BEHIND THE LENS #284: Featuring Jeff Kerr and Ray Spivey

It's a fun-filled episode of #BTLRadioShow this week thanks to our special guests, co-writers/directors JEFF KERR and RAY SPIVEY talking their debut narrative feature WRITER'S BLOCK, plus our prerecorded exclusive interview with cinematographer turned director SHANNON KOHLI talking about her feature film directorial debut, ALL JOKING ASIDE!

We kick off this episode listening to director SHANNON KOHLI talk about her feature film directorial debut with ALL JOKING ASIDE. An acclaimed cinematographer, Shannon made the leap into the director's chair some time ago with episodic television. Best familiar with her work as cinematographer, it was earlier this year that I had the chance to appreciate her directorial talents thanks to Dirty John: Betty Broderick starring Amanda Peet Christian Slater, the 12-part mini-series of which she directed the climactic final episode. With that, Shannon showed a true command of storytelling and finding that balance of emotion through performance and visuals. Needless to say, when the narrative feature film ALL JOKING ASIDE rolled around, I jumped at the chance to check out the film and speak with Shannon about it. Listen here as Shannon talks about helming ALL JOKING ASIDE, her approach to story, casting and character, using the tools in the toolbox to add layers to the film, collaboration with her cinematographer and composer, and how much she was inspired by and related to this beautiful character study and journey to finding yourself and loving yourself, not to mention protagonist Charlie Murray's fight to fulfill her dream of becoming a stand-up comic, and so much more.

And then for all you writers – and filmmakers – out there, get ready for a bit of "inspiration" as co-writers/directors JEFF KERR and RAY SPIVEY are live talking about their feature directorial debut, WRITER'S BLOCK. The tale of a struggling writer who accepts a once-in-a-lifetime offer to collaborate with a best-selling novelist at his remote Texas ranch, WRITER'S BLOCK is just the film to shock you into creativity. . .or make you run in the opposite direction. If no one has learned by now that if something looks too good to be true, it generally is, you'll certainly walk away from WRITER'S BLOCK knowing that. Crafted with as many twists and turns as a page-turning mystery, WRITER'S BLOCK has plenty of tension, scares, and bloodshed, not to mention a somewhat megalomaniacal best-selling author on the loose. Listen as Jeff and Ray talk about their filmmaking journey with this film as we delve into the origin of the story, casting, Alex Walker's cinematography, the importance of production design and one jaw-dropping setpiece in particular, location location location, the tension and intentional ambiguity created by Ryan Kelley's editing, David Kerr's score, and so much more.

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