Behind the Scenes

Yuri Cataldo brings years of experience in the arts, design, entrepreneurship, marketing, and publicity to his advising of founders, artists, and students. He is a Yale-trained set/costume designer who founded IndigoH2O, the only multiple award winning bottled alkaline water in the world and the 2015 best tasting water in the world. Through his efforts, IndigoH2O was distributed all across the USA...

Brandan “Bmike” Odums is a highly sought after visual artist and filmmaker who uses these chosen mediums to tell stories and make statements that transform the minds of viewers as well as the spaces in which his work appears. In 2016 Brandan debuted his first solo show in New Orleans in a 35,000 sq ft warehouse named #StudioBe. Welcoming hundreds of visitors a week as well as school tours from aro...

Alexandra Boylan is a writer, producer and actor. She was born and raised in Georgetown, Massachusetts, where she first began her exploration into acting, which led her to relocate to Los Angeles. Utilizing the skills obtained on dozens of movie sets and harnessing the passion that fuels her, she formed her own production company. MirrorTree Productions, which has produced numerous feature films,...

Originally from Alexandria, Virginia, Paul is the founder of the company taitkenflight. He spends half his time here and half his time at DroneU as the Chief Pilot. Paul acquired a University Certificate in Unmanned Systems Engineering from UXY. Paul has trained students from the BBC, CNN, Fox News, ABC, and CBS, and has flown for multiple multi-national companies in multiple genres, including BBC...

Scott Little is a filmmaker and the CEO of LifeFlip Empire where he recently completed Electric Heart, a silent narrative film with an EDM soundtrack. In this follow-up interview he reflects upon the production and screening process as well as the film’s reception since his last conversation with Laura in March. For more information visit www. LifeFlipMedia.com/ElectricHeart or find them on instag...

Nikki is a health and wellness expert with advanced degrees in nutrition and exercise physiology. After playing professional volleyball she started her own wellness brand, Nikki Nutrition. After appearing on various shows as a lifestyle correspondent, Nikki is now the co host of the Jet Set, tv's first travel talk show. You can find more about Nikki on www.nikkinoya.com and her show on www.thejets...

Wallace Collins is an entertainment lawyer based in New York city handling entertainment law, copyright, trademark and related intellectual property law matters in the music, film, television, book and fine arts areas as well as in the general communications and technology fields. He has represented clients in contract disputes, negotiations and business entity formation and he is representing sev...

In this interview, Laura Powers talks with Bob Schultz, President of Script Fest and The Great American Pitch Fest. Pitch Fest is an event held in Burbank, CA in which 500 writers pitch to more than 120 production companies, agents, managers, financiers, and industry pros seeking material to option, writers, to manage, hire, and represent. There are also classes and panels on screenwriting and the...

Wallace Collins is an entertainment lawyer based in New York city handling entertainment law, copyright, trademark and related intellectual property law matters in the music, film, television, book and fine arts areas as well as in the general communications and technology fields. He has represented clients in contract disputes, negotiations and business entity formation and he is representing sev...

Sarah Moshman is an Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker dedicated to shining a light on women's stories. She is an Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker whose work has been featured on Upworthy, Marie Claire, CNN, and Good Morning America. After directing two short documentaries about female empowerment in young women, (Girls Rock! Chicago (2010) and Growing up Strong: Gir...

Award-winning Filmmaker and Scientist, Valerie Weiss has directed three feature films, an American Girl Special for Amazon Studios, and will be directing upcoming TV episodes of NBC's Chicago Med and USA's Suits. Her work has been called "daringly light" for the way it embraces controversial topics in an enchanting way and spans the genres of action, thriller, drama, sci-fi and comedy. RogerEbert....

Scott Little is the Producer of Electric Heart, LifeFlip’s first FilmEDM Experience, a silent narrative feature film accompanied by an Electric Dance Music mix (28 individually wrapped music videos with the same story consistently through all 28). With a running time of 73 minutes, Electric Heart features music by Armin van Buuren, Dash Berlin, Chuckie, Gabriel & Dresden, and many others. Scott's...

A Bad Idea Gone Wrong is a comedy about two would-be thieves who accidentally arm the alarm system and have to break out of the house they just broke into. This interview is with Director Jason Headley, Actor Matt Jones, and Actress Eleanore Pienta. When they discover an unexpected housesitter, they suddenly have to deal with a hostage situation, double crosses, sexual tensions, and discoveries th...

According to Filmmaker Magazine, Signature Move is one of the “Most Anticipated American Films of 2017.” In this Podcast, viewers will be part of a rare interview with Director, Jennifer Reeder, Co-Writer and Actress, Fawzia Mirza and Actress, Sari Sanchez. In the movie, a new romance with Alma forces Zaynab to confront her relationship with her recently widowed mother who escapes to TV dramas and...

Laura Interviewed Director Tony Shaff live at SXSW before the premiere. 44 Pages is a documentary by Tony Shaff produced by Rebecca Green and Laura Smith that follows the creation of the 70th anniversary issue of Highlights for Children Magazine - the most popular children's magazine in the world. The film goes behind the scenes of the June issue of Highlights Magazine also known as the "September...

Laura met Michael Kinsey at That’s VoiceOver, a VO conference at Warner Brothers. Michael Kinsey is the Volunteer Virtual VO Community Leader leading 100+ Professional Voice Over artists around the world recording Audio-Books for those who learn differently. He is currently looking for volunteers who would like to use their voice to help enhance a child’s learning experience and to help building a...

Carrie Olsen is a voice actor, coach, wife, and mother whose ferocious marketing and networking techniques, combined with extensive training and study, landed her voiceover jobs with brands like Kmart, Taco Bell, Bank of America, REI and others. She shares her voiceover passion and expertise in her online courses and blog. When she's not in her voiceover booth, you can find her hiding out in a cof...

Emily Best is the founder and CEO of Seed&Spark, a subscription video streaming and crowdfunding platform that gives filmmakers the power to take control of their careers. In 2011, she produced the feature film, Like the Water, starring Caitlin FitzGerald (Masters of Sex, Rectify). Since then she has served as executive producer on a host of film and virtual reality projects that have played at fe...

Denise Meyers began her professional career at the William Morris Agency as an assistant to literary agent, Judy Scott-Fox after graduating from Oregon State University in 1982 with a degree in broadcast communications. After working as a freelance story analyst for independent film and distribution companies, Meyers became a screenwriter herself, but after twelve years in the film business with n...

Lynn Povich is an award-winning journalist who has spent more than 40 years in the news business. She began her career at Newsweek as a secretary. In 1970, she was one of 46 women who sued Newsweek for sex discrimination. Five years later, Povich was appointed the first woman Senior Editor in the magazine’s history. Her book on that landmark lawsuit, The Good Girls Revolt, was published by PublicA...

Tom Frank lives a magical life. For over 35 years he has escaped the monotony and hum drum of the real world. He began working at Haines House of Cards as a 12 year old helping manufacture and sell trick decks in the shop and at Magic Conventions. At 15 he landed his first steady gig at Kings Island Amusement Park where he worked for two seasons. At 18 he dropped out of high school, moved to New Y...

For years, Steve Kaplan has been the industry's most sought-after expert on comedy. In addition to having taught at UCLA, NYU, Yale and other top universities Steve created the HBO Workspace, the HBO New Writers Program and was co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan's Punch Line Theatre. Steve has consulted with Disney, DreamWorks Animation, Aardman Animation, HBO and others, and has taught...

Troy Devolld is the author of Reality TV: An Insider’s Guide to TV’s Hottest Market. Troy DeVolld is widely regarded as a leading authority on the reality television storytelling process, and regularly speaks to students and media groups from Los Angeles to London to Tel Aviv about what it takes to create engaging content. We discussed reality tv, and what to do and what not to do if you are inter...

In this podcast, Laura speaks with television writer and producer Steven Long Mitchell about using different media and platforms for the same storyworlds. Steven was born and raised in New Orleans, by a family so dysfunctional it would have driven Tennessee Williams to drink even more, Steven is best known as the Emmy Award nominated Writer and Executive Producer of Tin Man, the highest rated mini...

Kate Drane is Indiegogo’s Senior Director of Outreach for Tech and Hardware. Her favorite thing to do is democratize access to resources, and considers herself as a VC of the people. Since starting at Indiegogo in July 2012, she's empowered more than 500 entrepreneurs to collectively raise over $80M on the Indiegogo platform, including Canary, Misfit, and Skulpt. For more information on Indiegogo...