Trailer Geeks and Teaser Gods

Latest Episodes:

Jeff Elefterion: Birdman, 12 Year's a Slave, Gone Girl Mar 29, 2020

Show notes

Jeff Elefterion is a seasoned creative storyteller who's had the privilege of working with some of the most innovative filmmakers, collaborative marketers and generous human beings in entertainment. From leading the creative campaigns on 9 best picture nominated films in a row yielding 3 wins, to sinking his teeth into genre defining franchises, his passion for all things movies and TV continues to drive his desire to draw others into each of those cinematic and compelling worlds.

We're all in this together: Barbara Glazer,Tommy Gargotta,Damon Wolf Mar 21, 2020

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Barbara Glazer, Tommy Gargotta, and Damon Wolf with a candid yet hopeful message for the community.

Recorded March 19, 2020

Joe Dante: Legendary Director of Gremlins, Innerspace, The Howling, The Burbs, Piranha Mar 16, 2020

Show notes

Joe Dante, beloved director, producer and editor, started with Roger Corman's company as in-house trailer editor, the same company where filmmakers Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Ron Howard, Jonathan Demme, John Sayles and many others got their start. Dante worked his way up to edit features, and then direct and produce his own films. He went on to make cult classics The Howling as well as widely popular movies including Gremlins, The Burbs, Innerspace, Expolorers, Matinee, Looney Tunes Back in Action and many more. He continues to produce and direct, and has also made his mark in the podcast world with Trailers from Hell.

Peter Adee: The Lion King, What About Bob?, Fast and Furious, Die Another Day Mar 09, 2020

Show notes

Brilliant. Strategic. Bold. Humble. Three of these words describe Peter Adee. The guy who led the marketing efforts at several studios created countless campaigns that still resonate. He doesn't need you to know he's funny as hell, but he won't deny it. It's part of the charm. So is the way he helped so many achieve so much. He's an original as these stories attest.

Bob Israel: Men In Black, GoldenEye, Spiderman, Groundhog Day, Forest Gump Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Proclaimed by the LA Times as the "Trailer Titan" and placed on Entertainment Weekly's Top Creative People in Hollywood "It" List, Bob Israel has had an extraordinary career in entertainment. His achievements include producing blockbuster films that launched major careers, creating the longest running movie advertising agency in Hollywood, and overseeing the prestigious star-studded Key Art Award shows.

Along with Ron Moler, Bob is the Co-Founder and former CEO-Creative Director of Aspect Ratio. Included among the many award-winning campaigns created by the agency are Men In Black, GoldenEye, Spiderman, Groundhog Day, Forest Gump and Philadelphia. When they sold the company in 1999, Aspect had grown into the largest entertainment advertising agency in Hollywood. Bob left the company in 2004 and helped launch another prestigious agency, Workshop Creative.

Bob's feature film producing credits include the box office smash Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which helped launch Jim Carrey's movie career. With Ron Moler, he produced the cult classic, Bachelor Party, which starred 27-year-old Tom Hanks.

Live shows include a run as Lead Producer of The Hollywood Reporter's Key Art Awards Show from 2000-2008. Featured hosts and presenters included Sarah Silverman, Clint Eastwood and Sharon Stone. Bob proudly produced a live musical for Sony Pictures at Showest starring Robert Goulet, Leslie Nielsen and an ensemble of 20 singer dancers.

In 2013, Bob returned full-time to his first love. He created The Broadway & Vine Fund to option the underlying rights to existing properties and develop them for the stage. In Spring 2019 he produced the regional premiere of The Flamingo Kid, a musical adaptation of the heartwarming movie, at the prestigious Hartford Stage. He continues to develop the show for Broadway with the Tony award-winning team of book writer/lyricist Robert Freedman, director Darko Tresnjak and composer Scott Frankel. He is also lead producing an adaptation of the movie, Mad Hot Ballroom, with the "dream team" of Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots).

Bob is a member of the motion picture academy (AMPAS) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA). He is a former officer and board member of three non-profits: A Place Called Home (since 2001), Skylight Theater Company and University Synagogue.

Bob has won several CLIO and Key Art awards as well as other accolades. He was honored with the Sepharad Cinema Lifetime Achievement Award and A Place Called Home's Humanitarian Award. In 2012 the L.A. City Council commended him for "for improving the lives of thousands of children and families living under great duress."

He is extremely grateful to have in his life two incredible children, Jesse and Rachel, and his supportive life-partner and wife, Gail. He resides in Los Angeles.

Matt Bravmann: Hollywood Reporter - Marketing Director, Film/TV Feb 17, 2020

Show notes

Matt Bravmann is a marketing guru currently with The Hollywood Reporter as Marketing Director, Film/TV. Matt started his career as a Marketing Intern with ESPN before moving on to help develop Marketing and Social media strategies for The New York Mets, WWE, Shindig, and Brigade, an award winning, full-service entertainment digital marketing & publicity agency, before landing at The Hollywood Reporter.

Matt is also an accomplished musician, singer/songwriter, and piano player with a love for Jazz.

Ron Moler & Jeff Smith: Founders of Aspect Ratio & Open Road respectively Feb 10, 2020

Show notes

Ron Moler

Ron started his career at the young age of 13 shooting surf movies with his mother's movie camera. They weren't very good but it set the hook. Ron Graduated from the Cal State Fullerton University film department. First Job CBS Television, Television City. Worked his way up to promo editor. After freelancing around for a couple of years he started Aspect Ratio with Bob Israel. Ultimately after 20 years of hard work they became the largest of the motion picture advertising agencies. Not being content with just cranking out trailers Ron produced Bachelor Party, I love you to Death, and The Endless Summer 2. Ron sold his interest in Aspect Ratio and directed two movies The Runner and Local Boys. Missing the trailer business he started Ignition Creative with Martin Kistler in 2003. Finally deciding it was time to follow his adventure dream of sailing the world and making documentaries, he sold his interest in 2012. Now happily semi-retired he still does consulting work. Ron is blessed with 3 children.

Jeff Smith

After graduating UCLA as an Econ major, Jeff moved to Australia for a year before coming back home to work at KNXT (CBS)news for three years. In the late 60s he became disillusioned with the political climate here, and moved to London, where he went to film school at The London School of Film Technique (now called the London Film School). Jeff stayed in Europe for 4 years. Returning to LA to work in the film business as a cameraman and grip where he worked on low budget movies. Eventually Jeff burned out on that, and started making furniture. After 2 years, and after in haling too much sawdust, he was offered a job in the finishing department at Kaleidoscope Films...then the preeminent trailer company in LA. He lasted there two years before he found is true calling...to become a screenwriter, which he did, with varying success, for the next three years.

But dirt poor, $27,000 in debt and living off credit cards, Jeff took what he thought would be a six months job at Aspect Ratio. Jeff's title was producer, he was good at doing graphics and reels, but his real job was to keep the owners, Ron Molar and Bob Israel, from killing one another! Jeff was successful, and as the company grew, he forgot about his writing career and began what would become his life long career in the movie advertising business. For a number of years he was Ron and Bob's consiglieri, and produced all the reels and special projects. Eventually Jeff became Co President along with Mark Trugman, and ran the company til he left.

In 2001, Jeff opened Open Road Entertainment. "We were one of the first boutique agencies, stating with just 11 people. Over the years we grew, expanded, contracted, moved and had a great time together." In 2017 Jeff sold the company and now after 33 years, and what he thought would be a six months job, he has returned to writing. "I loved the trailers business, it was exciting, demanding, creative, frustrating, tiring, and filled with some of the best people I have ever met. But now I am happy to say, I am ecstatic to be out of it, and writing once again."

Collaborators: Renowned Producer DeVon Franklin and Marketing Guru Loren Schwartz Feb 03, 2020

Show notes

Loren Schwartz is one of the most successful, versatile genre entertainment marketing executives in the business. For over 20 years he has had huge success in charge of marketing and creative for both big studio and independent studio divisions at Sony Pictures, Screen Gems, Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox. As well as working with some of Hollywood's biggest talents. Some of his successes include the movies Breakthrough, Heaven is for Real, Big Daddy, Superbad, Pineapple Express, The Vow, Think Like a Man and Evil Dead. DeVon Franklin is an award-winning Film & TV producer, best-selling author, renowned preacher and motivational speaker. Through entertainment and media, DeVon uses his passion and voice to inspire the masses. He's produced hit films such as Breakthrough, The Star and Miracles from Heaven as well as writing numerous best-selling books including the most recent The Truth About Men. His company, Franklin Entertainment, has a first-look deal with Paramount Pictures. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Meagan.

Christine Birch: Lead Marketing for Sony, Dreamworks, Film District Jan 27, 2020

Show notes

Christine G. Birch is the CEO of THE ROYGBIV COLLECTIVE. Christine immigrated to the US from the island of Jamaica at the age of 3. As a young girl, she taught herself to read & write before Kindergarten, resulting in her declaring the entire experience a waste of time & skipping it entirely. Since then, she has been on an incredible odyssey through the American Dream via its most famous educational, cultural & business institutions.

Heavily influenced by her Jamaican father's wisdom & wit, Christine blazed a trail through the Ivy League (Dartmouth College), New York publishing (Scholastic & Random House) & eventually, Hollywood where her strategic skill & creative instincts won multiple industry awards & recognition.

Hailed as "one of the best pieces of manpower in the business," Christine rose through the Hollywood power ranks to become the first & only black woman (& the only Jamaican!) ever to run marketing for a major studio (Sony Pictures), a legendary filmmaker (Steven Spielberg) and a successful independent. She has collaborated with the entertainment industry's top executives & creative talent, disrupting the status quo, shaping popular culture, & driving performance. Along the way, she has become famous -- & infamous -- for her ability to "cut through nonsense like a hot knife through butter."

Now, Christine is focusing her wide-ranging talents on her new company, THE ROYGBIV COLLECTIVE, which develops business leaders & projects focused on advancing the next phase of human progress.

Based on years of motivating people to create billions of dollars in global wealth, Christine applies her unique understanding of how to drive mass behavior toward tackling the world's bigger challenges. "With all the emphasis on analytics and micro-targeting, it's tempting to forget how mythic narrative connects all the dots and creates emotional resonance. Since the beginning of man, transcendent narratives have helped establish a sense of common purpose, which is how successful movements are built," said Birch. "I'm excited by the idea of how the narrative-building process can be applied to the companies, projects, and ideas that are transforming our lives."

Christine's company name, which stands for the colors of the light spectrum, is a nod to the professional & personal diversity which is instrumental to her work.

Brett Winn: Partner/Creative Dir. - The Refinery AV Jan 20, 2020

Show notes

When he's not rocking out on stage, doing book readings or ripping through the canyons in his car, Brett is busy leading an incredibly talented team of editors, producers, writers and motion graphic designers, making cool marketing materials for all the major studios, networks and streaming services

as Partner and creative director at The Refinery AV.

He has over 25 years of experience writing, producing and editing for every avenue and has worked in every facet of the industry, from network to vendor to studio to owner and everything in between.

He prides himself on being one of the "nice guys" in the industry and believes that we learn from all of our experiences, failures as well successes,

which is why every single campaign is an exciting new challenge.

He is a lover of film, TV and music and is thankful every day that he found a career that marries all 3.

He has had to work hard and prove himself time and time again, while being fortunate enough to have some amazing successes.

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