Creative Principles

Philip Ruddy is a depth psychotherapist with a masters degree in Counseling Psychology, who also happens to have fifteen years’ experience working as a writer and producer.

As such, he is well-equipped to understand the creative mind, and he works with writers, artists and performers to help them with creative blocks, anxiety, depression, and the unique stresses of the film and television industry.

We spoke with Philip about breaking down writer’s block through exploring the unconscious, Active Imagination, and courage.

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 weekly YouTube series at www.creativeprinciples.live

'Nossa Chape' tracks the rebuilding of the Chapecoense football club in Brazil after a November 28, 2016 airplane crash left only three players alive.

Through exclusive access to the families of the deceased, the new team and three severely injured recovering players, the documentary investigates the community’s many challenges in the aftermath of tragedy.

The town finds itself divided by a desire to respect the memory of those they lost while also preparing to move the club into its future. The citizens and team must find a way to unite around a common identity.

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“Some people say their brain is in their hand. Mine is definitely in my head,” said animator turned director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Perhaps best known as the first female solo-director of a Hollywood animated film for 'Kung Fu Panda 2' and 'Kung Fu Panda 3,' Yuh has recently moved into live action with the young adult film, 'The Darkest Minds.'

The animator knew she wanted to follow this career at a very early age. She went to school as an Illustrations Major, but she actually drew live action storyboards as a kid. When she decided to learn about filmmaking and storytelling, she reached out to her older sister Gloria, who got her a job as a PA at an animation studio.

In this interview, Yuh talks about hand-to-hand combat in animation, the transition from animation to directing, the emotional core of the story, and being ready for great opportunities.

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 weekly YouTube series at www.creativeprinciples.live

Written and directed by newcomer Elijah Bynum, the film ‘Hot Summer Nights’ stars Timothée Chalamet, Mailka Monroe, and Alex Roe. The coming of age story takes place in Cape Cod.

In this interview, actor Alex Roe discusses his latest role as the weed-dealing local cool guy, Hunter. Roe also led the film ‘Forever My Girl,’ and has been in recent hits like 'The 5th Wave,' 'Rings', and Freefall’s new series, 'Siren.'

Roe also spoke about the importance of having thick skin as a young actor, the play/praise that made him take the work seriously, and his preparation for various roles, which involves total immersion into character.

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

In the new film, ‘Siberia,’ an American diamond trader's Russian partner goes missing, so he journeys to Siberia in search of him, but instead begins a love affair.

The film, which partially mimics the gritty movies from the 1970s, stars Keanu Reeves and comes from the mind of Reeves, Stephen Hamel (Passengers) and Scott Smith (A Simple Plan).

In this interview, director Matthew Ross talks about his eight-year journey to create his Michael Shannon-Imogen Poots film debut, ‘Frank & Lola.’

As a former writer for Filmmaker Magazine, Ross tells us about his journey into the business, conversations with iconic directors, his influences like Hitchcock and Kubrick, and the lure of psychosexual thrillers.

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Written by Penn Jillette of magician duo Penn & Teller, ‘Director’s Cut’ is the unusual story of Herbert Blount. The aspiring director wants to make a movie on his own so he kidnaps the lead actress of a crowdfunded film and inflicts horror upon her.

Director Adam Rifkin got interested in filmmaking and horror storytelling thanks to Chicago’s Svengoolie spoofster. Rifkin is also known for ‘Look,’ ’Chillerama,’ and ‘The Last Movie Star,’ which features icon Burt Reynolds.

In this interview, Rifkin talks about his early influences like ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ and ‘Smokey and the Bandit,’ along with the unusual conversation that led to ‘Director’s Cut, the intrigue of an unreliable narrator, the intimacy of the Director’s Cut commentary, and his overall experience with crowdfunding an Indie film.

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In 'The Confirmation,' Anthony is on the fence about spending time with his hapless, alcoholic father. Equally unsure of their upcoming time together, Walt, a freelance carpenter, picks up his son for what he assumes to be a calm weekend while his ex-wife and her new husband go off on a Catholic marriage-counseling retreat.

Starring Clive Owen and Jaeden Lieberher, the father-son story was written and directed by Bob Nelson, best known for his Oscar-nominated screenplay, 'Nebraska.'

Much like the acclaimed 2013 film, 'The Confirmation' also has an all-star cast of side characters including Maria Bello, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Tim Blake Nelson, and Robert Forster.

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 weekly YouTube series at www.creativeprinciples.live

Inspired by the dialogue-heavy screenplays of Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead teamed up to create innovative films for hungry audiences.

In ‘The Endless,’ two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group's beliefs may be more sane than they once thought.

During our conversation, the writer-directors discuss innovation without confusion, figuring out the facets of a great mystery, thinking of the camera as an omniscient force, how homage is the opposite of innovation, and why filmmakers should stop waiting for others to greenlight their projects.

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Emmy and Peabody award-winning director Eugene Jarecki is interested in American justice, poetry in film, journalism, and Elvis Presley.

In his latest documentary, 'The King,' Jarecki jumped behind the wheel of Elvis’ Rolls Royce to drive cross-country on a musical road trip in an effort to explore the loss of authenticity in America.

“We’re at a time where we’re looking very closely at what the American dream really means. Who is there that any of us can think of who more poetically represents the American dream than Elvis Presley?”

As a musician, Elvis began from humble roots but soon had a meteor-like career and the film is meant to highlight these parallels with America. The director added, “I think Elvis is a person who got lost and he got lost at the height of his power. Isn’t that America, too?”

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 weekly YouTube series at www.creativeprinciples.live

In the Icelandic comedy, ‘Under the Tree,’ Baldwin and Inga's next door neighbors complain that a tree in their backyard casts a shadow over their sundeck, what starts off as a typical spat between neighbors in the suburbs unexpectedly and violently spirals out of control.

In this interview, writer-director Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson discusses his transition from shorts to full-length features, his early determinations to make a film, how to balance tone through intuition and the importance of knowing limitations but surprising them anyway.

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