Film & TV, The Creative Process: Acting, Directing, Writing, Cinematography, Producers, Composers, Costume Design, Talk Art & Creativity

What does it mean to live a good life? How can the arts help us learn to speak the language of the Earth and cultivate our intuitive intelligence? What is the power of mentorship for forging character and creative vision? How can we hold onto our cultural heritage and traditions, while preparing students for the needs of the 21st century?

Alan Poul (Emmy & Golden Globe-winning Executive Producer · Director · Six Feet Under · Tales of the City · Tokyo Vice · My So-Called Life) shares his personal journey and the importance of mentorship in shaping one's creative path. He discusses his experiences with influential figures such as Stephen Sondheim, Paul Schrader, and Robert Wilson, emphasizing the value of learning from those you admire.

Rupert Sheldrake (Biologist · Author of The Science Delusion · The Presence of the Past · Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work) explores the significance of cultural and religious traditions in education. He argues that knowing the open questions in science, integrating arts, and learning by heart are crucial for a well-rounded education.

Jericho Brown (Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet · Director of Creative Writing Program at Emory University · Author of The Tradition · The New Testament) emphasizes the power and agency that young writers have to create change. He encourages persistence and the importance of trying, despite the fear of failure.

Sy Montgomery (Naturalist · Author of The Soul of an Octopus · The Hawk’s Way · Of Time and Turtles: Mending the World, Shell by Shattered Shell) reflects on how animals have been her mentors and teachers. From her Scottish Terrier, Molly, to wild emus in Australia, she shares how her interactions with animals have guided her career and life choices.

Manuela Lucá-Dazio (Exec. Director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize · Fmr. Exec. Director of Venice Biennale · Dept. of Visual Arts & Architecture) discusses the necessity of reconnecting with cultural heritage and expanding educational tools. She advocates for a more imaginative approach to integrating different fields of knowledge and teaching methods.

Jeffrey D. Sachs (Economist · President of UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network · Director of Center for Sustainable Development · Columbia University) highlights the global consensus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the critical importance of education. He specifically advocates for SDG 4, which focuses on inclusive and equitable quality education for all.

Todd B. Kashdan (Psychologist · APA Award-winning Author of The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively · Curious? · The Upside of Your Dark Side · Leading Authority on Well-being, Curiosity, Courage & Resilience) analyzes the shortcomings of the current education system. He stresses the need to teach critical thinking and develop superior information-gathering strategies.

Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Founder · Host · Exec. Director of First Voices Radio · Founder of Akantu Intelligence · Master Musician of the Ancient Lakota Flute) offers a unique perspective on our connection to the Earth. He delves into Indigenous wisdom about living in harmony with nature, our ancestors, and recognizing the timeless energy around us.

Erland Cooper (Songwriter · Producer · Multi-instrumentalist · Composer of Folded Landscapes) reminisces about his upbringing surrounded by nature and traditional folk music. He shares how these elements have influenced his work and creative process.

Peter Singer (Philosopher · Author of Animal Liberation · Founder of The Life You Can Save) examines the core philosophical questions about living a good life. He discusses the principles of Effective Altruism and the importance of using our resources wisely to make the world a better place.

To hear more from each guest, listen to their full interviews.

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Amy Aniobi is a writer, director and Executive Producer on HBO’s Emmy-nominated comedy, “Insecure,” starring Issa Rae. “Insecure” will premiere its fifth and final season on October 24th with Aniobi behind the camera as director of the seventh episode (#507) to be broadcast on December 5th. She also served as showrunner/head writer/EP for season one of the HBO stand-up special “2 Dope Queens.” Under her new production shingle “SuperSpecial” and overall deal with HBO, Aniobi already is in development on several projects, as well as two features set up at Universal. Amy recently directed the award-winning short film, "Honeymoon," which explores a modern-day Nigerian couple's arranged marriage. She also co-created, co-directed and starred in the web series, “Lisa and Amy Are Black,” created the web series, “The Slutty Years” and wrote for both seasons of “Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” Amy is Nigerian, hails from North Texas, graduated from Stanford University and UCLA, and has lived both in the US (New York, the Bay Area) and abroad (France, Morocco).

· amyaniobi.com
· www.creativeprocess.info

As we're entering a world of advanced AI, what is the future of books? What makes stories enduring? And what role do literary agents play in nurturing authors and bringing great stories to the world?

Mark Gottlieb is a Vice President and top-selling literary agent at Trident Media Group. He represents a wide range of authors across genres, many of whom have been awarded prestigious prizes and have secured places on the New York Times bestseller list. Among other achievements, Mark has successfully optioned and sold books to film production companies where they were adapted into blockbuster hits, beloved by audiences and critics.

In addition to his work as an agent, Mark lectures on his experiences and craft at such noted venues as the Yale Writers’ Workshop, Cambridge University’s MSt in Creative Writing program, Columbia Publishing Course, and Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute. He founded Emerson College's Wilde Press, and the Stamford Literature, Arts & Culture Salon (SLACS), where he currently serves as president.

"We look at books in terms of all of the manifestations that a book can take. It could be an audiobook. It could be a film or a TV show or in some cases for some of our authors made into merchandise like T-shirts or calendars or toys. Oftentimes our books find their way into other mediums and so we work across a very wide space between fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and graphic novels. There are a lot of people who work at the agency because we happen to be book publishing's leading agency by number of deals and amount of money for deals going as far back as the year 2000.

We also work with very literary authors like Michael Ondaatje who wrote The English Patient and that movie that got tons and tons of Academy Awards and nominations. We have a very big-name children's book authors, representing Wonder by RJ Palacio, which is a #1 New York Times Bestseller. It's still in that spot on the list years after publication, published in over 50 countries. And the movie with Julia Roberts is set to be a Broadway play with the producer of Hamilton. And it's won every major award and is required reading in schools."

www.tridentmediagroup.com/agents/mark-gottlieb
www.tridentmediagroup.com

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Michael Begler is showrunner, writer, and executive producer of Perry Mason, which debuted as HBO’s most-watched series in nearly two years upon its premiere in June 2020. The critically-acclaimed show stars Emmy-winner Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Katherine Waterston, Hope Davis. In the second season of the Emmy-nominated series, the scion of a powerful oil family is brutally murdered. Power, social justice, immigration, LGBTQ rights, and what it truly means to be guilty, are among the issues raised by the series.
Begler’s previous series include the Peabody Award-winning The Knick, starring Clive Owen, directed by Steven Soderbergh, writing/producing credits also include comedy series The Tony Danza Show, The Jeff Foxworthy Show and the film Big Miracle starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski.

“I call it the percolating trauma inside him, and I think that it's a combination of things with Matthew Rhys who plays Perry Mason. Again, it's holding onto this trauma that happened a dozen years ago in the war, that this is not something that he has really dealt with. And I think that you can't take that lightly. It doesn't go away with time. It doesn't heal. It's still inside you, and it's still informing who you are. And I think that was important in coming into season two because here is a man who's now thrust into this whole other battle. He's now an attorney. And how does he put lives in his hands?

So he is gone through this in season one, and now we're coming into season two knowing that he's haunted by the fact that he thought he saved somebody. He put Emily Dodson's life in his hands only to have her commit suicide. So now he's wrestling deeply with the flaws in himself and his character that these soldiers put their lives in his hands in the war.

Emily Dodson put her life in his hands in the trial. And now he's going to take on these two boys who could swing on a noose. Does he want that? Does he have enough inside him? And that's why we play with the imposter syndrome because he doesn't know if this is who he really is. And does he still have that fight inside him?

And so I think that's the sort of push-pull I think that you're alluding to inside and that he's trying to hold it in and trying to hold it all together. And we do see those moments when he can't hold it back. When he punches the guy in the face in episode four when he steals the horse. These are things that he needs to release that valve because it's so much he's trying to hold onto to get to the result that he wants to win the fight because he hasn't fully won a fight yet. And that's hard.”

www.imdb.com/title/tt2077823
www.instagram.com/perrymasonhbo
www.imdb.com/name/nm0066764

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"Resolved questions don't actually make for good drama, and they don't actually help people on their own journeys. If you just tell people that you have all the answers, which I don't, then you're, first of all, lying to them. And second of all, you're boring. And it's just a lecture and propaganda that you're giving people.

A story can be interpreted, but a great story can be interpreted different ways because you're looking at it from different angles. And there might be wrong interpretations, but there might be many correct interpretations. And so I'm not looking for...I'm not telling allegories. I'm trying to communicate a vision of life. I'm trying to communicate what I've seen of life to you. That, to me, is what art is. It is the communication of the internal experience of being human.

But when you look at your life, where does the joy come from? It comes from growing. It comes from changing. It comes from finding out something, having something happen to you that never happened before. And I think that it's very encouraging to me that if you are growing towards something infinite, there's no end to that journey. You can always become better and more and life can become more abundant."

What makes a good drama? What advantages do human storytellers have over their AI counterparts? Where do ideas come from? And what do spiritual beliefs share with artists' faith in the creative process?

Andrew Klavan is the author of such internationally bestselling crime novels as True Crime, filmed by Clint Eastwood, Don’t Say A Word, filmed starring Michael Douglas, Empire of Lies and When Christmas Comes. He has been nominated for the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award five times and has won twice. He wrote the screenplays to A Shock to The System starring Michael Caine, One Missed Call starring Edward Burns, and Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer starring Dean Cain. His essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, his political satire videos have been viewed by tens of millions of people, and he hosts a popular podcast The Andrew Klavan Show at the Daily Wire. He is also the author of a memoir about his religious journey The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ and the USA Today bestseller The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England's Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus. His latest crime novel is The House of Love and Death, the third book in the Cameron Winter series.

www.andrewklavan.com
www.amazon.com/House-Death-Cameron-Winter-Mysteries/dp/1613164467

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