IFH 544: Filmmaking Lessons: The Art of Adaptation with Joe Wright

Michael Damian is an award-winning actor, singer, director, writer, and producer. He first gained recognition for his 18-year run in the role of rock star Danny Romalotti on the #1-rated daytime television drama, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. On the stage front, Damian starred as “Joseph” in the Broadway production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, which broke box office records in both Los Angeles and on Broadway and earned Damian a Grammy nomination. In addition to his Broadway career, Damian has released five albums and has had eight Top 40 hits, including the smash single “Rock On,” which shot up the Billboard music charts landing at #1 and garnering Damian two gold records. Damian won the BMI Song-writing Award for his hit single, “Was It Nothing at All,” and has also written and produced songs for the soundtracks of A PRINCESS FOR CHRISTMAS, FLICKA 2, FLICKA: COUNTRY PRIDE, MARLEY & ME: THE PUPPY YEARS and SWEETER SIDE OF LIFE.Damian has also enjoyed a prolific career behind the camera and has co-written/directed/produced 15 films and television movies. He is a filmmaking partner with his wife Janeen Damian and most recently co-wrote, directed and produced Hallmark’s #1 movie of the year for 2020, CHRISTMAS WALTZ. Some of his other recent credits include the feature film HIGH STRUNG FREE DANCE and its predecessor, HIGH STRUNG, Lionsgate’s holiday romantic comedy, A PRINCESS FOR CHRISTMAS, which starred Sir Roger Moore and Sam Heughan (Outlander) and launched Hallmark’s smash hit Princess Christmas franchise. Janeen Damian is an American writer, director, and producer of film and television. Together with her husband, Michael Damian she has made 15 feature films and TV movies. This year she co-wrote and produced the #1 add-supported cable movie of the year for 2020, CHRISTMAS WALTZ. She also co-wrote and produced the award- winning feature films HIGH STRUNG and HIGH STRUNG FREE DANCE which were released theatrically worldwide and distributed by Sony and Disney. Ms. Damian also co-wrote and produced A PRINCESS FOR CHRISTMAS starring Sam Heughan and Sir Roger Moore and distributed by Lionsgate and received Hallmark’s highest ratings for the year launching their original Christmas Princess franchise.The Damians went on to co-write A ROYAL CHRISTMAS and A CROWN FOR CHRISTMAS. All three films air annually on Hallmark’s power rotation with continued high ratings. Some of Ms. Damian’s other Filmmaking credits include 20th Century Fox’s MARLEY & ME THE PUPPY YEARS and the popular reboot of the Flicka franchise, FLICKA 2 and FLICKA COUNTRY PRIDE starring Clint Black and MOONDANCE ALEXANDER, which starred Don Johnson and garnered Ms. Damian best screenplay honors at L.A. Femme Film Festival. She also co-wrote and produced THE SWEETER SIDE OF LIFE, starring Katherine Morris and James Best. LOVE BY DESIGN starring Jane Seymour and David Oakes, and the award-winning independent feature film HOT TAMALE starring Jason Priestly and Randy Spelling. She co-directed the TV Pilot RED EYE for France’s #1 television broadcaster, TF1. She also co-directed the award-winning film FINDERS KEEPERS starring James Best. The Damians went on to co-write A CROWN FOR CHRISTMAS and A ROYAL CHRISTMAS.Damian also directed three films for 20th Century Fox: FLICKA 2, MARLEY & ME: THE PUPPY YEARS (which he also wrote), and FLICKA: COUNTRY PRIDE starring Clint Black. He directed, wrote, and produced the feature film MOONDANCE ALEXANDER, which was also released by 20th Century Fox, and romantic comedies SWEETER SIDE OF LIFE and LOVE BY DESIGN. Damian also co-wrote, directed, and produced the indie crime comedy HOT TAMALE and co-wrote and co-directed the television pilot Red Eye for France’s TF1 network, which he also starred in. Falling for Christmas is about a young, newly engaged heiress who has a skiing accident the days before Christmas. After she is diagnosed with amnesia, she finds herself in the care of the handsome cabin owner and his daughter.Enjoy my conversation with Janeen and Michael Damian.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

20 Joulu 202253min

Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

19 Joulu 20222min

John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood's most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. The Anatomy of Story is his long-awaited first book, and it shares all his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting, The Anatomy of Story draws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology, offering fresh techniques and insightful anecdotes alongside Truby's own unique approach to building an effective, multifaceted narrative.His new book, Anatomy of Genres, is NOW Available!A guide to understanding the major genres of the story world by the legendary writing teacher and author of The Anatomy of Story, John Truby.Most people think genres are simply categories on Netflix or Amazon that provide a helpful guide to making entertainment choices. Most people are wrong. Genre stories aren’t just a small subset of the films, video games, TV shows, and books that people consume. They are the all-stars of the entertainment world, comprising the vast majority of popular stories worldwide. That’s why businesses―movie studios, production companies, video game studios, and publishing houses―buy and sell them. Writers who want to succeed professionally must write the stories these businesses want to buy. Simply put, the storytelling game is won by mastering the structure of genres.The Anatomy of Genres: How Story Forms Explain the Way the World Works is the legendary writing teacher John Truby’s step-by-step guide to understanding and using the basic building blocks of the story world. He details the three ironclad rules of successful genre writing and analyzes more than a dozen major genres and the essential plot events, or “beats,” that define each of them. As he shows, the ability to combine these beats correctly separates stories that sell from those that don’t. Truby also reveals how a single story can combine elements of different genres and how the best writers use this technique to craft unforgettable stories that stand out from the crowd.Just as Truby’s first book, The Anatomy of Story, changed the way writers develop stories, The Anatomy of Genres will enhance their quality and expand the impact they have on the world.Enjoy my conversation with John Truby.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

15 Joulu 20222h 11min

I'm here to finally put to rest one of the greatest cinematic arguments of all time, is Die Hard a Christmas movie? I thought I'd tackle this epic question with my good friend Stephen Follows. In this Special Christmas Edition of the Indie Film Hustle Podcast Stephen and I use data to finally put this debate to rest.I believe without a shadow of a doubt that Die Hard is the greatest Christmas movie of all time. Stephen is not so sure so we go to the data to find out. Stephen wrote an EPIC article about this a while ago where he does what only Stephen does. Below are some of the graphs he created for his dissection of this issue.From google trends to actual frames from the film that we see actual Christmas references. We leave no stone unturned in this debate. I promise you after this episode you will be armed to debate and film nerd at the next Christmas party. I wanted to create a fun episode for all the film geeks out there.Enjoy my ridiculous and entertaining conversation with Stephen Follows. And don't forget to have a Yippee ki-yay mutha f**king Merry Christmas!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

14 Joulu 20221h 47min

Jariko Denman was born in Washington DC and as a military brat grew up all over the world. In 1997 he enlisted in the US Army. After basic training and Airborne School he completed the assessment and selection process for the 75th Ranger Regiment and was assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion at Ft Lewis Washington. Jariko went on to serve in the Ranger Regiment for 15 and a half years. Jariko deployed to combat 15 times in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2002-2012 as a Weapons Squad Leader, Rifle Platoon Sergeant, and Ranger Company First Sergeant amounting to 54 months of total combat experience as part of a Joint Special Operations Task Force.Jariko Retired from active duty in 2017 after four years as the Senior Military Science Instructor at St. John's University in New York City and now lives in Los Angeles. Since Retiring he has advised on several major motion pictures, national ad campaigns, and television series' as well as continuing to train and work within government and tactical industries.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

13 Joulu 20221h 6min

Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

12 Joulu 20222min

Our guest today, is expert storytelling educator, author, and UCLA professor, Richard Walter--- bestselling author of Essentials of Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing.  He recently retired as Professor and Interim Dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television where, for more than forty years, he chaired the graduate program in screenwriting.The amazing thing about Richard is he has been the instructor of some of the most amazing screenwriters in Hollywood history. A handful of them has been on the show, including Sacha Gervasi, Jim Uhls, the writer of Fight Club, and Paul Castro, just to name a few. He's written scripts for major studios, television networks, and even wrote the earliest drafts of George Lucas's American Graffiti. Talking to Richard in this conversation was essentially sitting front row at a masterclass of storytelling and screenwriting.It was an absolute treat talking to Richard. Not only has his work been appreciated in the US but in other parts of the world, conducting lectures in London, Paris, Jerusalem, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney, and Hong Kong.He complains that L.A. has relentless good weather which he says, ‘Is not writing weather’, yet, in 1988, he released his first instructional book Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing (Plume). This was followed a decade later (2000) by his debut novel Escape from Film School, which tells the sprightly tale of a young man who makes it in Hollywood without ever leaving film school.Richard is one of the few OG writers who have studied, and taught through the evolutive eras of screenplays and screenwriting in Hollywood. With his wealth of knowledge, he released his third and most recent book, Essentials of Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing. In this one, he shares the secrets of writing and selling successful screenplays for aspiring screenwriters.It contains highly coveted lessons and principles from Screenwriting with material from his companion text, The Whole Picture, and includes new advice on how to turn a raw idea into a great movie or TV script and sell it.Besides his outstanding career, we chatted about his love for Spike Lee films, we talked about screenplay structuring and many more. It's been an absolute treat talking with Richard.Enjoy this epic conversation with Richard Walter.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

8 Joulu 20222h 6min

Today on the show we have maniac writers/directors The Nelms Brothers, and I say maniacs in the best possible way. Ian and Eshom Nelms, grew up in central California waging two hundred man G.I. Joe wars and dreaming in John Ford landscapes. They have written and directed numerous award-winning and critically- acclaimed films.The brothers are known for their unique ability to traverse from one genre to another, seamlessly and successfully, from drama to comedy to thrillers. Their film, LOST ON PURPOSE (2013), was a heartfelt coming-of-age love letter to their small hometown.From there, the siblings wrote and directed WAFFLE STREET (2015), a comedic turn based on an autobiographical memoir about a billion-dollar hedge-fund manager turned waffle house server. Their film, SMALL TOWN CRIME (2018) is a crime thriller that premiered at SXSW and BFI London Film Festival and received positive reviews by top critics upon its theatrical release.We are here today to discuss their latest opus, FATMAN starring Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, and Marianne Jean-Baptist. The film centers on a neglected and precocious 12-year-old who hires an unorthodox hitman to kill Santa Claus after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking. They had me at FATMAN.I absolutely loved FATMAN and am glad it is in existence. It is one of my favorite films of the year. In this crazy 2020, this is the film we all need to watch right now.  I can't tell you how fun it was talking to Ian and Eshom.We discuss how they came up in the business, the 14 years it took to bring FATMAN to the big screen, working as a director team, and their misadventures in Hollyweird.Do yourself a favor and watch FATMAN tonight! It is brilliant. To be honest I'm jealous I didn't think of this. The idea for FATMAN is just so genius. I'm glad these two filmmakers brought it to life.Enjoy my conversation with filmmakers Ian and Eshom Nelms.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

7 Joulu 20221h 31min