Jared Scott Mercier is a member of the Director's Guild of America and has worked as an assistant director on major titles such as Westworld, Star Trek Beyond, A Star is Born, Glee, and Bosch. A native of Arizona, Jared and I discuss his initial ascension to the elite level of entertainment, notable projects, and what has been happening since the union strikes.

Stuart Beattie is an Australian writer, director, and producer known for Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean, I, Frankenstein, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. His screenplay for Collateral earned him nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay and Saturn Award for Best Writing. Beattie was born in Melbourne and raised in Sydney.

Daniel Casey is an American screenwriter known for "10 Cloverfield Lane", "F9", and "KIN". Recently, it's been announced that Daniel will also be writing and exec producing Amazon MGM's "Mass Effect" series.

Frederick E.O. Toye is a television director known for his work directing titles such as: Lost, The Walking Dead, The Boys Westworld, Shogun (for which he just received an Emmy nomination), and Fallout. We talked about his creative process, how he prepares for each show, as well as memorable on set experiences with actors and crew.

Join us in this episode as we sit down with the multifaceted Pete, a seasoned comedy writer and performer, to delve into his fascinating journey from stand-up comedy to screenwriting for hit shows and movies.

We kick off with Pete sharing his thoughts on the nuances of comedy, including the impact of absurdist humor and its evolution over the years. He reflects on the film "Strange Wilderness," a project that left audiences in stitches but was initially ahead of its time.

Pete then takes us behind the scenes of "Saturday Night Live," revealing the intense yet exhilarating process of writing sketches under pressure. He talks about his early days, the stand-up boom, and the unique characters that defined comedy in the 80s and 90s.

We also explore the challenges of maintaining creative integrity in the film industry, as Pete recounts his experiences with script rewrites and the compromises often necessary to get a project greenlit. His anecdotes about working with comedy legends like Will Ferrell, Norm MacDonald, and Alec Baldwin are both insightful and entertaining.

In the latter part of the episode, Pete discusses the current state of comedy, the decline of big-screen comedy stars, and his pivot to writing children's books, including his latest release, "Max Fernsby and the Infinite Toys."

Don't miss this deep dive into the world of comedy writing, filled with humor, candid stories, and valuable lessons from a true industry veteran.

Nicolas is a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the Center for Thomas More Studies at the University of Dallas. A devout Catholic, Nick derives many of his political and moral insights from great thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and Sir Thomas More. And while Nicolas may view his affinities differently, I have identified a deep admiration he has for virtuous men than speak truth to the powers of their time, Shakespeare being no exception. In addition to all of this, Nicolas is in fact my brother. His first book: Political Wisdom in Late Shakespeare, a Way out of the Wreck, comes out this summer. https://www.amazon.com/Political-Wisd...

Jonas Barnes is a film producer at Neal Moritz's Original film, one of the largest action production companies in the world. Some notable titles include the Fast and Furious franchise, I am Legend, and Sonic the Hedgehog. I caught up with Jonas to talk screenplays, the pandemic, and the future of AI in the entertainment business.

Nick Cook is a former aerospace journalist and accomplished author of over 20 books. In the 1990s, Cook was the aviation editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, the international Defense journal, and won four Journalism Awards from the Royal Aeronautical Society in the Defense, Business, Technology, and Propulsion categories. His newest book, the Light Beyond the Mountains, now available on Substack https://nickcook.substack.com/p/the-l... details his transition from covering top secret aerospace developments, to studying the relationship between UAPs (UFOs) and human consciousness.