THE STORY OF STORY
Last year I had the great fun of being able to create, develop and host the Expert Access Radio program. It’s a one-hour show that features live, in-depth interviews with business leaders and bestselling authors from around the world. They share their ideas, insights and inspirational stories to help people in their life of business or their business of life. The show is broadcast live on 55KRC.com.
BOOK ‘EM STEVO
I also happen to book the guests, which is no small feat considering my limited skills with the English language. We had some of the most amazing storytellers as guests—famous in print and on the Hollywood big screen. If you study the art of writing, the art of story, or just love to read books or watch movies, below are some fascinating interviews that share storytelling lessons built upon hundreds of years of experience … and have resulted in billions of dollars in sales.
THE ERNEST HEMINGWAY OF OUR TIMES
1. Steven Pressfield is the Ernest Hemingway of our times. He’s been a screenwriter and has sold 34 screenplays. He’s also the international bestselling author of The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Profession,The War of Art, Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, Killing Rommel, The Afghan Campaign and The Virtues of War, among many others. Steven was the second ever guest on the Expert Access Radio program. We discussed his classic The War of Art, The Legend of Bagger Vance and much more.
I’ve interviewed Steven previously for the article, “ The Power of Resistance: Lessons Learned from Bestselling Author Steven Pressfield.”
THE BILLION-DOLLAR MAN
2. Pen Densham has written, produced, consulted and directed movies and television shows. His eclectic string of projects include Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft, Moll Flanders, Rocky II, Blown Away, Footloose as well as the TNT movie Houdini and the successful reboots of the classic TV series The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. He’s worked with and learned from people like Morgan Freeman, Jeff Bridges, Robin Wright, Bill Murray, Kevin Costner and Jodie Foster.
Pen’s life story is like a fairytale and will probably one day be made into a movie itself. His stories and movies have generated over one-billion dollars in sales. Pen is wonderfully patient and humble—something you don’t see much of in Hollywood or business. We talked with Pen Densham about his new book, Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing … and Not Getting Eaten.
Listen to the interview with Pen Densham
For a more in-depth discussion with Pen, check out the article “Riding the Alligator in the Complex Sale … Hollywood Style.”
THE JOURNEY FROM ZANSKAR
3. Frederick Marx is the internationally acclaimed, Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director/writer of Hoop Dreams. Frederick talks with us about his new projects Journey from Zanskar and Boys Become Men.
Listen to the interview with Frederick Marx.
THE TWO-BILLION-DOLLAR MAN
4. Michael Uslan is the executive producer of the Batman franchise of motion pictures and the author of The Boy Who Loved Batman. We talked about his new book, which is his true story of how a comic-obsessed kid conquered Hollywood to bring the Dark Knight to the silver screen. It’s an inspirational story of passion, persistence and perseverance that has also generated over $2.6 billion in ticket receipts. And yes … we also talked about The Dark Knight Rises.
Listen to the interview with Michael Uslan
STORY – HE WROTE THE BOOK
5. Robert McKee is the most widely known and respected screenwriting lecturer in the world today. His STORY Seminar has been taught to over 50,000 screenwriters, filmmakers, TV writers, novelists, industry executives, actors, producers, directors and playwrights. Teaching is easy. Results are hard. Robert McKee’s STORY and the stories delivered by his students have garnered;
- 32 Academy Awards – 106+ nominations
- 168 Emmy Awards – 500+ nominations
- 21 WGA Awards – 77+ nominations
- 17 DGA Awards – 48+ nominations
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Lessons Learned from Hollywood STORY Guru Robert McKee