PODCAST Episodes
Interviews with filmmakers, voice actors, animators, and industry veterans. Ordered from Newest To Oldest
The Puerto Rican Actor Who Keeps Getting Called Back (Working On Undercard)┃Berto Colon Interview
Berto Colon flies his teenage daughters to Puerto Rico to film Undercard with Wanda Sykes in her first-ever dramatic role, wraps production, and immediately heads to Texas to begin shooting a Yellowstone spin-off. He explains how a working actor builds longevity through trust and repeat collaborations, and why he keeps getting called back by the same production teams. Colon breaks down his unconventional preparation process, reading scripts until the work settles into his subconscious, and why the unplanned moments are the ones that feel most alive on screen. He shares what it meant to have his daughters on set in Puerto Rico, the surprising parallels between Wanda Sykes and Mary J. Blige stepping into drama, and reveals that early in his career he performed motion capture for GTA, his body, Luis Guzmán’s face.
How a Viral TikTok Trend Marketed Solo Mio | John Kinnane & Jeffrey Azize Interview
John Kinnane and Jeffrey Azize explain how they partnered with Kevin James during the pandemic to turn experimental garage sketches into the feature film Solo Mio. They discuss transforming the slapstick icon into a vulnerable romantic lead who painted every piece of art seen on screen himself. The duo shares stories about their viral marketing approach, the logistics nightmare of filming a historic Italian horse race, and how a massive price tag at the Coliseum forced last-minute creativity. They also explain why a real-life language barrier with the lead actress actually improved the movie.
Weird Al Showed Up Two Days Before His Shoot | Todd Edwards Interview
Todd Edwards recounts how he and his friends made Hoodwinked! in a Midwest garage and turned it into an indie animated hit that competed with major studios. He talks about the early days of 3D animation when anything felt possible, how Anne Hathaway ended up voicing their tracks, and shares wild stories from directing a Hanson music video where Weird Al nearly passed out from dancing. He also digs into his live-action roots and why the music he wrote for the film still finds new audiences two decades later.
The 12-Hour Grind of Carrying David Corenswet | Grace Chan & Dinesh Thyagarajan Interview
Grace and Dinesh, two newcomers in the new Superman movie, talk about working with James Gunn and how they’re already stealing scenes despite limited screen time. Grace plays a robot in the Fortress of Solitude and describes the physical demands of moving like a machine while carrying Superman. Dinesh plays Malik Ali, a character fans are calling the emotional core of Metropolis, and shares his decade-long grind from South India to New York before landing the role. They both discuss the improv moments Gunn encouraged and how wild the fan reaction has been.
The 2 AM Bidding War That Changed My Life | Nicholas Tabarrok Interview
Nicholas Tabarrok, a veteran producer who has worked across Toronto and LA, talks about the unglamorous reality of producing and why the real work happens at a desk, not on set. He shares the story of Sony buying his film at 2 AM in a parking lot during a bidding war at the Toronto International Film Festival. He also discusses the weight of producing Holocaust films like Irena’s Vow, teaching film in Shanghai, and his current project with JK Simmons.
Why Jack Black Asked Me for a Selfie on the Minecraft Set | Hiram Garcia Interview
Hiram Garcia, an environmental consultant in New Zealand, talks about how a random trip to an acting agency landed him a speaking role in the Minecraft movie. He walks through his path from aerospace engineering to environmental work to suddenly being on set with Jared Hess directing him. He shares what happened when the director expanded his role on the spot and when Jack Black asked him for a selfie. He also discusses the weirdness of acting in a jacuzzi and how his corporate people-skills turned out to be surprisingly useful on camera.
Inside the 12-Year Relationship That Led to Guardians of the Galaxy 3 | Gerardo Davila Interview
Gerardo Davila talks about going from the Dallas rap scene to becoming a recurring face in James Gunn’s films, including The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. He discusses his restless 20s, how managing a gym for ten bucks an hour taught him the business side of entertainment, and the moment Gunn introduced him to the whole Guardians crew as the only actor returning from his earlier film Super. He explains the reality of self-taping from your living room, surviving long prosthetic makeup sessions, and essentially acting as an on-set script supervisor.
Why I Was Fired by Lucasfilm After Saving the Company | Scott Ross Interview
Scott Ross ran George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic and co-founded Digital Domain with James Cameron. He predicts the VFX industry is heading for collapse and explains exactly why. He talks about navigating Lucas’s empire while butting heads with corporate suits, getting fired despite delivering results, and the awkward moment Lucas didn’t recognize him at a Mexican restaurant. He also explains why the industry’s failure to organize itself left thousands of workers with no protection against what AI is bringing.
The Secret to Voicing the Internet’s Most Famous Dad | Mark DeCarlo Interview
Mark DeCarlo, the voice of Hugh Neutron from Jimmy Neutron, explains the improv fundamentals that launched his 20-year career. He talks about winning over $100,000 on a game show as a broke 20-year-old and how that cushion let him audition without desperation. He shares stories from the original Second City cast and how he accidentally created Hugh Neutron’s voice by mocking one of the show’s producers. He also discusses his new project Baffo the Bear, a real-time animated character using performance capture that can interview celebrities live.
The Pixar Secret: How We Designed The Incredibles in a Garage | Lou Romano Interview
Lou Romano designed The Incredibles, Up, and Ratatouille and voiced Linguini. He talks about Brad Bird’s creative philosophy and how spending a year drawing only in black and white changed his approach. He shares stories from research trips for The Incredibles, like studying mid-century modern architecture in the Berkeley Hills to design the Parr family home. The conversation turns personal as he discusses stepping away from high-stakes animation to work at a meat counter and how he eventually found his way back.
Why I Turned Down a $200M Sony Movie to Keep My Integrity | Cory Edwards Interview
Cory Edwards, the creator and director of Hoodwinked!, explains how his Midwest indie team funded an animated feature with profits from a vodka brand and why turning down Sony was the smartest move he ever made. He walks through the chaos of early independent animation, dealing with difficult investors, and passing on the Foo Fighters for his soundtrack. He also discusses losing creative control on the Fraggle Rock movie and why he drew a hard line against certain content in kids’ media.
Producing for MrBeast: The Wildest Month of My Life in Japan | Harrison Houde Interview
Harrison Houde, known for Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Some Assembly Required, talks about nearly dying in a crash landing while filming a kids’ show and what it takes to last fifteen years in the industry. He explains the shift from Vancouver to the grind of LA, producing the Japan segment for MrBeast, and reads his original 2013 character breakdown for Bowie live on air. He also discusses what Canadian content creators are up against right now trying to compete in the US market.
The Secret Personal History Behind Disney’s Meet the Robinsons | Stephen Anderson Interview
Stephen Anderson, the Disney director behind Meet the Robinsons and Winnie the Pooh, talks about how his own adoption story shaped the emotional core of Meet the Robinsons. He walks through his path from CalArts to voicing Bowler Hat Guy and explains the intense Disney animatic process. He details his no-thumbnail storyboarding approach and why just starting is the only real cure for creative paralysis. The conversation also covers using texture to separate past from future in animation and why a stint on Monsters at Work gave him a chance to reset.
What Steven Spielberg is Really Like on a Private Film Set | Ruby Barnhill Interview
Ruby Barnhill starred as Sophie in Steven Spielberg’s The BFG and moved her whole family to Canada for the four-month shoot at 11 years old. She shares what Spielberg’s set was actually like and how he kept things calm and pressure-free for her. She discusses the technical challenge of dubbing English lines for Studio Ponoc films and how her dad’s theater background gave her a natural edge. The conversation turns personal as she explains why she pivoted to production in high school and walked away from acting entirely.
The R-Rated Live-Action Megamind We Almost Made with Ben Stiller | Brent Simons Interview
Brent Simons, co-creator and screenwriter of Megamind and Penguins of Madagascar, talks about being told superhero comedies would never work, then watching DreamWorks turn his Lex Luthor parody into a modern classic. He shares the secret origin of Megamind as a live-action script and why his agents were too nervous to tell him it sold. He recounts the chaotic two-week sprint to finish the Penguins of Madagascar script and the pain of seeing other projects fall apart. He also explains how struggling with dyslexia as a kid ended up shaping him as a writer.
The One Note from Bill Cosby That Changed My Comedy Career | Mark Christopher Lawrence Interview
Mark Christopher Lawrence, known for Chuck and Fear of a Black Hat, shares the exact note he got early in his career that took his standup from a rough 7-minute set to a polished 25-minute act overnight. He talks about growing up with a single mom and the life skills he picked up young that ended up preparing him for the industry. He explains the improv freedom Rusty Cundieff gave him on Fear of a Black Hat, why he builds full backstories even for tiny roles, and his move into Christian comedy.
What Heath Ledger Taught Me While Tied to a Chair | Andy Luther Interview
Andy Luther played Brian Douglas in The Dark Knight and received personal direction from Heath Ledger on set that changed how he thinks about physicality in acting. He talks about how surprisingly calm the set was for such a massive production, the time he fumbled his lines in front of Christian Bale, and the mental checklist he uses to stay focused under pressure. He also discusses his installation company staffed entirely by actors and why theatrical training turns out to make outstanding customer service.
How We Tricked the Directors Guild to Get Our First Movie Made | David Zucker Interview
David Zucker, the director and writer behind Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Scary Movie, talks about how he and the ZAZ team packed a U-Haul in Milwaukee, drove to LA, and convinced Hollywood to let them make a comedy with only serious actors. He shares the story that taught him to ignore experts and trust his instincts when everyone says you’re wrong. He explains why casting Leslie Nielsen and Robert Stack worked better than the comedians the studios pushed for, and how his own father was the prototype for Nielsen’s deadpan delivery.
Why Voicing a Dog in Space Buddies is the Easiest Paycheck | Field Cate Interview
Field Cate, known for playing young Ned in Pushing Daisies and voicing Buddha in the Buddies films, explains why he walked away from Disney to play indie rock. He talks about the reality of child commercial auditions and what national spots actually pay. He discusses his mental health journey with Borderline Personality Disorder and how it drives the lyrics for his band Fencer. He also gets into why the chaos of the music industry suits him better than the controlled environment of a film set.
The Earthquake Phone Call That Launched the Barbie Voice Actor | Chris Anthony Lansdowne Interview
Chris Anthony, the original voice of Barbie for Mattel and a cast member of Adventures in Odyssey for over 35 years, talks about how a phone call during an earthquake and blacking out her front tooth on purpose helped launch her career. She shares the story of intentionally tanking a glamour audition to stand out, auditioning for Barbie mid-earthquake over the phone, and why she had to keep the Barbie gig secret from her own daughter at first. She also gets into three decades with Adventures in Odyssey and the fan connection that has built up over all those years.
The Secret to Syncing Music for Fortnite and Lord of the Rings | Jason LaRocca Interview
Jason La Rocca has mixed and produced over 200 projects including Fortnite, Lord of the Rings, The Flash, and Beverly Hills Cop. He explains the TalkBack trick behind Hollywood’s drum sound, the key differences between scoring for film versus a video game engine, and how grinding through van tours as a punk band turned out to be perfect training for Hollywood deadlines. He also gets into unconventional snare recording techniques and what he actually does when a client hates his first mix.
How a Blurry Lens Accidentally Created the Star Wars Lightsaber | Ted Eccles Interview
Ted Eccles is a child actor turned VFX pioneer who says the lightsaber’s iconic glow came from a late-night accident in a special effects office. He talks about how he voiced the Little Drummer Boy despite being told he couldn’t sing, working with director Richard Brooks, the marketing strategy that repackaged a dark film into Pretty Woman, and road trips with Truman Capote.
Why I Got Stuck in a Barrel for Real on the Set of The Hobbit | Stephen Hunter Interview
Stephen Hunter played Bombur the dwarf across the entire Hobbit trilogy and got into Middle-earth through a Scottish accent audition. He explains what happened when he ignored Peter Jackson’s instructions during the barrel scene, stories from the dwarf cast including the pranks they pulled on Mark Hadlow, and how he used the Meisner technique to stay truthful under heavy prosthetics. He also talks about going from radio management to acting and why a blockbuster credit doesn’t guarantee the next job.
How We Created the Found Footage Genre Before the Internet Existed | Eduardo Sanchez Interview
Eduardo Sánchez co-directed The Blair Witch Project and fooled the world into thinking it was real before social media existed. He explains the moment he and Dan Myrick decided modern horror had stopped being scary, how they rented In Search Of VHS tapes for inspiration, and the marketing strategy behind the hoax that predated every tool people use today. He also shares his pitch for a Star Wars horror film following a small rebel squad and what it was like grinding through two failed features before the breakout.
What I Learned Watching Joaquin Phoenix Method Act for A24 | Armen Nahapetian Interview
Armen Nahapetian played the younger version of Joaquin Phoenix in Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid and studied Phoenix’s method between takes. He shares the self-tape technique that got him the role of Young Beau, what it was like spending hours in a makeup chair as a kid to become a vampire for American Horror Story, an awkward run-in with Jenna Ortega, and why he still works at a local restaurant to stay connected to normal life.
How to Match the Voice of a Maharaja for Indiana Jones | Katie Leigh Interview
Katie Leigh has voiced Connie Kendall in Adventures in Odyssey for over 30 years and quietly dubbed the young Maharaja in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. She explains the technical side of voice matching, what 30 years of Adventures in Odyssey looked like from tape to digital, why the cast has become family, and the reality that modern voice actors now have to run their own marketing and production to stay working.
How an MIT Scientist Became Shredder: The Physics of Acting | Tohoru Masamune Interview
Tohoru Masamune left MIT and a chemical engineering career to become an actor, eventually playing Shredder in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and landing the first speaking role in Inception. He talks about the pressure of learning Japanese speeches with 20 minutes’ notice, how Christopher Nolan intentionally kept the entire cast disoriented during Inception’s opening, and why his science background made him the right fit for the Emmy-winning Twitch series Artificial. He also explains why the uncertainty principle from physics is the best framework he has found for navigating a Hollywood career.
What John Stamos is Really Like on a 14-Hour Disney Set | Tisha Custodio Interview
Tisha Custodio plays Mouse on Disney+’s Big Shot opposite John Stamos and had to learn basketball from scratch for the role. She talks about auditioning for Disney straight out of graduation, what 14-hour shoot days with Stamos actually taught her about staying loose on camera, the journaling practice she uses to find a character, and why she thinks of every finished project as a photograph of who you were at that moment.
Stop Relying on a “Good Voice”: The Brutal Reality of Voice Acting | Bob Bergen Interview
Bob Bergen has been the voice of Porky Pig for decades and has one message: a great voice means nothing without acting. He talks about cold-calling Mel Blanc at 14, getting detention as a kid for doing teacher impressions, the physical challenges he overcame just to walk and perform, and telling a young unknown named Ryan Seacrest that he was going to be huge. He also covers the full shift from reel-to-reel demo tapes to the home studio that kept him employed through the pandemic.
How I Replaced Seth Green in a $150 Million Disney Movie | Seth Dusky Interview
Seth Dusky voiced Milo in Disney’s Mars Needs Moms after the studio had to re-record the entire film to match Seth Green’s existing lip movements. He talks about the world of kid commercials — he kept every toy from over 30 shoots — the ADR looping process where kids voice all the background characters nobody notices in films like Ice Age and Alvin and the Chipmunks, and why he switched to homeschooling in seventh grade just to keep up with the LA audition grind before eventually walking away from it all.
The 8-Hour Improv: What Josh Gad is Really Like on a $100M Movie Set | Ray Olubowale Interview
Ray Olubowale is a three-time Nigerian Canadian Heavyweight Champion boxer who has appeared in Resident Evil and Pixels. He explains what it is like swinging a 90-pound axe for two straight minutes on camera, the improv session with Josh Gad that had the entire cast in tears from laughing, the punch that sent an opponent through the ropes into a computer desk, and the mental side of surviving both a boxing ring and a film soundstage.
The “See Me” Note That Launched a 40-Year DreamWorks Career | Steve Hickner Interview
Steve Hickner directed The Prince of Egypt and Bee Movie at DreamWorks. He talks about a single “See Me” note on a high school paper that started everything, studying at NYU alongside Joel Coen and Chris Columbus, the cultural difference between Disney’s working style and Spielberg’s at Amblin, the cupcake-tasting sessions on Bee Movie, and why Jerry Seinfeld insisted on being in the room for every single voice recording session.
How I Landed an Avengers Role Without Knowing Who They Were | Lexi Rabe Interview
Lexi Rabe played Morgan Stark in Avengers: Endgame after a nine-hour audition that ran until 2 AM. She talks about pranking the cast with a fake cockroach, Chris Pratt repeatedly stealing her Groot toy on set, tracking down Jon Favreau at a McDonald’s line after the premiere to collect the cheeseburger he promised her in the film, working with Millie Bobby Brown on Godzilla, and her upcoming singing tour across 15 cities.
What I Learned About Acting from a 17-Year-Old Millie Bobby Brown | Tristan Spohn Interview
Tristan Spohn booked a role in Stranger Things Season 4 right after getting promoted at a moving company. He talks about the eye-blood makeup and stunt harness work that sent him flying across the room, the character journaling he uses instead of script breakdowns, pumpkin time labor laws for child actors on set, and what he picked up watching Millie Bobby Brown and Matthew Modine work up close.
What Tom Hanks Said to Me at the Toy Story 4 Premiere | John Morris Interview
John Morris has been the voice of Andy in Toy Story since he was six years old and dragged 30 X-Men figures to his first Pixar audition against his mother’s wishes to prove he knew how to play. He shares the private conversation he had with Tom Hanks at the Toy Story 4 premiere, how the cast processed losing Jim Varney, the fan theories about Andy’s missing father, and what it feels like to have grown up alongside the same character across four films.
What Guillermo del Toro is Really Like at a Starbucks | Mark Walton Interview – Part Two
Mark Walton returns to explain why getting escorted out of Pixar by security turned out to be the best thing that happened to his career. He gets into the anti-poaching paranoia at Disney in the early 2000s, the DreamWorks campus where free food and on-site doctors kept artists at their desks around the clock, three lost versions of Rapunzel he worked on including a steampunk one, ageism in animation today, and the studio karaoke night where he performed Madonna in a five-foot wig.
Why Malcolm McDowell Called This Disney Artist a “Bloody Bastard” | Mark Walton Interview – Part One
Mark Walton worked on Tarzan at Disney and accidentally became a movie star when he voiced Rhino in Bolt — then got called a “bloody bastard” by Malcolm McDowell at the red-carpet premiere for stealing the spotlight. He talks about the 16mm film that got him into Disney during the post-Lion King boom, awkward run-ins with John Travolta, and the day he spent entirely dressed as Napoleon Dynamite at the studio, reheating tater tots in a fanny pack while senior executives passed in the halls.
Why the DC Titans Camera Guy Missed a “Perfect” Crane Shot | Ethan Henry Interview
Ethan Henry has appeared in Titans and Never Knock and learned early that giving a director unsolicited feedback on a rainy set is a bad idea. He shares stories from his career including watching a co-star get choked by live snakes, a producer destroying his phone in a parking lot, and the Warner Bros. mug he stole and eventually lost to a kitchen cabinet accident. He and McAuley also do an on-the-spot exercise inventing full life stories for random background characters.