Creative Principles

"I think David [Fincher] at first was a little disconcerted. I didn't know any of the vocabulary," says Carrie Coon. "After a particularly frustrating day where he was asking for screen direction or something, and I didn't know what he was asking me to do. I said to him, you knew, when you hired me for this movie that I'd never made a movie before. I don't know what you're saying to me. But if you...

After gaining an Academy Award nomination for his 2003 film EVIL, director and screenwriter Mikael Håfström started an international career, with films such as DERAILED, starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston, THE RITE starring Anthony Hopkins, and ESCAPE PLAN starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Håfström’s latest work includes the upcoming film SLINGSHOT starring Casey Affleck...

"I always looked at this as like, I'm trying to make Black Ocean's Eleven or I'm trying to make a contemporary Harlem Nights or contemporary Uptown Saturday Night, which were like this kind of like star-laden projects," says Ogbonna about FIGHT NIGHT. "And what you need is gravity. You need somebody at the center that pulls everybody in, you know what I mean?" Shaye Ogbonna is an accomplished writ...

"It's like being a boxer when you get in with the actor. You have to have respect," says Lester. "Now, if you get in the ring with Arnold Schwarzenegger and you're like, oh, you're Arnold Schwarzenegger. Well, that's never going to work, is it? If you get in the ring and you're like, you're Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'm going to make you the best possible actor you can be and do the best possible per...

Soo Hugh is known for The Killing, The River, Under the Dome, The Terror, and See. Most recently, however, she serves as showrunner, executive producer, writer, and visionary behind the drama series PACHINKO which debuted on Apple TV+ in March 2022. Based on the international best-selling novel of the same name, the series follows the hopes and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant fami...

Chris Brancato, is the co-creator of the critically acclaimed series NARCOS, which ran for three seasons on Netflix. He is a writer and producer with hundreds of hours of television credits, including The X-Files, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Hannibal, and Beverly Hills, 90210 (the original). Hotel Cocaine “tells the story of Roman Compte, Cuban exile, CIA operative, and general manager of the Ho...

Mark Monroe is one of Hollywood’s leading documentary filmmakers. He’s known for films like Lucy and Desi, Icarus, The Beach Boys, Shot in the Arm, Love Lizzo, Harry & Megan, Stutz, and Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose. Today we’re talking about his latest project, Jim Henson: Idea Man, a film that chronicles the story of extraordinary artist and visionary Jim Henson. In his 36-year career...

Melissa Ponzio is an actress best known for her iconic role as Melissa McCall, the dedicated single mother of Scott in the MTV's hit series Teen Wolf. Coming up, she’ll be returning to the screen in the second season of Apple TV+'s comedy The Big Door Prize, created by Emmy Award winner David West Read. Her recent work includes starring alongside Kevin Hart in the action-comedy series Die Hart and...

Tom Hamling recently went out on his own, departing from Austin-based ad agency, GSD&M, to found Nashville-based ad agency, THE MAYOR. He's got quite the resume, having produced award-winning work in four straight Super Bowls for Avocados From Mexico and RadioShack. He's also a contributing factor in the famous Farmers Insurance jingle "We Are Farmers" and starting the infamous Popeye's Chicken Wa...

Andrew Fleming is the executive producer and director of the hit Emmy-nominated series, Emily in Paris, returning to Netflix with part one of Season 4 on August 15. Fleming has been with the show since the beginning, executive producing and directing the pilot episode and directing at least half of each season’s episodes. Fleming is a screenwriter and director with a long track record of hits, inc...

Attica Locke is an award-winning screenwriter, TV producer, and NY Times best-selling novelist. Her novels include: Heaven, My Home; Bluebird, Bluebird; Pleasantville; The Cutting Season; and Black Water Rising. Her latest book, Guide Me Home, marks the third and final in the critically acclaimed Highway 59 series. Her screenwriting/producer credits also include When They See Us, Empire, and the E...

“I’ve had a single-minded focus on it,” says Alex Saks, about her love for movies. She attended Wake Forest to study history but then quickly moved to Los Angeles and found an unpaid internship. “Then I just went from there.” She’s known for projects like Thoroughbreds, The Florida Project, Book Club, Poms, No Hard Feelings, Summer Camp, and most recently, the Blake Likely film, It Ends With Us. I...

“I didn’t see it as a business,” says creator Alma Har'el. “It was a calling that was on my mind. I didn’t start as a filmmaker. I was many things on the way there — theater, video arts, music videos, documentaries — it just sort of unfolded over years until I got to make my first film.” Alma’s first writing credit is Lady in the Lake, but as a Director, she’s known for Bombay Beach, LoveTrue, Jel...

Niclas Larsson was a child actor who got interested in directing short films around age twelve. “I watched cheap American movies from the 90s,” says the Swedish writer-director, “And I loved them. I didn’t get into serious cinema until maybe 15-16, but I didn’t like them until I was probably 20.”  Comedies like Freaky Friday and 13 Going on 30 shaped his thinking on cinema. “I deal with magical re...

For more than a decade, Micky and a band of talented misfits and creative minds have grown the agency from a small, digital-first shop to a thriving, 58-person agency that’s distinctive product-led approach has attracted partnerships with iconic brands like Shiner Beer, De’Lorean, Pepsi, Diageo, Nike, Audi, NatureSweet and others. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Micky immigrated to Austin...

Jimmy Tatro is an actor, writer, director, and creator who began his career on YouTube and has since become one of the most sought-after young talents in comedy. Some of his credits include Sony's 22 Jump Street opposite Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, Grown Ups 2, and Modern Family. His latest project The Real Bros of Simi Valley: The Movie, follows his character Xander as he and his squad embark...

Janine Sherman Barrois is an award-winning writer and showrunner known for her work on Claws, Criminal Minds, ER, and Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madame CJ Walker starring Octavia Spencer. Her latest project, The Big Cigar, follows Huey P. Newton's life as he escapes to Cuba to avoid prosecution for murder with the help of Bert Schneider, the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider, as well as...

“I want to pursue the industry. I don’t know what it looks like. I don’t have connections. But I knew I was interested in development,” thought Ashley Jay Sandberg while pursuing journalism. “I tell people to follow what you’re curious about because you don’t know where that’s going to lead.” Ashley’s latest film is Twisters, a re-imaginging of the original film, where a retired tornado chaser and...

From a young age, Jack Carr had two dreams: serving his country in uniform as a Navy SEAL and becoming an author. Following twenty years in the SEAL Teams, Jack shifted his sights to publishing and fulfilled his literary objective with the release of his debut novel, The Terminal List. Since then, he has captivated readers worldwide with the gripping tales of James Reece in his New York Times best...

Johnathon Schaech is an actor, writer, and producer, celebrated for his dynamic presence on both big and small screens. His breakout role came in 1996 when he starred as Jimmy Mattingly in Tom Hanks' directorial debut, "That Thing You Do!". He has appeared in numerous TV series, some of his credits include 'Ray Donovan' and 'Legends of Tomorrow,' where he portrayed Jonah Hex, a fan-favorite charac...

Award-winning Mad Men writer Victor Levin recently debuted his latest TV series 'Alice & Jack' on PBS. The unconventional six-episode romantic drama stars Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie, Birdman) and Domnhall Gleeson (The Revenant, Black Mirror). The series explores how love plays out between two very different people over the course of 15 years, and the story inspires questions of wh...

“The idea really came from my own life because I am a person who had a lot of very close male friends in college and remained close to a lot of them,” says Francesca Delbanco, “but a moment happened when people started getting married and coupling up and having children, when I noticed I was getting becoming closer friends with my friend’s wives and Nick was becoming close to my friends and the wo...

“Initially, I never thought film was an option. I grew up in Wisconsin,” says Michael Sarnoski, “and I didn’t have a lot of artistic, creative people around me or outlets to share in. I think storytelling, doodling, writing, and drawing comics — that was my hobby, my secret. It was very gradual.” Overtime, Sarnoski met other kindred spirits who shared his same passions. “I was never like, I’m goin...

“I wasn’t looking to be in a business,” jokes Danai Gurira. “I really felt like I wanted to tell stories about things I haven’t seen.” The Zimbabwean-American saw a way to use the craft of writing to inspire others, even though she initially thought she was going to be an academic.  “The focus is always around African women,” she says. “I was born in the midwest but we moved back shortly after Zim...

“I was a theater kid, so I started out writing plays,” says David Zabel. “But I started to think, what does a movie script look like or what does a play look like? Once I had access to those things to see how they worked, I started writing screenplays and had ideas for TV pilots. That pilot opened a few doors of me.” An agent helped him get his first job on the series JAG, which later led to Star...