The Well

We sat down to record something short when Branan dropped a spontaneous Drop on Anson.  Television : The Handmaid’s Tale ’s 6th & final season. Severance , The Studio , The Rehearsal and Nathan’s Fileder’s hybrid comedy.  Books: Jeff Vandermeer’s latest addition to his Southern Reach Trilogy. Ray Kurzweil’s latest book The Singularity is Nearer sparks a long discussion about the tran...

Todd Stashwick and Anson Mount have three things in common: 1) A love of whiskey, 2) They are both Starfleet Captains, and 3) They are both Dungeon Masters.  What else do you need to know?   To see Todd leading Anson Mount and others Trek crew through a D&D adventure, click here . If you’d like a BEEPED version of the show, you can find it here . Extra music for this episode provided...

Anson & Branan launch a new segment.  Anson scrolls to the bottom of Danny Trejo’s IMDB page and asks him about that little known credit, then challenges him to remember the names of characters past.  Enjoy! “Cantina Rag”, performed by Jackson F. Smith is provided under an Attribution, Non-Commercial, No-Derivatives, 3.0 International license. Link for CC license:  https://creat...

One day in 1968, Danny Trejo had hit rock bottom: solitary confinement at the Correction Training Facility, otherwise known as Soledad Prison. From that moment, he decided to change his life completely. During a live interview at DragonCon 2024, Danny tells Anson about the redemptive power in helping others. Music in this episode was provided by John Bartmann under a Creative Commons 1.0 Universal...

How does Adam see himself, his life and his role as an inventor, artist and educator? Adam reflects on his unique career path, work/life balance, what to do when feeling overwhelmed, investing in your own world-building, how meditating on the origins of things connects him to creators of the past, the miracle of sentience and zombie Richard Feynman. https://youtu.be/wg5laIYBkcA

Adam gets a touch philosophical on the subject of creativity, discusses some memorable builds and Anson breaks out his Guillermo del Toro impression. https://youtu.be/MmMMV3TnPmg

We covered Isaac Newton’s monstrous nature, the inevitability of calculus, pottery, Clive Owen’s need for a foil, aesthetics as a point of view, lessons from Steven Soderbergh, following the story’s lead, relinquishing control, Sir Anthony Hopkins’ need for George C. Scott’s tension, and how audience feedback improves creators. https://youtu.be/bsi0RcKLmS4

We’re tremendously saddened by the loss of a great artist, humanitarian and beautiful human being. David Lynch meant a lot to many people and we were lucky to have shared time and space with him. Branan and Anson shares recollections and Branan breaks out his Lynch impression and a remastered fan film. Mentioned in this episode: Room to Dream is a wonderful biography / autobiography hybrid b...

After a very busy fall season of Anson moving to a new town and Branan moving everywhere they finally find time to make contact. This episode feature a bit of Branan’s travelogues. Recommendations include ‘The Penguin’ , Werner Herzog’s ‘Every Man for Himself and God Against All’ , ‘Wild Robot’ , ‘Anora’ by Sean Baker, The Apprentice , ‘The Nam...

Part 2 of our conversation with AI Filmmaker Roope Rainisto gets into the philosophical, ethical and legal aspects of generative art. Is the genie out of the bottle? How do we respond and what choices do we have? https://youtu.be/ja4S2d8fSB8

AI filmmaker Roope Rainisto joins us from Finland for part 1 of our discussion about generative tools and working within AI’s current possibilities and limitations. https://youtu.be/nR__J4L3KY4

Branan and Anson broadcast from a rooftop in Toronto accompanied by the soothing sounds of a nearby house renovation. In this Drop: Star Trek set tour, Moondog, Hermanos Gutiérrez, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut,  THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds, Emergence Magazine’s “Winds of Awe and Fear” by Nick Hunt and Ethernal Damnation’s INDXcoin.&#1...

Film Director Rod Lurie was in Bulgaria, deep into pre-production for his film “The Outpost” when he got the call that his son Hunter had suffered a sudden cardiac event. What you are about to hear is a story of loss, but also one of victory through the very decision to keep going. Special thanks to Rod Lurie for sharing his story with us. Happy Father’s Day. Extra music provided...

In this episode: Bilge Ebiri, esteemed film critic (New York, Vulture) and friend of the show drops by to discuss where FURIOSA fits in George Miller’s MAD MAX saga, Netflix, ATHENA, IN A VIOLENT NATURE, and the how going out to the movies is more fun and may just make you a better dresser.  https://youtu.be/y4kKxIX707w

In this episode: Back surgery, heart ablation, genetic memory, the eternal jellyfish, Jules Verne, big leather books, The Heart Goes Last , The Curs e, Uncut Gem s, Safdie’s music choices, squid games game show, Alice in Borderland , Connections , James burke, Incan potatoes, hulked out grasses, The Holdovers featuring the mysterious Andrew Garmen, and Anson and Branan get Verklempt reading a list...

Anson and Branan are still banging on about OUT OF DARKNESS and we are thrilled to have the film’s director Andrew Cumming join us for a chat from the far-flung Shetland islands. Mentioned in this episode: Learning to be a caveman, William Golding’s “The Inheritors”, “Quest for Fire”. “Clan of Cave Bear”, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari and shooting in remote locations...

When actor Kenneth Mitchell was given a life altering medical diagnosis, it forced him to change his relationship to the concept of time itself. Join us for our first LIVE episode recording from April, 2022 reposted in remembrance. https://youtu.be/VKD-FniubEs?si=u-9KfvIDpaXm8dIO

In this episode: OUT OF DARKNESS, amateur speculation regarding the provenance of our species, recent vacations where Anson and Branan both experience passport issues, volcanoes in Iceland and an actual dick measuring contest (not ours). https://youtu.be/tzSijwuEjs4

In this episode: Learning Sequences, Mosquitoes on Rainy Lake and other mosquito nightmares, BEEF,  painted nails, pizza tours, THE HARVEST, attending the world premiere of OPPENHEIMER, SAG Strike, the heaviest film ever made and what we all suspected about men and sports cars in now scientific fact.  https://youtu.be/ByLSaZN7x9I

Anson and Branan take on the weighty subject of gravity and gravity waves with our guest Daniel Reardon doing most of the heavy lifting. Please enjoy this fun and fact-filled historical romp though time and space. https://youtu.be/5FqEVMsL_Jk?si=PuCjGKPXwCL2KTDL

In this short Drop Anson and Branan discus STILL , the documentary about Michael J. Fox, BARRY, Beavis and Butthead, Something in the Dirt and new music from Little Moon .

Doua Moua’s tireless pursuit of his dream to produce his screenplay, “The Harvest,” finally paid off. We are joined by Doua and his co-star, Perry Yung, who dedicated himself to understanding Hmong culture to portray the father in this deeply personal story.

Did you know Anson used to be a Dungeon Master? In this episode Branan lures Anson into a surprise reunion with his old campaign players under the pretext of interviewing Nathan Stewart of Wizards of the Coast about his role as advisor on the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves . Nathan does eventually join the conversation, it’s like two episodes in one!

In this episode: Branan discusses his oceanic adventure turning 50, Anson recommends Dan Simmon’s ‘Hyperion’, and they both catch-up on ‘Succession’, ‘Beau Is Afraid’, The Dungeons & Dragons movie, meeting John Cleese, some new music and the unforgivable desecration of Jimi Hendrix’s guitar at the hands of he-who-shall-not-be named.

Eric and his buddies decided they would make a shot-for-shot remake of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.  The only problem?  They were just kids.  But they had a secret weapon at their disposal: they were just kids. Interested listeners may watch the fan film itself, and see those moments as described, at threaderskids.com Special thanks to John Hudgens.  Additional music for this episode pro...