Matt and Oren celebrate 500 episodes! That's basically one episode per week without dropping a beat, not even on Thanksgivings, since 2015.

And while it's true "Just Shoot It" has changed a lot over the years. So too has the film & TV industry. It all started with a focus on auteur filmmaking. But the podcast took a definite shift towards commercial directing over the years.

And while both Matt and Oren have successful careers and get paid to actually do what they love doing, neither broke out in a way that made them lose touch with what it really means to make it in the film and TV industry. Through the ups and the downs, both for the industry as a whole and for their individual careers, they've ridden the same rollercoaster as you.

Matt talks about some dark times and how he made it through. And Oren and Matt both exchange techniques and ways of thinking that they picked up over the years to help them succeed faster. In the end, they wrote their own rules instead of waiting to "suddenly be discovered".

Sure, luck was involved, but in a lot of ways, they learned to help luck take root.

It's a real up-close look at where Matt and Oren are today in their careers, a look back at how they got there, and some introspection about what they might have done different.

You can't miss this episode if you're looking to find tips and tricks to make it in film or TV in 2025 and beyond.

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Matt's Endorsement: Molegirl aka "Tunnel Girl" on TikTok

https://www.fastcompany.com/91299852/tiktoks-tunnel-girl-is-digging-again-much-to-the-internets-delight

https://www.tiktok.com/@engineer.everything?lang=en

Oren's Endorsement: Adobe's Firefly Boards https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly/features/moodboard.html

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Seth Worley https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2124394/ made money selling tools for filmmakers. And Matt and Oren get him to talk about ways filmmakers can make side-income today. Can filmmakers make money selling plug-ins and stock footage? And if so, how?

But why make side-income as a filmmaker or working commercial director? Simply put: AI. And the guys get into a broader discussion how AI will change video and the impact AI will have in an already saturated marketplace of creatives. And they wrestle with tough questions like, what kind directors won't be replaced by AI?

Like a lot of filmmakers, Seth's real passion is making good work. And he gets into his 9-year journey to complete his latest film, "Sketch". Did it change his life completely? The short answer is no. But you'll want to hear how making his feature film transformed how he worked from Nashville as a commercial director.

This is the VFX episode you won't want to miss. And you’ll hear some great tips for making a Spielberg-reminiscent, Amblin-inspired movie for today's audiences.

Find Seth on IG @thesethworley

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Matt's Endorsement: Evan Monsma's YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@EvanMonsma

Oren's Endorsement:

"Why You Should Shoot It Twice" from Frameset https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSrlQdtuLi0

The latest episode from the podcast "Lonely Island and Seth Meyers " https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laser-cats-5/id1738121304?i=1000732778308

Edgar Wright on "Smartless" podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/edgar-wright/id1521578868?i=1000731238799

Seth's Endorsement: Sho Pizza Bar https://www.shopizzabar.com/

The album "Getting Killed" by the band Geese. https://geesebandnyc.bandcamp.com/album/getting-killed

The soundtrack from "It Follows" https://music.apple.com/us/album/it-follows-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-deluxe/1842890406

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you define your voice as a director? John-Michael Powell https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3119508/ talks about his new film "Violent Ends" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6902560 and the career journey that brought it to theaters.

When the entire faculty of his art college told him to give up on becoming an artist, John-Michael moved to Los Angeles. He landed his first job at Bunim-Murray Productions, spending nights watching VHS tapes of "The Real World" and transcribing every line of dialogue onto scraps of paper. By day, he lived in a garage in the Valley off the 405 and close to the edge of moving back home.

The better he became at editing TV segments with paper scraps thumb-tacked to a corkboard, the faster he spiraled towards mastering useless skills and boring stories about the way things were.

But John-Michael had a knack for finding building blocks in any situation. Even alone, the work fueled him. But he still didn't yet know why that mattered to him.

Soon things started taking shape: a Sundance award, editing a documentary on the Boston Marathon bombers, learning comedic timing from legend Jerry Zucker, and eventually an Emmy. Suddenly, he began seeing how the trajectory he was on, was nothing he imagined growing up in Arkansas.

Listen as John-Michael shares about his career. Why Arkansas is a big part. And how it's all about constant discovery. You're really going to enjoy seeing and feeling why he’s in love with building his voice as a director and uncovering the secrets that await.

Find him on Instagram: @johnmichael_powell

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Matt's Endorsement: The cookbook "Let's Party", by Dan Pelosi https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/dan-pelosi/lets-party/9781454956785/

Oren's Endorsement: An interview with David Zucker on the podcast "How I Write: Hollywood Director Explains The 15 Rules of Comedy" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/david-zucker-hollywood-director-explains-the-15-rules/id1700171470?i=1000715428218

John Michael's Endorsement: "A Dictionary of Color Combinations", by Sanzo Wada https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Color-Combinations-Various/dp/4861522471

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maya ‘Mayachka’ Margolina https://mayachka.com/ talks about her work with luxury brands like Coach, Rihanna's Fenty, Mercedes Benz, and MCM and how she craft treatments that get her work. And she reveals her own struggle to avoid being derivative while acknowledging that everything is derivative, at least somehow.

In this episode, Oren and Matt unpack how Maya's unique cinematic form gets audiences to perceive brands in ways they never imagined. You might call it bridging the gap between a brand and a part of you brain that's from a completely different galaxy.

And though her unique perspective is mind-bending, much of her method is grounded in the same framework Matt and Oren have used in their comedy-focused work. You'll see similar beats with a familiar thought process and the same discovery call, but coming together in a completely different art form. And Maya discusses the details of working with movement directors and music supervisors as well as her interpretation of camera motion, pop culture memes, and getting the best performance from models and celebrities.

Honest question. Are you someone who would never call something "hot"? Then this is the down to earth story of how to direct commercials for luxury brands that you've been wanting to hear!

IG @mayachka____

(that's 4 underscores)

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Matt's Endorsement: Hayao Miyazaki's. "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087544/

Oren's Endorsement: the Roku remote has a headphone jack. And, r/barista on Reddit is hilarious https://www.reddit.com/r/barista/?rdt=37757

Maya's Endorsement: Flora AI https://www.florafauna.ai/ node-based AI with a UI reminiscent of Davinci Resolve color grading.

"Copycat" with Sigourney Weaver https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112722

Low Cinema in Queens NYC https://lowcinema.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janek Ambros https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4471783/ doesn't use social media for self-promotion. And he tells up and coming filmmakers, you have to be annoying. Because in reality, that's what everyone in this industry is doing, including A-Listers.

Besides if you're under 30, you're not supposed to know any better. So swing for the fence!! With a Sundance film under his belt and scores of other, Janek brings a filmmaker-sans-TV-commercial perspective, grit, and tenacity. And Matt and Oren explore his fascinating counterpoint take one how to make a career. Things like what makes a script that gets picked up. And where to start writing -- for character or budget.

It's a fact-filled episode overflowing with juicy info!

Find Janek on IG: @assemblylineent

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Matt's Endorsement: "Singing In the Rain" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045152/

Oren's Endorsement: "Gabby's Dollhouse", the movie https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32214143/ and the HBO show "Peacemaker" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13146488/

Janek's Endorsement: "The Kid Stays in the Picture" audiobook by Robert Evans, read by Robert Evans https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Kid-Stays-in-the-Picture-Audiobook/B00CICHAN8 And “Adventures in the Screen Trade”, the book https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/william-goldman/adventures-in-the-screen-trade/9780446391177

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mercedes Bryce Morgan https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5521959/ talks about building the career that got her "Bone Lake" https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26783625/. From several Marshmello videos, episodes of Stargate Origins, and ten-by-tens, Mercedes has learned a lot.

One of her techniques is the pre-pitch meeting. That's a get together (on zoom of course) prior to her pitch. Kind of like a creative brief. And she sees it as an opportunity to find out what they really want. Which is sometimes easier for people to articulate, she learned, as what they don't want.

Another is embedding gifs into her shot list and seeing second units not as a budget extra, but as a real cost-saving tool.

If you're building a career as a fillmmaker, you won't want to miss out on some pointers that most people don't talk about.

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Join Matt & Oren at the Just Shoot It mixer! You don't even have to shower come!

Free tickets!

Wednesday, October 8 · 7 - 10pm PDT

Lawless Brewing Co.

5275 Craner Avenue Los Angeles, CA 91601

RSVP and info at https://events.justshootitpod.com or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/just-shoot-it-october-meetup-tickets-1665676596539

Matt's Endorsement: Texture Labs https://texturelabs.org/

Oren's Endorsement: Have an editor on set. And bring png's of on-screen text to your VTR person on set.

Mercedes' Endorsement: Six Flags' Hurricane Harbor https://www.sixflags.com/hurricaneharborla

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt and Oren reveal their backstory in this collab with G.G. Hawkins and No Film School. https://nofilmschool.com/u/lostingraceland And you won't want to miss what it was like before smartphones , back when there was a barrier to entry to making video or film.

It was totally different from today. Or was it? OK today, almost anyone can use a smartphone and AI to create some amazing content.

And that's just the opportunity. It may be easier, but it has less value. Meaning most anyone can't make a living as a filmmaker. Or can you?

Maybe you can master the multiple tentacles of connections you need to have in order to have visibility to opportunities that level up you career in a meaningful way. And maybe you can build community and know how to warm people up to who you are in a matter of seconds.

And that's what this episode is about. Because today it's even more critical to get the attention of people you need to hear you out, when they see thousands just like you every day.

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

Join Matt & Oren at the Just Shoot It mixer! You don't even have to shower come!

Free tickets!

Wednesday, October 8 · 7 - 10pm PDT

Lawless Brewing Co.

5275 Craner Avenue Los Angeles, CA 91601

RSVP and info at https://events.justshootitpod.com or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/just-shoot-it-october-meetup-tickets-1665676596539

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Morris https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2730235/ joins Carlyn Hudson - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3972277 https://www.instagram.com/carlynhudson to talk about their views on making that signature feature film that everyone dreams of, one that is an iconic piece of IP that launches a Jordan Peele-career.

And Oren and Matt dive into what that means when you start wanting to own a house, have kids, and think about college -- not your college tuition, but your kids! On the one hand, a successful freelance career in commercials, can make it all happen. And over 10 years, 15 years or more, it can elevate your directing chops beyond what you could have imagined.

On the other hand, it can be the very reason why chasing that feature, the one that finally shows your full skill set and ability, is a financial fantasy. Like, why risk losing work while spending 2, 3, or 10 years to make that feature?

Ira Glass preached about how you have to stick it out until your talent matches your taste. But is that even possible in a future with AI?

And Tom gets into how, after having several features under his belt, what would get him noticed by influential showrunners, was making another short.

This is what adulting is like as a filmmaker. And it comes at a time when what you do next matters more than ever.

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Help our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/JustShootItPod

*** MIXER !!! PARTY ***

Join Matt & Oren at the Just Shoot It mixer! You don't even have to shower!

Free tickets!

Wednesday, October 8 · 7 - 10pm PDT

Lawless Brewing Co.

5275 Craner Avenue Los Angeles, CA 91601

RSVP and info at https://events.justshootitpod.com or https://www.eventbrite.com/e/just-shoot-it-october-meetup-tickets-1665676596539

Matt's Endorsement: Weleda Skin Food https://www.weleda.com/product/skin-food-light-nourishing-cream-g007756

Oren's Endorsement: How to be a human fly swatter using the Alan Gwizdowski method https://www.instagram.com/alangwiz/ .

Tom's Endorsement: the medical staff at Cedar's Sinai Hospital

Carlyn's Endorsement: "The Battered Bastard of Baseball" documentary on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/70299904

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.