Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss

Oct 24 2024 137 ep. 46 mins 80

Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss Podcast artwork

Behind the glitz and glamor, Hollywood can be brutal. For every success, there are many more rejections and failures. Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss explores that world and each week a new guest will talk about dealing with rejection, failure and adversity in the entertainment industry. Writer Noah Evslin and podcaster Dan Rutstein ask the questions.

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Take 132 - Showrunner Frank Cardea, NCIS, Crazy Like a Fox, Shogun

Oct 24 2024 53 mins

What an episode!We talk to TV legend Frank Cardea about his decades in the business.He tells us about his move from accountancy to producing, the extraordinary longevity of his writing partnership and working on more than 400 episodes of NCIS.We hear some great examples of failure, some great examples of success and also some great examples of leadership.A fascinating deepdive into

Take 131 - Writer and Showrunner Michael Rauch, Beautiful People, Royal Pains

Oct 10 2024 46 mins

We talk to Michael Rauch. He starts with an extraordinary film school firing, then a late-night 'show being un-picked up' call and how he recovered from those early career setbacks.He tells us about his casting frustrations, managing multiple projects, and what he learned from great showrunners.An excellent episode full of brilliant anecdotes.

Take 130 - Writer and Showrunner Mark Goffman, West Wing, Sleepy Hollow, Bull, Irrational

Oct 03 2024 40 mins

We talk to the fascinating Mark Goffman.He tells us about swapping real Government speech writing at the State Department for writing on the West Wing, some extraordinary career luck and ventriloqism documentaries.Mark talks about the importance of giving people a voice in a room, the importance of working with good people repeatedly and the importance of reflecting something of yo

Take 129 - John Wirth Part Two!

Sep 26 2024 55 mins

We weren’t finished with John Wirth, so he comes back for more.This time we talk leadership style, drinking too much soda and the use of the red pen.John talks about being blunt, some more failure stories and even more advice.

Take 128 - Showrunner and Writer John Wirth, Dark Winds, Nash Bridges

Sep 19 2024 75 mins

We speak to the legendary John Wirth.He talks about a Hollywood career so long that he can't even remember all of the shows he has run, the shows he has been fired from and arguing with actors who hadn't won Emmys.He talks about managing upwards, 'run money' and an extraordinary argument with talent about trust.A remarkable episode with a remarkable storyteller.

Take 127 - Writer, Showrunner, Memoirist SJ Hodges, The Player, Uneven Ground

Sep 12 2024 110 mins

We talk to the extraordinary SJ Hodges.She talks about changing her name to a gender neutral one to get read, jumping from staff writer straight to show runner and what she learned from managing a literal car crash on The Player.Then SJ shares her personal journey of losing her husband to a brain tumour, what she did next and how she ended up building a community around her memoir

Take 126 - Writer Gary Whitta, The Book of Eli, Rogue One

Sep 05 2024 68 mins

The podcast is back for the second half of season three and we have a cracker.Gary Whitta, writer of Book of Eli and Rogue One gives an extraordinary interview about his transition from video game editor to writer, working on Star Wars and his frustrations with Hollywood. He gves us an extraordinary pig analogy, talks about the excitement and pressure of being asked to work on the

We're back!

Sep 04 2024 54 mins

After a long mid-season break, we are back up with the second half of Season Three of Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss.Noah and Dan talk about what they have been up to the last few weeks - Noah's show got cancelled! - and we thank our long-term partner Scriptation and then introduce tomorrow's episode with Rogue One writer Gary Whitta.This taster episode will just remind you of

Take 125 - Writer, Producer, Director Ed Zwick, Shakespeare in Love, Blood Diamond, the Last Samurai

May 29 2024 52 mins

Our first Oscar winner!For the last episode before our mid-season break we have Ed Swick on the show.He talks about his new book - Hits, Flops and Other Illusions.And we talk winning Oscars, writing truthful books about Hollywood and his extraordinary career.He tells us how the industry has changed, that films like the ones he made aren’t made anymore and a bit more about winning

Take 124 - Showrunner, Director Jim Mickle, Sweet Tooth

May 22 2024 42 mins

We talk to the fascinating Jim Mickle.He tells us about this start in independent movies, taking a break during the strike and the upcoming final season of Sweet Tooth.He explains how he got in to tv, becoming a showrunner and suffering from imposter syndrome and working in New Zealand during a pandemic.Jim talks about how hard and tiring being a showrunner was, nearly working with