Red Carpet Rookies

53 Episodes

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#51 - Ronan Bennett: Creating Top Boy, Working with Michael Mann, Following Obsession, Stamina, and Why Screenwriting is like Playing Tennis with Novak Djokovic

2024-04-2926:21

Today’s guest began his career writing novels informed by his experiences growing up in the troubles of 1970s Northern Ireland such as The Second Prison which was shortlisted for the 1991 Irish Times prize. Soon after, he began writing for television and film, again bringing signature realism to his work in later projects including Michael Mann’s gangster pic Public Enemies, Gunpowder starring Kit Harrington and most notably his creation of cultural phenomenon, Top Boy, for which he was also ...

#50 - Lorien McKenna: How the The Pixar Story Department Actually Works, Creating Career Agency, Writing For Visuals, Challenging Shame and The Power of Vulnerability

2024-04-0838:09

Today’s guest began her creative journey in the world of theatre before moving to Pixar where she worked in the story department of hits including Ratatouille, Up, Brave, The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out. Having now transitioned to writing and showrunning her own projects, most recently the double Emmy nominated Tab Time as well as co-hosting mega-popular podcast The Screenwriting Life alongside fellow Red Carpet Rookies alumni, Meg LeFauve, I don’t know how she finds the time! My guest is Lo...

#49 - Simon Blackwell: Writing Veep & The Thick of It, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Scary Phrase, Emergency Plane Writing, The Genius of Armando Iannucci, Sweary Grannies, & Why Parenting Makes You A Better Creative

2024-02-1936:05

I am lucky to introduce today’s guest who has been at the forefront of British comedy for the last two decades. The man behind hit shows such as Back starring Mitchell and Webb and Sky’s Breeders, his career is long and celebrated but it is his partnership with Armando Innaucci for which he is probably best known. Together they have brought movies like In The Loop and The Personal History of David Copperfield into the world as well as the now legendary sitcom The Thick of It and its ridiculou...

#48 - John Zaozirny, Literary Manager on The ‘Magic’ That Makes a Hollywood Script, Screenwriting Lessons from Tony Gilroy, How He Finds Clients, Network Building, and Why Not to Write for the Market

2023-12-1736:56

Hello and welcome to Red Carpet Rookies, today’s guest earned his early entertainment industry stripes working at Village Roadshow and Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way, later transitioning to the world of literary management, where he has since set up his own management and production company Bellevue Productions. There his clients have had projects set up at Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, Fox, and more, some of which he has taken to producing himself, for example, Infi...

#47 - Rhys Thomas: Directing SNL, Secret Marvel Security Meetings, The Handiness of a British Accent, & Making Documentary Now with Bill Hader and Fred Armisen

2023-12-1247:45

Born to a sleepy town in South Wales, after university, he swapped the countryside for the Big Apple where he made his name as the film unit director at New York institution, Saturday Night Live. In addition to his time at 30 Rock, he’s also managed to peel off and create the hilarious documentary satire series Documentary Now with friends Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Seth Myers, and more recently, took a step into the Marvel Cinematic universe helming the pilot and multiple episodes of the h...

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