The BraveMaker Podcast

https://www.instagram.com/krystinawrayjackson/

https://www.instagram.com/tonygapastione/

Greg Russo has worked as a professional screenwriter for more than a  decade. His first produced feature “Mortal Kombat” was released in 2021  from Warner Bros and New Line Cinema. The film broke pandemic box office  records and was the most-streamed film release in HBO Max history. Greg  has sold multiple specs, pitches, and TV pilots and written films for  Universal, Paramount, Sony, Fox, and Warner Bros. Recently, he adapted  the classic video game "Space Invaders" for New Line Cinema and "Saints  Row" for director F. Gary Gray. He is currently writing "Death Note 2"  for Netflix, based on the best-selling Japanese manga among other  unannounced projects.

Follow Greg on Twitter

https://twitter.com/writerrusso

Listen to his wife's podcast on episode 11 here:

Tricia Russo

and find out about her documentary featuring the miracle of their son's birth:

https://linktr.ee/lovealwaysmomthemovie

www.lydiareneedarling.com

Lydia-Renee  Darling dropped some gems in this episode. She is an actor-scriptwriter from Madison, Wisconsin and  self-described "quadruple M"... a mixed, multi-hyphenate media maven!  Lydia is a BFA Musical Theatre grad from the Webster Conservatory class  of 2020 and will earn her MA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media at  the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in the fall of 2021. Her  first full-length play about interracial relationships and racial  prejudice was produced at The Actor’s Rep in February 2020. Performance  credits include Jocasta in Antigone at Yokohama Theatre Group in  Kawasaki, Japan and Pride and Prejudice at The Rep St. Louis. #rememberadam,  a Zoom short produced, written and acted by Lydia in September of 2020,  was featured in three festivals. Lydia also filmed and released a solo  comedy webseries during the pandemic (The Misadventures of a Wannabe  Beauty Guru). As a biracial, second-generation Ghanaian-American, Lydia  creates and performs in pieces that focus on seemingly niche but  universally compelling stories to lift the voices of marginalized  communities on screen and stage.

https://www.instagram.com/lydiareneedarling/

https://www.instagram.com/mihoko_on_insta/

As an English-Japanese interpreter, As an English-Japanese interpreter,  Mihoko Imai has for the past 12 years specialized in film and  entertainment, servicing content distributors, film festivals,  photographers, filmmakers, actors, and producers. She has interpreted  for press events and interviews with people of note including:

FILMMAKERS  including Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Christopher Nolan, Ang Lee,  Ken Loach, J.J. Abrams, Zack Snyder, John Cameron Mitchell, Nicholas  Winding Refn, Michael Moore, Walter Hill, John Carpenter, David Ayer,  Renny Harlin, Eli Roth; ACTORS including Keanu Reeves, Nicolas Cage,  Angelina Jolie, Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Mads Mikkelsen, Jesse  Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Oscar Isaac, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Benicio  Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston, Norman Reedus, Andy Serkis,  William H. Macy, Amy Adams, Diane Kruger, Michelle Williams, Cynthia  Nixon, Hugh Bonneville, Ian Mckellan, Milla Jovovich, Lily Collins, Uzo  Aduba, Chloe Moretz, and Ken Watanabe.

Prior  to starting her career as an interpreter, Mihoko had 10 years of  corporate experience in the film industry working for film distributors  including 4 years at Warner Bros. has for the past 12 years specialized  in film and entertainment, servicing content distributors, film  festivals, photographers, filmmakers, actors, and producers. She has  interpreted for press events and interviews with people of note  including:

FILMMAKERS  including Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Christopher Nolan, Ang Lee,  Ken Loach, J.J. Abrams, Zack Snyder, John Cameron Mitchell, Nicholas  Winding Refn, Michael Moore, Walter Hill, John Carpenter, David Ayer,  Renny Harlin, Eli Roth; ACTORS including Keanu Reeves, Nicolas Cage,  Angelina Jolie, Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Mads Mikkelsen, Jesse  Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Oscar Isaac, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Benicio  Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston, Norman Reedus, Andy Serkis,  William H. Macy, Amy Adams, Diane Kruger, Michelle Williams, Cynthia  Nixon, Hugh Bonneville, Ian Mckellan, Milla Jovovich, Lily Collins, Uzo  Aduba, Chloe Moretz, and Ken Watanabe.

Prior  to starting her career as an interpreter, Mihoko had 10 years of  corporate experience in the film industry working for film distributors  including 4 years at Warner Bros.

https://twitter.com/mihoko_imai

If you enjoyed our conversation with Markus, follow his reviews here: 

https://moviesmarkus.com/

https://www.instagram.com/beastbeastmovie/

Sundance and SXSW selected film BEAST BEAST's writer/director Danny Madden with actor Jose Angeles.

https://www.instagram.com/thespindojo/

In Select Theaters and On-Demand May 2021.

https://vanishingangle.com/beast-beast-film

https://www.instagram.com/morethanmiyagi/

KELLY JACKSON is one of the producers on the award winning feature documentary  More than MIyagi: The Pat Morita Story released on Feb. 5th 2021. Kelly  and Oscar Alvarez, another producer on the documentary, first met each  other when their daughters played on-screen daughters on the Diablo Cody  ABC pilot “Raised by Wolves”. Their families have remained very close  and Kelly was thrilled to be asked to help produce the documentary.  Growing up in Wisconsin, and having memories of watching “Happy Days”  and The Karate Kid at a young age, she was honored to help bring Pat’s  story to the world.

OSCAR ALVAREZ  partnered with filmmaker Kevin Derek to produce the  award-winning feature documentary film, Empty Hand: The Real Karate  Kids, cited in Black Belt Magazine as “A MUST SEE...the first real  Karate movie in years.” Most recently, Alvarez completed his and Derek’s latest feature documentary,  More Than Miyagi: The Pat Morita Story starring Ralph Macchio, Martin  Kove, Esai Morales, William Zabka, Tommy Chong, Efren Ramirez, Henry  Winkler and James Hong, among others -- a “who’s who” of stars,  including Morita’s Widow, Evelyn, came together to support the bio-doc  about the beloved actor. It was released worldwide in February 2021 to  massive critical acclaim and fan enthusiasm; it is rated 100% on both  the TOMATOMETER→ and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

https://www.instagram.com/oscaralvarezproducer/

https://www.instagram.com/ifanything_film/

Discussion with the OSCAR NOMINATED filmmakers of Netflix's IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU.

Will  McCormack & Michael Govier (Directors) are making their directorial debut with,  “If Anything Happens I Love You.” McCormack and Govier are producers,  writers, actors and directors. McCormack wrote “Toy Story 4” and  “Celeste and Jesse Forever.” Govier has written multiple short films,  plays and performed on tv and commercials.

https://www.instagram.com/willmccormack/

https://www.instagram.com/drgovier/

Maryann  Garger (Producer) Maryann Garger is currently developing and producing  the feature animated film, “Groove” with Jamie Foxx and Michael Becker.  She previously produced on the hit Lego family film franchise, “The Lego  Ninjago Movie” starring Jackie Chan for Warner Brothers Studios. She  was a producer on the acclaimed DreamWorks and Aardman Animation comedy  adventure “Flushed Away,” directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell, which  swept the 2006 Annie Awards with five wins and three nominations and  earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Animated Feature. She later reunited  with Bowers producing his 2009 feature “Astro Boy” for Imagi/Summit  Entertainment. She then returned to DreamWorks to produce the family  animated film “B.O.O.: Bureau of Otherworldly Operations” starring Seth  Rogen, Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy.Garger’s animation producing  credits also include the award-winning animated theatrical short “First  Flight,” which screened to acclaim at film festivals including SXSW,  Tribeca and Montreal International. She also produced the family  theatrical Lego Ninjago short, “The Master” and two animated “Astro Boy”  shorts. Her most recent caused-based short, “If Anything Happens I Love  You”, directed by Will McCormack (writer, Toy Story 4) and Michael  Govier was a labor of love. It is currently on the festival and awards  circuit for 2020.Garger began her career at Walt Disney Feature  Animation, on the animated feature “Pocahontas,” before segueing to a  20-year tenure at DreamWorks. There, she was among the first employees  to build DreamWorks’ animation division, under Jeffrey Katzenberg, and  rose through the ranks from Production Manager, Line Producer,  Production Executive, Creative Executive to ultimately Producer, working  on such memorable titles as “Madagascar,” “Shrek”, “Spirit: Stallion of  the Cimarron,” and “Prince of Egypt.” Following that, she produced for  Warner Bros. On the animation television side, Garger was the  Supervising Producer on the satirical DreamWorks & Fox prime time  animated series “Neighbors from Hell,” which aired on TBS. She is a  recent member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

https://www.instagram.com/woo_hwang/

You may have seen him on seasons 28 + 31 of CBS' Survivor.

He's a fan favorite, but more than that, he's an all around great guy.

We'll  talk about life after Survivor and building his acting/fitness/martial  arts/modeling career in LA. We'll also talk about the impact of being an  Asian American working in Hollywood and the need to speak out against  racism and xenophobia, a most important conversation.

Check out our #BraveFaves on Instagram

https://www.christopherhibma.com/

In  his most recent role as the Director of Sundance Institute’s Theatre  Program, Christopher Hibma built one of the world’s leading  brands and  most diverse rosters of artist activities. In his role, he  worked to  expand the Program’s cultural impact outside the American context, with  an emphasis on storytelling that incorporated a  multiplicity of  cultures particularly from East Africa and the Arab region/diaspora.

Christopher crafts creative environments for artists to luxuriate in their  animating impulses. He has designed spaces & programming at MASS  MoCA in the Berkshires, at Ucross Foundation on a cattle ranch in  Wyoming, at Luma Foundation in Arles, France and in capitals across the  Arab region and East Africa. He has developed a  set of organizing  principles and anticolonialist values when developing programs with  partners across international borders and contexts.

Christopher  incorporates the principles rigor, grace & intention as he  cultivates the talents of storytellers, thinkers and leaders as he  designs into their best instincts.

He and his husband have a daughter and live in Minnesota. 

 Watch the SUNDANCE SELECTED short film here:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007247238/tears-teacher.html

TEARS TEACHER

"Yoshida is a self-proclaimed 'tears teacher': he makes people weep."

The documentary “Tears Teacher” screened at Sundance and Hot Docs, and was acquired by the New York Times. It was featured on The Japan Times, Thrillist, etc and has already played in more than 25 festivals.

Writer/Director

NOEMIE NAKAI

- Twitter: @NoemieNakai

- https://www.instagram.com/noemienakai/

- https://noemienakai.com/

Noemie is a Japanese and French writer/director, whose short films were shown in numerous festivals worldwide - Sundance, Hot Docs, Short Shorts Asia, Exit6... - and were acquired by The New York Times and Film Movement for distribution. She has been selected for the Sundance / NHK lab, the Berlinale-ran Talents Tokyo and the BFI x BAFTA crew programs. Her feature in development received the main award at Busan film festival’s Asian Project Market,  following in the footsteps of Hou Hsiao Hsien, Kurosawa Kiyoshi and Bong Joon-ho to name a few.

DP

SHEN LIN

- Twitter: @TheShenCA

- https://www.instagram.com/the_shenger/

- https://www.the-shen.com/

Shen Lin is a Chinese-Canadian Cinematographer currently based in Japan.

Upon graduating from the University of Toronto, the Vancouver Film School and Capilano University, Shen worked as a camera assistant in Canada.

He then moved to Tokyo, where he's been working as a cinematographer on multiple international productions ranging from commercials and music videos to documentaries and features.

His clients include Apple, Lexus, Paramount, Yamaha, Dazed China, Samsonite, Redbull, HITACHI, Haier, etc.

Some of the notable talents he has collaborated with include Ed Sheeran, Henry Golding, Fan Bingbing, etc.

Composer

KYO ACERBIS KITAYAMA

- Twitter: @kyoakmusic

- https://www.instagram.com/kyoak/

- http://www.kyoakmusic.com/home-.html

Kyo Acerbis Kitayama is a French-Japanese film-composer residing in Japan. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied Film Scoring and Conducting. Singer-songwriter and arranger, his musical interests range from traditional Japanese music, electronic composition to orchestral music.