Hearthside Salons with PageCraftWriting

Katy Haber - Film Executive - Finding Family Roots Buried by WW2

It’s hard to know where to begin when talking about a legend. Or to a legend. British production executive Katy Haber has an MBE from the Queen; she’s a founding member of BAFTA; she worked with Sam Peckinpah on eight of his films; and she was instrumental in a little film called Blade Runner. Not enough? Her family fled the Nazis, and in the middle of great success here in LA, Katy took a left turn in her career and became the Executive Director of an innovative homeless shelter on Skid Row, called The Dome Village, creating some amazing charity and outreach programs including The Compton Cricket Club. Her life deserves a movie of its own. I talk with her about life, movies, and real family.

For the first of our three conversations, we focus on her family history.

We talk about Theresienstadt, Prague, The Pinkas Museum, and the children's opera Brundibar. 

As always, more in PageCraft Screenwriting workshops is here. 

Liberty Worth - Textile Designer/Artist - Story Threads: Holding Space for Grief

When words fail, images and colors can reach our hearts like nothing else. Images we can wrap around us can be just the comfort our aching hearts need. As fiber artist Liberty Worth says, “Textiles have an amazing ability to hold memory.” Part of her creative output is the work she does with families to create stunning memory quilts from the clothes of a lost loved one. While we reel from a pandemic, Liberty works to help us grieve our losses. We talk about the power of family, story, and using your talents for good.  

Please check out Liberty's work here. Her Insta is @libertyworthart.

We talk about Silver Spoons, the film Tree of Life, the art of Silvia Gallini, and her Hearthside Salon episode. 

As always, info and registration for our screenwriting workshop and coaching is at PageCraftWriting.  

 

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - Writer, Puppeteer, Abby Cadabby - Creating Magic in Character and Story

Do you ever watch a kid reacting to life with joy and think, man, I wish I could still be moved like that. Some creators never lose their wonder in looking at the world. Some of those people become puppeteers. I talk with Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - AKA Sesame Street’s Abby Cadabby, who says that if you believe enough in your stuff, you suck people into your world.

We talk about Leslie's inspirations and mentors including Carol Burnett and the curtains sketch, Lisa Kron & Jeanine Tesori who got a Tony for Fun Home, Chuck McCann, Paula Pell and Parallel Lives, and Stephen Adly Guirgis. 

We talk about fellow puppeteer and writer Liz Hara's Hearthside episode. And other things we recommend including the book Lies My Teacher Told Me and Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Case For Reparations among others in anti-racism work. 

More from Leslie on Lolly's Instagram. 

As always, more information on PageCraft Writing's screenwriting workshops, feedback, and community is here. 

 

Robin Russin - Writer, Professor - The Reinvention of the Modern Writer

In this most unpredictable of industries, success often doesn’t look the way we think it will. To make it as a screenwriter, you have to be in it for the long haul. Screenwriter and professor Robin Russin talks about his path from America’s Most Wanted, through Steven Seagal and University of California, to finally directing his own features. 

Robin and I talk about colleagues and mentors like Syd Field, Lew Hunter, Hal Ackerman, Richard Walter, Linda Vorhees. 

We mention Meg Gifford's episode talking about Lew Hunter's new book. Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade, andindustr Final Draft. 

And Robin's work including his book, his film 2 Hearts, and his film When I Sing. 

As always, more info on PageCraft screenwriting workshops, feedback, and retreats is here. 

Jessica Burgess, JT Schindler - Filmmakers - Fatima: women's stories/male gaze

For some the pandemic has been a time of creative output and inspiration. But for indie filmmakers, all the usual obstacles remain and then some. Producers Jessica Burgess and JT Schindler talk with us about their short film, Fatima, which tells the tale of an ancient warrior who leaves her village to seek a life of freedom in the desert. As they dig into fundraising and get set to shoot, we’ll talk about how indie film production looks now. 

Fatima's Seed&Spark campaign, Fatima's Instagram is @fatimaofthedesert, Fatima's Facebook page, and Fatima's twitter is @forbiddenfatima. 

We talk about Brackish DJ, From the Heart Productions, our earlier HS episode with distributor Lindsay Lanzillotta, and Supposable Production's short film Washed Away. 

As always, more information on PageCraft's script workshops, coaching, feedback, and retreats is here. 

 

Suzanne Lyons - Indie Producer/Author/Instructor - The Craft of Low Budget Filmmaking (pt 2)

Part two of our conversation with Suzanne. We open up to audience questions and Suzanne does deep coaching dives on finding mentors, leveling the playing field, creating your 25 year film business plan, and finding investors. 

As always, more information about PageCraft's script feedback, coaching, and workshops is here. 

Suzanne Lyons - Indie Producer/Author/Instructor - The Craft of Low Budget Filmmaking (pt 1)

Chain of title

suzanne’s book

In 1999 Suzanne Lyons launched her production company, Snowfall Films. Since then she’s produced features with names like Naomi Watts, Christopher Walken, and Wynona Ryder, she’s won BAFTAs, gotten major festival love, and distributed through biggies like Screengems and Lionsgate. She decided to codify what she knew into a course and a book and has been helping indie filmmakers build their craft ever since. We’ll talk about the art and craft and business of low budget filmmaking. 

 

We talk about several books Suzanne recommends including: Jack Canfield's The Success Principles, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, and Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull.

We talk about legal contract expert Mark Litwak and filmmaker David Valdez and Clint Eastwood's Malpaso Films.  

As always, more information about PageCraft's script feedback, coaching, and workshops is here. 

 

Nicholas Griffin - Screenwriter, Instructor - Breaking In: The Truth of Hollywood Success

Screenwriting success is not a static thing. It’s something that has to keep happening in many different ways. Screenwriter Nicholas Griffin broke out early with his script, Matchstick Men, written with his brother Ted. The film was directed by Ridley Scott and stared Nicholas Cage. He and Ted went on to write the FX drama, Terriers, and Nick has worked with most of the major studios in town. He’s also taught graduate level screenwriting at UCLA. We’ll talk about the strange, circuitous routes to screenwriting success, script doctoring, and how to keep your wits in studio notes meeting. 

We talk about filmmaker folks like Richard LaGravanese, Robert Zemeckis, Ridley Scott, Nicholas Cage, and William Goldman. We talk about Nick's projects including Matchstick Men, and Terriers. 

As always, more information about PageCraft's screenwriting workshops and coaching is here. 

Lindsay Lanzillotta - Producer, Distributor - Indie Film & Cracking the Distribution Nut

For indie filmmakers, nothing is more heartbreaking than pouring your soul into a film that no one sees. Producer Lindsay Lanzilotta has worked on films that made it to Sundance, garnered Film Independent noms, and opened SXSW. She knows how much work it takes. Now, She’s working on a new avenue to help filmmakers reach audiences. We’ll talk about indie film producing and cracking the distribution nut.

We talk about Lindsay's films The Vicious Kind, and The Invitation. Her work with The Film Arcade, and Carousel. Films like The Peanut Butter Falcon, filmmakers like Karyn Kusama, and Naomi McDougall Jones self-distribution strategy for her film, Bite Me. We also talk about previous Hearthside Salon episodes with festival programmer Drea Clark and with archeologist Sarah Yeomans and historian Rob Latimer on the future of story post-pandemic. 

As always, more information on our workshops and services is at PageCraftWriting.com. 

Christina Kotlar - Writer/Director - Film Town 1910: When Hollywood was in Jersey and the studio owner was a woman

Hollywood didn’t start out as a boy’s club, nor did it start in Hollywood. Alice Guy Blache was the industry’s first woman director and the co-owner of Solax, a film studio built in Fort Lee, New Jersey in 1910. Writer/Director Christina Kotlar has been celebrating Alice and working to bring her forgotten story to the world. We’ll talk about Alice’s groundbreaking life and career before there were barriers to inclusion, including directing the first film with an all African American cast. 

More on Christina and her work. More on Alice. We talk about filmmaker Pamela Green and the Alice documentary Be Natural. Filmmaker Marquise Lepage and her film The Lost Garden. More on Fort Lee where it all happened. Alice's memoir. Her 1896 film The Cabbage Fairy. Alison's McMann's book The Lost Visionary. Alice's legacy in female filmmakers like Maya Deren and her 1943 film Meshes of the Afternoon. Suffragist Alice Paul. Trainee and later rival, Edison. And Alice's final resting place. We also mention the very first episode of Hearthside Salons featuring Emmy winning puppeteer, Liz Hara. 

And as always, more information on PageCraft's upcoming screenwriting classes and workshops.