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

Adam Hastings is the Vice President of Theatrical Marketing at Pure Flix Entertainment, where he’s managed campaigns for theatrical releases including the box office hit “God’s Not Dead” and the upcoming “God’s Not Dead 2”. He’s also the associate producer of films such as “Do You Believe?” starring Oscar winner Mira Sorvino and Golden Globe winner Cybill Shepherd, “This Is Our Time” starring Oscar nominated Eric Roberts, and “The Book of Esther”.

Derrick Williams is the Senior Vice President of TDJ Enterprises, where he works closely with Bishop TD Jakes. He is also the co-producer of “Sparkle” and the executive producer of films such as “Miracles from Heaven”, “Heaven is for Real”, “Black Nativity”, and “Woman Thou Art Loosed”. Over the last 20 years, through his company Favor International, Derrick has offered services in five major areas: live events; film and television; business development; marketing; and artist management. He has orchestrated the production of numerous events ranging from fundraisers, award shows, stage plays, live recordings, screenings, seminars, concerts, tours, conferences and corporate events. For the past 17 years Derrick has facilitated all aspects of Bishop TD Jakes' entertainment division, including producing feature films, television productions, and stadium conferences. Derrick has worked closely with organizations such as the Congressional Black Caucus, Universal Studios, FOX Entertainment Group, Clear Channel Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, as well as smaller, community-based organizations. Derrick is internationally recognized as a marketing guru, evidenced by the success of movies such as “Jumping the Broom”, “The Pursuit of Happyness”, “Not Easily Broken”, and the remake of “The Karate Kid”.

Charles Baker has starred in shows such as Golden Globe winning “Breaking Bad”, “Colony”, and “The Blacklist”, and movies such as Oscar nominated “Wild”, Golden Globe winning “Temple Grandin”, "To the Wonder" by Oscar nominated Terrence Malick, and the upcoming "The Neon Demon" by Cannes film Festival winner Nicolas Winding Refn.

Kim Hudson is the author of “The Virgin’s Promise”, a groundbreaking new theory on archetypal screenplay structure endorsed by legendary screenwriting expert Chris Vogler. She is a graduate of Vancouver Film School and the International School of Analytical Psychology Zurich. She teaches extensively on the theory of the Virgin’s archetypal structure.

Emmy award winning FX make-up artist Ben Rittenhouse has worked on movies such as Oscar winning “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”, Oscar Winning “Ray”, Golden Globe nominated “Kill Bill Volume 1”, and Golden Globe nominated “Kill Bill Volume 2”, as well as “Men in Black 2”, “Blade 2”, “The Hills Have Eyes”, “The Hills Have Eyes 2”, “Sin City”, “Ray”, “Planet of the Apes”, “Austin Power in Goldmember”, “Serenity”, “Employee of the Month”, and “The Hulk”, amongst many others. He is also an instructor at the Academy of Makeup Arts in Nashville, Tennessee.

Pamela Jaye Smith is a mythologist, author, international consultant and speaker, and award-winning writer-producer-director with over thirty years experience in features, TV, music videos, commercials, documentaries, corporate and military films – in Hollywood and around the world. Her co-authored script “The Cuban Circuit” was a winner at the 2015 Bahamas International Film Festival's first Writers Residency Program. Pamela is the author of “The Power of the Dark Side”, “Inner Drives”, “Symbols.Images.Codes”, “Beyond the Hero's Journey”, “Show Me the Love”, and “Romantic Comedies”. Pamela is the founder of Mythworks and co-founder of Mythic Challenges and the Alpha Babe Academy. Clients and credits include Fox, Microsoft, Paramount, Disney, Universal, RAI-TV Rome, National Film School of Denmark, LA and Marseille WebFests, and many more. Pamela is a frequent jurist and panelist for script contests and film festivals. She is the myth expert for the Special Features on Fox's “Ice Age: Continental Drift” movie.

Golden Globe nominated Carlo Siliotto has composed music for over 70 films, including titles such as “Miracles from Heaven”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny”, “The Punisher” and “Fluke”.

Matthew Margeson is a composer for movies such as Oscar nominated “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, Oscar nominated “Wreck-It Ralph”, Oscar nominated “Captain Phillips”, “Kick-Ass 2”, “This is the End”, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, “X-Men: First Class”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, “The Expendables”, and “Eddie the Eagle” which is currently in theaters nationwide.

Oscar nominated and Emmy Award winning John Debney is considered one of the most prolific and successful composers in Hollywood. His unique ability to create memorable work across a variety of genres, as well as his reputation for being remarkably collaborative, have made him the first choice of many top level producers and directors. His work as a composer includes films like “Iron Man 2”, “The Stoning of Soraya M”, “Bruce Almighty”, “Evan Almighty”, “Sin City”, “The Passion of the Christ”, “Elf”, “Spy Kids”, “The Emperor’s New Groove” and the upcoming film “The Young Messiah”.

Forest Conner is the in-house data scientist for digital distribution company VHX, where he analyzes both filmmaker and audience behavior to create insights into effective models of distribution for independent films. VHX is a digital distribution platform that empowers independent artists and distributors to sell video content and connect directly with their audience. Forest graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2006 with a dual-degree in Computer Science and Psychology, specializing in Artificial Intelligence Research. He subsequently worked in the tech world until his entry into the dual MBA/MFA program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Stern School of Business. Through this dual-degree program, he focused his study on independent film production and entrepreneurship in the film industry while also producing numerous award-winning short films and web series. In addition, he is a 2014 fellow of NYU’s Cinema Research Institute where he explored the connections between film and audience through a system of creating common personality types. Titles that have used VHX for online distribution include Golden Globe nominated Aziz Ansari’s standup show “Dangerously Delicious”, Sundance Film Festival winner “Indie Game: The Movie”, Oscar winner Kevin Spacey’s documentary “NOW: In The Wings on a World Stage”, and Golden Globe nominated Zach Braff’s “Wish I Was Here”. VHX is backed by, amongst others, Chris Sacca and William Morris Endeavor.