Respect The Process

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...

Part two, the exciting conclusion to my chat with Filmmaker Nema Vand. Presently, he is directing commercials at VaynerMedia and Eva Nosidam, the in-house production unit. A turning point came when Nema documented Mike Winkelmann's (Mr. Beeple) historic NFT sale, which gained him recognition as a storyteller and director. Now, Nema's goal is to direct feature films. As most directors start in comm...

Filmmaker Nema Vand has enjoyed an eclectic career in entertainment, from being an extra on David Fincher's set, to starting his own casting company to presently directing commercials at VaynerMedia and Eva Nosidam, the in-house production unit. A turning point came when Nema documented Mike Winkelmann's (Mr. Beeple) historic NFT sale, which gained him recognition as a storyteller and director. No...

Commercial director Jason Cook is known for his design-driven approach and ability to concept visually striking commercials that effectively convey messaging. We discuss his formative directing gigs like spots for Toyota and Maytag, where he also served as creative director. He provides advice on working with actors and improv techniques. Cook also opens up about passion projects like his award-wi...

My guest is Sacha Reeb , Chief Creative Officer at Manifest. Sacha shares insights into real collaboration and explains Creative Pushups - an internal exercise turned event series - sparked new ideas through contributions to "mini briefs" on Slack. Constantly improving ideas through collaboration or reflection is key. Sasha's real-world examples of how Creative Pushups evolved demonstrate how open...

Veteran commercial director Carolyn Chen returns to the podcast to offer invaluable career advice. like how storytelling remains key, despite changing tools. My friend Carolyn has since transitioned to life coaching, helping those in entertainment navigate challenges. She provided candid insights into the emotional toll of freelancing. Most fascinating was hearing Chen's metaphorical approach to c...

Thrilled to welcome back Jason Wolk - Founder, Managing Director, and Executive Producer of Spears & Arrows . As the leader of one of the top commercial production companies, Jason has a truly unique insight into the ever-changing advertising world and production. Jason and I explore the myriad ways the industry has evolved just in the past few years alone. From shifts in camera techniques and sto...

Life Coach Lydia Hurlbut , co-founder of the Filmmakers Academy along with famed Cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, joins me in a wide-ranging discussion about spirituality, wellness practices and nurturing creativity. Lydia is a Reiki practitioner in addition to her role at  FA , and shares insights from her own journey with mindfulness, energy work and more. She also demonstrated some Reiki techniqu...

Commercial Director Tom Kuntz shares more insights into his spots. We discuss his philosophy around collaboration over the years, from thinking input wasn't needed early on to now embracing other creative minds. The importance of respecting all involved in the process is emphasized. Valuable perspective is offered for any filmmaker on realizing their vision. This is the exciting conclusion to our...

Iconic commercial director Tom Kuntz kicks off Season Two. Over the course of his illustrious career, Tom has pushed creative boundaries with award-winning campaigns for Skittles, Old Spice, Tubi, Apple, Ikea, Bacardi, more Apple, Pringles with the guys hand stuck in the can... and so many more. He's won every award in advertising, including two Gold Lions at Cannes Lions for his Skittles "Beard",...

Our podcast editor Jake Brady is one most befitting interviewee for this very special 500th episode of Respect the Process. Jake provides his unique perspective on what he's learned from cuttig our guests and the behind-the-scenes process of editing. We discuss common themes from creatives and filmmakers and repeated stories I tends to bring up that he will omit, as well as the joys and challenges...

My friend and marketing expert Joel Pilger of RevThink joins me for another insightful discussion. Joel shares his expertise on positioning your company and putting yourself out there through LinkedIn outreach. He also stresses the importance of respecting the process and keeping at it until opportunities come your way. Joel also shares an impactful story of how he landed a major project through e...