006 - A Bonus Conversation

11/27/22 • 59 min

Nearly every one of these episodes has a *Recorded in 2020* as a disclaimer in the show notes. So - the obvious question: why in the world did it take so long to put these conversations out?? The short answer: I got stuck. And getting unstuck was a multi-step process. First, my friend Jake McMullen came alongside me and began editing the episodes and generating the original music. Anna Remus came along to help put a schedule to the process. And suddenly, the episodes were done and ready...except for all the intros/outros. I recorded a scripted version and it didn't feel right. But then I got stuck again. So in a flailing effort to get unstuck, I put out an IG message asking for someone to jump on a Zoom with me and simply be on the other end of the call while I tried to record the intros off the cuff. But it turned into something much more than intro/outro - it turned into a deep conversation about why and how we get stuck sometimes and how we might find a way out of the maze. Thanks to Meredith Adelaide and Raul Serpas for jumping on that zoom call and helping me process this project on a macro scale. I'm eternally grateful for the final push. As I listened back, I realized I couldn't use it for intro/outro as planned, but it might actually be worth sharing as a way to connect with any of you who have ever had trouble "shipping." Thanks for listening to this season and look forward to bringing you more conversations soon enough.

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The Process Dispatch - A WGA MINISEASON [Trailer]

We're back! Not for Season 2, which is currently in production, but rather, a short mini-season that emerged out of a writers group that I ran back in the early days of the lockdown in 2020. Every week, around 30 filmmakers would gather on zoom as I interviewed writers, directors, actors, and cinematographers about their own experiences with writing, reading, or breaking down scripts for production. Then our guest would leave and we would split into smaller groups to each work on our own screenplays. It was an incredible few months and each week, those conversations about writing became something we all looked forward to. We spent our time observing, from all directions, the multidimensional effort it takes to write a compelling screenplay. Then, years later, the writer's strike. And suddenly these interviews intended for this smaller group feel relevant in a new way. They're conversations full of affection for the process of *writing* a screenplay as well as admiration for the efforts that writers bring to their work and to our business. I can't think of a better time to focus our attention on the core component of narrative storytelling. So, in a small act of solidarity with the (currently-striking) WGA, I wanted to release a few conversations from that writers group. Some names may be familiar to you if you listened to Season One of the Process Dispatch. Others are new. But each brings a unique perspective to the process of writing screenplays. My STAGES co-writers, Dan Steele and Bradley Jackson. Bassam Tariq. Morgan Cooper. Nikyatu Jusu. Anthony Ramos, Marc Menchaca, and Natalie Kingston. It's going to be great. First episode drops Thursday 6/29/23.