Mentors on the Mic: Your guide to pursuing a career in the Entertainment industry

Rosemary Rodriguez is a film and television director. In 2001, she wrote, produced and directed a feature film called Acts of Worship, about a young woman struggling with drug addiction. The film was nominated for, and won, numerous independent film awards and screened at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. In 2015, she directed the film Silver Skies starring George Hamilton. In 2004, she started directed Television on the show Third Watch. Her TV credits are numerous and include Law & Order, Rescue Me, Castle, White Collar, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Elementary, Jessica Jones, Sneaky Pete, The Tick, and more.

In this episode, we talk about:

•  Her “late start” directing and saving money from her corporate job to fund her first film Acts of Worship

•  How Acts of Worship is semi-autobiographical and how living on the streets fueled her in her path

•  Her advice for any actor or creative

•  Why she was overwhelmed at Sundance and how she started directing TV

•  How she beats herself over “wasted time”

•  Are directors part of the casting decisions in TV and how long she normally has to prepare for a given project

•  How it took 20 years for her to direct a film she hasn’t personally financed

•  Her definition of success and why it made me tear up

•  How and why being a director informs what she chooses to read

Guest:

Wikipedia IMDB 

Twitter: @rosemarydirects

Instagram: @rosemarydirects

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

You read that right... I read the Trades so you don't have to.⁠

📰 I chose the top 5 stories this week to share with you from the major trades.⁠

⏲️ Ever wish you had more time (or desire) to read what's going on in Entertainment?⁠

ℹ️ Want to feel informed on the biggest things going on right now?⁠

🧐 Don't know which trades to scan through?⁠

Or simply, you don't feel like it.⁠

🎙️Check out this quick bonus episode where I share the top stories from this week in 5 minutes or less.⁠

This week:⁠

- Filming in Space⁠

- Britney⁠ Spears update

- Is Production increasing or decreasing in Hollywood?⁠

+ more.⁠

⁠Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

MARSHALL HERSKOVITZ is a writer, producer, and director who has won numerous awards for his work in television and film. Born in Philadelphia, he attended Brandeis University, then moved to Los Angeles in 1975, where he attended the American Film Institute. One of his classmates was Edward Zwick, and there the two created what is currently the longest-surviving creative partnership in Hollywood: The Bedford Falls Company, named for the town in Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. In the ensuing decades they created such TV series as thirtysomething, My So-Called Life, and Once and Again; and Herskovitz variously produced and/or wrote many films with Zwick, including Legends of the Fall, Traffic, The Last Samurai, and Blood Diamond. Herskovitz also directed Jack the Bear and the cult-favorite Dangerous Beauty.

In 2007, Herskovitz created the groundbreaking online series and social network quarterlife, which at the time was the internet’s most successful scripted series, and the first online series to transition to network television.

A longtime environmentalist, Herskovitz has served on the board of several organizations dedicated to fighting climate change.

He is a past president of the Producers Guild of America.

In this episode, we talk about:

•  The Last Samurai and working with Tom Cruise

• His first role in the Entertainment industry and his first job while still at film school.

• If AFI (American Film Institute) prepared him for the industry and what he took from it

• The transition from writer to Showrunner and the birth of the hit show thirtysomething

•  Working with his partner Edward Zwick and their initial different strengths and weaknesses.

•  How he and Ed work together now; who directs and who writes.

•  Working on some of his biggest projects

•  Tips for aspiring actors

About the Guest:

Twitter

Wikipedia IMDb

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

Question: What do each of the following Casting Directors have in common? Besides being a guest on Mentors on the Mic.

Answer: They all loved giving tips to Actors regarding Self Tapes.

Self Tapes are the new normal. For non-Actors out there, these are how actors submit auditions now that we're not going in person. For this mini bonus episode, we are going over these Casting Directors's top Self Tape tips.

Featuring Casting Directors:

Kim Graham - Season 1 Episode 12 (Homeland)

Jenny Ravitz - Season 2 Episode 6 (Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD)

Julie Schubert - Season 2 Episode 2 (House of Cards, Jessica Jones, For Life, Manifest)

Julie Tucker - upcoming guest (Nurse Jackie, White Collar, The Equalizer, The Affair)

***Correction - The second clip is from Julie Schubert, not Kim Graham

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

Amy Koppelman is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, A Mouthful of Air and I Smile Back. Her recent directorial debut for A Mouthful of Air stars Amanda Seyfreid, Finn Wittrock, Jennifer Carpenter and Paul Giamatti.

She received her undergraduate degree from University of Pennsylvania, and an MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Koppelman and her screenwriting partner adapted I Smile Back for the screen. The film, starring Sarah Silverman, premiered at the 2015 Sundance, Toronto and Deauville Film Festivals. Her other book is called Hesitation Wounds.

Shownotes

•  Tips for dealing with REJECTION; what Amy does to push through the consistent rejection of being a writer and director

•  What she thought of the other writers in her MFA program at Columbia and how much they disliked her

•  How she got her first agent for A Mouthful of Air after being rejected from “all of the agents in NY”

•  How she got her novel I Smile Back to Sarah Silverman and made that into a movie on a low budget, before premiering at Sundance

•  How difficult it was to get financing for A Mouthful of Air, despite having Amanda Seyfried at meetings

•  How she went from being asked by Amanda Seyfried not to direct A Mouthful of Air to getting her blessing

•  Why you have to be indefatigable to pursue a career as an artist

•  How you get to the next place in your career as an artist

Amy Koppelman

IMDb Twitter Amazon books

Trailer for A Mouthful of Air

Review from Time Magazine

Where to Watch: Prime Video Apple TV Vudu More

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

Tony Goldwyn is an American actor, producer, and director, known for playing the role of President Fitzgerald Grant III in the ABC drama “Scandal.” He has acted in films, such as “Ghost,” “The Last Samurai,” “The Last House on the Left,” “The Mechanic,” “Divergent,” “The Divergent Series: Insurgent,” and “The Belko Experiment.” Recently, he was seen in the movie, “Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House.” In addition, he has directed a few episodes of hit TV series like “Dexter,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Six Degrees,” “Damages,” “Justified,” “Hawthorne,” and “Scandal.” Goldwyn is also known for his political activism and has been a supporter of Hillary Clinton. To support Clinton’s Presidential campaign, he even directed an ad which featured other celebrities like Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes, Viola Davis, and Ellen Pompeo. Goldwyn is also a spokesman for the Americares Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides emergency medical aid in the USA and around the world.

In this episode, we talk about:

• T ony’s start in theater and his transition to film and television

•  Why actors must have a creative network of their own to gain traction, given the competition

•  Scoring his breakout role in Ghost and the opportunities (and lack of opportunities) that he gained after

•  How he approached his transition into directing that he recommends for every new director 

•  The three criteria in determining any project he takes on

•  What the experience was like getting cast for “Scandal” and working with Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes, and many others: Available on youtube

•  How Tony went about his role for the 2021 film, “King Richard,” and for the National Geographic limited series, “Hot Zone: Anthrax”

•  His definition of success

About the Guest:

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Goldwyn

IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001282/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tonygoldwyn

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tonygoldwyn/

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

What is your Definition of Success?⁠

⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition.

This episode features answers from:⁠

📺 President of Production and Development at Wayfarer Studios Andrew Calof

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 16

📺 Emmy winning Casting Director Julie Tucker (Sneak Peek of Season 3)

📺 Actor/Director Tony Goldwyn (Sneak Peek of Season 3)

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

What is your Definition of Success?⁠

⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition.

This episode features answers from:⁠

📺 Showrunner/Writer Mark A Altman (Pandora on CW)

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 12

📺 Producer Creative Director Jill Hoppenheim (Bagg Street Productions)

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 4

📺 Billboard Charting Vocalist and Viral Sensation Chris Mann

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 5

📺 TV Writer and Filmmaker Felicia Pride (Grey's Anatomy, Queen Sugar)

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 11

📺 Emmy-nominated Composer Beau Black (Disney)

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 1

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

What is your Definition of Success?⁠

⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition.

This episode features answers from:⁠

📺 5x Emmy-winning Executive Producer and Director Rob Burnett (Late Night with David Letterman, Fundamentals of Caring) 

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 15

📺 Emmy-winning Casting Director Julie Schubert (The Devil Wears Prada, The Departed)

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 2

📺 Grammy-winning Producer Sandy Vee (Rihanna, Katy Perry, David Guetta)

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 10

📺 Award-winning Director and Producer Winter Dunne (Junebug, Jezebel - on Netflix)

Full Episode - Season 2; Episode 9

Definitions of Success Part 1

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle

What is your Definition of Success?⁠

⁠I chose some of my favorite answers to this question from our Season 2 Mentors for a quick (>10) min episode. Some answers may inspire you, some may make you laugh, and others may force you to rethink your own definition.

This episode features answers from:⁠

📺 VP of Disney TV Animation (Current series and Diversity) Jay Francis⁠ (Episode 2.7)

📺 Showrunner & Co-Creator (Friends, Grace & Frankie) Marta Kauffman⁠ (Episode 2.14)

📺 Casting Director (Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD) Jenny Ravitz⁠ (Episode 2.6)

📺 Actor, Tik Tok star, Content Creator, Director ⁠Ben Giroux⁠ (Episode 2.3)

Definitions of Success Part 2

Host:

Instagram: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneMiller

Twitter: @MentorsontheMic @MichelleSimoneM

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mentorsonthemic

Website: www.michellesimonemiller.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/24mmichelle