Respect The Process

Jessica Altina Lee Sanders 's martial arts action comedy short "THE COCKTAIL PARTY" exploring female empowerment, premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and won numerous international festival awards. The action packed, playful film tells the story of a cocktail party that turns into an unexpected martial arts action film. Jessica directed and produced the short film "End of the Line" which p...

Advertising industry veteran Anthony Vagnoni and I had an insightful discussion on the evolving landscape of commercial filmmaking and marketing. With decades of experience spanning roles in publishing, PR, and production, Vagnoni provides a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing up-and-coming directors. From the importance of self-promotion to the shifting dynamics between...

Born in Vancouver, Canada and now based in Los Angeles, Ilanna Barkusky is an internationally awarded commercial director, filmmaker and photographer. Her creative journey originated in the action sports industry, capturing athletes in the mountains with her camera in tow while completing her Bachelor of Arts at the University of British Columbia. Through her work, she unifies dynamic movement wit...

Susan Munro (on the right) of Hybrid Collective and more recently of her sister company  Session City , (seen above with co-founder Starr Session Varga , left) has consistently impressed me with her passion and dedication to the craft. As longtime friends who have worked together for over a decade, I've always admired her ability to blend technical expertise with a deep understanding of how to max...

Commercial director Lars Timmermann is a true master of his craft, blending technical prowess with a boundless creative spirit. From meticulously crafted stop-motion miniatures to collaborating with skilled puppeteers, Lars' work is a testament to the power of practical effects and handcrafted elements. I was struck by his unwavering commitment to respecting the entire filmmaking team, fostering a...

Audio industry veterans Dawn Redman , Larry Benjamin , and Tim Hoogenakker join me in a lively conversation at  Signature Post . Dawn is the director of scheduling, where she oversees operations. Larry is a re-recording mixer who has worked on shows such as Ozark and is currently mixing Jason Bateman's upcoming series Black Rabbit. Tim is also a re-recording mixer and has a background in live musi...

Executive Producer Scott Dodoro shares how his passion for film led to starting Local Boy Productions after over a decade working for another company. Local Boy, by the way, is a full service production company in Detroit, built for the future. He discusses building his roster of directors and tackling big projects for Buick, Cadillac and GMC> Golly we even talk about using AI in spots. Scott offe...

The conclusion to my fascinating chat with Filmmaker Jon Finger , my guru of AI filmmaking tools, discusses their impact on the creative industries from the perspective of an early adopter. While acknowledging tools like image generation raise valid concerns, Jon believes AI can empower independent artists by lowering barriers to distribution. Jon shares experiences experimenting with AI storytell...

Jon Finger , my guru of AI filmmaking tools, discusses their impact on the creative industries from the perspective of an early adopter. While acknowledging tools like image generation raise valid concerns, Jon believes AI can empower independent artists by lowering barriers to distribution. Jon shares experiences experimenting with AI storytelling but finds human connection vital. He stresses res...

  Diane Strand owns JDS Video & Media Productions , a woman-majority owned business with over twenty-five years of expertise in video production and media marketing. Diane began her career in theater production before transitioning to prominent roles at The Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios, focusing on corporate video production known for creativity, punctuality, and cost-effectiveness. L...

Director JJ Adler  of her own Ruckus Films , returns to talk about her award-winning spot for Manscaped that's all the buzz. "The Boys" is truly hilarious commercial that uses the same actors to portray our heroes and those hero's testicles. Forced perspective, shaving and more. Agency  Pereira O'Dell has gobbled up the kudos with J.J. and they've got a fun series of behind the scenes they've shar...

Retreat Curious? Schedule a call with me to see if our FIlmmaker Retreat is right for you. Wow, great time chatting with stunt drivers Olivia Summers and Dee Bryant . We talk about the precision required for their work - things like practicing hitting marks down to the inch. It was fascinating to hear how they rehearse big sequences. We keep it real talking about the challenges Olivia and Dee face...

Retreat Curious? Schedule a call with me to see if our FIlmmaker Retreat is right for you. Director Ryan Christopher McGuire has been based in Tokyo for over a decade, where he is also the Managing Director of Cutters Studios Tokyo. Ryan has a truly global perspective on the film industry thanks to his diverse career path. We discussed what ultimately led him to set up shop internationally. Ryan s...

Improvisational genius/comic actor Pat Finn is on this very special episode! Pat and I have been collaborating together for almost 20 years making on Valley Toyota spots, and it's always a blast. Agency folks always like casting actors that can improv, but Pat is next level. And he happens to be the one of the top three nicest humans in Hollywood. From sitcoms "Seinfeld" and "The Middle" to films...

Veronica Lombardo of VLM started her career as a below-the-line talent agent before establishing herself as an independent representative and manager. Veronica shares her perspective on representing directors and production companies, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, strategy and treating her clients as part of a team. She also offers valuable insights into pitching, treatments and cha...

Commercial director Ed McCulloch shares his unconventional rise to becoming an internationally renowned filmmaker. Ed opens up about his journey of self-discovery through photography, and ambitious do-it-yourself approach to shooting 12 spec commercials that launched his successful global career spanning over 30 countries. Oh fun fact: Ed was a Repo Man in Southern California. Here's all his repre...

Curious if our Filmmaker Retreat Joshua Tree is right for you? Set up a free quick call with me, and perhaps I'll talk you out of it. Plus, I share how to get your passion project off the ground. It's pretty eazy actually. Just me babbling for 19 mintes. C'mon folks, time to level up, duct tape the monkey brain and keep making stuff. FLOW Use the link  plus code  JB20 when you try https://www.magi...

Filmmaker Emmanuel Afolabi joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion of his path from Nigeria to pursuing his filmmaking dreams. While relatively young, Emmanuel is very generous with his knowledge, hoping to help others as he himself grows. It was energizing to speak with someone so dedicated to their craft. Through determination and skill, he's already created impactful work while telling imp...

Vasanth Seshadri is the Founder, head honcho and Creative Director of the ad agency in Singapore called The Sunny Side . Vasanth shares his non-traditional path into the ad world, starting out as an engineer before catching the creative bug. We talked about his globetrotting career that took him from Singapore to New York and back again. Click here to see some of the cool work The Sunny Side has b...

Wow! What a fun, productive talk with Bradley Johnson , Managing Director and EP at Seed Media Arts , and Seed Director Matthew Underwood . We discuss Matthew's spec spot for Chevy titled "Follow Your Own Road" - including the process of developing the script, shooting it on location in Utah, and editing it down from an initial long cut. Matthew's started shooting weddings and music videos then mo...

Matt McCain and Michael Boychuk founded their Little Hands of Stone ad agency in 2019 after both having extensive careers working at other agencies and companies like Amazon. Matt and Michael worked together at the legendary Wong Doody in LA in the late 90s/early 2000s. The LHoS founders discuss their fun projects, unique creative process, and illustious careers in advertising.  I espscialy enjoye...

Comedy Director Michael Ryan Fagan was in town, so we chat it up about directing comedy for ads... and we never stop. We discuss his career directing actor Vincent Pastore from The Sopranos, among others. We debate the pros and cons of using LED walls and other virtual production techniques in commercials. MRF shares some stories about creative solutions he came up with to film spots, like using a...

Cinematographer Dustin Pearlman stops by the podcast for a great chat. We met at the DGA trying to dispel myths to help up and coming directors, and we ended up chums. Dustin has shot for brands, agencies, promos, narrative and doc. I try to nail him down to what he likes best... Stay tuned. Check out his work by clicking his name or here .  Thanks to our editor Jake Brady  We could not do the sho...

Commercial Director Bo Barrett shares his journey from acting in over 300 commercials to pursuing directing. He discusses how he learned on film sets by observing legendary directors. He dives into directing his first paid commercial for the brand Shorebirds and the positive response it received. Bo provides advice for other directors just starting out. He emphasizes the importance of respecting y...

Filmmaker Ross Haines shares how his career making spots has grown and tells us about his short film "Around the Band". Ross got his start editing surf films in Hawaii, joined Beyoncé's team for her HBO feature doc,  Life Is But a Dream and helped launch DC Shoes' internal film department. We discuss "Around the Band," as a visual poem comprised of vignettes, and shares stories from working with b...