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Storycraft

How people make stories. Featuring conversations with comic book creators, filmmakers, comedians, musicians, writers & more. Hosted by graphic novelist Kraig Rasmussen. New episodes weekly starting January 2020!
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Now displaying: Category: TV & Film
Jun 24, 2017

Film Editor and friend Jake Pushinsky (Man Down, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Fighting) invited me to record with him in his editing office on the Sony lot. Getting to visit a place so packed with film history was the cherry on top of an excellent talk about the mechanics of film storytelling, naturalism, and his longtime collaboration with Dito Montiel that has yielded 7 unique & powerful films already. We get technical on the amazing scene in Fighting, which squares off Channing Tatum and real-life badass Kung Le, how that very experimental fight harnessed the power of Kung Le without relying solely on a master shot, as well as how that film is proof Channing Tatum is both nuts and amazing. As a couple of San Francisco kids, we get candid about Robin Williams and what it was like for Jake to edit one of his final films, and his two-part, epic, upcoming Muhammad Ali documentary for HBO Films. There is also a very direct and intriguing formula revealed for how to avoid exposition! This is one for all storytellers, but most assuredly for serious cinephiles and those looking to up their game in crafting solid, naturalistic stories.

Check out Jake's work on Netflix, Fighting and Silicon Cowboys, and find the rest of his work on Amazon Instant Video: A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, The Son of No One, Empire State, Boulevard, Man Down, Howl, Chops, 10 Years, The Making of a Father's Dream, and We Don't Belong Here. That's your homework, but you'll thanks me later!

Follow Jake on twitter @jakepushinsky and go see the Clapper when it comes out dag nabbit! Follow director Dito Monitel on twitter @ditomontiel.

Follow this podcast on twitter @storycraftpod. Please support it by subscribing, rating & reviewing on iTunes. Then tell all your friends!

If you'd like to do more, please visit patreon.com/monkeygong &/or monkeygong.com/shop.

Follow me on twitter & instargram @kraigcomx.

Mar 3, 2017

Film director John Hyams sat with me in a noisy Hollywood motel room to discuss his solid career as a director, from his terrific documentary start, to his great work with Jean Claude Van Damme, especially the bravura surprise that is Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, and his unique childhood that, along with art school and some illustration chops, helped prepare him to become the powerful filmmaker he is today. We get into the difference between directing for TV and feature films, how TV and movies have switched narrative places, the future of cinema, and some incredibly tangible mental tools that allow you to make better films (or really any project.) In addition to dozens of great takeaways for creators, this episode is chock-a-block with behind the scenes wisdom and anecdotes from some very notable projects and moments in time, including the Universal Soldier films, Z Nation, his secret doc that I don't want to spoil here, and it's incredibly timed connection to the world of MMA/UFC, to some projects he didn't direct, but rather observed being made... Why am I being vague?

Listen to find out!

Follow John Hyams on twitter @jrhyams. Keep watching Z Nation, the Originals & Chicago PD to support John's TV work, and watch out for his upcoming projects Bullets for Breakfast and the (serious) remake of Maniac Cop (written by Ed Brubaker!!)

Follow me on twitter and instagram @kraigcomx and keep up with the show and my comics work at monkeygong.com.

Please share this show with your friends, as well as rate and review it on iTunes to help increase the reach!

Jan 20, 2017

Film Critic Neil T. Weakley (comedyfilmnerds.com) joined me to hash out our favorite films, filmmakers, film quirks/sublteties that make films improve as we grow with them, a whole bunch of Star Wars talk, and what it means to truly critique a thing. There's a strong thread of allowing art to be what it wants to be, not what we want it to be. It's a playful, nerdy, detailed and altogether story praising episode. Hear us two fanatics dish on levels rarely seen on even this podcast!

Follow Neil on twitter @FilmNerdNeil and read his writing at comedyfilmnerds.com.

Follow me on twitter an instagram @kraigcomx. Support this show by shopping at monkeygong.com, or subscribing, rating and reviewing on iTunes.

Sep 21, 2016

Founder/Savior of Film Threat Magazine, Film writer, TV Host, Stand-Up Comedian, and podcaster Chris Gore sat down with me for an entertaining, very deep and practically prophetic discussion of life/work balance, health hacks, universal elements of creative process, and of course, tons of film talk. We range from remakes to blockbusters and film of all shapes and sizes, trends, industry frustrations and making your own break. This will remain one of the most satisfying and full episodes for a long time to come.

Head to kickstarter now to fund the last few days of the Save Film Threat campaign, and find out about all the cool plans for the upcoming Film Threat relaunch.

Follow @thatchrisgore on twitter and instagram.

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