Film Talk | Interviews with the brightest minds in the film industry.

Independent film producer Franco Sama has an extensive history in public speaking, public relations and a decade of independent film development, production and financing. Franco has executive produced an impressive array of over twenty independent films including "Guns, Girls and Gambling" starring Oscar nominated Gary Oldman, Golden Globe winner Christian Slater and Dane Cook. Other films Franco has produced include "Black Limousine" starring David Arquette, Vivica A. Fox and Bijou Phillips, and "Tooth and Nail" starring Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones. Franco also served as executive producer on the film festival darling "Petunia" starring Golden Globe nominated Thora Birch, Brittany Snow, and Oscar winner Christine Lahti.

Peter Kurland is a 4 time Oscar nominated sound mixer best known for his work on Oscar winning “No Country For Old Men”, Oscar winning “Fargo”, and Oscar winning “Men in Black” amongst many others. He is also a BAFTA winner and Grammy Award winner.

Bobbie O’Steen is a writer and film historian, dedicated to sharing the editor’s invisible art with film students, professionals and the movie-going public. She is an Emmy-nominated editor and author of two acclaimed books about editing. Her book “Cut to the Chase” is based on interviews with her late husband and colleague, Oscar nominated editor Sam O’Steen who edited legendary Oscar winning films such as “Chinatown”, “The Graduate” and “Rosemary’s Baby”. Her second book, “The Invisible Cut”, deconstructs classic movie scenes through a cut-by-cut analysis. Bobbie has taught graduate school workshops at NYU and contributes commentary and interviews about the art of editing for The Criterion Collection releases. She has moderated numerous panels honoring master editors at EditFest as well as at Emerson College, UCLA and 92Y Tribeca. She is now partnered with Manhattan Edit Workshop to regularly host an evening event series called “Inside the Cutting Room.” And she has written for such publications as CinemaEditor Magazine, which recently named her “Film Editing’s Greatest Champion.” Bobbie’s next project is an authoritative, media-rich eBook called "Making the Cut at Pixar" about the editor's pioneering role in computer animation.

Harold Cronk is the director of box office hit “God’s Not Dead” and “God’s Not Dead 2”. Other movies of his include “Jerusalem Countdown”, “Silver Bells”, and “The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Treasure”. Harold is also the founder of 10 West Studios, a large studio facility located in Northwest Michigan.

Robert Grant is a writer and script consultant. He sits on the jury of the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Science Fiction Literature and is part of the team behind The London International Festival of Science Fiction and Fantastic Film. He’s also the author of “Writing The Science Fiction Film.”

Author and script consultant Michele Wallerstein works with writers to get their work into shape so that it sells.  Michele is the author of the best selling book “Mind Your Business:  A Hollywood Literary Agent’s Guide To Your Writing Career”. Michele recently taught at UCLA on “The Business of Your Writing Career”, and has also taught at USC, U.C. Davis, and the Northwest Screenwriters Guild, amongst others.

Prior to becoming a consultant, Michele was a Hollywood literary agent, during which time she sold $1 million spec scripts. She has served as the Executive Vice-President of Women In Film, on the Agents Advisory Board of Creative Screenwriting Magazine, and as a columnist for Script Magazine.

Emmy nominated Lisa Lieberman Doctor has been working with writers for the past thirty-eight years, during which time she has guided nominees and winners of the National Book Award, the Pen Award, the Pulitzer Prize, the Carnegie, the Tony, the Emmy, and the Academy Award. Lisa’s first industry position was as story editor for Sylvester Stallone, shortly after the release of “Rocky”. She then went on to become Creative Executive at Universal Pictures, Vice President at Kings Road Productions at Warner Brothers, Vice President at Nelvana Entertainment and ITC Entertainment, Head of Production and Development at Jerry Weintraub Entertainment, and Vice President of Robin Williams’ company, Blue Wolf Productions, where she oversaw the Oscar winning Mrs. Doubtfire. In 1995 Lisa switched gears to become a staff writer on ABC’s “General Hospital” and its spin-off, “Port Charles”, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award and Writers Guild Award. Lisa currently leads weekly writing workshops in Los Angeles, including classes at the UCLA Extension Writers Program and the non-profit organization, Television Writers Fund For the Future.

Dr Rachel Ballon is an international script consultant, licensed psychotherapist and career coach, who specializes in writers’ personal and professional issues such as how to overcome self-defeating behaviors, writing blocks, and procrastination; whilst increasing creativity, confidence, and productivity. A former adjunct professor in screenwriting at USC School of Cinema and Television, she is the author of five widely acclaimed writing books, the latest two of which are “Breathing Life Into Your Characters” and “The Writers Portable Therapist”. Dr Ballon has worked as a psychological advisor and consultant reviewing hundreds of scripts at United Paramount Network, Saban Entertainment, Fox Family Worldwide and Fox Kids. A master teacher at UCLA’s Writer’s Program, she is a screenwriter with produced credits on ABC-TV, and a member of the Writer’s Guild of America.

Bruce Logan is a VFX Director, DP, and Supervisor, as well as a director, producer and writer. His work as a DP includes films such as the Oscar nominated “Tron” and “Jamie Foxx: Straight From the Foxxhole”. He directed Madonna’s video for “Borderline” as well as working on music videos for Prince, R. Kelly, Rod Stewart, and Aerosmith. His commercial work includes Pepsi, Fed-Ex, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, and Nissan. And his work in VFX includes the Oscar winning “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Oscar winning “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”, and “Batman Forever”.

Scott Winn is a director and producer best known for his YouTube work, which has amassed more than 59 million views. Recently Scott partnered with YouTube superstar Lily Singh to document her world tour for a film called "A Trip to Unicorn Island," an ambitious 27 city world tour during which she delivered an inspirational message to her 7 million fans. The movie was recently released by YouTube Red as their first ever original documentary.