Markus Mentzer (This is the End, Neighbors, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Garfunkel & Oates) has one of those jobs that when you explain it to someone who doesn't work in the film business it sounds both bizarre and insanely impossible...which it is. He's a 1st Camera Assistant (commonly known as a "Focus Puller") and among many other things he keeps the image you see in the movie theater in focus. I consider it to be the hardest and most thankless job on a film set and when you find someone like Markus (who is simply masterful at it) you can't help but wonder about how he does it. Makus's story is emblematic of what this podcast is all about. He's got one of those ludicrously tangential career paths that we love to hear about and will, no doubt, inspire those of you out there who want to follow your dream (or run away from your nightmare). Enjoy.
You may have seen Billy Brooks on stage at Hall H Comic Con 2015 to promote the upcoming Vimeo series "Con Man" (starring Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion) as well as to be proposed to in front of thousands of ecstatic fans and the entire Internet. If you missed that I can guarantee you didn't miss Billy's visual fx work in countless classic films that have are permanently burned into our collective synapses (Transformers Age of Extinction, Xmen 2, Galaxy Quest, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, Men in Black 1 and 2, The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, Star Wars Episode 1 and 2, E.T. Special Edition, and Space Station 76 among many many more). Listen in as Billy tells us how he went from scanning printer cartridges at Circuit City to working at the world's foremost Visual FX House Industrial Light & Magic. If that weren't enough he makes a cameo in Con Man as a decomposed zombie eating a churro. C'mon now.
Shortly after the original interview was recorded Zakin called up Jay and requested that we do a follow-up interview to discuss some things that we failed to mention during the first session. We discuss a lot of advice for anyone looking to enter the film/tv business as well as the internship program at The Director's Bureau (Roman Coppola's production company). It's a short talk but lots of gems in there.
Michael Zakin started off as Set PA on Beverly Hills 90210. It was there that he caught the bug and joined the circus. Before long he was producing music videos with some of the best bands and directors in the world at Virgin Records. The bubble burst in the music video industry leaving few unscathed but Zakin survived and has been serving a long residency at American Zoetrope as the VP of Film Production. American Zoetrope was founded by Francis Ford Coppola in 1969 and has produced countless classic films since. While at Zoetrope Zakin produced "Life After Beth", "The Bling Ring", "Mozart in the Jungle" as well the upcoming "A Very Murray Christmas" (Starring Bill Murray and Directed by Sofia Coppola) and "Bonjour Anne" (Eleanor Coppola's directorial debut). You can't find a more honest, trustworthy and talented Producer than Michael Zakin.