Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss

We talk to the effervescent Ashley Michel Hoban.
She talks about the excitement for her new show coming out today, her journey from assistant to showrunner and what she learned along the way.
She tells about self belief, imposter syndrome and how’s she’s expecting to feel tomorrow morning after tonight’s Dr Death Season 2 premiere.
Ashley discussed the importance of just writing, the pressure of being a showrunner and what she’s learned from previous colleagues who have supported her.
A fascinating episode full of candour, humour and insight.

We speak to the excellent David Slack.
We talk about how an independent movie failure led him to Hollywood, the path from animation to live action and getting fired from Law and Order.
David tells us about the shows that didn’t make it, claiming unemployment and some of the poor behaviour that has gone on in Hollywood.
We also cover post-strike executive interactions (good), AI ruining civilization (not so good) and the hedge fundication of the industry (not good at all).

The day before his new movie hits 3000 theaters in 38 countries, we talk to the talented Adam Anders.
He tells us about his transition from a very successful music career with shows like Glee to  his 17 year journey to writing, producing, directing and songwriting for a Christmas family musical called Journey to Bethlehem.
Adam talks about being creatively unfulfilled, the tightrope to walk when working on a religious movie and his extraordinary pursuit of Antonio Banderas.
He explains how hard it has been to promote a movie without actors due to the strike, the emotional toll of being away from his family for six months and how he felt at the friends and family screening and the importance of putting his parents in the credits.
A case study in perseverance.

Must. Listen. Episode.
We have the legend that it David Kirschner. He talks getting his break designing an album cover for Neil Diamond, pitching Steven Spielberg at his July 4th party and Hocus Pocus going from abject failure to cult classic.
David explains the story of Hocus Pocus taking years to make, bombing and leaving him in tears and then growing into a massive success.
We hear about being sworn at by Harvey Weinstein, how he thinks naivety helped him navigate Hollywood and the importance of being nice.
An extraordinary interview with a man whose work everyone knows and loves.

We talk to Jeremy Adams about his life in animation.
He tells us about the difficulties animated writers face, how they are treated compared to TV writers and how hard it is to break out of the mould.
Jeremy tells us about his successes, the sacrifices his family had to make and the irony of creating great work for little pay and then watching millions be made in consumer goods products.
He explains what makes great animated writing, they joys of the comic world and his dream to writer a live action feature.
A fascinating insight into an unsung part of the industry that creates huge profits, memorable characters and shows that don't age.

This season we seek to explore failure and rejection in different parts of Hollywood.
We have Jordan Moblo, EVP IP Management and Creative Acquisitions of Universal Studio Group.
He talks why he is plans to be an agent didn't work, the books that got away and how they try and treat the authors they work with.
He explains how they set expectations for what might happen to a book during the long road to production, authors they try not to work with and how he deals with competition from both other studios and other writers.
Jordan tells us about changing his company's deal making structure after negative feedback, feeding frenzies before books are even published and a bit more about managing expectations.
And he gives advice to aspiring authors hoping to get a TV show made.

We talk to the fantastic Lisa Morales. She tells us about crashing James Cameron's Hummer, her role as an executive and then giving that up to become a writer.
She walks us through being fired for not being confident enough, imposter syndrome and rebuilding her confidence and her career.
What she learned on her journey to being a showrunner, what she did when she got there and what her advice is to others on the way up are also all covered.
We talk through the concept of 'caring but not giving a sh*t', how it helped her and why she tells everyone else about it.
A candid epsiode, recorded before the strike, about the highs and lows of live in Hollywood.

We have the the amazing ‘Jewaiian’ twins who tell us about writing Moana, their early failures and why poetry didn’t pay the bills.
They talk about representation in native Hawaiian storytelling, being down to their last 12 dollars and the emotionally challenging story of the making of Adrift.
The twins explain how they celebrate success, how they deal with failure and their lives as teachers.
A wonderful chat with a couple of serious Hollywood stars who also tell one of the most extraordinary stories of personal and professional worlds intertwining.