Pop Culture Tonight with Patrick Phillips

Patrick chats with Director Tim Burton, “Creature From the Black Lagoon” actor Ricou Browning, and Butch Patrick from The Munsters!

Tim Burton is widely regarded as one of cinema’s most imaginative and visual filmmakers. He has achieved both critical and financial success in the live-action and animation genres. Besides Burton’s dedication to filmmaking, he has an enthusiasm for drawing and painting.

Ricou Browning performed all the underwater shots for the cult classic “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” He was also involved in all three of the sequels.

Butch Patrick is best known for his role of Eddie Munster  on the Munsters.

This week Patrick welcomes legendary composer Bruce Broughton to Pop Culture Tonight to discuss his career and new theme for "The Orville"!

About Bruce Broughton:

Bruce Broughton is best known for his many film scores, which include Silverado, Tombstone, The Rescuers Down Under, The Presidio, Miracle on 34th Street, the Homeward Boundadventures and Harry and the Hendersons. His television themes include JAG, Steven Spielberg’s Tiny Toon Adventures and Dinosaurs. His scores for television range from mini-series like Roughing It and The Blue and Gray to TV movies (Warm Springs, O Pioneers!)and countless episodes of television series such as Dallas, Quincy, Hawaii Five-O and How the West Was Won this fall, his new theme for Seth MacFarlane's "The Orville" debuts on FOX!

With 24 nominations, he has won a record 10 Emmy awards. His score to Silverado was Oscar-nominated, and his score to Young Sherlock Holmes was nominated for a Grammy. His music has accompanied many of the Disney theme park attractions throughout the world. His score for Heart of Darkness was the first recorded orchestral score for a video game.

As a concert composer, ensembles such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the National Symphony and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra have performed his works. His works for wind ensembles, bands and chamber groups have been performed and recorded throughout the world.

Patrick welcomes Emmy-nominated “Fear The Walking Dead: Passage” star Kelsey Scott and ‘Beatles’ historian/author Robert Rodriguez

About Kelsey Scott:

Best known for her role as Anne Northup in the OSCAR-winning “12 Years A Slave” and as Wes Gibbins’ mother, Rose, on “How to Get Away With Murder”, Scott began her career in the theatre scene of her hometown of Atlanta. She currently headlines the AMC TV web series, Fear the Walking Dead: Passage and appears as a recurring character on ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder.

“Fear the Walking Dead: Passage” is a post-apocalyptic horror drama television series set in Los Angeles and Mexico. The 16-episode program follows Sierra, a formidable survivor of an undead apocalypse, who takes an injured woman under her wing during her search for sanctuary. The show has been nominated for best drama or comedy series short form in the 2017 Emmy Awards. Additionally, Kelsey has been nominated for best actress in a short form for her role as Sierra.

Since her childhood debut on the stage, Kelsey’s credits have spanned a diverse range of projects. In a return to her Atlanta roots, Kelsey took to the stage in the World Premiere of Pearl Cleage’s “What I Learned in Paris” at the Alliance Theatre. Her theatre resume also showcases her work as a vocalist – with productions like “Once On This Island”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, “The Wiz” and a touring company of “Dreamgirls”.

Out of the spotlight, she is an accomplished screenwriter – having penned the Sony Pictures thrillers “Motives” and “Motives 2”, starring Vivica A. Fox (Kill Bill), Shemar Moore (Criminal Minds), and Sean Blakemore (General Hospital). Rainforest Films (“Think Like A Man”) also commissioned Kelsey to adapt the harrowing true story of former Hampton University student Kemba Smith, for the big screen.

WATCH “Fear the Walking Dead: Passage”

About Robert Rodriguez:

Pop culture historian Robert Rodriguez has written or contributed to nine books. 2012’s Revolver: How The Beatles Re-Imagined Rock ‘N’ Roll is his most highly-acclaimed yet. This book discusses the creation of (and reception accorded) the group’s seventh album, and how IT and not Sgt. Pepper represents their true artistic high-water mark.

Acquired wisdom has always put Sgt. Pepper at the head of the class, but it was Revolver that truly signaled The Beatles’ sea change from a functional band to a studio-based ensemble. These changes began before Rubber Soul but came to fruition on Revolver, which took an astonishing 300 hours to produce, far more than any rock record before it.

About The Book: Revolver How the Beatles Reimagined Rock’n’Roll

The making of Revolver hunkered down in Abbey Road with George Martin is in itself a great Beatles story, but would be nothing if the results weren’t so impactful. More than even Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds, Revolver fed directly into the rock ‘n’ roll zeitgeist, and its influence could be heard everywhere: from the psychedelic San Francisco sound (Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead); to the first wave of post-blues hard rock (Sabbath, Zeppelin); through movie soundtracks and pretty much everything that followed it including every generation of guitar-based pop music and even heavy metal.

More than any record before or after,

Abby Stern has been a Hollywood insider and freelance celebrity reporter for many years. She has covered red carpets and interviewed A-list celebrities for People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and countless others. This week she joins Patrick to discuss her new book "According to a Source", a juicy, big-hearted novel about a young woman who loses herself in a fast-paced, glamorous world where finding your authentic self isn’t easy.

Abby Quick Facts:

- Born and raised in New Orleans, LA

- Graduated USC with a B.A. in Theatre and a Film Critical Studies Minor

- Did stand-up comedy for a hot minute and was auditioning. Hopes to get back to performing.

- Been involved with creative writing for as long as she can remember. Was on the staff of high school literary magazine and had a poem recognized by the Nancy Thorpe poetry contest.

- Been a freelance writer for lifestyle outlets and celebrity journalism outlets for the past 10 years. Outlets include People Magazine, The Zoe Report, FabFitFun. Reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly.

- Would like to produce a TV version of According to a Source.

Get your copy of "According to a Source" HERE!

Burt Ward who starred as ‘Robin’ on the classic TV series “Batman”, joins Patrick this week!

Ward, is stepping back into his iconic role this fall in the sequel to “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” and can be seen every Saturday evening on METV. He is also teaching dog owners how to double the life of dogs through his non-profit organization.

Burt and his wife Tracy for the past 23 years has saved the lives of 16,000 dogs at their “Gentle Giants Rescue“. Gentle Giants Rescue is the world’s largest big dog rescue, and many stars such as Ellen, and others adopt their dogs from Burt as do consumers. All of the sales of Gentle giant’s dog food goes to the rescue and Burt and his wife take no salary and make no money from the sales of dog food or from the rescue.

Finally a star that cares and has a heart to save dogs of all sizes. 100% of profits go to rescuing more dogs, Burt has gone from caped crusader to canine crusader!

Patrick chats with talented actor Dan Payne about the new indie horror film, “Residue”, and his return to the role of ‘The Beast’ in Disney’s “Descendants 2”.

About Dan Payne:

Dan Payne is one busy actor. Having just returned from the LA premiere and promotion of Disney’s Descendants 2 (reprising The Beast), he looks forward to filming a role in a top secret blockbuster sequel this summer. Dan recently wrapped a recurring guest starring role on Disney XD’s Mech X-4, while starring in the feature Aliens Ate My Homework. Last year Dan starred in the feature Devil in the Dark, starred in two Hallmark movies: alongside Nicolette Sheridan in I’m Yours and A Time to Dance opposite Jenny Garth, guest starred in Freeform’s Dead of Summer and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. In 2015 he starred in the features Stanger in The House, Lover’s Leap and Cradle of Lies, and filmed his recurring role on Hallmark’s popular series The Good Witch. 

Game of Thrones star Richard Brake (King of the White Walkers) chats with Patrick about acting in prosthetic make-up, popularity of the show and the joy of playing villains! 

Did You Know?

It takes 6 to 6 1/2 hours to transform Richard into “The Night King” and 2 to 3 hours to remove the makeup.

Insights:

“I think a lot of it is in the eyes…” – Richard Brake on acting through prosthetic make-up.

“You’d be amazed at how little CGI is ultimately used.” Richard Brake on filming Game of Thrones.

“It’s very much like the kind of things that we as human beings have always wanted to hear about.” Richard Brake on why people like “Game of Thrones”. “We need these kind of archetypal stories…”

“Its very cathartic… I don’t find it difficult to go to that place..” – Richard Brake on playing so many on-screen villains.

Game of Thrones star Richard Brake (King of the White Walkers) chats with Patrick about acting in prosthetic make-up, popularity of the show and the joy of playing villains!

Did You Know?

It takes 6 to 6 1/2 hours to transform Richard into “The Night King” and 2 to 3 hours to remove the makeup.

Insights:

“I think a lot of it is in the eyes…” – Richard Brake on acting through prosthetic make-up.

“You’d be amazed at how little CGI is ultimately used.” Richard Brake on filming Game of Thrones.

“It’s very much like the kind of things that we as human beings have always wanted to hear about.” Richard Brake on why people like “Game of Thrones”. “We need these kind of archetypal stories…”

“Its very cathartic… I don’t find it difficult to go to that place..” – Richard Brake on playing so many on-screen villains.

About Lorne Balfe:

Lorne Balfe is a Grammy-winning, Emmy and BAFTA nominated film composer. He began his career in Hollywood providing additional music on several major motion pictures, including the second and third installments of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, “Iron Man,” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” He produced the score for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception,” which also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. His talents have made him a sought-after composer, scoring films including DreamWorks Animation’s “Home” and “The Penguins of Madagascar” as well as “13 Hours”, directed by Michael Bay.

Lorne Balfe has successfully traversed between the film/TV and video game worlds, has shown his versatility with films including “Terminator Genisys”, “Ghost in the Shell” and “War on Everyone”. His television work includes “The Bible” (co-composed with Hans Zimmer), “Sons of Liberty”, and two current series, “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” and “Marcella”. In the world of games, Lorne has composed for some of the biggest franchises, including “Call of Duty”, “Assassin’s Creed” and “Skylanders”.

Lorne Balfe earned his first Emmy nomination for the 2012 mini-series “Restless”. His music to the game “Beyond: Two Souls” earns him his first BAFTA nomination. Balfe’s current projects include “Churchill” (Head Gear Films), the second season of “The Crown” (Netflix), and Neill Blomkamp’s latest project, “Oats”. Lorne Balfe has collaborated with Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Homes, Inception) on many films including Balfe providing music and score producing on 2008′s “The Dark Knight,” which earned he and Zimmer a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture.

Balfe on Einstein:

“Music was very important to Einstein,” said Balfe. “It was part of his thought process; he used music to distance himself from the problematic equations that he was trying to solve. The distance would then lead to the solutions.” “I’m incredibly honored to be writing music for many geniuses – Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn as Albert Einstein, and for an amazing team led by executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, and showrunner Ken Biller,” said Balfe. “I’m very excited Milan is releasing the score from the first season of this incredible show.”

Filmmaker Jake Williams stops by to discuss his popular Youtube channel “Abandoned”

Brad Jost, host of The Jurassic Park Podcast chats about the very latest “Jurassic World” sequel news and more!

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