July 15, 2021
We talk to Canadian-British actor and producer Jonathan Lloyd Walker. He talks about his career, moving between disciplines and the different types of rejection he has met in each one. He explains how he had a fast start in …
July 8, 2021
It is a cultural phenomenon that beautifully treads the line between disaster film and farce. We talk to the writer of the first four Sharknado movies Thunder Levin. He talks about the success of the franchise, his 'rock sta…
July 1, 2021
Fired, banned from set, thrown off projects, fired again, briefly blackballed. An extraordinary interview with writer and show creator David Steinberg about his journey from an arrogant youngster, to rebuilding his career an…
June 24, 2021
We talk to producer and screenwriter Steven S. DeKnight. He talks about his career highlight working on Spartacus, the opportunities he missed that led to him taking that meeting and the challenges (and excitement) working o…
June 17, 2021
We talk to actor-turned-director Keegan Connor Tracy, She tells us why she chose to try her hand at directing, the struggles of starting from the bottom again but why now is the right time for her. She talks about the lack o…
June 10, 2021
We talk to Michael Fuller who talks us through the pain and heartbreak of his show Quarry being cut, how he used cigarettes and bourbon to get through it and the balance between being a showrunner and being part of other peo…
June 3, 2021
We talk to lawyer-turned-writer Melissa London Hilfers. She talks about her transition from attorney to entertainment, what her old colleagues think of her new role (and how they are easily impressed by celebrity namedroppin…
May 27, 2021
This week's guest is the extraordinary writer, creator and double Emmy winner Javier Grillo-Marxuach. He works out how many of his 23 shows have been cancelled (a few), how many he has quit (some) and which were the ones he …
May 20, 2021
We talk to the extraordinary writer and producer Akela Cooper. She talks about combatting the loneliness of writing, particularly during a pandemic, the sage advice of her mother and the discipline of constantly working on h…
May 13, 2021
We talk to legendary writer, show creator and exec producer Glen Mazzara. He talks about crisis training in the entertainment industry, how he still suffers from imposter syndrome and the time a knife fight broke out on the …
May 6, 2021
We talk to the extraordinary Ryan Knighton, a blind writer of books and TV. He explains how blindness helps him with the art of describing scenes, using the time he doesn't spend on driving and video games to perfect his cra…
April 29, 2021
We talk to Kira Snyder, computer game designer-turned-writer and now showrunner. She talks about the 'new' Hollywood and its concern for mental health and wellbeing, how working in corporate America has helped her prepare to…
April 22, 2021
We talk to writer and graphic novelist Bryan Hill. He tells us about an extraordinarily cruel early rejection, how he channeled that, and other setbacks, into success and why he feels without failure he wouldn’t have done wh…
April 15, 2021
We talk to showrunner Joe Henderson about his Hollywood journey. He talks about his formative years as an assistant and how he is grateful for the extended period he spent at this position - but then also about his triple pr…
April 8, 2021
We hear the fascinating take of Jeffrey Lieber, the creator of the first version of the Lost pilot. We talk about how he dealt with his relationship with the show as it went in a different direction, the years it took him to…
April 1, 2021
We talk to veteran writer Jose Molina. He talks through the balance between finding a long-running show, finding a show you like and making bold and reckless decision early in your career. He explains why young writers shoul…
March 25, 2021
We talk to Marc Bernardin about his different careers and the different types of failure he suffered. He talks about journalism, being fired while on vacation and knowing when to break the rules and reach out to interview su…
March 18, 2021
We talk to David Goodman, veteran writer and WGA West President. He talks about the pain of a comedy writer pitching jokes that don’t land, the thin line to tread between comedy and causing offense and knowing you’ll get fir…
March 11, 2021
We talk to show creator Mickey Fisher. He tells us about how his 'overnight success' wasn't actually overnight, being fired in hotel rooms and having his gate pass for the studio revoked as the first sign his show was gettin…
March 4, 2021
We talk to the amazing John Rogers. The veteran writer and showrunner gives his views from 30 years in the industry. He tells the amazing story of the awful Catwoman, how he owned his role in the movie, what went wrong and b…
Feb. 25, 2021
We talk to the extraordinary Shawn Simmons about his cult hit Wayne. He tells us about the rare occurrence of having his network cancelled under his show, the joy of a show being reborn on Amazon and the 'heat' of having a h…
Feb. 18, 2021
We talk to horror writer Jeff Howard. He tells us about being rejected - with various levels of misfortune - by Nicolas Cage, John Stamos and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He talks about the kiss of death 'well told', the desir…
Feb. 11, 2021
Prodigious writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe joins the podcast. He talks honestly about missing out on his dream Lord of the Rings project, the amount of time spent continuously looking for his next role and his ratio of 8 failures…
Feb. 1, 2021
We talk to actor and writer Geoffrey Thorne. The actor turned writer tells his extraordinary story of riches to rags and back to riches again. He talks about why he walked away from a successful acting career in In the Heat …