Secret Art Project

Today I talk about quitting my day job to start my own business, the underwhelming orgy scenes in Eyes Wide Shut, a Winemaker movie update, and I interview Anna Zlokovic! Anna is a filmmaker who wrote and directed the new body horror film on HULU called, “Appendage.” Watch it today! We also talk about her own struggle with anxiety, navigating film industry bigwigs, and her tarot practice. 

More about Anna Zlokovic: 

Here I talk about why there haven't been any episodes for two weeks, the latest on The Winemaker, and the plan for future episodes.

Today I talk about location scouting at wineries, my new mindful way to think about envy, and I interview an interesting dude named Josh Hasty… Josh finds a way of getting into the lives of his heroes, like Rob Zombie and David Lynch! We talk deeply about getting what you wish for and how transcendental meditation has cleaned the cobwebs out.

More about TM and Josh Hasty: 

In this episode, I talk about dreams and visions, struggles at SXSW, and how I met my husband. Speaking of husband! He’s also my guest this week! I interview Stephen Cervantes about growing up between the U.S. and Panama, and how these identities connect and bring meaning to his filmmaking. Stevo is an award-winning filmmaker and graduate of NYU’s Tisch. He’s also the father of my child. Peace!

If you’re listening to this in the days that follow its release, my body is in Austin, TX. You’ll hear me talk about the personalities of artists, my partner Stevo’s Panamanian film experience, issues around using the G-O-D-word, and interview my friend Dr. Thomas Jay Oord. Tom is a lifelong photographer and also a philosophy/theology professor. We talk about who gets the credit when we make good art (and likewise, the bad art), and what “the muse” could possibly be… Enjoy!

Folks I am one sleepy mama today - I asked a valet man to give me my keys please, when I was already holding them. WTF. Anyway, this episode tells all about the trials and tribulations of 11 inches of snow, negative self-talk, and how spiritual you have to be to like this podcast. It also contains one shiny interview with Zoe Cooper, who worked her ass off to pivot from acting to screenwriting over the course of a few years, and did it quite successfully. She's now got "killer" gigs writing for film and TV, in her genre of choice (horror)! 

Vivi Ton is the first guest I've had who I didn't know at all before interviewing here, and she's a personal finance content creator--weird, right?! She tells the story of her big career pivot and about shifting into a nomad lifestyle in the last couple of years. I also talk about if it's important to wake up early to be productive, being an artist AND an entrepreneur, and the local film festival coming up this week.

More about Vivi here:

Learn about how PYD made a hardcore career pivot from being a professional musician to producing about a million short films within a couple years. He also likes to send me a lot of Korn and nu metal memes. We also talk about not waiting for gatekeepers to tell you that you deserve to pursue the things you want, you can open the gate yourself, bro! 

In my intro, I talk about getting suckered into Frozen 2 and something weird that happened in my meditation practice that had never ever happened before! 

This week, we talk about how waking up early can affect creativity, how I fell on my ass in improv class, and the story of a formerly depressed rockstar’s spiritual awakening. Oh yeah, and why I’m already thinking about post-production for the movie I haven’t shot yet.

Everyone's favorite woowoo rockstar from Santa Barbara, Kyle Nicolaides tells the story of experiencing radical transformation from one ayahuasca ceremony, which eventually led him to become an author. Find out why he believes couldn’t get out of depression, even as all his dreams were seemingly coming true.

“Thank God For Depression" on both paperback and audiobook is out now. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPW62QWN?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

I am so tired today, guys... but it's a happy tired... How to make meaning when things are going really well in life? Like, when your short film is getting funding from some of the most unexpected connections... Do you have to get stoked on fundraising in order to fundraise? Do you have to really believe in yourself to make it "work"? Am I "manifesting"? Or maybe "incarnating"? 

We're joined by audio-visual artist Mahsa Zargaran. After having a successful music career, touring nationally with her own music project and supporting internationally-known artists, she uncovered a new layer of her creative calling as a sculptor. We talk about the practices and dreams that led her to that point, what's up with "fear of success", how to deal with criticism, and how to cultivate a creative practice.

The episode starts with some storytelling about how I got started working in the entertainment industry at age 19—working for Madonna… kinda?

My guest today is filmmaker Aaron John Tao, who is part of a directing duo with his twin brother, Winston. He shares the bad religious ideas he’s had to shed in order to grow, heal from trauma, and make better art. The Tao Brothers’ films have been Vimeo staff-picked and won multiple awards at film festivals. Their feature script, “Goodbye, Hurricane”—about growing up with a mother diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar disorder—is Blacklist Recommended.

On the pilot episode of the podcast, I talk about my next film project, The Winemaker, and about the psycho-spiritual self-care routine that’s preparing me for crowdfunding (lol). This episode features a conversation with filmmaker and puppeteer, Raymond Carr. He tells the story of his humble beginnings, homeschooled by church-clowns, to touring the world with giant robot dinosaurs and working on the Jim Henson lot.