails when she witnesses a murder.

In this interview, Watson describes his long haul to the director’s chair, his unique relationship with actor-comedian Danny McBride, changing his mindset from time management to storytelling, and the joy of making movies and television.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live

Screenwriter Boaz Yakin has helped create films such as 'The Rookie,' 'Prince of Persia,' and 'Safe,' along with franchise films like 'Now You See Me' and 'Max.' These movies allowed for him to pursue passion projects as a screenwriter. In his latest film, 'Boarding School,' he’s developed a horror-inspired hero’s journey for adolescents.

“Those are writing jobs where you’re like one of twenty writers on any one of those movies. Maybe you contributed enough to have a screen credit, but none of those things that I have tried to make or been more personally [involved with] like 'Fresh,' 'A Price Above Rubies,' or 'Death in Love,'” said the screenwriter. “These are movies I wrote and directed that came from me.”

The writer-director would prefer to only make independent films, but the balance between projects allow for him to get the smaller films on the big screen. “In order to pay the bills—in order to pay for these movies—I’ve had to make more commercial movies and write things like that and put money back into these things..."

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice and watch our YouTube series at www.creativeprinciples.live

Nicole Stojkovich is a production executive at LD Entertainment with credits like the Oscar-nominated biopic ‘Jackie,’ starring Natalie Portman.

She began her career in Vancouver, working in physical production on feature films such as ‘Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer,’ ‘This Means War’ and ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.’

As an Executive Producer, she has helped bring films like ‘Megan Leavey,’ ‘Forever My Girl,’ ‘The Miracle Season,’ and now ‘Dog Days’ to the big screen. In the most recent film, Ken Marino directs the story about interconnected people in Los Angeles connected by their canine counterparts.

In this interview, Stojkovich describes ‘Love Actually’ for dogs, her jump from miscellaneous crew to EP, how to organize an ensemble cast, and what LD Entertainment looks for in a human interest story, and knowing when to take the leap in filmmaking.

Listen to actor Alex Roe talk about the LD Entertainment Film ‘Forever My Girl’ in Episode 108 of the podcast. Stay up-to-date on other creative advice at www.creativeprinciples.live