Heilman & Haver - The Stage & Screen Experience Heilman Haver

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 78.  We hope you enjoy the show!
Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.

The Hollywood strike has now passed the 100 day mark with no end in sight. Just one week ago, on August 4, Writers Guild of America negotiators met for the very first time in three months with representatives of the major studios to discuss whether contract talks can resume.  According to Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw, they “made zero progress. The two sides are no closer than they were at the start of the strike. They can’t even agree on how to resume negotiations.”
With much of the strike centered on the power imbalance between the major studios and their writers and the consolidation and lack of transparency among the streaming giants, we reached out to an expert on the issues of monopoly and corporate power in America for his take.
Matt Stoller is the Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project.  He is the author of “Goliath: The Hundred Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy”, which Business Insider called “one of the year’s best books on how to rethink capitalism and improve the economy.” Stoller is a former policy advisor to the Senate Budget Committee and he also worked for a member of the Financial Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives during the financial crisis. 
Matt's 2012 law review article on the foreclosure crisis, “The Housing Crash and the End of American Citizenship”, predicted the rise of autocratic political forces, and his 2016 Atlantic article, “How the Democrats Killed their Populist Soul”, helped inspire the new anti-monopoly movement. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Fast Company, Foreign Policy, the Guardian, Vice, The American Conservative, and the Baffler and Matt writes the monopoly-focused newsletter “BIG” with tens of thousands of subscribers.  You can follow Matt on Twitter at @matthewstoller.

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 77.  We hope you enjoy the show!
Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Sam Wasson

Joining us for Episode 77 is "one of the great chroniclers of Hollywood lore" according to Janet Maslin of The New York Times, and "a fabulous social historian" and sleuth in the eyes of Hilton Als of The New Yorker.  Sam Wasson is the author of six books on film, including The New York Times bestsellers Fifth Avenue, 5AM: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman; The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood; and Fosse. 
An L.A. native, Sam studied Film at Wesleyan University and at the USC School of Cinematic Arts before publishing his first book, A Splurch in the Kisser: The Movies of Blake Edwards and in addition to his work as an author and publisher, Wasson has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker, and has won three Los Angeles Press Club Journalism Awards. He’s served as a consultant for The National Comedy Center in New York and The Film Society of Lincoln Center, was a Visiting Professor of Film at Wesleyan University and Emerson College and, as a panelist and lecturer has appeared all over the world.
In 2020, Wasson and producer Brandon Millan founded Felix Farmer Press to publish necessary books on the art, business, culture and history of the Hollywood film. His latest book Hollywood: The Oral History - co-authored with renowned film scholar and educator Jeanine Basinger - was released last year and called “Hollywood’s ultimate oral history” by The New Yorker, and “majestic” by The Los Angeles Review of Books.  Wasson’s biography of Francis Ford Coppola’s real-life dream studio, American Zoetrope, The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story, will be published by HarperCollins this December.  You can find Sam online at www.samwasson.com and he joined us from his home in Laurel Canyon.

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 76.  We hope you enjoy the show!
Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Kristen Lopez

Kristen Lopez is author of the new book But Have You Read the Book? 52 Literary Gems That Inspired Our Favorite Films. In it, Kristen offers an endlessly fascinating look at 52 beloved screen adaptations and the great reads that inspired them. Some films, like Clueless — Amy Heckerling’s interpretation of Jane Austen’s Emma — diverge wildly from the original source material, while others, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, shift the point of view to craft a different experience within the same story.  Kristen explores just what makes these works classics of both the page and screen, and why each made for an exceptional adaptation — whether faithful to the book or exemplifying cinematic creative license.
Kristen is a pop culture essayist, TV editor for IndieWire, and she’s worked as an entertainment journalist for over 15 years, with her articles appearing at Variety, MTV, TCM, and Roger Ebert.  A California native, Kristen was raised in a small suburb near Sacramento and graduated with a Masters in English from California State University, Sacramento.  She is also the creator of the classic film podcast, Ticklish Business.  In her free time, Kristen enjoys reading and finding Old Hollywood connections in her neighborhood.  She joined us from her home in Los Angeles.
Find her writing at TheWrap.com and she’s on Instagram and Twitter at kristenlopez88.

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 75.  We hope you enjoy the show!
Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Chris Lemmon

With a career spanning over 40 years, Chris has starred in television series for all major networks, including Knot's Landing, Thunder In Paradise, Studio 59, Brothers Sisters, and most notably Fox's highly acclaimed network-starting situation comedy Duet.  Plus over 25 feature films like Lena's Holiday, Just the Ticket, and That’s Life alongside his father.
Lemmon graduated California Institute of the Arts with degrees in classical piano and composition, as well as degrees in the theatrical arts, and went on to appear in numerous stage productions, including the west-coast tour of Barefoot In The Park, directed by the late Jerry Paris, the original award winning west coast production of Shay by Anne Commire, and the highly successful Love Letters with Stephanie Zimbalast.
He presently resides in New England where he writes and produces feature films and television and his 2006 memoir, A Twist of Lemmon, is a heartfelt tribute to his iconic father. When Jack Lemmon died in 2001, the world lost a two-time Oscar winner and perhaps the most beloved actor of his generation; but Chris Lemmon lost a father and a best friend. In A Twist of Lemmon, Chris shares family tales, intimate father-son conversations, and anecdotes from and about his dad.
Chris then took those stories and memories from the page to the stage, creating his one-man hit show Twist of Lemmon, sharing an intimate look into the experience of growing up in Hollywood, featuring nine of his original piano compositions, a narrative of touching and heartfelt stories, and laugh-out-loud anecdotes from his life and times in the world of Hollywood stardom.  Chris joined from his home in Connecticut.
Watch TWIST OF LEMMON on YouTube.

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 74.  We hope you enjoy the show!
Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Eddie Muller

“The Czar of Noir” himself, Eddie Muller produces, programs, and hosts a national network of Noir City film festivals, including right here in Seattle, presented under the auspices of the Film Noir Foundation, a nonprofit corporation he founded in 2005 to rescue and restore films from America and abroad.  The Foundation also publishes NOIR CITY magazine, the world’s leading publication on classic and contemporary noir.
Eddie is also the host of TCM’s Noir Alley and the prolific author of crime fiction like The Distance, and is a recipient of the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America.  His other books include biographies like Tab Hunter Confidential, cinema histories including Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir and the upcoming children’s book Kid Noir: Kitty Feral and the Case of the Marshmallow Monkey.  In his latest book, Eddie Muller’s Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir, Eddie pairs classic cocktails and modern noir-inspired libations with behind-the-scenes anecdotes and insights on film favorites like The Asphalt Jungle, The Big Sleep, and Nightmare Alley.  Eddie Muller’s Noir Bar hits shelves on May 23rd and is available for pre-order now.  Eddie joined us from his home in the Bay Area.
 
COMING UP ON EPISODE 75:
Join us on Friday, May 26th, when we’ll celebrate our 75th episode with special guest Chris Lemmon - author, television and film actor, star of the acclaimed one man show A Twist of Lemmon and, as you might have guessed, son of beloved Oscar-winning actor Jack Lemmon.

Welcome to Heilman & Haver - Episode 73.  We hope you enjoy the show!
Please join the conversation - email us with thoughts and ideas and connect with the show on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and at heilmanandhaver.com.
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Richard Barrios

Richard is a writer, lecturer, historian, researcher, and accomplished author of several books, including Must-See Musicals: 50 Show-Stopping Movies We Can't Forget and West Side Story: The Jets, the Sharks, and the Making of a Classic for Turner Classic Movies, Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall, Dangerous Rhythm: Why Movie Musicals Matter, and A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film (which was awarded the Theater Library Association Prize).
Richard has lectured extensively, co-hosted the Screened Out series on TCM, appeared in many film and television documentaries in the United States, Great Britain, and Japan, and served as audio commentator for numerous DVD and Blu-Ray releases, including State Fair and South Pacific. 
The publication date for his latest book from Oxford University Press is officially four days away, April 25th, but you can find it now everywhere fine books are sold. On Marilyn Monroe: An Opinionated Guide looks beyond the ballyhoo and legend at Monroe's best-known films, and some that even today remain obscure. Besides her films, it also addresses the work she did on television and the stage, as well as her underrated abilities as a vocalist.  Richard joined us from his home in New Jersey.
 
COMING UP ON EPISODE 74:
Join us May 5th, when we'll welcome Eddie Mueller to the show.  Eddie produces and hosts NOIR CITY: The San Francisco Film Noir Festival, programs numerous other film festivals, curates museums, designs books, and provides commentary for television, radio, and DVDs. He is the author of novels, biographies, movie histories, plays, short stories, and films and joins us to talk about his latest Eddie Muller's Noir Bar: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir.