Sunil Perkash on Studio vs. Indie Films, and Producing Dystopian Thriller Last Survivors
43m
·
DreamPath Podcast
·
Film producer Sunil Perkash developed major studios hits like BLAST FROM THE PAST starring Brendon Frasier, Alicia Silverstone, Sissy Spacek and Christopher Walken, PREMONITION , starring Sandra Bullock, and Disney’s blockbuster hit ENCHANTED, starring Amy Adams, which grossed $340 million, and received multiple oscar and golden globe nominations. Sunil then produced SALT, starring Angelina Jolie and grossing $300 million. He is currently in post production on DISENCHANTED, a sequel to ENCHANTED for Disney Plus starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey. His most recent indie film is LAST SURVIVORS, starring Alicia Silverstone, Stephen Moyer and Drew Van Acker. Last Survivors is a dystopian thriller about a father and son living isolated, off the grid, in a frigid wilderness to keep safe from a decaying civilization. But their perfect mini-utopia is disrupted when the father is severely injured and his son must go on a hunt for life-saving medicine, where he encounters a mysterious woman, played by Silverstone.
What you will learn:
- What it’s like producing films for major film studios vs. indie films.
- Why his passion is in independent film.
- How seeing Dances With Wolves during his senior year at Stanford inspired him to drive to Hollywood to try to break into the film industry.
- The challenges he faced making Last Survivors in the frigid hills of Montana during the pandemic.
- Why Sunil likes to work with the same actors across multiple films.
- How SALT, which was originally developed as a vehicle for Tom Cruise, evolved into a film starring Angelina Jolie.
- How Sunil developed Enchanted “from scratch” and why he is so excited about the rollout of its sequel, Disenchanted, which he shot in Ireland recently.
- What projects Sunil currently has in the hopper and whether a sequel to Salt may be in the works.
Resources:
- Sunil Perkash’s IMDb, Instagram
The episode Sunil Perkash on Studio vs. Indie Films, and Producing Dystopian Thriller Last Survivors from the podcast DreamPath Podcast has a duration of
43:02. It was first published
More episodes from DreamPath Podcast
RECAP - Oakley Takeaways, Lanagen Tribute Feedback, and Bryan and Jason Take a Break
Bryan and Jason discuss takeaways from Bryan's chat with writer, producer, and food critic Bill Oakley. They also talk about the overwhelmingly positive response to the Mark Lanegan tribute episode. Finally, Bryan and Jason talk about taking a break from podcasting so they can focus on family and other creative endeavors.
Bill Oakley on The Simpsons, Writer's Block, and the Creative Freedom of Fast Food Reviews
Bill Oakley is a Portland-based writer and producer known for his work on The Simpsons (where, with partner Josh Weinstein, he was executive producer and showrunner for the 7th and 8th seasons), Futurama, Regular Show, and Mission Hill. He most recently served as a writer and producer on Portlandia, Disenchantment, Chicago Party Aunt, and Close Enough on HBO Max. Bill is also popular on Instagram and Twitter (@thatbilloakley), where he reviews fast food from the comfort of his car, and has been dubbed “The Gordon Ramsay of Fast Food" by The Wrap Entertainment News. He appears regularly on the History Channel’s “The Food That Built America” and will appear on Netflix’s travel cuisine documentary Somebody Feed Phil this season as well.
What you will learn:
- How Bill broke into the world of writing for animated television.
- The advantages and disadvantages of writing partners.
- What it was like writing for and being a showrunner on The Simpsons in the 1990s.
- Strategies Bill implements as a writer to avoid distractions and enhance productivity.
- Why writer’s rooms are overrated.
- How writers on animated shows were paid differently in the 80s and 90s vs. today.
- How residuals work for television writers
- How Bill found creative freedom as a food critic.
- How Bill hopes to parlay his food blogging success on social media into career opportunities.
Resources:
- Bill Oakley’s Twitter, Instagram
RECAP - Bryan and Jason on Long Line Of Ladies, Thoughts on Ukraine, and Jason's New Music
Bryan and Jason discuss takeaways from Bryan's chat with Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome, who co-directed the documentary short Long Line of Ladies, which premiered at Sundance and is now showing at SXSW. Bryan and Jason also talk about the situation in Ukraine and Jason talks about the music he has been writing and recording, which will be available in May.
Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome on Co-Directing Long Line Of Ladies
Rayka Zehtabchi is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker who won the Academy Award for her film Period. End of Sentence in 2019. Shaandiin Tome is an Albuquerque-based filmmaker whose breakout, award-winning short film Mud (Hashtł’ishnii) premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2018. Rayka and Shaandiin co-directed the documentary short Long Line of Ladies, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and will be featured at SXSW next week. Long Line of Ladies follows a girl and her tribal community as they prepare for her Ihuk, the once-dormant coming of age ceremony of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.
What you will learn:
- How Rayka and Shaandiin found the story for Long Line of Ladies and brought it to film.
- What inspired them to tell the story of a tribe which resurrected a long-dormant coming of age ceremony for young girls.
- How Long Line of Ladies thematically is very different from Period. End of Sentence.
- Why they chose to lean into the positivity and lack of conflict they discovered in this story, as opposed to search for conflict as a story-telling device.
- The challenges they faced co-directing with each other for the first time.
- The choices they made before filming regarding what aspect of the story they wanted to tell, and what part of the story they chose to leave to the imagination of the audience.
- The challenges they faced using 16 mm film as opposed to digital cameras.
- Why they are excited to show the film at SXSW.
- What types of projects they hope to focus on in 2022.
Resources:
- Rayka’s website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
- Shaandiin’s website, Instagram,Facebook, and Twitter
- Long Line of Ladies Trailer
A Tribute to Mark Lanegan (feat. Moby, Mark Pickerel, and Jeff Fielder)
Bryan and Jason talk about the loss of Pacific Northwest indie rock legend Mark Lanegan, paying tribute to him and playing clips from interviews with musicians Moby, Mark Pickerel (formerly of the Screaming Trees), and Jeff Fielder, all of whom worked closely with Lanegan at various points in his career.