Inspired Minds

Sobey Road Entertainment Co-Founder and producer Andrew Trapani joins us to discuss his career path, music, film culture and producing in the horror genre. Credits include: “The Haunting in Connecticut,” which opened at #2 at the box offices and went on to gross over $99 million, “Winchester,” the supernatural horror film starring Oscar-winner Helen Mirren, “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” “Tamara,” written by “Final Destination” franchise creator Jeffrey Reddick and “True Rights.”

In 2016, production began on a documentary about the Showtime era of the Los Angeles Lakers, which Trapani is producing in partnership with Lakers president Jeanie Buss. Trapani’s projects in development include a remake of the 1981 film “An American Werewolf in London,” a film adaptation of the Richard Brautigan novel “The Hawkline Monster,” and a scripted sports drama series for Showtime which he is co-producing with legendary basketball coach Phil Jackson.

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“Orange is the New Black” star Christina Toth, who played Annalisa Damiva in seasons 6 and 7, dishes on acting methods in front of the camera and under the bright theater lights onstage. Other TV and film credits include HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” Discovery’s “A Crime to Remember,” Prime’s “Bumbld,” BRIC TV’s “All Hail Beth,” “Consensus Reality,” “Inside the Rain,” “Crowddating,” “Frankie: Italian Roulette,” “Taste,” “Disconnected,” “Black Star,” “Ovum,” “Night Time She Lay Sleep,” “Jane St.,” “The Latents” and “Blooming Flowers.”

Christina is the resident artist of theatre company The Bridge Production Group. She performed in their productions of Richard 3 (Lady Anne), Red Light Winter (Christina), The Blue Room (woman) and most recently in the New York premiere of SEE YOU (The New Ohio Theatre), a play by French Canadian playwright Guillaume Corbeil. She’s now on the Emmy ballot for her new television series, “Strut.”

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A powerful force in both journalism and entertainment, CNN producer and "The Newsroom" star Margaret Judson joins us to discuss her career, ultimate truths and inspiration. She’s now up for an Emmy (Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama series) for her work in the hit series, “Strut,” for which she also recently won the Best Supporting Actress award at the New York Independent Film Festival. The series was also a participant in the Tribeca Film Festival. Margaret can also be seen in the HBO drama, “The Deuce," the ABC comedy, “Modern Family,” and the supernatural thriller, “Bornless Ones.”

Judson’s broadcast career began at the NBC Page Program, where she worked with television personalities such as Lorne Michaels, Jimmy Fallon and Brian Williams, before moving on to write and produce for prime time cable shows like "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" and "The Ed Show." She further contributes to the arts as a member of the Television Academy and as a Fellow for Tribeca Film Festival's Disruptor Foundation, alongside talents including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ava Duvernay and Fran Lebowitz. In addition to her passion for acting, Judson continues her work in journalism as a producer at CNN.

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The saga continues with another “Scream” franchise legend. Her movies grossing over $1 billion at the global box office, veteran producer Marianne Maddalena started out Wes Craven’s assistant on “Deadly Friend.” Eventually becoming producing partners, the pair formed Craven/Maddalena Films and their work sliced through Hollywood as horror movie gold. Credits include: every “Scream” film, the upcoming sixth “Scream,” “Scream: The TV Series,” “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare,” “Red Eye” with Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, "Vampire in Brooklyn” with Eddie Murphy, “Delirium,” “The Hills Have Eyes” (2006 and 2007), “Cursed,” “Dracula 2000,” "The People Under the Stairs,” “Shocker” and “Music of the Heart,” which garnered two Oscar nominations; one for Meryl Streep as Best Actress and one for Best Song. Maddalena joins “Inspired Minds” to cover the horror genre, manifesting dreams, her early ambitions as a film producer and discovering the iconic Ghostface mask. Special thanks: Richard Potter.

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A native of Los Angeles, Marilee studied philosophy at Yale before moving to Rome where she started her career in the film business as Francis Ford Coppola's philosophy tutor. She then worked in Italian TV as a director and development executive before returning to the US. Back in LA, Marilee started her career as a writer in commercials, writing treatments for many well-known directors, before turning to screenwriting. She has written primarily for film but has also developed several TV pilots both alone and with her writing partner, Reinhard Denke. They have optioned and/or sold over a dozen screenplays and pilots through their company, Mercury Media. Marilee is presently producing Reinhard’s Blacklisted script, "Sex, Greed Money, Murder, and Chicken Fried Steak," in a co-production with Amicus Films in Dallas. The film is scheduled to begin production in early 2023. Marilee has also turned to fiction. Her first novel, "The Tutor" (loosely based on her experience as Coppola’s philosophy tutor in Rome) was published by Rare Bird Books in the fall of 2019. Her lit agent is presently shopping her new novel, a psychological crime thriller, "He’s Gotta Go." Marilee is the founder of the nonprofit, One Village Green, which promotes mental health and wellness in American kids and communities through content, community building and grants to families in need. Through One Village Green, Marilee has a recently launched a podcast, Wake Up! where she discusses the youth mental health crisis with a wide assortment of experts across the mental health sphere. She is also developing a documentary, "Good Little Dead Robots," exploring the same. Her other careers? Busy mother to two teen boys, one-time annual fund co-chair at her kids’ school, gross-out cake expert, language lover (fluent French, Italian, Spanish), trained painter, and animal lover. 

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Mercedes De La Cruz (Gendron) is a Canadian actress, best known for her memorable and charismatic performances in more than two dozen television shows and independent films. As a model, De La Cruz has graced the cover of ALEPH Magazine, was Former Miss Hawaiian Tropic, Poster Girl Molson Canadian and notably secured a highly visible contract for The Brick before Cindy Crawford took the campaign over. After a successful modeling career, De La Cruz made the transition to a versatile supporting actor, lauded as a “great actress” by the likes of Academy Award nominee Sally Kirkland. For her role as Carla, a savvy pregnant prostitute, in Ramshackle Blues, De La Cruz was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2019 Vancouver Badass Film Festival.

De La Cruz was born and raised in Edmonton, Canada where she began performing onstage at the age of three. She was a gifted dancer winning countless competitions and awards including Outstanding Performer from Lecky’s School of Dancing in 1994. She loved to dance and performed in front of large crowds in productions such as “The Nutcracker” performed by the Alberta Ballet. From there she went on to Musical Theater and then Classical Theater where she fell in love with the art of acting. She began with small roles and music videos and in 2009 made a move to Vancouver, Canada to pursue acting full time. Shortly after her move to “Hollywood North,” she landed numerous international commercials and now appears in various episodes of many hit TV shows and movies, including Hallmark’s upcoming "Right In Front of Me" opposite Janel Parrish, Lifetime’s Lonestar Christmas opposite Marco Grazzini, AMC’s "Bates Motel" opposite Freddie Highmore, Bravo’s Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce opposite Lisa Edelstein (House), History Channel’s Project Blue Book opposite Aidan Gillen (Game Of Thrones) and the WB’s Supernatural opposite Jared Padalecki. De La Cruz recently wrapped filming the co-lead in the feature "Because You’re Dead To Me" and a co-starring role on the Netflix series "Maid." She studied acting under the likes of Jeff Seymour, John Cassini, Neil Schell, Kate Twa, Dean Armstrong, Mathew Harrison, Zibby Allen, Jeb Beach, Bradley Stryker, Michelle Allen, Anthony Shim, Lindsay Gibson, Edward Foy, Daniel Bacon, Rhonda Fisecki, Shea Hampton and Adam Davenport. Mercedes is represented by Melisse Kelly at Cue Management.

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First slashing his way to the screen as a Bob Weinstein's assistant at Miramax Films, Richard Potter read Kevin Williamson’s “Scary Movie” script one night, and insisted the film be made. He convinced Dimension Films to buy it, Wes Craven to direct it, the script was re-titled “Scream,” and the rest is horror movie history. He also developed legacy titles such as “Halloween,” “Hellraiser,” and “Highlander” into their biggest and most successful releases with “Halloween H20,” “Hellraiser: Bloodline” and “Highlander: The Final Dimension.” Other films to his name: “Scream 2,” “Mimic,” “The Crow: City of Angels,” “Nightwatch,” "Phantoms” and “Diciembres.”

As an executive, Potter was Senior Vice President of Production and Development at Dimension, as well as Executive Vice President of Production and Development at Relatively Media. In this episode, he discusses The Beatles, the origin of the “Scream” franchise and why his “Night of the Animated Dead” serves as a love letter to George A. Romero’s horror classic, “Night of the Living Dead.” 

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Janet Scott Batchler is the writer (with her partner Lee Batchler) of "Pompeii," "Smoke and Mirrors" and "Batman Forever," among many other projects. She was an Executive Producer on "Running for Grace," a lyrical indie about life and prejudice on a coffee plantation in 1910s Hawaii. The film, directed by David Cunningham and starring Matt Dillon and Jim Caviezel, was released in 2018. Janet moved into the world of directing with her award-winning short, "The Spittin' Image," based on the short story by Walt Wangerin, and has written and directed several other shorts. A graduate of the prestigious Directing Workshop for Women at the American Film Institute, Janet served on the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Women Directors for six years and is now an emeritus board member with the organization. As a guest speaker and teacher, Janet is on the Faculty of the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, where she teaches screenwriting to graduate and undergrad students, and has pioneered classes in Collaboration and Adaptation, as well as the division's most popular class ever, on The Harry Potter Franchise.

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RCA Records Senior Vice President of Artist Development Nick Light has led the music industry in the production of major tours and special events for entertainment giants Warner Bros. Records, MCA, Sony Entertainment and Mercury. He has orchestrated and directed the production of major tours for a countless number of icons including Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Beyoncé, Neil Diamond, Green Day, Josh Groban, Faith Hill, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Bublé, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Seal, The Eagles and Don Henley, The Who, Mary J. Blige, Blink-182, Bon Jovi, KISS, and many others. In this episode, Light reflects on his early days as a tour manager, his role as an executive, some crazy stories, the talent he's worked with and the ever-evolving music industry.

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William D. Cohan, a former senior Wall Street M&A investment banker for 17 years at Lazard Frères & Co., Merrill Lynch and JPMorganChase, is the "New York Times" bestselling author of three non-fiction narratives about Wall Street: "Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World," "House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street" and "The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.," the winner of the 2007 FT/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. His book, "The Price of Silence," about the Duke lacrosse scandal was published in April 2014 and was also a "New York Times" bestseller. His book, "Why Wall Street Matters," was published by Random House in February 2017.  His most recent book, "Four Friends," about four of his friends from high school and what happened to them in their lives, was published in July 2019 by Flatiron Press. His new book, to be published in November 2022, is titled "Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon." It is about the astounding rise and precipitous fall of the General Electric Company, once the world’s most valuable and respected company.

A former longtime special correspondent at “Vanity Fair,” he is a founding partner of “Puck,” a daily digital news and opinion publication. His focus at “Puck” is on Wall Street and the business world, writ large. He is a former columnist for the DealBook section of the “The New York Times.” He also writes for “The Financial Times,” “The New York Times,” “Air Mail,” “Barron’s,” “Bloomberg BusinessWeek,” “The Atlantic,” “Town & Country,” “The Nation,” “Fortune,” “The Hollywood Reporter,” and “Politico,”among other publications. He previously wrote a bi-weekly opinion column for “The New York Times” and an opinion column for “BloombergView.” He also appears regularly on CNN, on CNBC, where is a contributor, on MSNBC and the BBC-TV. He has also appeared three times as a guest on the Daily Show, with Jon Stewart, The NewsHour, The Charlie Rose Show, The Tavis Smiley Show, and CBS This Morning as well as on numerous NPR, BBC and Bloomberg radio programs. He was formerly a contributing editor on Bloomberg TV.

He is a graduate of Phillips Academy, Duke University, Columbia University School of Journalism and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts and now lives in New York City and upstate New York with his wife and, on occasion these days, their two sons.

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