Surviving Hollywood

Episode 68. Today we are joined by film and TV director Chris Grismer. Austin had the opportunity to work with Chris on the set of Deputy on FOX. Chris has directed several TV shows ranging from Pretty Little Liars to The Vampire Diaries. He was also one of the executive producers of Deputy and Designated Survivor on Netflix. Chris tells us how he was able to get his agent through film festivals, advice to aspiring directors and what he looks for when an actor auditions for an episode he is directing. 

Episode 67. The twins worked on a feature film called, "Splitting Image," and that's were they met and worked with the talented Anna Hutichson. You may recognize her from Cabin In The Woods, Spartacus or Anger Management. She sat down and talked to us about her audition experiences in Hollywood compared to New Zealand, what it's like being represented by her husband at Brave Artists and working with Joss Whedon and Chris Hemsworth. 

Episode 66. On today's pod we sat down with actor, producer, spoken word poet, author and basically just artist, David Bianchi. Johnny had the opportunity to work with David on the set of Insatiable and David has been killing it consistently. From appearing on Birds Of Prey with Margot Robbie, to guest spots on TV such as Westworld and Queen of The South. We had an open, vulnerable and powerful conversation with David about the current Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles, how it will change Hollywood and what we can each do to help contribute to the cause. 

Episode 65. Today was a little different. We were scheduled to have a guest on the podcast and for the first time ever, we had a no show. I mean really? Who would not want to talk to us?? Anyway, we stayed on the zoom for a little while waiting and started talking about what's currently happening in Hollywood and the world. As I am sure everyone knows, Los Angeles is on fire right now, literally. So is the rest of the world. This sparked some conversation between us about the ongoing battle against racial injustice, the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter. 

Episode 64. Anyone of us would love to work with one of Hollywood's top directors like Christopher Nolan, James Cameron or Sam Raimi. But what if you got to work with all three of them? Today's guest is actor Dileep Rao, who had the opportunity to do just that. You might recognize him alongside Leonardo Dicaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Inception, in James Cameron's Avatar or in Drag Me To Hell directed by Sam Raimi. Dileep explains how he got started in acting, rising opportunities for Indian-American and minority actors in Hollywood and working with some of Hollywood's top directors. 

Episode 63. Our guest today is casting director Cara Chute Rosenbaum. She's casted several of your favorite TV shows such as The League, The Mindy Project, American Crime Story and The Last Man on Earth. She's also casted indie films and huge blockbusters like, Jumanji: The Next Level, Stuber and Waldo, the upcoming feature with Mel Gibson and Charlie Hunnam. We spoke to her about the future of Hollywood and how she believes casting will evolve moving forward with the Covid crisis, tips and advice to actors when they audition in the room and the best way to stay on her radar for upcoming projects. Every actor should listen to this one. 

Episode 62: We have been trying to get Payman Benz to be a guest on our podcast for awhile. We first heard Payman speaking at a panel at the Noho Cinefest while we were promoting our short film Papua that was playing at the same festival. Ever since then we have been wanting to talk to his great comedy director. Well, I guess the harassment finally paid off cause we finally got him! Payman has directed some of the most amazing comedy shows on TV including Key & Peele, Robbie, The Last Man on Earth, Who is America, Black Monday and Brooklyn 99. He also had some great stories about working with stand up comics, meeting Adam Sandler and advice he gives to upcoming filmmakers.  

Episode 61. The twins had the opportunity to work on a Sprint commercial with well-known commercial spokesman Paul Marcarelli. You might recognize him from the dozens of commercials he's worked on and most notably for the Verizon campaign, "Can you hear me now? Good." After working with Verizon for almost a decade he made the switch over to Sprint. Paul tells us what the audition process was like for Verizon, what it was like being the iconic face of a company, how his commercial success funded his film producing career and why someone said that infamous line at his grandmother's funeral. Seriously. Give it a listen!

Episode 60. We are really starting to enjoy this quarantine zoom, especially when we get to talk to fantastic guests like Katherine Castro. She is a Latina actress, producer, entrepreneur and podcaster. She basically does it all. She tell us about her new podcast called "Talk Fast, Listen Slow" where they tackle topics like sex, mental health and social issues in the Latino community. We also talk about how she started producing films, her latest voiceover gig on a scripted podcast series called America 2.0 with Laurence Fishburne and starting a company called Bloomi with all-natural intimate products for women.