Matt and Oren are back to basics and pushing creative boundaries. Whether it's tackling passion projects, experimenting with constraints like shooting anamorphic on the vertical, or using AI to spark human creativity, they’re finding new ways to innovate. And hey, sometimes a mocktail and a first-class movie night are all you need for fresh inspiration. 

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Matt's Endorsement: Creamy, Spicy Tomato Beans and Greens Recipe https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025325-creamy-spicy-tomato-beans-and-greens

Get a subscription to the New York Times.

Oren's Endorsement: 1) When traveling on a plane, order a mocktail of club soda & cranberry over ice. 2) Stick with one airline and go all in on their frequent flyer rewards. 3) Place an AirTag in your checked bag so you can see if it's near you on the plane and whether it's close when you're waiting at baggage claim. And 4) watch movies when you're on a plane because the altitude will more your brain more emotionally receptive.

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Can a well-timed email get you on SNL as a director? Oz Rodriguez made it happen. But TV was a whole different game back then! The formula, though, remains the same: great comedy actors make comedy directors look great.

Oren and Matt chat with Oz about how directors can cast incredible comedic talent. Plus, Oz spills secrets on getting the best performances from actors.

Ever wondered what it's like to shoot a video for SNL? Or how much creative freedom a director really has under the watchful eye of Lorne Michaels and some of the best comedy writers in the world? Oz covers it all. He doesn’t hold back, sharing both his setbacks and how he turned them into successes.

If you love comedy, this episode is a must-listen!

Find Oz Rodriguez on IMDb: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm1444412 and Instagram: @oz_rodriguez. Be sure to check out his first book, The Girl and the Robot: https://books.disney.com/book/the-girl-and-the-robot/.

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Matt's Endorsement: The movie Love Lies Bleeding https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19637052/

Oren's Endorsement: Pinterest now has an awesome algorithm and is super useful for storyboards and lookboards.

The show The Studio on Apple TV https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23649128/

The show Adolescence on Netflix https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31806037/

Oz's Endorsements: Dia Natural Wine Shop https://www.dianaturalwine.com/

The movie Mickey 17 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12299608/

And also, go to the movies! Like, see a Soderbergh film on the big screen.

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Matt and Oren take a hard look at the current state of the film and TV industry in the wake of the LA fires, pandemic, strikes, AI, and streaming. It’s some real talk about the challenges facing production, including tax incentives, union rates, and the ongoing struggle to keep jobs from leaving the LA area.

And they explore potential solutions to get more production peeps working regularly and keep productions from being forced into shooting in places like Austin, Atlanta, Columbia, Mexico, and everywhere else.

From analyzing the role of tax breaks to discussing union wage negotiations, this is an insider's perspective on what it will take for the industry to get more people working regularly.

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Matt's Endorsement: Use graph paper.

Oren's Endorsement: Sesame AI voice https://www.sesame.com/ 

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Geremy Jasper https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3017455/ , the visionary behind the stylized rock musical "O'dessa" on Hulu https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26304178 , shares the journey of bringing his ambitious project to life, from signing acclaimed talents like Sadie Sink and Regina Hall to crafting an original album for the film. 

Despite having just one feature under his belt, he successfully secured financing and brought his vision to fruition. OK, his feature did screen at Sundance, but still! Tune in as he reflects on the challenges, the motivation that kept him going, and the lessons he'll carry into his next endeavor.

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Matt's Endorsement: Buying wine from a local wine merchant can be a better value than purchasing at a grocery store.

Oren's Endorsement: For the best posture while sitting, your legs should be at a 90 degree angle. You can use a foot rest to help achieve this alignment.

Geremy's Endorsement: "The Boulet Brothers Dragula" the series, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6289132/ . It has fantastic art direction and costume design.

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Pete Chatmon is one of those select few directors who is constantly working as a director on TV episodes from Ghosts, to Yellowjackets, Chicago Fire, and lots more. He's the host of the podcast Let's Shoot.

Matt and Oren quiz Pete on how he sets people up to receive feedback and tough notes. And Pete talks about the importance of knowing what does not work, even though you thought it might. Off which , Oren shares how some brutal feedback changed his career for the better. 

But unsolicited honest feedback... hmm what about that? That's a tough one. And the guys go deep into this from both sides, giving and receiving. Like real deep. And they talk about what happens when the response to your note is "I'm not doing that."

But first, Matt talks about his latest shoot with Major League Baseball (MLB) superstars and what happens when you ask them to sing!

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Matt's Endorsement: Watch the early works of your favorite directors, like "She's Gotta Have It", Spike Lee's first film.

Oren's Endorsement: The podcast "Song Exploder" https://songexploder.net/episodes 

Also, once an avocado is ripe, if you're not ready to eat it, you can put it in the refrigerator.

Pete's Endorsement: The podcast "What Went Wrong" https://www.whatwentwrongpod.com/

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AWESOME EVENT! Help victims of the California wildfires (*) by attending a screening of a new episode of "Yellowjackets" with a discussion with Director Pete Chatmon at Let's Shoot at Dynasty Typewriter, Wed. Mar 19, 7:30 PM. Live and Streaming tickets are available at https://www.dynastytypewriter.com/calendar-squad-up?event-id=106932  

(*) All proceeds benefit the Altadena Community Preservation Fund.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE. Laura Murphy chats with Matt and Oren about directing her new film "F*** Marry Kill" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22528200 In this second of a two-part interview, hear about bringing your kids to set, does it work? How about when you're shooting in a different country?

Laura talks about her journey getting into commercials and the hurdles she overcame. And Matt & Oren chat with her about the future of indie filmmaking in light of Sean Baker's recent controversial opinion. On top of that, Laura shares her secrets to using improv to expand creativity, without killing the schedule.

You can find Laura at @bestlauraever on both Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

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Matt's Endorsement: Sara Dosa and Katia & Maurice Krafft's film "Fire of Love" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16227014

Oren's Endorsement: If you're on a plane, and your eye is suddenly all red, it might be a ruptured blood vessel in your eye, which is ok. So just chill out. 

Do you find yourself saying, "Alexa, turn off"? You can simply say, "Alexa stop". And that requires 1 fewer syllables to say.

The book, "The Anxious Generation", https://jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation/

Laura's Endorsements: Shotdeck https://shotdeck.com/

"Patriot", the series on Amazon Prime https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4687882

"Love Island: All Stars", UK Version https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt28959685

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Laura Murphy chats with Matt and Oren about directing her new film "F*** Marry Kill" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22528200 And they talk about the process to become a director on a film like this, is there a list you need to be on? And what can directors do to get on the "list"?

In this first of a two-part interview, you can hear whether being on time and on budget really makes a difference in the long run.  

As a bonus, Matt and Oren kick things off with some insights from Oren's latest commercial shoot. It was a mix of knuckle-gripping ups and downs with weather, appendicitis, and near over budget calamity. And Oren reflects on the most important decisions he made. And he shows what directors need to do on set, when everything around you is pooping the bed. 

You can find Laura at @bestlauraever on both Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).

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Endorsements -- check next week for Matt's, Oren's, and Laura's endorsements! 

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Oren's on another commercial shoot and Matt's just started another new show! Everything's great, or is it? Matt and Oren chat about why the vision you pitch can be really, really hard in reality. Especially as budget, storyboard, timings, weather, and the nuances of handling this particular client unfold.

And the guys go deep into a discussion of the first principles of filmmaking, and when might be a good time to break or rethink them. 

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Matt's Endorsement:  Animator Joe Cappa, maker of "Meet the Boys" and "Haha You Clowns" has the greatest pacing of his soft, bone-dry jokes. https://www.youtube.com/@JoeCappa

Oren's Endorsement: Using a stylized LUT while shooting (even though it might be dialed back) instead of defaulting to Rec 709. Doing so generates a conversation around style and feel, while on set with the client and gets them comfortable with a more stylized look before post starts.

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First-time director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes IG @kylehausmannstokes https://www.instagram.com/kylehausmannstokes/ shares how he landed Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman for his film "My Dead Friend Zoe". https://mydeadfriendzoemovie.com

IG @mydeadfriendzoe https://www.instagram.com/mydeadfriendzoe/

And he chats with Oren and Matt about why his pitch was so successful. Hear the journey that led to the film’s big win at SXSW, as well as the ups and downs to maintain the project's momentum, land the rights to Rihanna's "Umbrella", and convince Travis Kelce to be an EP.

“My Dead Friend Zoe” opens on 700 theatre screens on Feb. 28, 2025.

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Matt's Endorsement: Cold Open for the SNL Music Documentary

Oren's Endorsement: Giggster can help you book locations and permits. https://giggster.com/

Kyle's Endorsements: The Shottr screenshot app https://shottr.cc/ and non-alcoholic beer from Athletic Brewing Co. https://athleticbrewing.com/ 

Veterans in Media & Entertainment https://vmeconnect.org/

The Mission Continues https://www.missioncontinues.org/

Bob Woodward Foundation https://bobwoodrufffoundation.org/

Every Town for Gun Safety https://www.everytown.org/

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Executive Producer (EP) Eric McCasline talks about building his new, top-tier production company, Good Times. https://ItsGoodTimes.com/ And he chats with Matt and Oren about how directors can get on the roster, win jobs, and why you as a director need to know your lane and understand how reps will pitch you. It's a "Moneyballl" game to get on and stay on, are you playing your game right?

The conversation goes deep into budgets, incentives, permits, fees as well as the shifting aesthetic of commercials. And the guys reveal why only top-tier work matters these days. So you gotta shoot way higher than the B-Team!!!

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Matt's Endorsement: https://www.kimgehrig.com/ 

Patrick Tomaso's video "Why don't movies look like *movies* anymore?" https://youtu.be/EwTUM9cFeSo?si=8MV4niF9L7o-Uh6F

Oren's Endorsement: Use Photoshop Generative AI and Midjourney to make edits to storyboards and animatics while staying consistent to your storyboard artists style.

Bring Cool Ranch Doritos to your party, seriously.

Eric's Endorsements: SteadfastLA https://www.steadfastla.com/ is helping rebuild Los Angeles.

"After the End of Art", a book by Arthur Danto https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691163895/after-the-end-of-art

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