Episodios

  • BPS 416: The Brutal and Honest Reality of Self-Distributing a Film Today with Jeff MacIntyre

    BPS 416: The Brutal and Honest Reality of Self-Distributing a Film Today with Jeff MacIntyre
    Apr 24 2025
    Today on the show we have 18 time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jeff MacIntyre. Jeff is the director of the new film The Great Cookie Comeback. Famous Wally Amos introduced us to his famous cookie in 1975. It was love at first bite! 🍪 Then...he lost it all to a big corporation. For 30 years, Wally’s been hustling to get it back. At 82, facing huge personal and financial challenges, can he make his new cookie as famous as his first? Nobody deserves a Great Cookie Comeback like Wally Amos!

    Jeff wanted to be completely transparent on what he did right and wrong on his self-distribution adventures. He decides to create a 45 min+ mini-doc explain the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here's some info on the doc.

    Today, anyone can make an indie film or documentary. The real challenge is selling/distributing your film! In this brutally honest case study, I reveal my steps and strategies for launching a feature doc.Real numbers will be shared! It ain’t pretty, but I hope it helps you. Honestly, there’s too much focus on film-making and not enough on film marketing, film-promoting and film-selling. As indie filmmakers, we must wear all these hats for a fighting chance to successfully self-distribute a film/doc.I just launched a feature-length doc about Wally Amos...THE Amos behind Famous Amos Cookies. This wasn’t my first film. I’ve been cranking out docs for a major network for decades...picked up 17 Emmy Awards along the way. I’m pretty comfortable with “the making” of content. However, brand new was the selling/self-distribution responsibilities with this documentary.Choosing to self-distribute wasn’t an easy choice. But the alternative of “traditional” film distribution was as appealing as getting a colonoscopy from a dentist. 96% of distributors see you like a juicy fly which they hope to woo to their web. Getting drained dry by a used Porta Potty salesman wasn’t a priority. So, I decided to blaze the self-distribution trail alone.There are so many moving parts to pull off a successful film launch. Fresh off the trail, I thought it might be helpful to document the entire experience for other indie filmmakers. Rarely, do creatives share exact numbers? From the film’s production budget to ad spend to profits, I peel the curtain back. Warts and all, you’re going to have a front-row seat on what it looks like to self-distribute, market, and sell a doc in this new era of indie film.Famous Amos even made it on Shark Tank to pitch his new cookie concept.I reached out to Jeff so he could share his story with the tribe. If you are thinking of self-distributing your film this is an episode you will not want to miss.

    Enjoy my conversation with Jeff MacIntyre.

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    1 h y 25 m
  • BPS 415: From Indies to Producing Oscar Winners with Cassian Elwes

    BPS 415: From Indies to Producing Oscar Winners with Cassian Elwes
    Apr 17 2025
    1 h y 8 m
  • BPS 414: Billie Eilish and Truth to Filmmaking with RJ Cutler

    BPS 414: Billie Eilish and Truth to Filmmaking with RJ Cutler
    Apr 10 2025
    Our guest today, RJ Cutler opened up 2021 with his raw, emotional, and remarkable new documentary Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry. He’s a phenomenal documentary and TV director and producer with nearly thirty years of experience in the business.

    The $2 million dollars documentary film which was directed, written, and produced by Cutler centered around singer-songwriter teen sensation and Grammy Award artist, Billie Eilish --- Revealing the creation process of Eilish's debut studio album ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’

    The very intimate telling of Eillish’s solid support system and family, navigating the ropes of the music fame as a young artist depicted unconventionally and astoundingly.

    From college, Cutler started off as a theater director in New York for nine years until he transitioned to filmmaking in 1993 with his debut film, The War Room. The film follows James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, at first during the New Hampshire primary, and then mostly in Little Rock, Arkansas, at the Clinton campaign headquarters. Producing the film, he was able to combine his journalism and theater directing backgrounds. The film went on to win an Oscar®.

    He’s taken on great subject matters and big presences in his documentaries; the likes of legendary John Belushi, Anna Wintour, and Dick Cheney.

    Belushi, released in 2020, examines the too-short life of comedian, actor and musician, John Belushi, original SNL cast member, using previously unheard audiotapes recorded shortly after John Belushi's death. Cutler credits his storytelling to the ability to connect the subject to the processes. People’s desire to have their stories told, especially in documentaries, transcends the technicalities of making a documentary.

    Other well-known films or shows from Cutler are The September Issue (2009), Thin (2006), and Dear… (2020)

    Dear... profiles game-changing icons and the people whose lives they’ve inspired.

    Inspired by Apple’s groundbreaking “Dear Apple” ad for the Apple Watch, Dear... is an inventive approach to biographies of the influential people who are shaping culture and society today using letters that fans have written to them. Dear... focuses on key moments from subjects’ lives and their work that has profoundly impacted not only the individuals who have written letters but the world at large. All episodes are available to watch now on the Apple TV app with an Apple TV+ subscription.We talked a lot about Cutler's journey in the industry and how he landed the project to direct the first TELL ALL of the coolest 19-year-old in the US right now.

    Enjoy my enlightening conversation with RJ Cutler.

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    1 h y 2 m
  • BPS 413: The Problem with Abusive Film Sets with Greg Hemmings

    BPS 413: The Problem with Abusive Film Sets with Greg Hemmings
    Apr 3 2025
    Let me introduce to you all, filmmaker and award-winning film-preneur, Greg Hemmings – Chief storyteller and CEO of Hemmings House Pictures limited. I wanted to address the serious problem of verbal abuse interns and other crew persons face on film sets from directors, producers, or others in charge.Why would I invite a CEO to discuss this topic?

    Well, Gerg’s company, Hemmings House Pictures creates content that inspires positive action. Their essence is to spread kindness and positivity within the work environment and through the content they produce.One example is the heartfelt music film When You Are Wild: A Day in the Life of J. Willis Pratt, which shows the power of friendship and how a community rallied together to help one of their own.The moral model of Hemmings House Pictures is one that many in the industry can learn from.Hemmings has produced and directed countless documentaries, branded content, and commercials, featuring some of the most inspiring stories. One of which is his 2021 documentary, Sistema Revolution – a video case study that explores the impact that the Hemmings House Pictures documentary “Sistema Revolution” had on a community.Besides film and commercial production, Hemmings Film Pictures also curates courses to employ other filmmakers to create positive social change.Without further ado, let’s get into it.

    Enjoy my conversation with Greg Hemmings.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.
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    1 h y 8 m
  • BPS 412: How to Create a Compelling Documentary with Julie Cohen & Betsy West

    BPS 412: How to Create a Compelling Documentary with Julie Cohen & Betsy West
    Mar 27 2025
    Today on the show we have Oscar® nominated documentarians Betsy West & Julie Cohen.Betsy West (Director/Producer) is an Academy Award®-nominated Emmy winning director/producer of RBG (Magnolia, Participant, CNN Films, 2018), along with Julie Cohen. Most recently, she and Cohen directed My Name is Pauli Murray (Participant/Amazon Studios), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021.Betsy was executive producer of the MAKERS PBS/AOL documentary and digital series about the modern women’s movement, and the feature documentary The Lavender Scare (PBS, 2019). As an ABC News producer and executive producer of the documentary series Turning Point, she won 21 Emmy awards. Betsy is the Fred W. Friendly Professor Emerita at Columbia Journalism School.Julie Cohen (Director/Producer) is the Academy Award® nominated, Emmy winning director and producer of RBG (Magnolia, Participant, CNN Films, 2018) along with Betsy West.

    Her film My Name is Pauli Murray, also directed with West, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.Previous films she’s directed include The Sturgeon Queens (7th Art Releasing; Berlinale, 2015; Best of the Fest, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival), and Ndiphilela Ukucula: I Live to Sing (2014 New York Emmy Award for Best Arts Program).Before she started making documentaries, Julie was a longtime staff producer for NBC News. She's been an enthusiastic amateur cook and baker ever since her parents bought her a Cuisinart for her bat mitzvah in the 1970s.Their current film is called JULIA. The film tells the remarkable story of the groundbreaking cookbook author and television superstar who forever changed the way Americans think about food, about television, and even about women.Using a treasure trove of never-before-seen archival video, personal still photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the documentary will trace Julia Child’s surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary ‘instant’ classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group), to her empowering personal story of a woman in her 50s, finding her calling as an unlikely television sensation.

    This is the first feature-length documentary solely devoted to Julia Child, and will illuminate her casual upheaval of the male-dominated culinary and television worlds.Almost single-handedly, Julia Child upended the mythology that women could not hold their own at the highest levels of creative gastronomy, and that the only women Americans wanted to see on TV were young, submissive, and conventionally beautiful.JULIA is produced with the full cooperation of Julia Child’s friends, family, and the Julia Child Foundation. It follows the highly-acclaimed documentary, RBG, executive produced by CNN Films, directed and produced by West and Cohen through their company Storyville Films, and edited by Carla Gutierrez, who will also edit JULIA.The film comes out Nov 12 in-theatres NY/LA followed by nationwide expansion.In this episode we not only discuss the making of Julia and RBG but also cover how they approach documentary, the craft of tell stories and much more.

    Enjoy my conversation with Betsy West & Julie Cohen.

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    55 m
  • BPS 411: Beyond the Script: Gordy Hoffman’s Guide to Emotional Storytelling

    BPS 411: Beyond the Script: Gordy Hoffman’s Guide to Emotional Storytelling
    Mar 20 2025
    Life, they say, is a story we tell ourselves—a script of experience, moments, and emotions woven into a narrative only we can claim as our own. On today’s episode, we welcome Gordy Hoffman, a screenwriter, director, and the mind behind the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition. His journey through the labyrinth of storytelling has been marked by profound lessons in creativity, resilience, and the delicate art of telling tales that move the human heart.As he shares his insights, one thing becomes evident: the best stories are not formulas but living, breathing entities. Too often, writers are shackled by the idea that a script must be a well-oiled machine of plot points and three-act structures.

    But according to Gordy Hoffman, true storytelling is about emotional investment. “The only rule of storytelling is getting an audience to care,” he explains. Without that, no amount of structure or technique can save a lifeless script. Whether it’s an Oscar-winning screenplay or a child recounting their day at school, the heart of a story lies in its ability to make someone feel something real.The conversation drifts into the art of critique—how some script consultants and teachers wield feedback like a sledgehammer rather than a guiding hand. Gordy Hoffman believes in nurturing creativity with kindness, rather than crushing it under the weight of harsh criticism. He’s seen firsthand how a poorly delivered note can stifle a writer, and he champions an approach where constructive guidance fosters growth rather than fear. After all, a writer’s vulnerability is embedded in their work, and the moment they detach from that, their stories lose their humanity.But what about the battle every writer faces—the looming doubt that creeps in halfway through a script, whispering that it’s all meaningless, that every page is a failure? Gordy Hoffman reassures us that this despair is not a dead end but a marker of progress. “Every screenplay you work on, you’re going to hit that wall where you think, ‘This is awful, I’m bored, and I want to start over.’ That’s when you know you’re halfway there.” The magic, he insists, lies in persistence—pushing through the malaise, trusting the process, and understanding that the creative spirit is not meant to be shackled by self-doubt.

    The conversation inevitably turns to Hollywood, that glittering beast that both nurtures and devours dreams. The industry’s appetite for franchise films and established intellectual property has made it harder than ever for original screenplays to find their place. But for those who believe in their stories, avenues still exist—film festivals like Sundance, independent productions, and even the evolving landscape of television. The key is not just writing a screenplay but crafting one so undeniable that it demands to be seen.And what of inspiration? For Gordy Hoffman, it can come from anywhere—a fleeting moment, a stray observation, or even an index card scribbled with a single thought. Love Liza, one of his most well-known works, was born from a brief encounter at a gas station. “I saw someone near a pump, and I thought, ‘Are they sniffing gasoline?’ That small moment turned into a story about grief and addiction.” Such is the power of storytelling—it transforms the mundane into the extraordinary, giving meaning to even the smallest of moments.

    The beauty of storytelling is that it is never truly finished. It grows, shifts, and takes on a life of its own, sometimes in ways we never intended. As Gordy Hoffman reminds us, the path of the writer is one of perseverance, of believing in the story even when the world seems indifferent. In the end, storytelling is less about perfecting structure and more about opening the heart—to others, to ourselves, and to the infinite possibility of what can be created.

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    1 h y 5 m
  • BPS 410: Why Most Independent Films NEVER Make Any Money

    BPS 410: Why Most Independent Films NEVER Make Any Money
    Mar 13 2025
    I've been thinking about doing this podcast for a long time. In the tradition of Why Filmmakers are Always So Damn Broke & What They Can Do to Change It this episode is going to be a cold bucket of water over your head if you are not ready for it. In the insane world, we are all living in today, filmmakers need to break out of the mindset that we are living in the golden age of indie cinema.The rules have changed dramatically since the 90s and even more so in the last 8 months of the COVID pandemic. The rules aren't the only thing that has changed but the game has as well. The film distribution infrastructure is broken and has been broken for many decades. It is not set up to help filmmakers make money. It is purely designed to put more money into the pockets of film distributors.

    I have written extensively about this in my book Rise of the Filmtrepreneur: How to Turn Your Indie Film into a Moneymaking Business. I want to put together one of my hard truths episodes to help filmmakers better understand the indie film marketplace and how to best position themselves to actually make money.There is so much talk about new cameras, lenses, rigs, post-production software, and other more interesting aspects of the filmmaking process but when it comes to selling and making money with movies filmmakers rely on old information that is no longer relevant in the current marketplace. I hope this episode empowers you to not only make more movies but to also make money while doing it.Strap yourself in because for some of you it will be a rough episode to listen to. Be well, stay safe, and keep that hustle going.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.
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    1 h y 13 m
  • BPS 409: How to Make Indie Films That Make REAL Money with J. Horton

    BPS 409: How to Make Indie Films That Make REAL Money with J. Horton
    Mar 6 2025
    Today on the show we have filmmaker and Filmtrepreneur J. Horton. Jason has been in the film industry for as long as I have and has been making movies ever since. What sets him apart from other filmmakers is that he actually makes a living making his films.Jason figured out the formula that would allow him to make a living doing what he loves to do. He produces low-budget feature films and uploads them to Amazon Prime.

    He collects TVOD and SVOD revenue. His key is volume. This year alone he produced 14 feature films.We discuss how he chooses his niche audience, how he shifted from only narrative films to directing niche-focused documentaries, and how he's able to produce so much content.

    Enjoy my conversation with J. Horton.

    Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bulletproof-screenwriting-podcast--2881148/support.
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    1 h y 10 m
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