2025 Year-End Director Panel - Just Shoot It 508

TikTok influencers @teppertoks and @nicolascurciowriter , hosts of the " Hollywood Hang" podcast, talk about balancing how to be an influencer while also being a creative. And Matt and Oren get all the details on how they started and where their feeds lives today. Kristen's main source of income had been making pitch decks for studios and production companies. And early on, she posted about how to create a pitch deck and the different people they are used to pitch. And Matt and Oren dive into how that turned into a job as a showrunner's assistant. You won’t want to miss this episode if you’re dying to learn how to get on the blacklist and hear from two writers who have done it!

“Requiem for a Dream” editor Jay Rabinowitz https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0704950/ joins Matt and Oren in discussing the art of working for top-tier auteurs. Jay’s work includes notable films like "The Tree of Life", "I'm Not There", "O'Dessa", "Is God Is", and "Coffee and Cigarettes". Matt and Oren dive deep into what it means to stand in for the director's point of view and simultaneously speak for the audience. Jay calls this like being “the boulder in the center of the river”, where a single rush of water encounters a boulder, separates, and continues on as a reshaped form. In that realm, what does intentionality mean? And how is it different for Terrence Malick vs. Darren Aronofsky? After first cutting his teeth editing network TV – 4 acts, commercial breaks, and the strict regime around how long each act must be – Jay spent 15 or so years cutting commercials. And there he learned the art of making a cut that speaks to everyone in the hierarchy: brand, agency, director, and all the personalities in between. You won’t want to miss this episode if you love film and the collaboration of auter-ship!!

Yoko Okumura is back again! And she’s fresh off the release of her latest film with Universal Studios!!! Matt and Oren dive into what it was like to direct “The Last Kiss” and the art of working with Blumhouse.

Alrik Bursell, Liz Manashi, Matt & Oren have, made over 1,100 podcasts episodes – 600 by “Making Movies is Hard” and 547 for “Just Shoot It”. What a shift it’s been from how they used to view the industry a decade ago, to how they view it today. There was a time when you could make a $100,000 short, get into Sundance, and that would launch you into a career as a full-time director. If only you had the determination, will, and creative desire to see it through. And Matt and Oren dive into how family, kids, houses, and bills change that. A dose of perspective from Alrik and Liz opens a deep conversation into whether it was ever in the cards that they’d be the type of filmmaker the industry wants. Because it’s not all about the best idea, or the best execution. It’s also about having the best wrapper – how you present, the impression you make, your willingness to trade off, sell out, compromise, or whatever you want to call it. You won’t want to miss this episode if you’re feeling the big chill from what you dreamed your career would be. And you will find sanguine company among those who share your insights and desire to elevate your craft as a filmmaker and artist.

Matt & Oren talk about how nice it would be to have a career that drives itself. One where you the money keeps coming in. And the hustle is less. You might think cruise control means not caring. But that’s not what this episode is about. Matt and Oren want to share some ways to keep caring. Ways to hack your dopamine system to stay motivated, maybe even ambitious. Is that a bad thing?. You already know that “hope” is not a business plan. But how can you deal with the depression, or better put, long lulls in dopamine fixes from landing jobs and being on set? Creating output is definitely one way. And Matt and Oren have a lively chat about whether a short film can help your career as a commercial director. And how you can use a thoughtfully conceived short to your advantage when pitching jobs. You won’t want to miss this episode if you’ve ever wondered, “Am I the only one not working right now?”