Film Riot

MAKING “STAR WARS: ORIGINS” – A FAN FILM

Phil Hawkins

If you are wondering how to start making the films you love… To steal from Nike’s slogan… JUST DO IT!

That thought process seems to be behind everything Phil Hawkins does. Like a lot of us, he’s a student of Spielberg, Lucas, and the other greats of that day. Since he broke in, Phil has directed several features and worked with the likes of Al Pacino, Robert Englund, and Christopher Walken.

Today Ryan and Phil chat about how he shot an award-winning feature in just two days, making one of the biggest fan films ever made, and the importance of working with people you trust.

More of PHIL's work

PRODUced by ron dawson

Edited by Emily Connolly

Writing for Film and Television

What is “your voice”? Should you start with theme, character, a concept? So many questions flood your brain when you sit down to write, especially when first starting out.

Today Ryan chats with the incredible Dayna Lynne North (Writer, Showrunner, and Executive Producer for properties like Veronica Mars, and most recently Insecure for HBO). Ryan and Dayna dive into what your voice is, how she gets started on a project, and what guides her through the writing process.

More from dayna

PRODUced by ron dawson

Edited by Emily Connolly

Writing & Directing your First Feature

How do you get your first feature made? It’s the question every aspiring filmmaker wants answered. Today Ryan speaks with Ricky Staub — writer, director, and entrepreneur. After coming off the success of his first narrative project, The Cage (developed in collaboration with Film Supply) Ricky connected with the producers that would help make his first feature a reality.

He and Ryan cover everything from his years working under the prolific producer Sam Mercer (on films like THE LAST AIRBENDER, DEVIL, and SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMEN), to starting his own commercial company to hone his technical craft. They explore and dive deep into a discussion about the path and experiences of writing and directing his first feature film, starring IDRIS ELBA no less! You don’t want to miss this!

More from Ricky

PRODUced by ron dawson

Edited by Emily Connolly

Doc Filmmaker for Quibi, Lucas Harger

Yesterday marked the launch of Quibi, a 2-billion dollar bet by Hollywood and tech giants Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman to change the face of content consumption on the go. There have been lots of opinions about Quibi’s viability, potential for success, and its mobile-only platform. Well, today we give you an inside peek with a filmmaker who has worked directly with one of its productions.

Lucas Harger is an Emmy award-winning editor with several docs under his belt. He was Ryan’s collaborator on both BALLiSTIC and There Comes a Knocking. Today Ryan and Lucas talk about his latest project Prodigy, a doc series for the Quibi brand. Along with discussing the ins and outs of post for this new mobile platform, the guys dive into what makes a story work and the cross over between doc and narrative.

 

 

Musicbed

Musicbed is packed with excellent music that you can license for your project. Now they have a subscription for less than $10 a month to get all the music you want and a free 30-day trial. Check it out here: MUSICBED

 

MORE FROM LUCAS

Connect with Lucas:
Lucas’ IMDB
Lucas’ on Twitter
Lucas’ Instagram
Lucas’ Website

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
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Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

 

CREDITS

 

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 32 – Yolanda T. Cochran, P.G.A.

What the hell does a producer do? When every production can have five different versions of them, it’s no wonder this is a recurring question. Well, today we have the definitive answer as Ryan “sits down” with Yolanda T. Cochran, VP Production, Walt Disney Television/Freeform.

Yolanda brings nearly two and a half decades of knowledge from her work on such films a “Book of Eli,” “The Blind Side,” and “Point Break.” She and Ryan chat about the various roles of the producer, why writers aren’t usually on set, how a budget is pulled together, and the current state of the industry amidst COVID-19.

 

Musicbed

Musicbed is packed with excellent music that you can license for your project. Now they have a subscription for less than $10 a month to get all the music you want and a free 30-day trial. Check it out here: MUSICBED

 

 

Connect with Yolanda:
Yolanda on Twitter
Yolanda on IMDB

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

 

CREDITS

 

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 31 – Alison James

Alison James is an incredibly talented writer/director on the rise and headed toward her first feature film. After winning Best Narrative Short at the Austin Film Festival for her short film, Judas Collar, Alison was able to land reps at WME and has since been developing what will be her first feature film.

TODAY’S SPONSOR

RODE is The Australian pro audio powerhouse making incredible gear for podcasters, vloggers, filmmakers, musicians and audio engineers.

We recorded this latest episode on the RØDECaster Pro, the world’s first fully-integrated podcast production console. With four mic channels, eight sound pads for triggering effects and music, the ability to bring in phone and Skype calls, and powerful onboard audio processing, it’s the perfect solution whether you’re just getting into podcasting, or you’re a seasoned pro.

 

Connect with Alison:
Alison on Twitter
Alison on Instagram
Judas Collar Website

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

 

Watch Judas Collar

GEAR USED
RODE Procaster
RODE Boom Arm
Scarlett 2i2

PODCAST: EPISODE 30 – Scott Glassgold

Scott Glassgold is a Manager and Producer with well over a decade of experience. After getting his start at New Line Cinema and Disney, Scott Founded Ground Control, an innovative Management and Production company. From there he’s gone on to nurture several short films and initial ideas to final feature films – such as Prospect, The Beyond, and his latest sale to Paramount, The Follower.

Recently, Scott has partnered with Screen Gems to produce horror proof of concepts with an eye towards developing them into feature films. The program is called Scream Gems and aims to collaborate with up-and-coming filmmakers to produce horror shorts with the primary goal of developing new, original content into feature films. Follow Ground Control on twitter for updates!

 

TODAY’S SPONSOR

Go behind the scenes of Martin Scorsese’s latest film, The Irishman, with this official three-part companion podcast from Netflix.

Each Episode features interviews with cast and crew, including Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

The first episode of Behind the Irishman will be available Monday, December 2nd, with new episodes released every Monday.

But be wary of spoilers! Watch The Irishman on Netflix before you listen to the podcast.

Search for Behind The Irishman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Pocketcasts or wherever else you listen to podcasts.

 

Connect with Scott:
Scott on Twitter
Ground Control’s Website
Ground Control on Twitter

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

MORE FROM SCOTT AND GROUND CONTROL

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 29 – CASSANDRA EBNER

Cassandra Ebner is a truly wonderful filmmaker and human. She’s a writer, producer, actor, and stuntwoman. Her career spans over 6 years in the industry and on some of the biggest production around, like Game of Thrones, War for the Planet of the Apes, Shazam!, Arrow, and The Flash. Most recently Cassandra has written, produced, and starred in her web series, LifeXP.

 

Go behind the scenes of Martin Scorsese’s latest film, The Irishman, with this official three-part companion podcast from Netflix.

Each Episode features interviews with cast and crew, including Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

The first episode of Behind the Irishman will be available Monday, December 2nd, with new episodes released every Monday.

But be wary of spoilers! Watch The Irishman on Netflix before you listen to the podcast.

Search for Behind The Irishman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Pocketcasts or wherever else you listen to podcasts.

 

Connect with Cassandra:
Cassandra on Instagram
Cassandra on Twitter
Cassandra on YouTube
Cassandra’s Website

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

MORE FROM CASSANDRA

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 28 – JOE PENNA

Joe Penna is a writer/director that got his start on YouTube. You may know him as Mystery Guitar Man, but today he is directing feature films starring massive talents like Mads Mikkelsen, Anna Kendrick, and Toni Collette.  In this episode, Ryan chats with Joe about directing his first film with a major start attached and his overall path to feature films.

Musicbed

Musicbed is packed with excellent music that you can license for your project. Now they have a subscription for less than $10 a month to get all the music you want and a free 30-day trial. Check it out here: MUSICBED

 

Connect with Joe:
Joe on Instagram
Joe on Twitter
Joe on YouTube
Joe’s Website

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

MORE FROM JOE

 

PODCAST: EPISODE 27 – MATTI HAAPOJA

Matti Haapoja is a filmmaker, vlogger, and content creator.  Today Ryan picks his brain about this new form of storytelling that he is one of the pioneers of. Check out his incredible YouTube channel to see more of his work!

Connect with Matti:
Matti on Instagram
Matti on Twitter
Matti on YouTube
Matti’s Website

Connect with Ryan
Ryan on Twitter
Ryan on Instagram
Ryan on Facebook
Ryan on IMDB
Ryan’s Website

MORE FROM MATTI