Creative Principles

Latest Episodes:

Ep372 - David Weiner Returns, Director ‘In Search of Darkness’ Horror Trilogy Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

David Weiner originally moved to Los Angeles to get involved with filmmaking, where he mostly worked as Assistant Director. Soon after, he started writing and found journalism, where he worked for Entertainment Tonight, The Hollywood Reporter, and he even ran the Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine. There, Robin Block recruited him. Listen to the first chat with David back in Episode 294 of this series. In this episode, we talk about the third film in the Darkness franchise, lost horror films nobody talks about anymore, foreign horror movies, heavy metal horror in the most recent installment, what we can learn about indie horror movies today, and how they create content for fans between projects. Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep371 - Kim Hudson, Screenwriter & Author ‘The Virgin’s Promise’ Oct 10, 2022

Show notes

“I started out as a field geologist and then I became a land-claim negotiator,” said Kim Hudson. “All of it very masculine, very linear, I would say, and then I had children and thought, ‘what do I authentically want? It was the 70s and women were doing ‘everything man can do’ but that changed when I had a child.” During this discovery phase, Hudson found a book by Julia Cameron called The Artist’s Way. The book, which was meant to “help people with artistic creative recovery” according to the description, was a major stepping stone in Hudson’s career. “I was diligent. I did everything [in the book] twice — all twelve weeks.” “Those years I spent in geology, that’s basically a hero’s journey,” said Hudson. “You’re facing fear, learning to take on challenges and conquer your own fear, and take action anyway. That was my understanding of what life was supposed to be. I got that from Father who was one of those guys.” This led Kim to write her book, The Virgin’s Promise: The Virgin’s Promise demystifies the complexities of archetypes and clearly outlines the steps of a Virgin’s Journey to realize her dream. Audiences need to see more than brave, self-sacrificing Heroes. They need to see Virgins who bring their talents and self-fulfilling joys to life. The Virgin’s Promise describes this journey with beats that feel incredibly familiar but have not been illustrated in any other screenwriting book. It explores the yin and yang of the Virgin and Hero journeys to take up their power as individuals, and includes a practical guide to putting this new theory into action. Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep370 - ‘The Northman’ Screenwriters Robert Eggers & Sjón Oct 07, 2022

Show notes

“Folk tales, fairy tales, mythology, the past…I’ve always been interested in that,” said writer/director Robert Eggers (The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman). “I don’t entirely know why. I’m more interested in that subject matter than I am in films, maybe, in the end.” The same is perhaps true for Robert’s writing partner, Sjón, an internationally acclaimed Icelandic author who published his first book of poetry at the age of 16. Sjón said, “When I was growing up in Iceland in the 70s, there was no cinema. But if we had had filmmaking at the time, I think I would have seen that as an option.” The two met thanks to a chance encounter at a party in 2016 at the singer Björk’s home. “She invited us to dinner and said she was going to invite her friend Sjón, who she thought I would get along with.” Over home cooked salmon at Björk’s home, the two connected immediately. At the time, Robert had just premiered The Witch (also written as The VVitch), a New England folktale about the 17th Century. “Oh, I’ve just written a novel that takes place in the early 17th Century Iceland and features witchcraft and sorcery. So obviously, we realized we had something in common.” Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep369 - Finn Jones, Actor ‘The Visitor,’ ‘Iron Fist’ & ‘Game of Thrones’ Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Finn Jones has wanted to be an actor for as long as he can remember. “It’s inherently been a driving factor of my life,” he told me, along with his early journey into film and television. As an actor, Finn is best known for starring as Danny Rand in Iron Fist and on Game of Thrones as Loral Tyrell. He’s also been in Swimming with Sharks, Dickinson, and Sleeping Beauty. Most recently, Finn starred in a film for Blumhouse called The Visitor, which was directed by Justin P. Lange. The plot reads, "After a series of tragedies, Robert moves with his wife back to her childhood home. After he discovers an old portrait of a man who looks like him, he goes down a rabbit hole to discover the identity of this mysterious doppelganger.” In this interview, we talk about Finn’s film work, how he originally learned camera work, what it means to have “blind faith” as an actor, working with creative role models, and how he survived failure from Netflix’s Iron Fist. Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep368 - K. Asher Levin, Director ‘Dig,’ ‘Slayers,’ & ‘Helen’s Dead’ Sep 29, 2022

Show notes

“I’m a bit of a film brat,” said K. Asher Levin, who grew up in Los Angeles and has always had family in the business. Currently, he’s best known for screenwriting and directing, with films such as Dig, Slayers, and Helen’s Dead. In Dig, “A widowed father and his daughter whose house is up for demolition, are taken hostage by a dangerous couple, who won't stop until they retrieve what lies beneath the property.” In Slayers, “A group of superstar influencers are drawn to a reclusive billionaire's mansion only to find themselves trapped in the lair of an evil vampire. The only way out is to be saved by a famous online gamer and an old school vampire hunter.” In this interview, we talk about applying a voice to genre, the balance of levity and gravitas, the freedom of the Indie market, directing with a cynical eye, creating idealistic villains, and how to work with actors long-term. Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep367 - Nicholas Stoller, Screenwriter ‘Bros,’ ‘Sex Tape,’ & ‘Yes Man’ Sep 26, 2022

Show notes

“I was obsessed with comedy writing as a kid,” said Nicholas Stoller. “I remember watching Saturday Night Live and not wanting to be the actors, but wanting to write the sketches. I don’t even know how I knew that was a job.” As a screenwriter, Stoller has credits for Fun with Dick and Jane, Yes Man, Get Him to the Greek, The Muppets, Sex Tape, The Carmichael Show, Night School and Bros, many of which he also Directed, including Neighbors and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. “I’m excited Bros is going to be theatrically released, but a weird thing happened a few years ago where [studios] were like, ‘Comedies don’t work in theaters.’ Which is not true. Judd [Apatow] always says, ‘If The Hangover came out this weekend, it would make a billion dollars.’” For whatever reason, studios just stopped making as many theatrical comedies. They’ve instead gone to television, limited series, and leaned in to action comedies for a broader, global appeal. “I love going to see comedy in the movie theater. You get to have that experience with an audience, laughing and reacting.” “People say it’s a business first, but it’s not run like a business. If anyone thought about it like a business, there’s a huge hole in the comedy department.” Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep366 - Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Screenwriter ‘Thor - Love and Thunder’ & ‘Do Revenge’ Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

“I just love storytelling,” Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, in regards to how she got involved with screenwriting. “I loved writing as a kid. I wrote children’s books. I loved telling stories. I loved putting on shows in my living room. At more core, I love storytelling and the theater of it.” As a writer, Jennifer’s credits include the TV series Sweet/Vicious, and the movies Someone Great, Unpregnant, Do Revenge, and Thor: Love and Thunder. “I like playing in different genres, but what I do lean towards are stories about women and stories about trauma, told in entertaining packages.” “The sweet spot, in terms of the stories I tell, is finding these emotional stories and putting them in these heightened environments.” In her premiere series, for example, Sweet/Vicious was about two vigilantes in collect who wanted justices for campus abuse. The “guttural” idea was “what if Quentin Tarantino wrote Girls? What would that look like?” This idea excited her and stayed with her. When she sold this script, she had about ten years of experience meeting people and “trying to figure out where there’s a crack in the door where I can open the door further to step through the door.” Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep365 - Dennis Lehane, Author-Screenwriter ‘Black Bird,’ ’Shutter Island,’ ‘The Wire’ Sep 03, 2022

Show notes

Dennis Lehane grew up in a storytelling, bar culture. For him, storytelling was in his blood. Family would gather every week, telling stories of the Old Country. “I think I just grew up in the thrall of that,” he told me. “I wrote my first novel when I was 15.” As an author, Dennis is known for Mystic River, Shutter Island, and The Drop, all novels that have been turned into films. In addition to novels, he’s written for The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, Mr. Mercedes, The Outsider, and most recently, Apple’s Black Bird. In this interview, the author-screenwriter talks about being exposed to violence, what it means to be ceased by an idea, why he outlined Shutter Island but none of his other novels, his friendships with Stephen King and David Simon, and why good television can actually be trickier to write than novels. Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep364 - John Hamburg, Screenwriter ‘Me Time,’ ‘Zoolander,’ ‘Meet the Parents,’ & ‘I Love You, Man’ Aug 29, 2022

Show notes

“I was a comedy nerd kid,” said screenwriter John Hamburg. “Then I got a video camera for my 15th birthday, and I started making short films. In college, I started writing plays and monologues. Then I got serious about writing.” As a playwright, Hamburg said he learned the importance of writing and re-writing to the process. Eventually this led him to Film School and then a string of iconic comedies, like Meet the Parents, Zoolander, Along Came Polly, I Love You Man, Night School, and Me Time. In the latest film for Netflix, Hamburg is both the writer and director. The plot follows a dad (Kevin Hart) who finds time for himself for the first time in years while his wife and kids are away, so he reconnects with an old friend (Mark Wahlberg) for a wild weekend. Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

Ep363 - ‘For All Mankind’ Creators Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi Aug 26, 2022

Show notes

“I can’t recall what got me into screenwriting, other than just loving movies at a very young age,” said screenwriter Matt Wolpert, who recalls watching Singing in the Rain and Funny Girl with his mom. “I don’t remember wanting to do anything else.” This led Matt to NYU Film School, where he met Ben Nedivi in a Film Production Class. “I grew up in LA,” added Ben. “My father was a set decorator and he worked on Quantum Leap. Our garage was filled with props from that show,” he joked. “Every episode a different era, location, so it was a place my sister and I would get lost in—make believe.” Ben summarized both of their childhood stories: “There’s no way I’m not doing this.” As they started to write together, eventually found themselves in staff for shows like Entourage, Fargo, The Umbrella Academy, and most recently, For All Mankind where they’re listed as Creators along with Ronald D. Moore. Subscribe for video interviews on YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/CreativePrinciples?sub_confirmation=1 If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!

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