Surviving Hollywood

Johnny Day is an actor, writer, and all around good guy hustling along with us in Hollywood. We met Johnny in acting class, and instantly became friends. Enjoy this late night, long-form hangout where we discuss the real, raw struggles and successes of surviving Hollywood!

Our friend, actor and stunt pro Joe Fidler came by the pod today to talk shop. We met Joe several years ago in an acting class and ever since we have known him, the guy never stops working. He has worked on dozens of TV shows and movies such as, The Punisher, Animal Kingdom, Why Women Kill, London Has Fallen and more recently the new Harrison Ford movie, Call Of The Wild. He talks to us about being an elementary school teacher in Ohio, how he broke into the Hollywood stunt world and how anytime you jump through a glass window you have to be prepared for what might happen. 

Today we are joined by the talented, Emmy-Winning cinematographer, John Rosario. Our friend Cristine Chambers suggested we talk to this up and coming DP and he was a true pleasure. We talked about growing up as a Latino in New York while pursuing a career in the arts, his love of movies and style influences and how his recent Emmy win for shooting a project with the Dodgers was a complete surprise. This is a must for all you indie filmmakers out there. Happy Labor Day!

Our guest today is the hilarious Joe Stapleton, you might recognize him from being the host of Poker Night Live, Poker Night in America and Pokerstars. He is also a stand up comedian and was one of the first guys to fuse comedy into the Poker world. Kick back and have a listen to this really funny podcast as Joe tells us about his first job in Hollywood working at MADtv with Key and Peele, getting started in the Poker World and opening up for the legendary Norm Macdonald. 

Today we sat down with talented writer and director Jennifer Phang. She has directed multiple TV shows such as Major Crimes, Agents of Shield, Quantico and The Boys. Since we are also filmmakers, we were most excited to talk to her about her indie film accomplishments, having won the Jury Prize at Sundance for her feature film "Advantageous" currently streaming on Netflix. We chat with Jen about her early beginnings, what it takes to create an award-winning feature film on a limited budget and diversity in the film/TV industry. 

Oscar nominated, 6 time Emmy winner, Dan O' Shannon, joined us on the podcast today! Dan is a writer/producer that has worked on numerous TV shows like Modern Family, Frasier, Cheers and more recently The Orville with Seth McFarlane. He's been working on comedy for decades and tells us stories of growing up in Ohio during the golden age of TV, performing stand up in Los Angeles and how to navigate the writers room. Humble and down to earth, it was an honor to have him chat with us about his beginnings. 

Our friend and actor, Rene Moran, has been working like crazy. Today he stopped by to talk about his latest film "Stuber" currently playing at a theater near you! We also chatted about growing up in Florida, how acting was never part of the plan and his experience getting to work with some of today's biggest names like Viola Davis, Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani. 

Today we ditched Johnny for a special TWIN edition of the podcast! We are joined by YouTubers, actors, and friends, Nina and Randa Nelson. We talk about the secrets to starting a YouTube channel, being vegan, and surviving this town!

Our good buddy, actor Seth Rogers, came by the pod today to talk shop. He's a cool dude we all met in our acting class years ago and we spent some time chatting about the Hollywood life. We talked about his move from Texas to LA, working with Blake Shelton and how his experience as a relationship/dating coach has improved his networking skills.