Film School

"You gotta have an elevator pitch!" How many times have we heard this as a storyteller? Omg. All the time. But what actually IS an elevator pitch? Both of us didn't even know ourselves until very recently...and it's actually an amazing technique by which to understand our own projects, let alone communicate them to someone else. We cover it all, and even pitch each other with our own projects. Thi...

BONUS! For our Patreon supporters each week, we also release an episode of the Cutting Room Floor which cover topics from personal updates to storytelling deep-dives to general Creative Life tips and how-tos. We thought we'd share one of those episodes this week with the main podcast. This week: the Love story genre. What is Love? Baby, don't hurt me...and we *won't* hurt you, I promise, as we tak...

BONUS! Get a taste of the content we feature each week on our Patreon. This week: The Apartment, from 1960. There are so many great lines from this movie, and you can hear from the recording just how much we loved watching this movie. A must-listen on the "live" side of things! That's just the way it crumbles, cookie-wise. If you enjoy what you hear and you'd like to help support the show, head on...

We all have those movies that just make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. They feel like home. This week, the boys talk about those movies for them, Josh's self-imposed project to watch more of them, and how these special stories can keep us all inspired. What are YOUR warm fuzzy movies???

Life is like a box of chocolates, folks; you never know what you're gonna get. Tom Hanks plays the titular character in a film that defies traditional story structures and genre conventions. At the beating heart of this examination (and critique, perhaps?) of the US in the 60s and 70s is Forrest's undying love to Jenny. But that's about where 'conventional' and Forrest diverge, never to return aga...

We try new things all the time. New ways of doing stuff. Be better organized. Be more efficient. Work smarter, not harder. Most of the time, though, it doesn't stick. Well, maybe that's okay. Maybe that's NORMAL... Maybe it just takes awhile for things to click sometimes, and it's the things we keep coming back to try that are worth waiting for. This week on the Cutting Room Floor!

It's the story of how Richard Nixon's presidency came to an infamous end: Watergate. Intrepid (god, I love the word 'intrepid!') reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein doggedly pursued the truth at the risk of their own lives and careers, and they're our heroes on this thrilling historical drama that takes us break by break in the early days of this unprecedented scandal. Robert Redford and Dust...

How many times have you started something and not finished? How many times do we ALL just jump out the gate on something creative and we have all that wonderful energy and enthusiasm, and then in what feels like the blink of an eye...it's been weeks, months or years and we haven't touched it? You're not alone. We've all been there. But, we don't have to be. Josh and Ira ponder whether there's a be...

Charlie Chaplin is on point this week with one of his most beloved appearances as the The Tramp. He can't hold down a job for his life, he's getting strapped into a homicidal auto-feeding machine, and he's doing blow in jail! What's not to love! There are truly some breathtaking sequences in this classic silent film, and Chaplin flexes his performance muscles that might just make you forget it's a...

If any of them move, kill 'em! Our first Western on the AFI list is a bloody, gritty, corker of a bandit heist flick. It stars William Holden, whose star power was waning at the time, along with Ernest Borgnine and his iconic gap-toothed smile, and some truly EPIC action sequences that forever changed movies. It's also one the very first R-rated films in history. There are no heroes in this one. M...

Okay, so we've gone through each of the different Genres of story. Great. But how do we actually APPLY that to our own writing? We use Josh's current work in progress as a launching point, discuss his super power hearing for police sirens, and break down the creative and vs mindsets. All this week on the Cutting Room Floor!

"That's the way it crumbles, cookie-wise." Jack Lemmon and Shirley McClain star in this absolute gem from writer/director Billy Wilder. One of the movies that defined the Romantic Comedy genre, it features two leads at their absolute peak, and a script that doesn't quit. Shut up and deal, boys and girls; this week on film school.

We conclude our dive into the fundamental story types we tell by by going over the remaining external Content Genres of Horror, Crime, Western, Performance, Thriller, Society, and War, and the remaining two internal Content Genres of Status and Morality. It's a lot of information, but don't worry: the rubber meets the road in applying these structures. So just sit back, listen, and use the resourc...

I'm Spartacus! No, I'm Spartacus! No...WE are SpartacALLofus! :) We hit our second sword-and-sandal epic of the late 50s / early 60s. This one is directed by a very young Stanley Kubrick and stars Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. Sweeping vistas. Epic battles. Scheming Romans. Over three hours? This one has it all. Let's see what all the fuss is about!

Our deep dive into the story content genres continues with what might be THE MOST important, ubiquitous internal genre in human history: the Worldview story. It's the foundation of the Hero's Journey from the *character's* point of view, and it's the foundation of many (if not most) character arcs in life and in fiction. After all...stories are about change, aren't they? Roll up your sleeves, and...

Considered by many the greatest film of the Silent Era, Sunrise is a German Expressionist poem of a marriage on the rocks. It brings the visuals, helter-skelter sets, melodramatic performances, a sweeping score, and symbolism galore. It's the first silent film on the AFI's top 100, and it's this week on Film School!

I'm the King of the World! This week, we dive into James Cameron's epic-in-the-classic-movie-sense love story. It made both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet a star, and it features one of the most spectacular disaster sequences ever put to film. But does the spectacle hold up? Is the love story an eye-rolling tear-jerker for teenage girls? DID JOSH AND IRA CRY??? Find out, this week on Film Scho...

Josh and Ira take a deep dive into the Action Story Genre. What makes an Action Story? And how similar is it to the Hero's Journey...or perhaps even the SAME THING? We go deep, this week on the Cutting Room Floor!

1960s counterculture gets its definitive film in '69's "Easy Rider." It was a breakout film for Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, and written and directed by Dennis Hopper...at least that's what Hopper would have the world BELIEVE! It's all about dudes, bikes, and the open road. Groovy, man. Groovy.

Genre. It's the absolute #1 MOST IMPORTANT THING you can ever decide for your story. It informs eevveerrryyyything else. So...what IS genre, then? And WHY is it the most important thing for storytelling? Josh and Ira go over the 5-leaf clover of Genre today on the Cutting Room Floor. Here's a link to the Story Grid website article talking about Genre's Five Leaf Clover: https://storygrid.com/genre...

You can't'a fool me. There ain't no Sanity Clause! The Marx Brothers kick off their tenure of pictures at MGM with this zany musical comedy that features such classic scenes as the Stateroom Cabin, and the Contract Scene between Groucho and Chico. One of the funniest, silliest movies of the era. Enjoy!

This week, Josh and Ira discuss the tools and techniques they use to find new ideas, and how they keep their inspiration going during the day-to-day grind. Where do you get your best ideas?!

Tom Berenger IS reality, folks. At least he is in Oliver Stone's intense, over the top, disturbing take on Vietnam which was released in 1986. The 80s, man; where more was more and the cocaine and steroids were flowing. The cast in this one is rather astounding, including Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen, Johnny Depp, Forrest Whitaker, Keith David, Kevin Dillon, and many, many more. War is hell. Especi...

How can that person have done that thing we can't do? And, at such an early age?! We've all been there. Comparing ourselves to others can be so toxic...but then again, how can we improve ourselves without learning from others' success and failures? It's the same with pushing ourselves to be better...but also being content with the life we have. How do we find the balance between those two truths?...

Jury duty: it's the nightmare for every working man and woman in America. But, what if it's also the pillar of our entire justice system? Henry Fonda offers a gripping story centered around the latter, and stars as the lone man who stands between a young man and the electric chair. CAN a movie set in one single room be excellent? Listen and find out!