The ISA Podcast

SYS Episode 332

As an accomplished Writer/Director, Martha talks about her latest movie To The Stars (2019) and the experience of her work screening at Sundance and South By South West (SXSW) film festival.

I reveal a scam on the show and discuss how you can protect yourself. Stay safe out there. Things are getting scary.

So how can you write a story that audiences will embrace? The answer is simple: Remember what it feels like to be an unwilling audience. Tell the story that would win you over, even if you didn’t want to hear it.

Today on the show we have Filmtrepreneur Mark Harris. Mark is a self-taught filmmaker. His movies have been distributed by major distributors and he’s self-distributed many of his earlier films and sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide.

Today on the show I going to be discussing how NOT to get screwed on a screenwriting assignment. Assignment scripts are generally adaptations of an existing idea or property owned by the hiring company, but can also be original works based on a concept.

Today's guest is the legendary writer and educator Judith Weston. Her book Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film & Television and The Film Director’s Intuition: Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques is a must-read for any film director.

Jon Ronson has lived a life more exciting than one you'd think a writer could live. He's gotten up close and personal with the likes of self-appointed superheroes, countless psychopaths (both in prison and in the boardroom) Extremists & Secret Societies.

Today on the show we have screenwriter, Michael Lucker. Michael is a writer, director, and producer with twenty years of experience creating film, television, animation and digital media. He began his career writing and directing television commercials while earning his undergraduate degree in broadcasting and film at Boston University’s College of Communication.

Soon after he landed in Los Angeles working in production on series and specials for ABC, NBC, CBS and HBO before taking a job as assistant to Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment on feature films Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Arachnophobia, Joe Vs. The Volcano, Always, Back To The Future II & III and Jurassic Park.

He went onto serve in creative affairs at Hollywood Pictures where he worked on such movies as Crimson Tide, Terminal Velocity, Taking Care of Business and Straight Talk. Michael then embarked on a career as a screenwriter, helping pen more than twenty feature screenplays for Paramount, Disney, DreamWorks, Fox, and Universal, including Vampire In Brooklyn, Home On The Range, Good Intentions and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2002 as best animated feature.

“You don’t have to be a writer of action films to benefit from Michael Lucker’s rock-solid screenwriting advice, but if you are an action writer… it is essential.” — John Baldecchi, Producer: Point Break, The Mexican, Conan the Barbarian
He also served as screenwriter on the animated sequels to Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, Emperor’s New Groove and 101 Dalmatians. An opportunity to serve as a creative consultant to Turner Entertainment took him home to Atlanta in 2007. He went onto work as a writer, director and executive producer with non-fiction production houses Encyclomedia, Shed Media, Crazy Legs Productions and Trailblazer Studios before launching his own production company, Lucky Dog Filmworks, which now serves as his home for creating film, television, and commercial content. In television, Michael has worked with Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, History, Discovery, NBC, TBS, TLC, OWN, DIY, MSNBC, and A&E.

His new book is Crash! Boom! Bang! How to Write Action Movies. 

A fun, insightful insider’s look at the nuts and bolts of writing action movies, from concept to completion, by a professional screenwriter and professor of screenwriting. Full of witty anecdotes from the front lines (and tricks of the trade from between the lines), Crash! Boom! Bang! promises an enjoyable and educational read for writers and students of all levels. Although bullets and bloodshed abound in cinema, the lessons within will benefit screenwriters of all kinds of movies.