Inspired Minds

Alicia Dennis is a content executive, award-winning journalist and editor innovating the telling of mass media stories across print, digital and broadcast. A true crime and pop culture expert, Dennis leads teams of breaking news reporters in crime and serves as an executive within multiple brands. Dennis's success as editor, digital content director, creative producer, story consultant and on...

Standup star Jeremiah Watkins appears on Inspired Minds to talk about film, comedy icons, and his widely-acclaimed style in front of the microphone. Known to make Judd Apatow fall in love with comedy again, Jeremiah lit a fire in the industry that hasn’t been blazing since Chris Farley.  His debut 1 hour standup special “Jeremiah Watkins: Family Reunion” is streaming now on Amazon Prime, and you c...

Eric Morse is an author and activist who wrote the twin children's books, "What Is Hip Hop?" and "What Is Punk?" featuring claymation images of Biggie Smalls, Tupac, The Ramones, The Clash, and other luminaires from their respective scenes.  He cut his teeth in the music industry while joining bands and eventually became a music industry executive.  As Eric says, “When I l...

Jillian Dale is a journalist and has written pieces for The Huffington Post on film as a Contributor, as well as a producer/director for her own company, Bella Luce Productions.  She has directed and created shows like "Omniscient," "Up In Arms," and "Beverly Hills Canine Club."  She was formerly a research attorney and a US Army 2nd Lieutenant, and is currently a dig...

Pulitzer Prize-winner Marc Fisher is a Senior Editor at The Washington Post, and reports and writes on a wide range of topics. Most recently, he wrote "Trump Revealed," a biography of Donald Trump. He previously was The Post’s Enterprise Editor, leading a team of writers creating narrative journalism and experimenting with new forms of storytelling for digital and print editions of the n...

Entertainment journalist and author Randee Dawn writes for the LA Times Envelope, Variety, Today.com, and a number of other outlets. fiction. She's also a former editor at The Hollywood Reporter and Soap Opera Digest. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and online publications; she also dreams up trivia questions for BigBrain Games. Randee's science fiction/fantasy/hor...

Drew Fortune is a pop-culture journalist and screenwriter, who has been actively publishing for the past ten years. He is a regular contributor to Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Vulture, but his writings on music, film, and television have been published in Cosmopolitan, Playboy, SPIN, Billboard, the A.V. Club, Stereogum, and many others. His favorite bands are Week, Superchunk, and the...

People Magazine Executive Editor, Entertainment Jeremy Helligar opens up about his journey through life, the journalism field, being the underdog as a gay black man and a newfound passion for writing. He’s written for numerous publications over the years: Variety, HuffPost, Reader’s Digest, The Wrap, Queerty, Popular Science, among others.  While living in South America, Australia, Asia and Africa...

Oscar-winning screenwriter, bestselling author and producer Diana Ossana discusses the magic behind art, her thirty-five year friendship with Larry McMurtry and crafting powerful stories and characters. After co-writing novels “Pretty Boy Floyd” and “Zeke and Ned” with McMurtry, the pair’s collaborative partnership exploded with the onscreen adaptation of “Brokeback Mountain,” which forever change...

As one of America’s most prominent journalists, Malina Saval is a three-time LA Press Club award winner and National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award winner. She’s currently the Features Editor at Variety where she’s penned profiles on artists and luminaries such as Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, famed litigator Mathew Rosengart and Nick Nolte. Her articles and essays have appeared in the “Lo...

Multi-media artist, writer, recording artist, songwriter, filmmaker and actor Brandyn Cross talks about his career and living as a wheelchair-bound amputee. He’s written over 100 episodes of the award-winning hit episodic drama TV show “Proper Manors” (now streaming on Amazon Prime) and the show has been voted the #1 most popular fan-favorite three times. Among his body of written work is the Feat...

“Rolling Stone” legend Jason Fine joins us to share his musical inspirations and journalism journey. He’s been with “Rolling Stone” since 1997 in a number of capacities, from Editor to Director of Content Development to SVP of Rolling Stone Films. He’s edited books on Johnny Cash, George Harrison and Michael Jackson, and wrote/executive produced “Long Promised Road,” a documentary about The Beach...

Tracy is Amasia Entertainment’s Senior VP of Television. Currently, Amasia is in development at The CW with a sequel series to Dan Curtis’ classic, "Dark Shadows," to be showrun by Emmy-winner Mark B. Perry. Additional shows in development include "Because the Night" based on the James Ellory book, "Wolfe"— A contemporary mystery thriller series inspired by a Patricia...

Born & bred in Sydney, Australia to European/Middle Eastern parents Serah danced from a young age. After joining Youth Theater at age 16, she finished her training in London, where she performed in both period & contemporary plays. Serah is an award-winning actress, with an established career in Europe. She was a lead on a hugely successful sitcom in Turkey for four years. She also kick-bo...

Rob Schnapf has been making critically acclaimed records for the past two decades. He first gained recognition by producing (with his then-partner Tom Rothrock) Beck's debut album, "Mellow Gold," including the breakthrough single, "Loser." Rob and Tom produced three albums for Elliot Smith, including "XO" and "Figure 8." Podcast | Inspired Minds (inspir...

Katherine is a multifaceted journalist, editor and content creator who has written for publications including "Entertainment Weekly," "Los Angeles Times," "Mother Jones," "Esquire.com," "Marie Claire," "Billboard," "Village Voice," "Black Book," "TEEN," "Guitar World," "Rolling Stone," &qu...

“Variety” Deputy Awards and Features Editor, screenwriter, playwright, director, actor and producer Jenelle Riley explores the arts, her inspirations and living with OCD and bipolar disorder. Riley wrote the 2015 short film, “Warning Labels,” directed by Jennifer Morrison, and is the host of Variety's "Actors on Actors," for which she’s won a Daytime Emmy Award and two Los Angeles E...

Vietnamese-American memoirist and humanitarian Le Ly Hayslip tells her incredible story about surviving the horrors of Vietnam, translating those memories to the page and striving to change the world. Her first memoir, "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace," chronicles her experiences as a young girl growing up during the Vietnam War....

"IndieWire" TV Editor Kristen Lopez discusses Hollywood culture, classic movies and disability representation in film. Beginning as a film critic writing for $10 a review, Lopez is now recognized as an influential figure in the journalism field. As an entertainment journalist for fifteen years, her work has been published in "Forbes," "Variety," "RogerEbert,&quot...

Thuc Doan Nguyen was born in Vietnam. She survived life as a boat person refugee as a child, was sponsored to the US and spent her whole life in public school. She grew up in North Carolina and Southern Maryland and is a dual passport holder of the United States and the Republic of Ireland. Thuc has lived in London, United Kingdom, New York City and Los Angeles. When not in those places, you might...

Reinhard Denke grew up in Texas and is a graduate of USC Film School. He got his start as a writer in 2009 with his spec script “Sex, Greed, Money, Murder and Chicken Fried Steak” about the Cullen Davis murders in Fort Worth, Texas. The script was chosen for the prestigious Hollywood Blacklist. The film is currently in pre-production with Amicus Pictures and Mercury Media. In 2013, he wrote “Far B...

Bestselling author/acclaimed journalist Chip Jacobs joins us to explore his magical and powerful craftmanship. His debut novel, "Arroyo," a historical fiction masterpiece set in 1913 around the construction of Pasadena's Colorado Street Bridge, was a "Los Angeles Times" bestseller, "CrimeReads" most anticipated book, and Independent Book Publisher Award winner. ...

"Final Destination" franchise writer/creator Jeffrey Reddick started his creative journey when he wrote a ten-page treatment for prequel to "A Nightmare on Elm Street" at the age of fourteen. After mailing it to New Line Cinema founder Bob Shaye, an unlikely letter-and-phone relationship with Shaye and his assistant began. The result, eventually, was another global horror pheno...

Comedian Sarah Halstead talks career, the art of good comedy and performing standup across the country. Her Comedy Special, "RVs and Cats,” is streaming on Amazon Prime with a widely popular comedy album released last year. Also host of the “Drinking During Business Hours" podcast, her "Bottle Shock Comedy" is featured at Hollywood Improv every month. Along with appearing in ov...

Neil D'Monte is an American artist, SAG-AFTRA film actor, musician, producer, creator of the Hellbilly clothing line, and director born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. A graduate of the USC School of Fine Arts, Neil began his career as a comic book and storyboard artist, which segued into a successful acting career. The multi-hyphenate made his feature film debut in 2003 with "Vampires...