Artwell

Stephen King is one of the great American novelists. He burst onto the scene with 1974's Carrie and then went on to have one of the most prolific decades that any author has ever had. In the first ten years of his career he published many great books, but five of them are considered all time greats: Carrie (1974), 'Salem's Lot (1975), The Shining (1976), The Stand (1978), and Pet Pet S...

King Kong is a 2005 film directed by Peter Jackson. The making of this film was a life long dream for Jackson, who, as a child, fell in love with movies while watching the original King Kong from 1933. This episode breaks down Jackson's approach to remaking his favourite movie of all time, and how lessons from The Lord of the Rings would benefit its production. This is the third and final epis...

In 1995, Hollywood considered The Lord of the Rings 'unfilmable' which is why it was a crazy filmmaker from the other side of the world who set out to try and do it. It took Peter Jackson years to get the green light and when he finally got it, he was awarded with the daunting task of having to figure out how to adapt one of the most beloved fantasy novels in history for the big screen. Th...

Peter Jackson is a writer and director known for The Lord of the Rings. Today's episode explores the five feature films he made before venturing into Middle Earth.

Ghost of Tsushima is a 2020 video game developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the PlayStation 4. The game currently holds a 9.2 user score on MetaCritic, making it one of the top 20 highest rated video games of all time.

'Best-Sellers: Are they born or made? (Lincoln's Doctor's Dog) is a 1939 book written by publishers Stanley Unwin and George Stevens, along with novelist Frank Swinnerton about what actually makes a book a bestseller. I read this book to see what timeless lesson it can teach modern artists when it comes to promoting their work.

Extra notes and lesson I learned from studying Stanley Unwin, the publisher of The Lord of the Rings.

Sir Stanley Unwin is the founder of Allen & Unwin, the publishing firm behind J.R.R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl, Bertrand Russell, Thor Heyerdahl, and more. In preparation for this episode I read Stanley's memoir, The Truth About a Publisher, and his son (and successor) Rayner's personal history of the company, George Allen & Unwin: A Remembrancer.

Sir Stanley Unwin is the founder of Allen & Unwin, the publishing firm behind J.R.R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl, Bertrand Russell, Thor Heyerdahl, and more. In preparation for this episode I read Stanley's memoir, The Truth About a Publisher, and his son (and successor) Rayner's personal history of the company, George Allen & Unwin: A Remembrancer.

Sharing all of the notes I had that didn't make it into the Tolkien deep dive.

J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. In preparation for today's episode I read J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by Humphrey Carpenter, watched the documentary A Film Portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien, and read 11 interviews.

J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. In preparation for today's episode I read J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by Humphrey Carpenter, watched the documentary A Film Portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien, and read 11 interviews.

All of the research that ended up on the cutting room floor from studying Jaco Pastorius. ⁠Subscribe to the Artwell newsletter ⁠⁠ Further Reading: ⁠⁠Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Jaco: The Film⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Jaco Pastorius: The Lost Tapes Documentary

If you spent anytime with Jaco Pastorius you'd realize his nails were in perfect condition... This is part 2 of my deep dive into Jaco's ideas, lessons, and process. ⁠Subscribe to the Artwell newsletter ⁠ Further Reading: ⁠Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius⁠ ⁠Jaco: The Film⁠ ⁠Jaco Pastorius: The Lost Tapes Documentary

Even before he was famous, Jaco Pastorius would introduce himself like this, “Hi, My name is John Francis Pastorius III, and I'm the greatest electric bass player in the world”. Rolling eyes would quickly be replaced by slacked jaws when he started to play… because it only took a matter of seconds to realize he really was the greatest bass player in the world. This is part 1 of my deep dive in...

All of the notes that I had about Joni Mitchell that didn't make it into the deep dive. ⁠Get the Joni Mitchell recap newsletter⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Listen to my playlist Joni Mitchell: Love From Both Sides⁠

Part 2 of my deep dive into the creative process of Joni Mitchell, one of the greatest singer-songwriters in history. ⁠Get the Joni Mitchell recap newsletter⁠ ⁠Listen to my playlist Joni Mitchell: Love From Both Sides⁠ It’s a peculiar thing that one of the greatest singer-songwriter’s in history had no intention of ever being a singer, or a songwriter. Ever since she was a child, Joni Mitchell wan...

Part 1 of my deep dive into the creative process of Joni Mitchell, one of the greatest singer-songwriters in history. Get the Joni Mitchell recap newsletter Listen to my playlist Joni Mitchell: Love From Both Sides It’s a peculiar thing that one of the greatest singer-songwriter’s in history had no intention of ever being a singer, or a songwriter. Ever since she was a child, Joni Mitchell wanted...

Lessons and stories I learned studying Keith Jarrett that didn't make it into the deep dive. Subscribe to the Artwell newsletter: https://jacobkelly.substack.com/ Read: ⁠⁠ Keith Jarrett: The Man and his Music by Ian Carr⁠⁠ Watch: ⁠⁠ Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvisation

Subscribe to the Artwell newsletter: ⁠https://jacobkelly.substack.com/⁠ About Keith Jarrett Becoming one of the greatest jazz pianists, classical interpreters, or composers of your generation is an incredible feat… Keith Jarrett is considered all three. A prodigious talent, Keith was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1945, and began learning the piano at age three, two years later — at the age of...

Subscribe to the Artwell newsletter: https://jacobkelly.substack.com/ About Keith Jarrett Becoming one of the greatest jazz pianists, classical interpreters, or composers of your generation is an incredible feat… Keith Jarrett is considered all three. A prodigious talent, Keith was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 1945, and began learning the piano at age three, two years later — at the age of 5...

In 1989 Tom Schulman won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Dead Poets Society. He followed this up with screenplays for two hit comedies, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids , and What About Bob? . In 1997 he made his directorial debut with the Joe Pesci led, Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag . He recently returned to the director’s chair for his 2022 film, Double Down South. Subscribe to the Artwell newsl...

More lessons and stories I cut from the Robin Williams deep dive. Subscribe to the Artwell newsletter: https://jacobkelly.substack.com/

Robin Williams is an Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy award winning actor and comedian. He first rose to prominence for his breakout role as Mork in the hit '70s sitcom, Mork and Mindy. Following Mork, Robin received praise for his dramatic turn in films such as Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, and The Fisher King . In the '90s, Williams became one of the highest-paid movie stars in the world thanks...

Robin Williams is an Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy award winning actor and comedian. He first rose to prominence for his breakout role as Mork in the hit '70s sitcom, Mork and Mindy. Following Mork, Robin received praise for his dramatic turn in films such as Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, and The Fisher King . In the '90s, Williams became one of the highest-paid movie stars in the world thanks to film...