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Hey there, everybody!

Welcome to Episode 50! What an achievement! Very stoked to have screenwriter, director, producer, and actor, Luke Barnett back on the show. In this episode, we talk about his two most recent short films, THE CROSSING OVER EXPRESS, and OVATION. Both have been viral success stories covered in Variety, and released on Twitter. We talk all about his shorts, from conception to reception, and his strategy for releasing shorts on unconventional platforms. Hope you enjoy the episode!

Luke Barnett is best known for "Faith Based", the satire of the Christian film industry he wrote and starred in opposite Jason Alexander, Lance Reddick, Margaret Cho, and Tanner Thomason. "Faith Based" was critically acclaimed, quickly reaching 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and garnering a cult following. Before "Faith Based", Barnett spent nearly a decade behind the camera, with writing and producing credits that include the Angus Cloud thriller "Your Lucky Day", the Abigail Breslin horror-comedy Fear, Inc (Tribeca), Loitering with Intent (Sam Rockwell, Marisa Tomei), and an exhaustive amount of topical comedy content from his time with Will Ferrell's "Funny or Die". Barnett can next be seen in "Tapawingo" opposite Jon Heder, the Critic's Choice nominated "List of a Lifetime" with Shannen Doherty, "Tonic" with Lori Petty, and guest starring on shows like " For All Mankind" and "NCIS: Los Angeles".

Hey there, everybody!

Today on the show, we have actor turned screenwriter, Kevin Sheridan. I've known of Kevin for awhile from Twitter but we hadn't interacted much until now. Just friends and fans from afar. It was great getting to talk to him and learn about his history as an actor, working on some huge shows of the 2000s, and then his more recent success as a screenwriter. 

Sheridan is a successful screenwriter whose scripts Colors of Authority and Backcountry appeared on the prestigious Black List in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Sheridan is known for his dedication to research and authentic storytelling. For his script Colors of Authority, which depicts police corruption, he conducted extensive research by doing ride-alongs with law enforcement and walking through prisons. His upcoming feature ELEVEN DAYS stars Taylor Kitsch and is being directed by Peter Landesman. 

Hope you all enjoy the episode! And don't forget to say something nice that Kevin said or something dumb that I said on socials!

@SocialWriterPod on IG, Twitter, and Bluesky.

Today on the show, we have writer, actor, director, composer, editor, and singer/songwriter Steven Martini. I met Steven on Twitter and quickly realized, "OH MY GOD, THAT'S CADET ALEX STONE FROM MAJOR PAYNE!" I was a big fan in my childhood, so it was a thrill to meet Steven now, 30 years later. And it's been an interesting three decades for him as he's built himself a nice career as an indie filmmaker, even getting Martin Scorcese on his side. No, really--Scorcese EP'd his first two features. Steven has lived a life in the biz and we get into all of it. 

Steven Martini is a writer, actor, composer, editor, and singer/songwriter. His first break as an actor was as Cadet Alex J. Stone in Major Payne. He and his brother Derick Martini wrote the films Smiling Fish and Goat on Fire and Lymelife. Based on experiences from the Martinis' childhood, Lymelife won the FIPRESCI award at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, and premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Martini is also known for being the singer/songwriter for the Los Angeles–based band The Spaceship Martini.

Hope you all enjoy the episode! And don't forget to say something nice that Steven said or something dumb that I said on socials!

@SocialWriterPod on IG, Twitter, and Bluesky.

Hey there, everybody!

Today on the show, we have a returning guest, Edith Rodriguez. Edith and I first spoke on the pod right after we both landed our first managers in late 2021. Now, we're back and Edith has been in two different writer's rooms and shares her experience!

Edith Rodriguez grew up between the sunny beaches of Puerto Rico and cold winters of Wisconsin. She learned early on that if you’re going to speak up in a big Caribbean family, you better be able to tell a good story. After years of leading corporate strategy, she left the business world and made the move to Los Angeles to pursue her passion of writing for television. She is a fellow of the Paramount TV Writers Program, Mentorship Matters, and The Gotham. She was most recently staffed on the upcoming 'Dexter: Resurrection' Showtime series and is currently a writer on Matlock Season 2 for CBS. Edith is represented by IAG.

 Hope you all enjoy the episode! And don't forget to say something nice that Edith said or something dumb that I said on socials!

@SocialWriterPod on IG, Twitter, and Bluesky.

New York City born, New Jersey bred, and University of Wisconsin educated, Allard Cantor started life as an envelope salesman in Manhattan before choosing to follow his passion for film and moving to Los Angeles.

He attended the American Film Institute, where he received his MFA from their prestigious producing program. There, he discovered an aptitude for helping writers develop their material—a skill which, combined with his years of sales experience, led to an organic shift into management. In 2012, Allard met his partner Jarrod Murray, and EPICENTER was born.

Hey, there everybody! This is just an update episode on why I've been away, what I've been up to, and the future of the podcast. If you're reading this, thanks for sticking around through my absence! Life got busy. But, I'm excited to give an update on the pod.

Hey there, everybody! Today on the show we have a very special guest--screenwriter and founder of The Grey List, Brad M. Johnson!

Brad M. Johnson is a writer and filmmaker based in the Pacific Northwest near Seattle. He’s a life-long storyteller who has recently returned from a 12-year detour into the world of corporate marketing to focus on his original loves — movies.

As a storyteller, Brad specializes in genre stories about broken people, redemption, and the power of family, and his scripts have been recognized by Final Draft, The Black List, the Walt Disney Company, and MGM among others.

In 2022, Brad launched The Grey List, an initiative to push back against ageism in the entertainment industry by curating a selection of production-ready feature and pilot scripts from writers over the age of 40.

Brad also runs Daisy If You Do Productions, an indie-film production company. Their first film — and Brad’s first directorial effort, CHAT — was completed in 2023 and is currently making the rounds on the festival circuit.

When he isn’t working on his next script or film, Brad spends his time watching curling (and hoping to one day join a team) and making bad puns that make his family’s eyes roll.

Enjoy! Like and share on Twitter and Instagram, @SocialWriterPod

Hey there, everybody! Today on the show we have a very special guest--screenwriter, Jason Gruich! Jason is a current member and Captain of the Writers Guild of America, East. He has sold four original feature specs since 2017 to various production companies including a major spec sale to Warner Bros (New Line Cinema) with his first-person, crime-thriller COP CAM with Chris Bender attached to produce. Jason is a former, 21-year police veteran and has worked in all facets of law enforcement including K9, narcotics, investigations, and crime scene supervision. Jason writes original crime and action-thriller film and TV projects that are imbued with an uncanny sense of natural grit and realism, ensuring the read is a truly authentic experience. Born and raised on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to parents of Croatian descent, Jason’s writing is influenced by a lifetime love of movies, books, graphic novels, and music as well as an insatiable desire to make every page count. He is repped by Nick Leicht at Bright Leicht Content; legal at McKuin-Frankel-Whitehead. Enjoy!

Hey there, everybody! Today on the show we have a very special guest--screenwriter, Allison Jackson! Allison is a Los Angeles based screenwriter who writes funny shows about Black women in not-so-funny situations. Originally from a town of three thousand in Ohio, Jackson developed her love for screenwriting while working in China, and learned Mandarin by watching Chinese period dramas. She then attended the American Film Institute, where she studied screenwriting and developed her voice for writing nerdy, funny, Black characters. She has worked as a Writers’ Assistant for Amazon and as a showrunner’s assistant on an HBO comedy show. Her comedy pilot, “Enough,” was selected for the second round of the Sundance Episodic Lab, and her feature, “Believe the Hype,” was selected for the second round of the Sundance Development Track.. In this episode, we discuss her transition from journalism to screenwriting, living in China, attending AFI, working as a writer's assistant, making it into the 2022 Fox Writers Incubator, being staffed on CALL ME KAT, and more! I hope you enjoy this episode!

Hey there, everybody! Today on the show we have a very special guest--actor, producer, screenwriter, and director, Luke Barnett! Luke is a jack of all trades and most recently, it was his producing work that helped bring success to the feature film, YOUR LUCKY DAY, written and directed by Dan Brown, and starring the late Angus Cloud and Jessica Garza. The film reached the Top 4 on Netflix recently and is getting a ton of attention. In this episode, we discuss Luke's earliest screenwriting work writing sketches for comedy website Funny or Die, writing his feature film debut, his journey as an actor, producing YOUR LUCKY DAY, and more! I hope you enjoy this episode!