Red Carpet Rookies
Every great film and TV maker began as a Red Carpet Rookie. In this podcast each episode you’ll learn from the life and career story of someone who’s grown to the top of the entertainment business, hearing how they mastered their craft with lessons you can apply to harness your own creative talent in your own career and everyday life.
From lessons given by Spielberg to Oscar-winners tips on imposter syndrome, and some pretty crazy on-set anecdotes thrown in for good measure…
My name is Mike Battle a film crew member turned screenwriter and I’ll be your host…and this is Red Carpet Rookies.
Episodes
53 episodes
#51 - Ronan Bennett: Creating Top Boy, Working with Michael Mann, Following Obsession, Stamina, and Why Screenwriting is like Playing Tennis with Novak Djokovic
Today’s guest began his career writing novels informed by his experiences growing up in the troubles of 1970s Northern Ireland such as The Second Prison which was shortlisted for the 1991 Irish Times prize.Soon after, he began writing fo...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 31
•
26:21
#50 - Lorien McKenna: How the The Pixar Story Department Actually Works, Creating Career Agency, Writing For Visuals, Challenging Shame and The Power of Vulnerability
Today’s guest began her creative journey in the world of theatre before moving to Pixar where she worked in the story department of hits including Ratatouille, Up, Brave, The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out.Having now transitioned to writin...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 30
•
38:09
#49 - Simon Blackwell: Writing Veep & The Thick of It, Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Scary Phrase, Emergency Plane Writing, The Genius of Armando Iannucci, Sweary Grannies, & Why Parenting Makes You A Better Creative
I am lucky to introduce today’s guest who has been at the forefront of British comedy for the last two decades.The man behind hit shows such as Back starring Mitchell and Webb and Sky’s Breeders, his career is long and celebrated but it ...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 29
•
36:05
#48 - John Zaozirny, Literary Manager on The ‘Magic’ That Makes a Hollywood Script, Screenwriting Lessons from Tony Gilroy, How He Finds Clients, Network Building, and Why Not to Write for the Market
Hello and welcome to Red Carpet Rookies, today’s guest earned his early entertainment industry stripes working at Village Roadshow and Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way, later transitioning to the world of literary management, w...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 28
•
36:56
#47 - Rhys Thomas: Directing SNL, Secret Marvel Security Meetings, The Handiness of a British Accent, & Making Documentary Now with Bill Hader and Fred Armisen
Born to a sleepy town in South Wales, after university, he swapped the countryside for the Big Apple where he made his name as the film unit director at New York institution, Saturday Night Live.In addition to his time at 30 Rock, he’s a...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 27
•
47:45
#46 - Sam Bain: Writing Peep Show, Crafting Four Lions With Chris Morris, Pre Success ‘Disasters’, Screenwriting Myths, And How Kids TV Made Him
Hello and welcome to Red Carpet Rookies.I’m very excited to introduce today’s guest who cut his teeth working on the British children’s TV that made up my childhood with shows like The Queens Nose, Tracey Beaker and My Parents are Aliens...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 26
•
29:47
#45 - Julian Caldow: Designing Tim Burton’s Batmobile, World Building Game of Thrones, Bond Gadgets, Proof of Work, & The James Cameron KY Jelly Incident
Today’s guest began his career working as a runner on James Cameron’s legendary action movie Aliens but found his home in the art department where he honed the skill of concept art becoming one of the foremost illustrators in the business.<...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 25
•
38:30
#44 - Charles Steel: Producing Top Boy, Meetings With Drake, Importance of Hustle, Finding Your Why, & Putting Jude Law on a Russian Submarine
Today’s guest has one of the most varied resumes of anyone in the film and TV business. Having produced everything from megahit Top Boy to winning a BAFTA for The Last King of Scotland, making documentaries and more, I can’t wait to hear his st...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 24
•
31:50
#43 - Adam Epstein: Editing The Bear's Best Episode, The Addictive Life of Saturday Night Live, Compounding Relationships & The Music of Editing
Hello and welcome to Red Carpet Rookies.Today’s guest is a first for a the show. Someone who began his career in the world of comedy editing. With eight years at the legendary Saturday Night Live to his name, he’s been in the cutting roo...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 23
•
28:54
#42 - Juliet Taylor: Legendary Casting Director on Taxi Driver & The Exorcist, Discovering Meryl Streep, Spielberg's Pot Smoking 80s Crew, Career Luck, Woody Allen, & Collaborating With A Holocaust Survivor on Schindler’s List
Today’s guest is one of the most notable casting directors in the history of movie making.Beginning her career under the tutelage of legendary casting director Marion Doughtery, our guest then transitioned to making a name for hersel...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 22
•
36:34
#41 - Andy Horwitz: Assisting Christopher Nolan's Producer on The Dark Knight, Getting Kathryn Bigelow into Brazil, Producing American Hustle & How A Movie Script Gets Bought
Today’s guest began his filmmaking career under the tutelage of legendary Producer Charles Roven where he was a producer’s assistant on Hollywood blockbusters such as Get Smart, The International and of course, Christopher Nolan’s, The Dark Kni...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 21
•
39:53
#40 - Ali Plumb: Life as BBC Radio 1's Film Critic, Career Authenticity, Creating Great Media and How to Interview Harrison Ford
Today’s guest earned his early entertainment industry stripes working as a journalist for publications including Digital Spy and Empire before gaining what must be one of the world’s most fun jobs as Radio 1’s very own film critic, a position h...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 20
•
29:58
#39 - Chris Lang: Writing Record-Breaking TV with Unforgotten, Screenwriting Rituals, Finding Humanity in Murderers, and Dealing With Failure in the Entertainment Business
Today’s guest is the king of British detective drama writing. Having discovered his talent for the written word whilst in a comedy troupe with a pre-movie star Hugh Grant, my guest later transitioned to drama where he has produced over 100 hour...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 19
•
29:42
#38 - Fassa Sar: How I Became One of Sony Pictures Youngest Executives (And Why I Left To Change Hollywood Networking)
Today’s guest began her career as one of the youngest ever executives at Sony where she was part of the team that brought the now iconic ‘fully onscreen’ movie Searching to our screens, as well as many other projects such as Broken Hearts G...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 19
•
25:26
#37 - Anna Smith, BBC Film Critic on Interviewing A-Listers, Cultivating Taste, YouTube Film Critics and the Power of Networking
Today’s guest is something new for the show, our first film critic! Beginning her career in the world of music magazine editing, she soon transitioned to freelance writing on her favourite topic: movies. In the years since she’s graced every pu...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 18
•
30:56
#36 - Ed Guiney, 'Normal People' Producer on Finding Your People, Childhood with Lenny Abrahamson, Hollywood Moguls, and Being An Advocate for Yourself
Today’s guest is one of Ireland’s most notable film producers.Beginning his life in the Irish capital, he pursued his passion into movie production during his time at Trinity College Dublin where he set up a film society with a certain L...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 17
•
22:30
#35 - Set Design Special | James Chinlund (The Batman), Luke Hull (Andor), Neil Lamont (Secrets of Dumbledore), Jim Clay (House of the Dragon), Sarah Greenwood (Cyrano) - Live from the BFDG Awards
Today's podcast is something a little different.This weekend I was honoured to attend this year's British Film Designers Guild awards to speak to some of the very decorated production designers nominated. I managed to get a little time w...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 16
•
28:44
#34 - Stuart Craig, Legendary Set Designer on Creating Hogwarts, Surprising David Lynch, The Power of Teamwork and Crafting The Largest Movie Scene of All Time
Today’s guest is one of the most accomplished production designers in the world today. Starting his career under the tutelage of Star Wars designer John Barry, he worked his way through the art department on 1970s classics such as the original ...
•
Season 4
•
Episode 15
•
22:08
#33 - Colleen Atwood, Iconic Costume Designer on Crafting Hannibal Lecter’s Mask, Tim Burton, Sofia Loren, Influencing Pop Culture and Working Her Way Up From A French Fry Factory
Today’s guest is one of the most accomplished costume designers in the world today.Starting out on features including Michael Mann’s Manhunter she has since travelled the world designing tens of the our most beloved films including The S...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 14
•
34:44
#32 - Ellen Lewis: Casting Goodfellas (& Dinner with the Real Mafia), Finding Forrest Gump, The Importance of Mentors, Scorcese, and Margot Robbie’s Wolf of Wall Street Audition
Go and grab your shine box people because today is a big one! Today's guest is one of the key creative decision-makers behind a number of the world's most well-loved movies. Beginning her career casting under the legendary Juliet Ta...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 13
•
34:02
#31 - Lisa Beroud: Creating Benjamin Button’s VFX With David Fincher, De-aging Arnold Schwarzenegger, How to Be A Good Intern, and The Massive Scale of Black Panther
Today's guest is a first for the show - someone at the top of the game in the field of VFX production. Starting her career producing commercials she transitioned to James Cameron's famous VFX house digital domain, where she worked ...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 12
•
26:32
#30 - Jeremy Swift: Acting For Robert Altman, Ted Lasso, Downton Abbey, Meeting Dick Van Dyke and The Music of Comedy
Today’s guest is A SAG Award winning / emmy nominated actor and musician.With an extensive career featuring parts in iconic films such as Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, you will likely know him best from turns in Downtown Abbey, ...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 11
•
23:38
#29 - Kirk Wise: Directing Beauty & The Beast, The Emergency Lion King Story Room, Fear, Caricatures, and The Secret to Hunchback of Notre Dame
Today’s guest is a multi-hyphenate animator, director, writer, and storyboard wizard. Gaining an early directing credit working on Disneyland's Cranium Command he was soon thrust into feature direction on historic classics such as The Hunchback...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 10
•
59:58
#28 - Lucy Bevan: Casting The Batman, Meetings with Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman, Audition Advice, Secret Scripts in Safes and How Lily James Nearly Missed Cinderella
Today’s guest is another first for the show and it’s an exciting one. The fabled role of Casting Director.Beginning her career in production working on films such as Tim Roth’s The War Zone, she made the move to Casting where she has flo...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 10
•
26:42
#27 - Baltasar Kormákur: Directing Idris Elba, Being an Icelandic Movie Star, Horse Riding, Bergman, Choosing Your Path, and Calling Iñárritu For CGI Lion Advice
Today’s guest is quite the jack of all trades - a director, producer, writer, actor, and even studio owner, he is one of the rare people to have straddled both a career in his native language, all the while succeeding in Hollywood.Beginn...
•
Season 3
•
Episode 9
•
22:02