Creative Principles

Rachel Dickinson writes about travel, history, bits of science, and anything else that interests her from her home in perpetually cloudy Upstate New York. One non-fiction book took her to the wilds of Southern Indiana to research ‘The Notorious Reno Gang,’ an account of the world's first train robbers. In ‘Falconer on the Edge,’ she followed a hardcore falconer through a hunting season in Wyoming....

As a kid, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas could be described as the good kid living vicariously through his bad kid friends. Essentially, he took this perspective with him to the page. Thomas, who has worked on shows like Friday Night Lights, Numb3rs, CSI:NY, Southland, The Get Down, and S.W.A.T., says he has a love/hate relationship with human beings, which comes alive in his silver screen characters. Thoma...

At Robin Block’s company Creator VC, the company focuses on “community-powered entertainment.” The independent producers work on crowdfunded content for superfans. ‘In Search of Darkness’ is described as “An exploration of '80s horror movies through the perspective of the actors, directors, producers and SFX craftspeople who made them, and their impact on contemporary cinema.” ‘In Search of Tomorr...

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. At Block’s company Creator VC, the company focuses on “community...

Originally a painter, Daniel Minahan wasn’t a fan of the solitary nature of painting, which led him to documentary filmmaking and then television. He’s best known for working on ‘Six Feet Under,’ ‘Deadwood,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘House of Cards,’ and most recently, ‘Halston.’ The 5-episode series ‘Halston’ stars Ewan McGregor. The story follows a man who leverages his single, invented name into a wo...

Anna Konkle followed a typical pursuit into acting until she and Maya Erskine (Wine Country, Plus One) decided to created their own web series. Now, the series is on Hulu, where the duo plays middle school girls. On Pen15, the description reads, “The comedic story of middle school seen through the eyes of two 7th grade girls dealing with the awkwardness of being a teenager.” In this interview, Ann...

As a kid, Eytan Rockaway would film toy soldiers in an effort to model his hero, Director Steven Spielberg. By the time he was twelve, he was shooting short films with friends, then after the army, he went to NYU to study film. In his new film ‘Lansky,’ Harvey Keitel stars as Meyer Lansky. The description reads, “When the aging Meyer Lansky is investigated one last time by the Feds who suspect he...

Eugene Ashe first entered the filmmaking business as a recording artist, where he landed on soundtracks for Free Willy and The Bronx Tale. While reading these scripts, and others, he started to see movies and television in a songwriitng sense. As a screenwriter, Ashe has credits for the documentary Home Again and films Homecoming and Sylvie’s Love. In the latest project, the story follows a young...

Patrick Hughes said he knew he wanted to become a filmmaker when he saw the Coen Brothers’ film, ‘Raising Arizona.’ The action-comedy led Hughes down a path to make similar films. Hughes is best known for his work on ‘Red Hill,’ ‘The Expendables 3,’ and the ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ films. In the sequel, Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) continues his friendship with Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson)...

Malcom Spellman spent seven years writing before he broke into the industry. Even then, he struggled for another five years, lost his representation and had to start all over. Then he sold the script for ‘Our Family Wedding.’ Today, Spellman is best known for ‘Empire,’ ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and two upcoming features, ‘Muscle’ starring Vin Diesel and then Captain America 4, which will...

Australian actor-writer-director Josh Lawson always wanted to be involved in filmmaking. While in drama school and then college, he always kept up his writing as he moved into sitcoms and movies, like TV Burp, Kinne, The Little Death, and most recently, Long Story Short. You’ve also seen him in the new Mortal Kombat as Kano, along with roles in The Eleven O’Clock and Anchorman 2. Lawson is the wri...

Josh Bycel got his start writing for The Onion in college, before he moved to television, writing for Veronica’s Closet, American Dad!, Psych, Scrubs, and now, Solar Opposites. Mike McMahan wrote for Axe Cop and Star Trek: Short Treks before writing for Rick and Morty. Since writing for the iconic series, he’s also worked on Star Trek: Lower Decks and is the Co-Creator of Solar Opposites alongside...

David Weil grew up amongst storytellers. His grandparents, his parents, his siblings. He loved the idea of being able to transport listeners - or viewers - to new, untold worlds. Weil carried this passion for years, acting and writing with people like Darren Aronofsky and J.J. Abrams, until he finally got his first projects made, Hunters and Solos, both for Amazon. Hunters: In 1977, in New York Ci...

Crystal Moselle got her start making documentary films like ‘The Wolfpack’ and ‘Our Dream of Water.’ Soon after, she took this visual following style with her to make fictional works like ‘Skate Kitchen’ and now, HBO’s ‘Betty.’ In ‘Betty,’ the series stars Dede Lovelace, Kabrina Adams, and Nina Moran. The description reads, " A diverse group of young women navigating their lives through the predom...

Influenced by Madonna, Tina Turner and Prince, Bonnie McKee always knew she wanted to be a pop singer. Bonnie is known for songs like “American Girl” and “Sleepwalkers.” She also co-wrote “California Gurls,” “Roar,” and “Teenage Dream” with Katy Perry. She has additional credits for Kesha, Cher, Christina Aguilera, Adam Lambert, and Kelly Clarkson. Most recently, Bonnie has created the short film,...

The biographical musical drama Clouds is based on the memoir Fly a Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom’s Small Prayer in a Big Way by Laura Sobiech. In the film, a young musician named Zach Sobiech (Fin Argus) discovers his cancer has spread and he only has a limited time to make his dream come true of becoming a musician. “It started out seeing Zach’s video,” said Casey La Scale. “My wife had s...

Brad Lewis produced the Oscar nominated “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” the critically acclaimed conclusion of the trilogy. He also produced Storks, The Lego Batman Movie, and worked at Pixar on films like Ratatouille, Cars 2, among many other successful movies. P.J. Gunsagar is an entrepreneur at heart. After starting his career in finance, working as an investment banker at UBS War...

After college, Chris Brancato realized he had “no marketable skills whatsoever.” He joked that his “lack of options” led him down the path of becoming a screenwriter. “That helped demystify the process,” he said. The next step in uncovering the path to Hollywood came from a friend who landed a job on The Equalizer. “He showed me the script and I thought, ‘I just figured out what I want to do.’” Br...

Originally, Neil Cross wanted to be a novelist. Describing his path as “wandering” and even as an “accident,” Cross has published several books, but is best known for his work on the small screen, where he’s got credits for MI-5, Doctor Who, Crossbones, Luther, and now, The Mosquito Coast. Cross said he grew up an admirer of Han Solo, but more specifically, the anti-hero. “It’s a taste where the o...

R.J. Cutler loves the “narratives of the real world,” but spent the first few years of his career as a theater director. These days, he’s best known for his documentary work, such as The War Room, A Perfect Candidate, and The World According to Dick Cheney. Most recently, he’s tackled a documentary on comedian John Belushi, a documentary on musician Billie Eilish, and the new Apple series Dear… wh...

Jim Demonakos, founder of Seattle’s annual Emerald City Comicon, met Kevin Konrad Hanna, an artist and film director, at the annual event. Two lifelong comic book fans, the duo tried a handful of projects together until something hit, a documentary about Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. In ‘Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters,’ Jim and Kevin uncover the story behind Mignola, as told from icons like Neil G...

Richard Melville Hall, better known as Moby, is a musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. His music has been featured in over 200 movies and shows, like The Saint, The Beach, and The Bourne Identity. In his latest project, Moby Doc, the musician teamed up with former music video editor Rob Gordon Bralver to create a “surrealist biographical documentary” about Moby’s lif...

Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and #1 New York Times bestselling author. He’s known for ‘The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels,’ ‘American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House,’ ‘Franklin and Winston,’ ‘His Truth is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope,’ and a book co-written with country star Tim McGraw called ‘Songs of America.’ His newest project i...

Originally, to honor his immigrant parents, Bao Nguyen thought he was going to become a lawyer. As a small child, he worked in his father’s shop behind the register, where he spent his time between customers sketching and drawing what he now sees as storyboards. Working as a Director and Cinematographer since 2009, Nguyen worked on projects like ‘We Gon’ Be Alright’ and ‘Live from New York!’ befor...

Indonesian actor Joe Taslim fell in love with Judo, where he won his first National Championship in 1997. About 15 years later, he took his MMA repertoire to the big screen, eventually landing roles in major Hollywood films. Taslim is best known for roles in The Raid: Redemption, Fast & Furious 6, Star Trek Beyond, Warrior, and now, Mortal Kombat, where he stars as the iconic character Sub-Zero. I...