Too Opinionated

Today on Too Opinionated, we welcome actress, writer, producer and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Ruby Garnet to discuss her powerful new Western, Dogwood, starring alongside Eric Roberts and James Storm!

Set in post-Civil War Ohio, Dogwood follows Harriet Beckwith (Garnet), a widowed mother of three seeking a fresh start on the frontier.

But when she encounters a town controlled by the ruthless Daniel Manlius (Eric Roberts), a horrific act of violence pushes Harriet to fight back, inspiring a community to stand together against oppression.

🎬 Ruby didn't just star in Dogwood—she created, co-directed and helped bring the entire production to life!

Drawing on her experiences as an Iraq War veteran and her Southern Ohio roots, Ruby crafted a gritty, female-driven Western exploring survival, courage, injustice and the strength of community.

We talk:

🤠 Creating and starring in Dogwood ⭐ Working alongside Eric Roberts and James Storm 🎬 Bringing an authentic Western to Southern Ohio 💪 Building a predominantly female-led production crew 🇺🇸 Serving eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including deployments to Iraq 🕵️ Her career as a federal intelligence officer 🎭 Pursuing acting at 12 and competing in the Cincinnati Overture Awards 🔥 Leaving government service to chase her Hollywood dreams 🎥 Her Amazon drama GodsWill 🌱 Directing, producing and starring in The Seedling 🥊 Her passion for MMA, obstacle racing, marathons and triathlons ❤️ Balancing filmmaking and motherhood

From the battlefields of Iraq to the frontier of Dogwood, Ruby Garnet has built a remarkable second career through determination, creativity and courage.

A Marine. A mother. A filmmaker. A Western leading lady. Ruby Garnet is writing her own Hollywood story!

🎬 Dogwood premiered at the P-Town Film Festival in Portsmouth, Ohio, September 12, 2026.

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#RubyGarnet #Dogwood #EricRoberts #JamesStorm #WesternMovies #IndependentFilm #WomenInFilm #MarineVeteran

🎬🔥 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, we welcome rising Canadian actor David Webster to discuss his role in Netflix's Unabomber, alongside Russell Crowe, Jacob Tremblay and Shailene Woodley!

Inspired by the true story of Ted Kaczynski, the film premiered September 25 and explores one of America's most notorious criminal cases.

David portrays Roy, one of Kaczynski's fellow Harvard University classmates, placing him inside a story involving psychology, history and the events that shaped the future Unabomber.

📺 Fans will also recognize David as teenage Elliot Augustine from Hallmark's hit time-travel drama The Way Home, where his recurring performance helped bring one of the show's central characters' younger years to life.

We talk:

🎬 Landing his role in Netflix's Unabomber 🧠 Portraying Ted Kaczynski's Harvard classmate ⭐ Joining a cast featuring Russell Crowe, Jacob Tremblay and Shailene Woodley ⏳ Playing young Elliot in The Way Home 🎥 Appearing in Luckiest Girl Alive alongside Mila Kunis 📺 His work on Ginny & Georgia, The Boys and Mr. Monk's Last Case 🏆 Starring in Julian and the Wind, named to TIFF's Canada's Top Ten for 2024 🎤 Booking his first role at 12 in Janelle Monáe's anti-bullying music video for the 2014 World Cup 🎭 His theater background, including Les Misérables ✍️ His passion for screenwriting and developing a five-season WWI drama 🎸 Playing piano, guitar and bass while working on his first album 🎥 His ambitions to write, direct and create behind the camera

From Hallmark's time-travel mysteries to Netflix's true-crime drama, David Webster is building an exciting career on both sides of the camera!

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#DavidWebster #Unabomber #Netflix #RussellCrowe #JacobTremblay #ShaileneWoodley #TheWayHome #Hallmark

⛏️👹 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, we head deep beneath the Appalachian mountains with writer/director Daniel Byers to discuss his new West Virginia-rooted horror film, Dark Hollow!

When a nightmarish monster emerges from an Appalachian coal mine, a young mother must venture into the darkness to protect her family and save her missing husband.

Inspired by Daniel's upbringing in West Virginia, Dark Hollow blends Southern Gothic storytelling, Appalachian folklore, practical creature effects and cutting-edge filmmaking technology.

🎬 Daniel's horror screenplay PARADISE won a jury award at the 2023 Austin Film Festival, helping pave the way for his filmmaking career.

We talk:

👹 Creating the monster and mythology of Dark Hollow ⛏️ Filming inside a real Appalachian coal mine 🩸 Practical creature effects, blood and gore 🎥 Virtual production and hundreds of visual effects 🏔️ Bringing authentic West Virginia stories to horror 🎬 His directorial debut Eradication, released on Tubi 🏆 His award-winning screenplay PARADISE 🌎 Documentary adventures across 60+ countries 🦅 Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle 🎓 Columbia University's MFA film program 🔥 Building Dark Tower Films and Skyship Films

From tracking wildlife in remote jungles to unleashing monsters beneath Appalachia, Daniel Byers knows how to find extraordinary stories in extraordinary places!

📲 RENT DARK HOLLOW: Prime Video: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0G8ZCULZ45P9LKL0D0NJZDYGNR

Other platforms: https://brainmedia.com/catalog/films/item/dark-hollow

🎟️ WEST VIRGINIA SCREENINGS:

📍 Charleston – Oct. 7 & 14 | Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema https://wviff.org/movies/dark-hollow/

📍 Buckhannon – Oct. 13 | Colonial Arts Center, 📍 Pendleton County – Oct. 16 | Warner's Drive-In 📍 Beckley – Oct. 17 | Marquee 📍 Huntington – Oct. 18, 7 PM | Foundry Theater + Daniel Byers Q&A https://www.foundrytheater.org/event-details/dark-hollow-film-screening

Roadshow updates: https://darktowerfilms.com/darkhollow

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#DarkHollow #DanielByers #WestVirginia #AppalachianHorror #HorrorMovies #IndieHorror #TooOpinionated #Meisterkhan

🇨🇦🔥 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, we head north to meet rising Canadian hip-hop artist Taz Bentii, whose new album The Kid From Ottawa and single "Realest" are putting his hometown front and center.

For Taz, The Kid From Ottawa is more than an album title—it's a statement of identity, ambition and where he comes from. The project offers a personal look inside his heart, mind and mission as he works to take the sound of Canada's capital to a much bigger stage.

🎶 His new single "Realest" showcases the melodic delivery, songwriting and energy that have helped Taz build momentum, with his music receiving radio play including SiriusXM.

We talk:

💿 Creating The Kid From Ottawa 🔥 The story and attitude behind "Realest" 🇨🇦 Representing Ottawa in Canadian hip-hop 🎤 Developing his sound and finding his identity 🌎 Recording in Atlanta, New York and Miami 🎶 Blending personal storytelling with street-driven anthems 🚀 Taking his hometown story to an international audience 🎧 Collaborating with TVGUCCI and DJ Holiday 🎤 Touring with Riff Raff and performing alongside artists including Nardo Wick, Cash Cobain and Murda Beatz 🏠 Why no matter how far his career takes him, Ottawa will always be home

From Ottawa to Atlanta. From Canada to the world. Taz Bentii is determined to make sure people remember where "The Kid From Ottawa" came from.

🎧 Listen to "Realest": https://open.spotify.com/track/1A29JuqgP3gI7S1c7fxGM6

💿 Listen to The Kid From Ottawa: https://open.spotify.com/album/5g636V78vMowOftvAs1Do9

📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taz

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#TazBentii #TheKidFromOttawa #Realist #ottawa #hiphop

🎙️🔥 THE INTERVIEWER GETS INTERVIEWED!

Today on Too Opinionated, Michael turns the tables on fellow interviewer Janette Burke, award-winning media personality, producer and creator/host of Janette's TV & Janette's TV Podcast.

With more than 20 years in media, Janette has built her career around asking thoughtful—and sometimes difficult—questions while creating an environment where guests feel comfortable opening up.

And what a guest list! 🎬

Janette has interviewed Tom Hanks, Helen Mirren, Halle Berry, Bradley Cooper, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Martha Stewart, Kevin O'Leary and many more.

Before stepping in front of the camera, Janette spent 17 years as a publicist, eventually following her own dream and building an independent media platform that has produced hundreds of episodes and reached audiences around the world.

We talk:

🎤 The art of conducting a great interview 🔥 Asking the hard questions without losing your guest 🎬 What she's learned interviewing Hollywood stars 📺 Building Janette's TV & Podcast outside traditional television 💡 Making the leap from publicist to on-camera personality 🎥 Why preparation and authenticity matter on camera 💪 Surviving trauma, bullying, stalking and adversity ❤️ Rebuilding confidence and self-worth 🚀 Reinventing yourself at any stage of life 🎙️ Coaching CEOs and entrepreneurs to communicate on camera

At the heart of Janette's story is a message she now brings to audiences as a keynote speaker:

"Your past does not define your future."

Two interviewers. Two different styles. And one conversation about what really happens when the questions start getting difficult.

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#JanetteBurke #JanettesTV #CelebrityInterviews #Podcasting #TVHost

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🪕🎶 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, we welcome Nashville-based Australian bluegrass powerhouse Kristy Cox to celebrate her deeply personal new album, Winds of Change, arriving October 9 on Billy Blue Records!

Known as "Australia's Queen of Bluegrass," Kristy is a #1 Billboard-charting artist and seven-time Golden Guitar Award winner whose unmistakable voice has taken her from South Australia to Nashville and stages around the world.

🌪️ Winds of Change was born from one of the most transformative periods of Kristy's life. Following her 2025 divorce, she poured heartbreak, growth, faith, resilience and self-discovery into an album built around the bluegrass sounds of banjo, guitar, mandolin, upright bass and fiddle.

As Kristy puts it, sometimes "the chapters we never planned become the ones that shape us the most."

We talk:

💿 The story behind Winds of Change 🎶 New single No Regrets ❤️ Turning heartbreak into music 🌪️ Learning when to hold on—and when to let go 🪕 Taking bluegrass from Australia to Nashville 🏆 Seven Golden Guitar Awards 🥇 Reaching #1 on Billboard with Let It Burn 🎤 Her evolution as a singer and songwriter 👩‍👧‍👦 Balancing music and life as a single mom of two ☕ Running her own Australian mobile coffee business in Nashville 🌎 Helping grow bluegrass internationally as an IBMA Board member

Winds of Change isn't simply about what Kristy lost—it's about finding the strength to embrace where life takes you next.

💿 Pre-save Winds of Change: https://listen.billybluerecords.com/kc_woc

🎶 Listen to No Regrets: https://listen.billybluerecords.com/kc_nr

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#KristyCox #WindsOfChange #NoRegrets #Bluegrass #CountryMusic

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⛏️👹 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, we head deep into Appalachia with J. Stephen Brantley, Sharon Murray Harrah and newcomer Ian Deighan for a special cast panel celebrating the new West Virginia-rooted horror film Dark Hollow!

Written and directed by Daniel Byers, Dark Hollow is a Southern Gothic creature feature about a nightmarish monster unleashed from an Appalachian coal mine and the young mother forced to hunt it down to protect her family.

🎬 The screenplay won the 2023 Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition, and the production went underground to shoot portions of the movie inside a real Appalachian coal mine.

Our panel brings together three very different acting journeys.

📺 J. Stephen Brantley has appeared in American Horror Story, Succession, Poker Face, Gotham, The Blacklist, FBI: Most Wanted, Animal Kingdom and Law & Order and is also an award-winning playwright.

🎭 Broadway veteran Sharon Murray Harrah has performed in 100+ productions, directed 40+ and costumed 90+, before returning to film after her 2023 retirement.

🌟 And we meet Ian Deighan, a newcomer beginning his screen journey with Dark Hollow.

We talk Appalachian horror, practical creature effects, filming in coal country, creating Dark Hollow and bringing a distinctly West Virginia story to audiences.

📲 WATCH AT HOME: Prime Video: https://www.primevideo.com/detail/0G8ZCULZ45P9LKL0D0NJZDYGNR Other platforms: https://brainmedia.com/catalog/films/item/dark-hollow

🎟️ WEST VIRGINIA SCREENINGS: 📍 Charleston – Oct. 7 & 14 | Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema https://wviff.org/movies/dark-hollow/

📍 Buckhannon – Oct. 13 | Colonial Arts Center, 📍 Pendleton County – Oct. 16 | Warner's Drive-In 📍 Beckley – Oct. 17 | Marquee 📍 Huntington – Oct. 18, 7 PM | Foundry Theater + Daniel Byers Q&A https://www.foundrytheater.org/event-details/dark-hollow-film-screening

Roadshow updates: https://darktowerfilms.com/darkhollow

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#DarkHollow #Horror #WestVirginia #AppalachianHorror #WVFilm #TooOpinionated #Meisterkhan

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🏥📢 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, award-winning filmmaker and caregiver advocate Susie Singer Carter joins us to discuss her documentary No Country for Old People: A Nursing Home Exposé and the movement it inspired—ROAR 4 LTC.

On September 27, 2026, ROAR 4 LTC launches its first National Long-Term Care Reform Walk, with events across 31 states bringing together families, caregivers, healthcare professionals and advocates.

🪑 The events will include The Empty Chair Experience, honoring people harmed, neglected or lost in long-term care and giving families an opportunity to share their loved ones' names, photographs and stories.

ROAR stands for Respect, Oversight, Advocacy and Reform for Long-Term Care. The nonprofit grew from Susie's No Country for Old People, an Anthem Award-winning documentary examining nursing home neglect, abuse, understaffing, oversight and the experiences of residents and families.

We talk:

🎬 Making No Country for Old People 🏥 What Susie learned investigating long-term care 📢 Turning a documentary into the ROAR 4 LTC movement 🚶 The September 27 nationwide walks 🪑 The powerful Empty Chair Experience ❤️ Susie's personal journey as a caregiver advocate 🎥 My Mom and The Girl, Bratz: The Movie and Soul Surfer 🎙️ Her award-winning Love Conquers Alz podcast

This isn't just a walk. It's about making residents and families visible and bringing the long-term care conversation into the public square.

🚶 Find a walk, sign up, volunteer or learn more: 👉 https://www.roar4ltc.org/

🎬 Trailer: https://vimeo.com/1097399645/4baf4cc693

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#SusieSingerCarter #NoCountryForOldPeople #ROAR4LTC #LongTermCare #NursingHomes

🎬🎤 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, we welcome actor, writer, producer and entrepreneur David W. Ross, whose career has taken him from 90s boy-band heartthrob to award-winning independent film and creating tools that help actors audition from anywhere.

📱 David is the founder and CEO of Slatable, now celebrating its 10th anniversary. Created after David found himself with a self-tape deadline and nobody available to read opposite him, Slatable was designed by an actor who understood the problem firsthand.

The app allows performers to record another character's lines, play them back during their performance, film takes and edit everything into a submission-ready audition—without a reader, separate editing software or expensive self-tape studio.

Slatable has since been used by tens of thousands of actors across more than 40 countries.

🎭 David is also an accomplished actor. He starred in Sundance sensation Quinceañera and wrote, produced and starred in I Do, which earned numerous festival honors.

But before Hollywood came pop stardom!

🎤 David first entered the spotlight as a member of the 1990s British boy band Bad Boys Inc., whose debut album produced five Top 20 hits, including the Top 10 "More to This World."

We talk:

📱 10 years of Slatable 🎭 How technology has transformed self-tape auditions 🎬 Quinceañera and I Do 🎤 His wild Bad Boys Inc. years 💡 Going from actor to tech entrepreneur 📲 The upcoming AuditionDrop v3 🎥 Giving actors more control over their auditions 🚀 What's next for David

Boy band star. Actor. Filmmaker. Entrepreneur. David W. Ross has reinvented himself more than once.

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#DavidWRoss #Slatable #SelfTape #Actors #ActingTips #Auditions #BadBoysInc

📚🔥 NEW EPISODE!

Today on Too Opinionated, we welcome author, speaker and podcast host Audley Stephenson to discuss his new book, Living Your Best Audacious Life Ever: How Unleashing Your Inner Greatness Can Change the World, arriving December 1, 2026.

What if living boldly isn't about being fearless, taking reckless chances or waiting for one life-changing moment?

Audley challenges the idea that audacity belongs only to a fearless few. Instead, his book explores how small, intentional acts of courage practiced consistently can transform our confidence, resilience, careers, relationships and the legacy we leave behind.

🔥 It's not a call to be louder. It's a call to be braver on purpose.

Audley draws from his own experiences and lessons gathered through 700+ episodes of The Audacious Living Podcast, featuring conversations with leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers about courage, resilience and purposeful living.

We talk:

📖 Living Your Best Audacious Life Ever 💪 Making courage a daily practice 🧠 Why audacity doesn't require fearlessness 🔥 Breaking through beliefs that keep us playing small 🚀 Unleashing your inner greatness 🎯 Building confidence and resilience 🌎 Turning ordinary choices into extraordinary impact 🏆 Creating a meaningful legacy 🎙️ Lessons from 700+ podcast conversations

At the heart of Audley's message is a powerful question: What could happen if you chose courage—not just once, but every day?

📚 Living Your Best Audacious Life Ever is available for pre-order now on Amazon.

👉 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@MeisterkhanPod

#AudleyStephenson #AudaciousLiving #NewBook #PersonalGrowth #Courage