Hearthside Salons with PageCraftWriting

Drea Clark - Producer, Festival Programmer - Laurels: Pursuing Festival Success

Trying to figure out how to wow the powers that be and get past the Hollywood gatekeepers is a full-time job. One way for your film to fly is to impress Drea Clark. Former teacher of music video production at USC, Drea has curated for film festivals like Slamdance, Sundance, LA Film Fest, and Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival. She produces too so she knows firsthand what it takes from both sides. We’ll talk about what she looks for, what makes for a great festival run, and what makes a film a winner.

 

Here's lots more info on Drea, her IMDB, Film Independent, and her Instagram. Here's more on her films: The Last Time You Had Fun, Lake Los Angeles. Her festival work includes Slamdance, Sundance, LA Film Fest, and Geena Davis' Bentonville Film Festival.

We talk about filmmaker Maggie Kylie, Clarissa Jacobson's Book on navigating film festivals, resources like Film Freeway, PageCraft's Writer's Lunch, and a previous Hearthside Salon episode about what art might come out of this pandemic. 

And of course more info on our screenwriting workshops and coaching. 

Sarah Moshman - Documentarian, Author - Empowered Filmmaking

Emmy-winning documentarian, Sarah Moshman, is drawn to stories of women overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. We’ll talk about her three docs: The Empowerment Project: Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things, Losing Sight of Shore about four women rowing to Australia, and Nevertheless following seven people grappling with sexual harassment claims in work or school. We’ll also talk about what’s next for her and how her new book, Empowered Filmmaking: How to Make a Documentary on Your Own Terms, can help with what’s next for you.

Sarah and I talk about:

Jackson Katz' TedTalk on languaging and violence against women. Rashad Beal and Peace Over Violence. Fiona Tatten and Womenthology. Film resources like IndieFlix and GirltalkHQ. And of course, Sarah's films Losing Sight of Shore, The Empowerment Project, Nevertheless, her MovieMaker Magazine article on directing Losing Sight of Shore, and her great new book: Empowered Filmmaking. 

 

Rebecca Field - Actor - A Star is Made: Just Do the Work

When Rebecca Field left her small town in the Berkshires for Hollywood, she knew one thing: she was going to be an actor no matter what. After more than a decade of working steadily in your favorite films and shows, she worked opposite Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born. NBD. Just another job on the track of a woman focused on her goal.  We’ll talk balance, craft, and stardom.

Rebecca's resume.

We talk about Janis Joplin and many films and movies including (many Rebecca has acted on, some we just like) All Rise, Unbelievable, A Star Is Born, Shrill, Dietland, Ozark, Downton Abbey, Succession, Schitt's Creek, The Boys, Cobra Kai, Umbrella Academy, Lovecraft Country and its very handy episode syllabus. 

As always, information on our screenwriting workshops and coaching is here. 

Sara Nesson - Oscar-Nominated Writer/Director/Producer - PosterGirl Persistence

Filmmaker Sara Nesson knows something about succeeding in a man’s world. Her recent documentary Women Who Score covers 20 female composers in changing Hollywood. Her documentary Poster Girl about the first female gunner in the Iraq war, garnered her Oscar and Emmy nominations. Her quest to bring the story to the screen as a narrative feature continues to be a roller-coaster. We’ll talk about representation and what it means to be a woman who persists.

Watch Sara's new music video and get more info on all her work. 

Watch Sara's documentary on Combat Paper: Iraq Paper Scissors

and her documentary Poster Girl

and her documentary for Women Who Score

We talk about programs for writers including Virtual Pitch Fest and International Screenwriting Association

We also talk about the film We Live in Public, my short film Washed Away, and my upcoming short documentary Arrow: The Stolen Life of an American Heritage Mustang. 

We reference previous Hearthside Salon episodes with writer Meg Gifford and composer Jeff Rona. 

As always, information on our upcoming screenwriting workshops and coaching are here.

Voices of Persistence: Filmmakers Behind Films on Inez Milholland and the American Suffrage Movement

In 1916 suffragist Inez Milholland went up against President Woodrow Wilson who, like many men of the time, saw the possibility of women voting as a threat. With one of the most important voting days in our lifetime right around the corner, I talk with filmmakers who’ve made both narrative and documentary films about Inez and her fight to make sure every American has the right to vote. Join me, Amy Walker, Jessica Graham, and Martha Wheelock.

More on the symbols of the suffrage movement including the 19th Amendment ratification flag. 

More on Inez and her biography Amy mentions. And her fellow women's rights warrior Alice Paul. 

And more resources at the National Women's History Alliance.

The radical tea towel company Martha loves.

Bob Cooney's book on Winning the Vote.

Martha's film on Inez, Amy and Jessica's film.

Martha's earlier Votes for Women film

More on Martha, Amy and Jessica.

Other films of theirs we talk about including The Tangle, Grace and Grit and Listen. 

As always, more on Pagecraft writing workshops here. 

Jeff Rona - Composer - Storytelling in Music: the Art and Tech of a Film Score

Composer Jeff Rona has always been curious about what moves people. His curiosity served him well. He’s got a list of film, TV, and video game credits a mile long. He’s scored projects for names like Spielberg, Altman, Soderbergh. He composed music for the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Heavily involved in music technology his innovations have touched your life if ways you don’t know. We’ll talk about the intersection of creativity and technology and how music creates emotion.

Jeff and I talk about Lisa Gerrard and Dead Can Dance. More specifically  in the Gladiator score. 

The power of the music in Hitchcock's Psycho to influence the film's rating. 

Jeff's score for my short film, Washed Away.

And all of Jeff's music including his solo projects and new album, Protector. 

As always, information on upcoming PageCraft classes and script coaching is here. 

 

Lauren Over - Visual Artist - Taking the Commercial into the Fantastical

Visual artist and illustrator Lauren Over has always been interested in synchronicity, connection, and in the Rorschach-test-like effect an image can have on a viewer. Working steadily on movie posters and commercial client work, she’s mixed pen and ink and watercolor to produce an astro-botanical deck of tarot cards that reinterpret traditional symbology with birds, animals, traditional herb use, and historical figures. We'll talk about finding a path with art.

We talk about the Myers Briggs test, Enola Holmes, and the Language of Flowers. She designed movie posters for Can You Dig This, and the upcoming Good Vibrations. We also talk about previous Hearthside Salon with Sesame Street Puppeteer Liz Hara. 

Lauren's art is here, and her new tarot deck is here.

As always, more on PageCraft screenwriting courses and coaching is here.

Meg Gifford - Writer, Chemistry Professor - The Scientific and Creative Mind (working with Lew Hunter)

It’s usual for a writer to have another gig. Writer Meg Gifford unusual in that her other gig is: chemistry professor. She’s skilled at understanding how things come together and what causes reactions. She worked with legendary UCLA screenwriting teacher Lew Hunter on his new book. We’ll talk about the art and science of screenwriting.

More on Lew's new book: Naked Screenwriting

And to order it.

His screenwriting classic: 434

Meg and I talk about how kids who lie are more creative, shows like Barry, and my talk with writer Peres Owino. 

I also talk about recommending writers break down a show or film they love to come up with a template for their own script. 

As always, upcoming Pagecraft courses and services can be found here.

Peres Owino -Writer, Actor, Director, Producer - Now the Lions Write the Story of the Hunt

Born in Kenya, Peres Owino is a storyteller of two cultures. From a script she co-wrote being produced by Taraji P Henson and being nominated for an NAACP image award to her International Screenwriting Association Fast Track Fellowship for another script, Peres’ work focuses powerfully on the experience of the African Diaspora. She’s proven she’s an artist with something to say and the means to say it. We’ll talk about what inspires her and what she’s saying next.

Peres and I talk about Wanjiru Njendu's film, Boxed, in which she acts.

Her film Bound

Here's her full credits to date

We also discuss game changing content from the perspective of underdogs, outsiders, or previously discounted points of view: 

I May Destroy You

Lovecraft Country

Circe

Moonlight

Cobra Kai

and Parasite

Zaki Rubenstein - Writer/Director/Actor - Turning Real Life into Screen Gold

Zaki Rubenstein is a director in television. Her creativity, knack for story, and imaginative approach has kept her in steady employment on true crime shows for years. Since the pandemic shut down production, she’s turned back to writing and is flexing her comedy chops to look at the absurdity of life, love, and family.  We’ll talk about how she got here and what inspires her now.

Watch Zaki's reel

Watch her movie The Concessionaires Must Die

Other movies and series we talk about include Wild Wild Country, The Vow, The Commune Movie, and the podcast Undiscovered