STEVEN D. KATZ | Writing A Classic, Teaching Michael Jackson, & More
Steve Katz has possibly the most eclectic background and resume of anyone I’ve ever spoken to. His early influences in the 1960s, like Ray Harryhausen and Famous Monsters magazine, mixed with watching rehearsals at the nearby Westport Country Playhouse with visiting directors like Woody Allen to the influence and support of his parents to propel him into an artistic life from the very beginning. That led him to, among other things: learning film cameras via a cousin in New York who worked on TV shows like “Car 54, Where Are You?”; putting together psychedelic light shows in NYC at places like the Fillmore East and working with bands like The Grateful Dead, The Doors, The Byrds, and Sly & The Family Stone starting at age 19; playing bluegrass banjo; working on John McTiernan’s first film; befriending “Saturday Night Live” writing legend Michael O’Donoghue and seeing a legendary short film he directed, “The Clams”, go on to open a season of “SNL” and catch a big break as a TV writer; he continued to work and grow and eventually established himself as a writer-director-producer in Hollywood; created the first digital previz on the feature Clear and Present Danger; and eventually, all his experience brought him to - yes - China, where he has been involved in many projects big and small. But of all the references I just name-checked, the one that originally cemented Steve’s name in my mind back in the day was that he wrote a truly legendary cinema book called Film Directing: Shot by Shot, published by the then-upstart Michael Weise Productions. It was released in 1992, which is when I was in film school, and it instantly became required reading in my Film Production courses! It’s familiar blue cover was updated a few years ago to announce the new, 25th anniversary edition, which was freshly and thoroughly revised for the digital age. It’s easily the film book I have gifted to more people than any other, and it was a real treat to get to hear some of Steve’s stories in-depth. Among the crazy but true tales already mentioned, we scratch the surface on Steve’s several engagements as Michael Jackson’s personal filmmaking tutor - a story he has NEVER told before! Steve was resident at the Neverland Ranch for months at a time, was flown into luxury hotels to work with the star, sometimes just watching movies late at night. He also saw things in his time around MJ that will likely merit another show entirely, but we will have much more on that topic another day. We even overlap on his interest in the intersection between art and neuroscience, among many other wonky and highly specific topics. To top it off, he’s also a good friend of one of my best friends, Kevin Geiger, so the “small world” meter is off the charts with this one for me. More on all that later. For now, though, you can visit the blog post at https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/knew-resources for links, contact information, and I hope you enjoy this epic conversation with Steven Katz!
STEVEN KATZ links:
BOOK - Film Directing: Shot by Shot - 25th Anniversary Edition: Visualizing from Concept to Screen by Steven D. Katz: https://mwp.com/product/film-directing-shot-shot-25th-anniversary-edition-visualizing-concept-screen/
WEB - https://www.shotbyshotbook.com
SEARCH “If I Knew You Better” in all podcatchers OR LISTEN here - APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-i-knew-you-better/id1457785319 / WEB PLAYER: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/website/ LINKS https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/knew-resources
STEVE “CAPTAIN HOFF” HOFFMAN | From Hollywood to Silicon Valley to China
Millions of people in the tech & startup world know Steve Hoffman as “Captain Hoff” from Foundersspace, a leading incubator from Silicon Valley that is now omnipresent throughout China. But very few people know that his FIRST career was as a development executive in Hollywood, and this is the first time Steve’s talked about all this in-depth since beginning his China adventures.
The lessons he's learned from his success shaping startups & stories are invaluable, & applicable regardless of your vocation or location.
I especially love his closing thoughts: “Are you putting your time into the most important things? Given who you are and where you are in your life, what's the most value you can be creating for the people around you and the world around you, and can you focus your energies on that instead of getting distracted by all these other things?”
This was a very fun and special conversation, so I hope you check it out.
STEVE HOFFMAN links -
Foundersspace:
WEB: http://www.foundersspace.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/foundersspace/
“Make Elephants Fly” Book: https://www.foundersspace.com/make-elephants-fly/
Steve Hoffman on “How China Works”: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/005-silicon-valley-with-chinese-characteristics-steven-captain-hoff-hoffman
Steve Hoffman on “Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”: http://howchinaworks.libsyn.com/043-steve-hoffman-aka-captain-hoff-yingying-li-brendan-davis
SEARCH “If I Knew You Better” in all podcatchers OR listen / learn more at APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-i-knew-you-better/id1457785319 / WEB PLAYER: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/website/ LINKS https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/knew-resources
JAMES GOODNIGHT | Photography, China Car Culture, & Expat Life Hacks
James Goodnight is an Arts Center graduate who adventured around the US after school, but that was just the start. He moved to Beijing 10 years ago and built a career as a commercial photographer, specializing in car ads. He’s also a big fan of indoor watersports, and tells us all about that. James’ story involves a lot of synchronicities and I just had one of those days myself yesterday, so I share my own weirdly funny tale in the intro.
JAMES GOODNIGHT links:
Web: http://james-goodnight.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flywave_official/
Flywave WeChat: flywave_china
LISTEN -
“If I Knew You Better”: LISTEN - APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-i-knew-you-better/id1457785319 / WEB PLAYER: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/website/ LINKS https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/knew-resources
“How China Works”: LISTEN - APPLE: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-iTunes / ANDROID: http://howchinaworks.libsyn.com / SOUNDCLOUD: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-Soundcloud / STITCHER: https://tinyurl.com/hcw-stitcher / WEB PLAYER: https://www.howchinaworkspodcast.com
“Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”: APPLE: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2 / SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/brendan-davis-2 / STITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/brendan-davis/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom / WEB PLAYER: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com
KEVIN GEIGER | Revenge of the Fretful Laowai Radio Hour!
Returning champion Kevin Geiger (Magic Dumpling, Peewee Frog; ex-Disney) is back for another freewheeling China chat! We start with an outline and let it rip from there. Big fun, and a big reason I rebooted the podcast. We talk about returning home & expat ennui (hence the “Fretful Laowai” show handle), our new projects, how to (and how NOT to) package and produce a feature film (note: it really helps if you hire a rockstar cinematographer, and then he brings on partners who’ve worked on Green Book, the latest Star Wars, Interstellar, etc) and lastly: how to tell if you’ve been in China for too damn long. Enjoy!
KEVIN GEIGER links:
Peewee Frog books http://peeweefrog.com/news.html
Magic Dumpling Entertainment www.magicdumpling.com
Huhu Studios http://huhustudios.com
《神隐桃花源》“Shen Yin Tao Hua Yuan” / “Hidden in the Peach Blossom Garden” https://www.awn.com/blog/breaking-boundaries-beijing
SEARCH “If I Knew You Better” in all podcatchers OR listen / learn more below:
LISTEN - APPLE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/if-i-knew-you-better/id1457785319 / WEB PLAYER: http://ifiknewyoubetter.libsyn.com/website/ LINKS https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/knew-resources
“How China Works”: LISTEN - APPLE: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-iTunes / ANDROID: http://howchinaworks.libsyn.com / SOUNDCLOUD: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-Soundcloud / STITCHER: https://tinyurl.com/hcw-stitcher / WEB PLAYER: https://www.howchinaworkspodcast.com
“Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom”: APPLE: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2 / SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/brendan-davis-2 / STITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/brendan-davis/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom / WEB PLAYER: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com
CARL KING | Creating Your Own Path (series finale)
CARL KING is a true polymath: someone who’s professionally good at many things. He’s a screenwriter, published book author, composer, engineer, director, producer, & more. Carl has worked with numerous legends in the progressive music and geek culture scenes, including Dweezil Zappa, Steve Vai, Kevin Smith, the late Jon Schnepp, Brendon Small, and many others. And among his massive credits list, Carl created our theme music! So since Carl’s work (with drums by Mike Stone!) is the FIRST thing you hear on this podcast, I thought it made sense to have him on as my LAST regular guest on the show, too. Wait - last show, you say? What!? More details in the show. Enjoy!
CARL KING links:
WEB: http://carlkingdom.com
MUSIC: https://shop.carlkingdom.com/collections/digital-downloads/products/sir-millard-mulch-how-to-sell-collection-2-failure-digital-download
MIKE STONE on Drums!
https://www.facebook.com/mike.stone1
BFMK Links:
APPLE: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom/id1237037187?mt=2
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/brendan-davis-2
STITCHER: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/brendan-davis/big-fish-in-the-middle-kingdom
WEB PLAYER: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com
KEVIN GEIGER | “Return of The Fretful Laowai Radio Hour"
#088: KEVIN GEIGER | “Return of The Fretful Laowai Radio Hour"
On this special lucky Holiday Edition of the show (#88!), Kevin Geiger and I talk about: his wife Wen Feng’s recent award-winning VR project on the Dunhuang Caves, the value and necessity of offshore creative development, his new children’s book, my writing ambitions, upcoming LA and Paris trips, and the future of this show - including a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. Enjoy!
Kevin Geiger / Wen Feng LINKS:
Dunhuang VR project: https://www.awn.com/blog/three-keys-compelling-vr
BONNY BUNNY’S BABY BROTHER:
“Bonny Bunny’s world was PERFECT... until her baby brother BILLY came into it.”
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/bonny-bunnys-baby-brother/id1444540255
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KXKMKKB
SPONSOR - SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER!
Get “The Complete Podcasting Course” or give it as a GIFT for only $12 US!
Visit the link here to use my couple code: https://www.udemy.com/complete-podcasting-course/?couponCode=HOLIDAY_SPECIAL
FIND the “How China Works” podcast with Yingying Li & Brendan Davis at APPLE: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-iTunes / STITCHER: https://tinyurl.com/hcw-stitcher / SOUNDCLOUD: https://tinyurl.com/HowChinaWorks-Soundcloud / ANDROID: http://howchinaworks.libsyn.com / WEB: https://www.howchinaworkspodcast.com