The Broken Projector Movie Podcast
A movie podcast that isn't boring.

This week we answer your screenwriting questions about tackling story concepts that are outside your personal experience, common mistakes to avoid when trying to get representation, and we learn what a First Class Twinkie really is.

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode116vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 4:11pm EDT

This week, special guest Justin Marks (Jungle Book, Top Gun 2, Counterpart) helps us answer your screenwriting questions about IP, getting started in animation, if one bad film can hurt your career and more.

Send us your questions @brokenprojector on Twitter and podcast@filmschoolrejects.com.

Direct download: brokenprojector-justinmarksvd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 4:03pm EDT

This week special guest Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim, The Curiosity) helps us answer your screenwriting questions about determining if your idea is a TV show or a movie, being unafraid of collaboration, the feeling of that first great script, and much more.

Send us questions @brokenprojector on Twitter or podcast@filmschoolrejects.com.

Direct download: brokenprojector-beachamvd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 4:18pm EDT

Beyonce isn’t a pop staranymore. Not content to put out fun, funky anthems that sweetlychirp about empowerment, she’s taken a baseball bat to her imagealongside the artistic talents of Mark Romanek, Jack White andWarsan Shire. 

Consider Lemonade the dark andgritty reboot of the most dominte pop singer of our time. Whileyou’re at it, stop worrying about Becky with the good hair.

Angelica Jade Bastien has broken down and annotated the symbolic elements of the film andjoins us to discuss the bad ass, witchy ways of an emotional rollcoaster (and to tell Piers Morgan to kiss her ass).

Plus, Geoff and I agonize over Neill Blomkamp’spresence at the helm of a new Alien movie and wonder how manysecond chances a failing director should get without snuffing outinteresting voices.

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode115.mp3
Category:Movie Reviews -- posted at: 12:34pm EDT

This week we answer your screenwriting questions about the best script ever written, how to know if your industry contact is worth anything, what to do when you've got a great script but want perfection, and we probably survive a kick-ass boat chase.

Send us your questions @brokenprojector on twitter or podcast@filmschoolrejects.com

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode115vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 1:40pm EDT

This week's questions involve pesky page economy, looking outside of writing for writing advice, how to avoid being longwinded and the absolute best screenwriting book to buy (if you can only get one).

Send your questions to @brokenprojector on Twitter and podcast@filmschoolrejects.com.

Direct download: brokenprojector-vd4-22.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 12:28pm EDT

Is Jon Snow really dead? How much stalling will the show need to do to let George R.R. Martin catch up? How good can a blind assassin be? Can you unring a Shame Bell? What armies are even out there still fighting? What main character should be killed to get the shock mojo back?

This week's episode seeks to answer as many Game of Thrones questions as we possibly can, speculating and crossing our fingers with special guest hosts Joanna Robinson and Neil Miller (of the Storm of Spoilers podcast!).

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode114.mp3
Category:Television -- posted at: 2:11pm EDT

Is doubling down on blockbuster construction the way to run a modern studio? Whether or not Warners is really going through with that, Geoff and I get into the weeds about what motivates a filmmaking industry constantly on the hunt for $1 billion and a shipment of plastic toys from China. We'll also discuss the implications of shifting all your money into big bets in an age of demanding fans and super-monotony.

Plus, is it a curse or blessing when sequels for cult movies we love get cancelled? 

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode113.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 11:43am EDT

This week we answer your screenwriting questions about crafting dialogue for a family fighting over dinner, where to find a qualified reader, and how insane writing a full season of a TV drama can be.

 

Send us your questions @brokenprojector on Twitter or podcast@filmschoolrejects.com

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode113vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 11:24am EDT

The rubble of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the horizon of 20+ superhero movies hitting screens in the next few years is a disaster of bland action waiting to happen. Can the superhero movie be saved? The first step is admitting the problem.

Elsewhere on the show we'll break down our 6 most anticipated summer movies and explain why hope springs eternal. 

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode112.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 12:49pm EDT

This week we answer your screenwriting questions about using a novel to promote your script, good summer internships and domes on the moon.

Send us your questions @brokenprojector on Twitter and podcast@filmschoolrejects.com

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode112vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 11:44am EDT

Batman branding villains, Superman bleeding, a young Donald Trump building a monster to take both of them down. Yes, we're talking about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in this larger-than-normal episode. We also debate whether Superman is the right superhero for our current social psyche and whether Zack Snyder understands the character, and how the film makes Man of Steel better, all with our friend Brian Truitt from USA Today.

You should follow Brian Truitt (@briantruitt), the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode111.mp3
Category:Movie Reviews -- posted at: 12:23pm EDT

This week, we answer your screenwriting questions about character bio pros and cons, and whether you need an online presence to break into Hollywood. 

Send us more questions on Twitter @brokenprojector or podcast@filmschoolrejects.com

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode111vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 1:12pm EDT

"We can make our own Wally World out of that."

This week, we answer your screenwriting questions about using brands and IP in your script, what to do when your character names suck, putting personality in your descriptions, using banana computers and more.

Direct download: brokenprojector-0304vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Oh, movies of 2005, we can't quit you. This week on the show we will right some wrongs by using ten years' worth of hindsight in order to reevaluate the movies lauded at the 78th Academy Awards.

Joining us for the operation is screenwriter John Gary, who helps us explore the correlations between Munich and Bridge of Spies and asks the toughest question of all about Crash.

Plus, CapoteWalk the LineGood Night and Good Luck and many more to examine with the test of time. It was also a year that brought us a new Batman and a new Fantastic Four movie, so it's a lot like stepping out of a time machine and thinking it didn't work. Should you join us anyway? Absolutely.

You should follow John Gary (@johngary), the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.

 

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode110.mp3
Category:Movie Reviews -- posted at: 1:47pm EDT

Your screenwriting questions, answered. This week, we look at some red flags that might tell you that it's time to get a new agent (if they're charging you money to take out scripts, RUN), try to figure out the puzzle of self-evaluation, decry feelings of worthlessness in the face of a difficult career goal and talk an unusually appropriate amount about Nana's birthday party.

Send your questions to us: podcast@filmschoolrejects.com

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode110vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 3:04am EDT

Deadpool! It succeeded! It was R-rated! Studios are baffled for no real reason! Get ready for copycat syndrome and shoehorned violence. Today on the show we welcome on Forbes box office pundit Scott Mendelson to help us roll our eyes at shocked studio narratives and to examine the elements of what made Deadpool work (and which ones will be overlooked completely by executives looking for an easy turnaround buck). 

As we speak, interns are combing through studio-owned IP to see what goofy superhero they can pour blood all over.

Plus, Geoff and I will talk about the movie review website and the statistics project that won the week.

You should follow Scott Mendelson (@scottmendelson), the show (@brokenprojector), Geoff (@drgmlatulippe) and Scott (@scottmbeggs) on Twitter for more on a daily basis.

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode109.mp3
Category:Movie Reviews -- posted at: 2:15pm EDT

How much unfilmable material can you have in a script? What contests and festivals should you spend money on? Can a new computer program tell how emotional a script is? Your screenwriting questions, answered.

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode109vd.mp3
Category:Screenwriting -- posted at: 11:29am EDT

Inspired by Hail, Caesar!Trumbo and Karina Longworth's outstanding (and ongoing) You Must Remember This series on the Hollywood Blacklist, we want to bring the past into the present.

What would happen if Congress decided to go after Hollywood in 2016 for being "anti-American"? Would they still attack Communism or widen their gaze? Would they even be able to wrangle the broad, diverse amount of movies being made? Would TV be on their main hit list?

This week, special guest host Joanna Robinson joins me to dig into this thought experiment and (hopefully) come out on the other side with our souls in tact. Listen to find out who we're calling before the new House Un-American Activities Committee. 

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode108.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 2:00pm EDT

This week on the show, Geoff and I debate the harmfulness of the Disney vault, and our special guest, Slate culture reporter Aisha Harris, joins us to discuss the underlying issues plaguing the so-white Academy Awards. Listen along as we solve Hollywood.

Direct download: brokenprojector-episode107.mp3
Category:Movies -- posted at: 12:10pm EDT