Entertainment Business Wisdom Kaia Alexander

 Megha Kadakia is VP of Impact Media at Creative Visions, where she works with filmmakers and activists to develop, co-produce and finance social entertainment impact media. She also brings a unique blend of business experience, diversity, and artistic vision to independent filmmaking through her production company - Blue Velocity Pictures. Kadakia has produced the fiction features MISS INDIA AMERICA, RASPBERRY MAGIC, THE TIGER HUNTER, and HUMMINGBIRD. Kadakia is producing the documentary TEXAS, USA, which explores what it takes to build a new, hopeful vision for democracy against enormous odds. Recently, Kadakia co-founded the global media entertainment brand to empower young girls through animation, SUPER AMAZING PRINCESS HEROES.
She is the recipient of Sundance’s Creative Producing Lab, Sundance's Momentum Fellowship, Cannes' Producer's Fellow, Film Independent Producers Lab, and the Tribeca All-Access Program. In 2018, Kadakia presented a TEDX talk on Media and Diversity at UNC Chapel Hill.
Kadakia worked at Disney | ABC, Deloitte Consulting, and several film production organizations in the capacity of Business Development and Finance. She received an MBA from Columbia University, Graduate School of Business, and a B.S. in Biochemistry and Specialization in Business from UCLA.
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Seth M. Sherwood is a Los Angeles based screenwriter, director, designer, and producer. He is a credited writer on Leatherface, and Hellfest and is serving as Co-Executive Producer on season 2 of Light As A Feather for Awesomeness TV & Hulu. He has feature and television projects in development across town.
Sherwood’s tale of the son of serial killer hot on the trail of a copycat killer, Interstate 5, appeared on the list, bringing him to the attention of industry execs looking for the next hot genre writer. Seth has penned a prequel to the original 1974 classic horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a highly anticipated origin tale entitled Leatherface from Millennium Films.
Sherwood has lived in Los Angeles for the past 16 years. He grew up in the Pacific North West, and started writing short stories as an undergraduate majoring in photography and design. He then attended graduate school at Cal Arts, focusing exclusively on prose writing. The move to Los Angeles convinced him he should try his hand at screenplays.
In grad school he wrote two or three screenplays. “They were those two or three you just have to write to get it out of your system. They’re never going to be any good, but you have to write them to get them out of the way, so you can start to know your craft better.”
After graduating Sherwood worked as an in-house graphic designer for various companies. He continued to write, but rarely circulated his work. “I was very shy and I wasn’t necessarily a great networker. I was writing but I wasn’t putting it out there.” After six years he finally wrote a script he was confident enough to go out with, and even then his engagement with the industry was sporadic.
Sherwood had some success with the Nicholl prize as a quarter-finalist which spurred him to continue writing. He wrote Interstate 5 which appeared on the Black List, and was introduced by a mutual friend to independent manager/producer Kailey Marsh. When Millennium was looking for a new writer to pen Leatherface, they approached Sherwood, who ultimately landed the gig.
To Sherwood, the key to success as a screenwriter is to be prolific. “It’s a number game. You have to have lots of scripts. I can’t even imagine going out there to the industry without at least two or three finished scripts, maybe even four. Nine times out of 10 they read your script, they love it, but they’re still not going to make it. They’re going to either want you to pitch on their idea or they’re gonna ask you what else you have or what else you’re working on, and if you only have one idea, that’s going to be a really short meeting.”
Sherwood’s advice to new writers? Focus on the writing, and success will follow. “If I could have all the time back that I spent worrying about finding an agent, I’d be very fortunate. It should not be a goal for new screenwriters. I was one of those people who had one script and spent a year wishing I had an agent for that one script, when really I should have been spending that time writing more scripts. Before Leatherface happened I had three or four agents interested in me, but they basically didn’t want to do anything with me until I had a deal, then once Leatherface happened, all of a sudden I had my pick.”
Sherwood now has his pick of projects too, and we look forward to seeing Leatherface tear up the screen in Sherwood’s new vision.
https://twitter.com/SethMSherwood
https://sethmsherwood.substack.com/
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Connect with your host Kaia Alexander:

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Produced by Stuart W. Volkow P.G.A.
Get career training and a free ebook “How to Pitch Anything in 1Min.” at www.EntertainmentBusinessLeague.com

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Kaia talks to her friend Juliet Landau who grew up in the entertainment business but became successful all on her own (even in spite of the narcissists that surrounded her). She's a multi-hyphenate powerhouse: actress, director, writer and marketer- and now also an educator. She opens the kimono to reveal some of things she wish she would've known earlier in her career, and how she has navigated her success, as well as writing/directing, and starring in her new, groundbreaking film A PLACE AMONG THE DEAD.
Juliet Landau is an actress, director, producer and writer. As an actress, highlights include her role as Drusilla on Joss Whedon’s BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER & spin-off ANGEL and co-starring in Tim Burton’s ED WOOD as Loretta King. Last season Juliet recurred in Amazon Prime Video’s #1 television series, BOSCH, as Rita Tedesco. She's currently recurring as ‘Cordelia’ on TNT’s CLAWS. Juliet just helmed her visionary, feature film directorial debut, A PLACE AMONG THE DEAD which has been picked up for worldwide distribution by Modern Films. She co-wrote and stars in the venture. With Gary Oldman, Ron Perlman, Robert Patrick, Lance Henriksen, Joss Whedon and best-selling author Anne Rice, appearing for the first time in a movie. Also in the works and partially completed is THE UNDEAD SERIES. Think Jerry Seinfeld’s COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE… This is VAMPIRES IN COFFINS GETTING BLOOD! … It’s the only series ever to gather the A-list of the genre together. Every one of the talented artists in A PLACE AMONG THE DEAD came back to participate in her series, as did Tim Burton, Willem Dafoe and many other notables. Other acting work includes starring opposite Whoopi Goldberg in THEODORE REX as well as starring in over 20 other films, appearing in many more, guest-starring frequently on television, extensive voiceover work in features, tv, video games and garnering rave reviews for her roles in the theater. Juliet’s previous directorial efforts include two short subjects. TAKE FLIGHT explored Gary Oldman’s creative process and was produced by Gary. DREAM OUT LOUD featured interviews with Guillermo del Toro, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rian Johnson. Both projects were produced with her husband Deverill Weekes under the Miss Juliet Productions banner.
Landau co-wrote two issues of the ANGEL comic book for IDW. She is now penning the companion coffee table book to THE UNDEAD SERIES called BOOK OF THE UNDEAD.
modernfilms.com/aplaceamongthedead
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Entertainment Business Wisdom. We invite you to subscribe, like, review, and share it with your friends and colleagues.
Connect with your host Kaia Alexander:

https://entertainmentbusinessleague.com/


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Produced by Stuart W. Volkow P.G.A.
Get career training and a free ebook “How to Pitch Anything in 1Min.” at www.EntertainmentBusinessLeague.com
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Philip Stark ( MA, AMFT ) is an American television and film screenwriter, author, and therapist. A native of Houston, Texas, Stark graduated with a degree in Radio-Television-Film (RTF) from The University of Texas at Austin in 1995.
He is best known for his film Dude, Where's My Car? from 2000, and he wrote the script for a sequel, Seriously Dude, Where's My Car?, which did not make it into production. Prior to this, he was a writer and script editor for That '70s Show and he has also written for South Park. He was also the co-creator of Dog with a Blog.
Stark graduated from Antioch University with a Master's degree in Psychology, and is currently seeing talk therapy clients in private practice. He is also the author of a book on talk therapy, "Dude, Where's My Car-tharsis?"
In 2000, along with his friend, animator Graham Robertson, Stark created the online cartoon parody of the Budweiser "Whassup?" commercial featuring clips from the Super Friends.
Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Dude-Wheres-My-Car-tharsis-Friendly/dp/0578300842
twitter.com/pbstarkok
starktalk.net
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Entertainment Business Wisdom. We invite you to subscribe, like, review, and share it with your friends and colleagues.
Connect with your host Kaia Alexander:

https://entertainmentbusinessleague.com/


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Produced by Stuart W. Volkow P.G.A.
Get career training and a free ebook “How to Pitch Anything in 1Min.” at www.EntertainmentBusinessLeague.com

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Annika Marks was born on August 12, 1980 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. She is an actress and writer, known for The Sessions (2012), Waco (2018) and Killing Eleanor (2020). She played leading roles in independent movies Grace, and Anguish. From 2014 to 2018 she played Monte Porter on Freeform drama series The Fosters. She has been married to Rich Newey since November 7, 2016.

https://www.instagram.com/annika_marks

https://twitter.com/Annika_Marks

Connect with your host Kaia Alexander:

https://entertainmentbusinessleague.com/


https://twitter.com/thisiskaia 


Produced by Stuart W. Volkow P.G.A.
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Kaia Alexander's State of the Industry Market Report for above-the-line creatives! For writers, directors, producers, actors. Includes industry buying trends, a summary of last year, and an overview of the most recent mandates for TV/film.
Connect with your host Kaia Alexander:

https://entertainmentbusinessleague.com/

https://twitter.com/thisiskaia 


Produced by Stuart W. Volkow P.G.A.
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