DreamPath Podcast

Bryan and Jason discuss takeaways from the Nick Cassavetes episode, what it's like turning 50, what life was like in 1970 (the year of Jason's birth), and preview next week's episode with screenwriter and actor Bob Sáenz, author of the book That's Not The Way It Works: a no-nonsense guide to the craft and business of screenwriting.

Nick Cassavetes is an actor, screenwriter, and director. The son of independent film pioneer John Cassavetes and Academy Award-nominated actress Gena Rowlands, Nick started his career as an actor but eventually settled into screenwriting and directing. He wrote the screenplay for the 2001 biopic Blow starring Johnny Depp, directed The Notebook starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, and wrote and directed Alpha Dog starring Justin Timberlake, Emile Hirsch, Amanda Seyfried, and Chris Kinkade. Nick is attached to direct a biopic starring Anthony Hopkins and a crime drama starring Robert De Niro.

What you will learn:

• What it was like growing up with two Academy Award-nominated parents who were trailblazers in the independent film world.
• How his parents influenced him as an actor and filmmaker.
• Why Nick initially chose basketball instead of acting after high school.
• How Nick found his way back to acting and filmmaking.
• How his dreams to become a great actor transitioned into screenwriting and directing.
• How he got his first job as a screenwriter without knowing how to write a screenplay.
• What it was like directing a film (She’s So Lovely) written by his father, John Cassavetes, after his father passed away.
• How he landed the role of Dietrich Hassler in Face/Off, starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, as well asthe role of Tattoo Joe in The Hangover 2.
• What he looks for as a director when casting young, relatively unknown actors in his films, many of whom have gone on to become A-list stars like Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, Justin Timberlake, and Emile Hirsch.
• What actors he repeatedly casts in films because he knows they will make bad lines good, and good lines great, time and again.
• How he was able to cast John Travolta in She’s So Lovely with Sean Penn and Robin Wright.
• Why The Notebook was not a box office success but eventually became hugely successful after leaving theaters.
• What projects he’s working on currently, including a biopic about Cus D’Amato starring Anthony Hopkins and a crime drama starring Robert De Niro.

Resources:

• Nick Cassavetes IMDB

Bryan and Jason discuss:

• Last week's interview with David Frangioni.
• How they are coping as the pandemic drags on.
• The loss of folk/country music songwriting legend John Prine.
• Bryan's childhood trauma of being rejected by "Company 7" (an arts program in elementary school); and
• Next week's interview with film director Nick Cassavetes, who directed The Notebook with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.

David Frangioni is a professional drummer, music technologist, magazine publisher, author of three books, designer of custom recording studios, and philanthropist. David has been the music technologist for Aerosmithfor over 30 years and has worked with acts like The Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, Elton John, Sting, Journey, Styx, Kiss, Ozzie Osborne, Phil Collins, Shakira, and Cher. He is also the publisher of Modern Drummer Magazine.

What you will learn:

• How he found the drums at the age of two.
• How gigging professionally at the age of 12 shaped him musically.
• How technology, including MIDI, affected his approach to musical performance and recording.
• How and why he began working with Aerosmith.
• What it was like to be intimately involved in the creative process as Aerosmith wrote and recorded songs on Pump, Get a Grip, Nine Lives, Just Push Play, Honkin' on Bobo, and Music from Another Dimension!
• How his relationship with Ozzie Osbourne resulted in regular appearances on The Osbournes.
• Why Steven Tyler, Brian Adams, Paul Stanley, Kiss, And Ozzi praise his skills in the recording studio.
• Business tips for negotiating contracts with professional musicians and how to work with them as a peer as opposed to a fan.
• How David’s love for music technology expanded into the design and construction of custom recording studios for musicians like Steven Tyler.
• How he juggles multiple careers, including serving as Publisher of Modern Drummer Magazine.
• Why he wrote a book on Clint Eastwood’s Film Art and how that turned into a collaboration with Mr. Eastwood.
• How Neil Peart of Rush influenced him as a musician and drummer.
• How David uses music education and technology to improve the lives of disadvantaged youth through his charity work.

Resources:

• David’s website
• David’s Instagram @davidfrangioni
• David’s Facebook
• Modern Drummer Magazine

Bryan and Jason discuss takeaways from the eight interviews recorded at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City this year. They also talk about the challenges of podcasting during a global pandemic and preview next week's episode with the Modern Drummerpublicist David Frangioni, who has served as Aerosmith's music technologist for over 30 years.

Natalie Johns is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker. In 2007 she founded Dig For Fire, a studio capturing inspired music stories and live experiences. Commercial clients included Nike, iTunes, Coca Cola, Spotify, Amnesty International, and Rock the Vote. Johns has collaborated with Bono, Sam Smith, Childish Gambino, Solange, John Legend, and Gil Scott Heron. Her most recent collaboration with British composer Max Richter is a feature documentary which premiered at the Sundance. Her documentary I Am Thalente, won the audience award at the LA Film Festival. Johns received an Emmy Nomination in 2015 for Outstanding Directing of the television special, "Nostalgia, An Evening with Annie Lennox".

What you will learn:

• How Natalie learned the craft of filmmaking in South Africa and later in London.
• What artists she has collaborated with and how her career in music video production helped prepare her for documentary filmmaking.
• How Natalie found and captured the story of professional skateboarder Thalente Biyela.
• How Tony Hawk got involved in the making of I Am Thalente.
• What attracted Natalie to her most recent film project, Max Richter’s Sleep.
• The logistical challenges involved with shooting an outdoor orchestral concert over the course of 48 hours.

Resources:

• Natalie Johns website
• Natalie Johns IMDB
• Max Richter’s Sleep
• Natalie Johns Instagram @nat_johns
• Natalie Johns Twitter

Brian Knappenberger is a documentary filmmaker. His film Church and the Fourth Estate, about a sexual abuse scandal in Idaho that rocked the Boy Scouts of America and the Mormon Church, premiered at Sundance this year and. Joining Brian on this interview is the subject of the film, Adam Steed. Adam was one of the first sexual abuse survivors to report the abuse to the Boy Scouts and the Mormon Church, only to be rebuked. Brian’s most recent documentary, The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez, is now streaming on Netflix.

What you will learn:

• How Brian met Adam Steed, the subject of Church and the Fourth Estate, through his investigation of a notorious Idaho billionaire.
• How Adam’s report of sexual abuse by a scout leader to church officials was swept under the rug.
• How Brian was able to pull together all of the elements of the documentary while navigating a minefield of potential lawsuits and intimidation tactics utilized by institutions attempting to bury the truth.
• How Brian’s exposure to photography as a child helped him become a filmmaker.
• How his career as a journalist segued into a career as a documentary filmmaker.
• Why it’s important to follow your vision of the film you want to make before you bring in investors.
• How big budget films can corrupt a director’s intended focus of a film.
• How streaming services like Netflix have opened up creative opportunities for documentary filmmakers.

Resources:

1. 1. Brian Knappenberger IMDB
   2. The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez on Netflix
   3. Brian Knappenberger Wikipedia

Florentine Grelier is a filmmaker from Paris who specializes in animation. Her animated short My Jukebox premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. My Jukebox explores the relationship between Florentine and her father (who sells and repairs Jukeboxes at the famous “Le Puz” Flea Market in Paris) through the metaphor of a juke-box, using multiple forms of media, including paper dolls, paint on glass, and computer animation.

What you will learn:

• How long it takes to produce just one minute of animated film.
• What the production process looks like for animated films like My Jukebox.
• How Florentine obtains funding to make animated films.
• How Florentine was able to premiere her animated short at the Sundance Film Festival.
• What opportunities Sundance has opened up for her as an artist.
• What formative childhood experiences influenced her as an artist.
• How teaching animation gives her the financial freedom to work in an artistic medium that would not otherwise allow her to survive financially.
• What inspired her to write, produce, and direct My Jukebox.

Resources:

• Novanima Film Production
• Florentine IMDB
• Florentine Director Interview
• Meet The Artist
• Article on Florentine Grelier
• Florentine Vimeo
• Great Women Animators

Kristian Zuniga is a cinematographer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Kristian has shot commercials for Coachella, Adidas, and Proctor and Gamble. He has also shot music videos for Ed Sheeran, featuring Chance the Rapper, and Drake. His latest feature film, Beast Beast, premiered at Sundance this year. Directed by Danny Madden and Produced by Alec Baldwin, Beast Beast, is a look at the lives and trauma surrounding three people living in a southern town.

What you will learn:

• How Kristian learned the art and craft of cinematography.
• Why he prefers Atlanta over Los Angeles for film industry opportunities.
• Why he chose cinematography over producing or directing.
• How he works with directors to put their narrative vision on screen.
• The challenges of shooting highly kinetic scenes.
• What is was like shooting a narrative film which wove the lives of multiples characters into a traumatic crescendo.
• How Alec Baldwin contributed toward the production of the film.

Resources:

• http://www.kristianzuniga.com
• Kristian's IMDB
• Beast Beast IMDB

Film composer Anthony Willis has worked on Hollywood films such as How to Train your Dragon, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jason Bourne, Wreck it Ralph, & Despicable Me 2. Anthony’s most recent film is Emerald Fennell’s drama/thriller Promising Young Woman starring Carey Mulligan which premiered at Sundance 2020. He has also scored video games such as Fortnite. Willis grew up in London, and studied composition at Marlborough College, Wilshire and the University of Bristol, before earning a graduate degree from the University of Southern California Film School.

What you will learn:

• What early childhood experiences influenced him creatively.
• How training as a chorister as a young child helped prepare him for broader musical challenges.
• Why he decided to move to the United States to pursue film school.
• How he works with film directors at various stages of production.
• How he made transitioned from film school into the the world of scoring films professionally.
  What mentors helped him learn the craft, trade, and art of film composition.
• What it was like working on big budget productions like How To Train Your Dragon, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Despicable Me 2.
• The challenges involved in scoring a feature film like Promising Young Woman, which crossed genres from comedy to drama to thriller.

Resources:

• Anthony's Bio
• Anthony's IMDB