Film-Life Lab Podcast

We communicate all day long on filmsets, and a lot depends on good communication. Assertive communication is balancing between the two extremes, dominating with what we say and the other end of the spectrum: not saying what we think or feel, or people-pleasing tendencies. And as any skillset, it's learnable. Eye contact, speaking with confidence, expressing opinions and needs, and creating a welcoming environment for open communication is all part of this toolset.

In film industry, we sometimes fall into the trap of comparing our bad leadership habits to that of the military, claiming that we expect people to follow orders or face consequences. But I believe this comparison is flawed and disrespectful to people risking their own lives in combat. Let's talk about modern military leadership and how it reveals our own shortcomings instead of using it as a cover-up.

The next interviewee is Dan Ming. He's the "A" - Camera Focus Puller of Life of Pi, Saving Mr. Banks, The Founder, Only the Brave, etc. (for further amazing credits check him out on IMDb) He shared his story, experiences, systems, and philosophies with me for which I am immensely grateful. :) The main topics you can learn about from his experience are these: What does a 1st AC (Focuspuller) do* Being ready for things going wrong Building a great team Personalities on set Letting things go A reversed career path to 1st AC Networking Making mistakes Shifting gears to Family life Career/life balance Mentoring, Being mentored, Lifting others up Being ready for opportunities Attitudes on set Focusing on the goal to work through problems

This is the very first episode of the Film-Life Lab Podcast. I'm Peter Várnai and I will be your host. Here I will collect audio interviews with professionals from film industry. Instead of art and technology I will ask them about topics that are rarely discussed elsewhere. Things like leadership, work-life balance, communication, learning, career-building, etc. I will also aim to get the knowledge from the experts of these topics outside of the industry as well. My first interviewee Mark Weingartner, ASC - VisualFX DP of Dark Knight, Inception, last 2 Hunger Games, Dunkirk, etc. He's been around for decades in this industry and he kindly shared with me his career and life experiences in film. He was used to interviews, so the final edit didn't even need to include my questions. Here comes more than an hour of knowledge about life in the film industry.