On Air Off Set podcast

In part 2 of this three-part episode I chat with cinematographer and part-time teacher/instructor Jeffrey Hagerman.

There’s a lot of mixed feelings about “film school” these days. In this three-part episode I chat with three separate guests about the state of film education and training as well as the industry as a whole.

First up in part 1 is Randall Dottin, professor and chairperson of the screenwriting department at New York Film Academy,

We all can use therapy these days and if you're a creative/artist, perhaps you can use a professional who understands and even has some experience your field. I chat with two NYC-based therapists to mine the depths of this type of specialization.

We continue our conversation with my guests Brian De la Cruz and Derek Stalley in part two of our sprawling conversation about people of color in Hollywood, on and off set. 

If 2020 didn’t deliver us enough drama with the pandemic and lockdown, along came nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.

With this as the backdrop, I recorded an interview back in June over Zoom with fellow freelancers Derek Stalley and Brian De La Cruz about the state of things socially. They open up about their experiences as people of color working in film/television as well as in their day to day personal lives.

We further touch upon diversity and minority representation on screen and behind the camera. This is a two-part episode.

There has always existed the independent factions of any artistic mediums whether it be cinema, music, or fine arts. But does theater has have it’s own established independent scene?

Theater guys like Michael Pagano and his mentor and former high school teacher Dave Coonan weigh in as they have carved out their own scene out on Long Island.

According to them, their approach parallels garage and punk rock bands in philosophy. They follow their rules when it comes to producing, writing, casting, set building, self-funding, and self-promoting these theater pieces. Adding to the mix is the raw, edgy, sometimes shocking, sometimes dark bite associated with their storytelling and you can see why the term “garage theater” is totally appropriate.

Continuing from episode 27, I chat with composer Patrick Kirst. To showcase the collaboration with director on any given film project, we engage in a little creative musical workshop.

Film scores are there to enhance a scene at times, and at other times to go above and “beyond the two dimensions of the screen” as composer Patrick Kirst explains, perhaps to convey something the scene cannot.

From the classical symphonic heights of John Williams to the jazzier vibes of Bernard Hermann to the modern electronic/orchestral hybrid work of Hans Zimmer, each composer brings their own style to a project.

Ultimately though it is the collaboration of directors and composers that bring a film score to life. In this two-part episode, my guest Patrick Kirst shines a light on this process, and shares his philosophy on what makes a great score.

For sound mixers/recordists it’s always been a balance of capturing the best location sound possible while dealing with airplanes, police sirens, construction, lawnmowers, leaf blowers, barking dogs, refrigerators, air conditioners, phones ringing……not to mention searching for a clean RF signal in a world of endless wireless interference, avoiding a boom mic in frame, rigging a mic to a complicated piece of wardrobe, pleading with director for one more take, barking at crew people for being chatty. ARGGGGGHHHHH!! If anyone on set has ever wondered why our default facial expression is a look of irritability, now you know why.

But hey this is the profession we chose and we accept that these obstacles will always be there. Joining myself in an airing of grievances are fellow sound mixers, Fiona McBain and Alex Sullivan. At this risk of this coming off like a pity party for sound department I hope listeners will at least walk away with an appreciation that without sound there truly is no picture.

The set of horror movie can be exactly that.....a horror show and not in a good way. But don't tell that to filmmaker Jeremiah Kipp and efx makeup artist Tony O'Brien. They love their jobs and they bring that passion and joy to a film set.

Fresh off production of their feature film "Slapface", I chat with both about their love of all things gory, scary, fantastical in cinema and their collaboration in bringing monstrous characters to life.

We were not prepared nationwide for this pandemic and the subsequent shutdown. Loss of income, quarantine, the threat of an unknown virus among countless other issues can impact everyone negatively. So what can one do as a creative/artist who works in the Film/TV industry with the all their skills, resources, and connections available?

How about starting a charitable organization like Isabella Olaguerra and Jacqueline Patchen did.

As members of Feed They Freelancers they help organize delivery of food and other supplies to other freelancers in the NYC area. I chat with both to find out the inner workings of this group, what inspired them to get it off the ground, and what their hopes are for the future.

In this every changing world it is getting more and more complicated trying to discern authentic journalism from click bait and “fake news.” It is important that we recognize those in the media that have integrity and strive to deliver the most unbiased and informed stories.

I chat with news segment producers, Titi Yu and Mona Iskander, to catch a glimpse into this world.

Alot has changed since those early childhood days for many of us. Only with last 10-15 years of superhero movies do they finally have a definitive place in cinema history……though not without controversy. In the aftermath of Martin Scorcese’s opinion that these movies are not real “cinema” myself and returning guests Lou and Phil try and put some perspective on this comic book movie/tv boom.

WARNING: Spoilers left and right!

As far as the comic book world, you might be an outsider looking in like myself. In fact, I had alot of catching up to do for this episode when it comes to all the superhero movies and tv shows that have come out since 2000.

So let’s all channel our inner geek in this epic two part episode as we take a look at comics in 21st century Hollywood. In part one, I chat with two friends of mine Phil Ristaino and Lou Arahovites about the highs and lows, the hits and misses, and my overall takeaways from this genre.

In the beginning there’s an idea. Several weeks, sometimes months, sometimes years later after so many rewrites and revisions do we finally have a screenplay. It could be a masterpiece or it could still be a dud. Many of us have the vision, but how many of us have the gift for the written word.

There are many schools of thought when approaching writing a script. First step, ask someone who has written multiple. Joshua Todd James and returning guest Martha Pinson share their philosophies.

For those of us who grew up in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, New York City has changed so much, and the film/tv industry along with it. Filming here has gotten more accessible in certain ways but more complex in others.

Leave it to locations team Charlynne Hopson and George Marro, who have worked on so many NYC-based productions, to provide us a glimpse into accessing the various locations needed to shoot your favorite scenes….a diner, a rooftop, an alleyway, a bar, a highway, a prison, a school, a park. Each have their own unique challenges visually and logistically. Add to that, the demands of the filmmakers versus the realities of shooting in this city, one can see how important the duties are of the locations department.

What is it about being an "artist" or "creative" that never dies within many of us? Is it a compulsion? What does success look like and what is it about merging commerce with making our "art" that is so challenging? I sit down with two longtime collaborators to put some perspective on our careers, where we struggled, where we failed, where we succeeded, where do we go from here.