Cool Cat: Brian Bolt
Brian Bolt is a 24 year old writer, director and producer out of Los Angeles. Have you seen his work? Probably not but he is cool with that. As Amy Poehler, said- Most people become ‘famous’ or get ‘great jobs’ after a very, very long tenure shoveling shit and not because they handed their script to someone on the street. And Brian gets that the journey to following his passion is one filled with constant learning opportunities, patience and a day job – an impressive quality for someone smack dab in the “give it to me now” millennial generation. Of course, that doesn’t mean that he can’t have a little fun writing web series, working at podcasts, doing an embarrassing Pacino impression for Bill Hader and indulging me in a ridiculous round of Marry, Shag, Kill - all before he gets his big break. With several 24-hour films, a couple of web series, an entertainment blog called the Martini Shot and numerous other projects under his belt, Brian is a cool cat!
And just what kind of cat is he?
Brian considers himself a fierce, strong Bengal tiger a la Shere Khan from the Jungle Book. However, in his heart of hearts, he will admit that he is a fluffy, white Persian lap cat. Big dreams never hurt anyone, so this guy is a tiger!
How did you become
interested in writing and entertainment?
In high school I wrote mainly short stories and longer
fiction. It wasn’t until college when I took a playwriting class that I
discovered a way of storytelling outside of prose. I wrote a
play called What Horace Hears (not to
be confused with Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears
a Who in case you were wondering) which was actually performed at a
festival at the College of William and Mary. I had some say in the casting and
attended rehearsals where I got to work with the director and actors. I loved
being a part of the whole process that came with the play. It was a true
collaborative effort which was something that I really enjoyed and sparked my
interest in writing more scripts and productions.
What kind of projects
have you been involved with?
I wrote for a William and Mary TV show called Ghostburg . I didn’t create the show but when I took it on, I created 7 different Twilight Zone style episodes for season 3 where I acted as writer, executive producer and narrator. That show was probably one of
the most fun projects that I have done.
So how did you move
that passion from college to the real world?
I am from Virginia and when I went home after graduation I
realized that there wasn’t much for me there. Though most people from my college ended up in Washington, DC that wasn’t really a
city that interested me. So kind of on a whim, I had a friend who was
going for a job in L.A. and I said that if he got it, I would go with him.
Though I wasn’t really counting on following through, L.A. made the most sense for someone interested in the
entertainment business. So I kept my word and moved cross
country to a whole new city. In the words of Miley, I hopped off the plane
car at near LAX with a dream and my cardigan (which I quickly took off
because it is hot in the desert).
I worked at Bullseye with Jesse Thorn – an NPR
affiliated podcast that includes interviews from famous people. That experience
opened me up to the world of podcasts and really made me think that more people
should listen to podcasts. Seriously, if you are sitting in traffic, why not
put on a podcast and learn something while you’re at it?
Do you have a
favorite podcast? (For the record - MY current favorite is Hollywood Handbook)
I think that podcasts are personal and there is a perfect
podcast for everyone. After all, there are thousands of podcasts out there on
almost anything you can think of. My favorite is a podcast called JamesBonding which is essentially two guys discussing a James Bond movie and
news in detail with a guest each episode. I have been obsessed with James Bond
since I was a kid most likely because it was something that my dad, someone who
is not an avid movie/TV watcher, actually liked. I still remember being in the living
room and seeing my dad stop to watch Thunderball on the screen. Clearly James
Bond was a guy who commanded so much respect that even my dad had to stop and
watch. Since then, it’s been an obsession. I have James Bond posters in my
apartment and a life size cardboard cutout of Sean Connery that was a gift from
friends. I don’t keep him out all the time – just for the occasional movie
viewing. So I like that podcast.
So what makes a good podcast?
I think a good podcast is one about passion. If you are starting your own podcast it should be on something that you love. It makes it easier for you to do and for people to enjoy. I like James Bonding because I get to hear two people with the same passion talk about something that I love. So if you are starting a podcast, start with identifying your passion.
What was your time at Bullseye like?
It was not that glamorous. I did very intern things most of the
time. Occasionally, however, I would get to work the sound board when someone
above me was too busy to do it. I think a very common intern theme is that you get to do something semi-important because everyone
else is busy. Either way most of my time spent was doing background research on
the guests before the interview and then sitting in to watch them with Jesse which was cool because he is a really good interviewer.
What makes him a good interviewer?
He is a good listener so the interviews are conversations. I
think a good podcast in general is one that is informative and conversational.
Some are conversational
but not really informative. Then there are others like WTF with Marc Maron that
are more of a one way conversation about him. Jesse is good at balancing his conversations with guests.
Did you have any fun stories with the guests at the Bullseye podcast?
Feel free to name drop….
So many! Jack Black came into the show and I was star
struck. He is this guy from my childhood who was just like how I remembered him
and he was delightful in person. That interview was actually with him and Susan
Orlean which if you don’t know who she is, she is the real life writer that
Meryl Streep played in the movie Adaptation so it was just two famous
people talking to each other and ended up being a great interview. I was pretty
creepy that whole time though. I just stared at Jack the whole interview. He
was so busy that I was able to just stare at him unnoticed. Of course after
that, I was in a small group talking to him and I had gotten so used to staring
that I kept doing it. He clearly noticed and I think to ease the awkwardness, abruptly said “Hey,
I’m Jack” and shook my hand.
So you are clearly now best friends with Jack Black?!
We go on SO many dinner dates.
We go on SO many dinner dates.
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Gillian Jacobs from Community (and Netflix’s Love for a more
recent reference, guys) came in. We also shook hands. She was cool. I didn’t
stare at her.
I think the coolest thing I did though was a Bullseye liveshow with June Diane Raphael, Bill Hader, The Internet, and Jasper Redd. June Diane Raphael was the nicest person. She did an episode of Comedy Bang Bang! with Casey Wilson where they did a bit as twin sisters. I asked her what the prep time was like for
that and she said that they actually didn’t really prep. She just asked if she
wanted to be twin sisters and they just did it on the show which I found
funny.
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Bill Hader was also there and was as charming and fun as you’d think. I did embarrass myself in
front of him. A friend of mine and I used to do our own perverted versions of Bill’s Al Pacino impression so when I was there I couldn’t resist
telling him that we used to do that. To my surprise he said “Do it” so I had to nervously do
it for him and he just responded with “Work on it.” I assumed he was
amused at asking someone else to do an impression for once but it was pretty
embarrassing.
That is embarrassing but amazing. Tell me about your post-podcast departure from entertainment.
I’ve taken a little departure from entertainment in
terms of a day job. I make DVDs, blu-rays and restore old movies as a job and
then on the side write and make films.
Do you think not doing entertainment as a job
disadvantages you to enter that business?
I want to make money and have a nice life so I have a day job. I have many
friends who have temporary jobs and PA jobs to dedicate more time to the
business. Those jobs aren’t very secure and not what I’m interested in right
now. To be in this business, you have to give up some type of security. I’m not
ready to do that at this stage so I’m balancing job security with my passion on
the side. Eventually when I’m ready I can make those sacrifices. Even though I’m not writing as a career, I am still learning
and building on those skills on the side. I am part of a first drafts club with
a friend where we write and then swap our pieces to give feedback. I think an
issue with millennials is that we want everything now. People aren’t happy
unless they are on big projects right away. But in reality, you need to keep
working and developing skills so you are ready for the next step. You need
to develop skills and qualifications on smaller things to be ready for bigger
opportunities. You really have to start somewhere.
What are some tips for starting out and building those skills?
I have a lot of friends who are producers and actors so I have learned
to keep saying “yes” to projects. If someone asks me to do something, I tend to
do it because that is one more experience. I recently worked with two actresses
who had an idea for a web series about an aspiring model and actress. I
produced, directed and wrote for it. I got to practice my editing skills with
this project by trying something new each episode. This web series
was more of a visual project compared to Ghostburg that was very story heavy so I've been able to do both types of series.
Any other cool side projects?
I got to do some acting in a short movie
called Helix. It's an action film where I get shot and got to use a squib - a condom filled with fake
blood and a penny attached to a fishing line that gets pulled to make the blood burst. They don’t really use them anymore in movies because it's messy so most blood is digital or just not present to keep a PG rating. Pay
attention to the lack of blood in Marvel movie next time you watch.
As for the writing which is my main passion, I have some writing projects. I’m
working on a script. I also have an entertainment blog of my own as well as guest posts on
sites like Wild Night In (the best). I like to use blog pieces as a way to ease writers block. Writing narrative can be hard but writing in my
voice about pop culture comes easy so it’s a good way to just get things going. I
am currently doing a Marvel movie marathon and writing about it. I did
something similar to this last year and allowed myself to be a hermit in the name of writing.
Do you have any parting words of wisdom for people
wanting to pursue writing?
Force yourself to write. I went through a period when I
wasn’t writing so I had to really force myself to pick it back up. A good way
to keep it up is to bring other people in to share ideas and read things. It
holds you accountable which I think is good advice for any goal - writing related or not. Support and
having someone to hold you accountable can help you achieve it.
Marry, Shag, Kill With Brian
Imperator Furiosa, Black Widow, Wonder Woman
Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig
Marry Daniel Craig which is an easy choice because he is dependable. Shag Sean Connery who is cool but accused of domestic violence. Kill Pierce Brosnan for ruining James Bond.
Cast of High School Musical, Cast of the OC, Cast of Freaks and Geeks
Marry Freaks and Geeks because they are all hilarious. Shag HSM obviously. Brutally kill the OC cast especially the guy from Gotham.
Angelica Pickles, Eliza Thornberry, Helga G. Pataki
Marry Eliza, we'd go on cool adventures with her cool dad. Shag Helga. Kill Angelica which for the record I'm thinking of the grown-up version not the toddler.
Zooey Deschanel, Kristen Wiig, Cecily Strong
Marry Kristen who will make me laugh all the time. Shag Zooey. Kill Cecily though all three of these ladies are beautiful.
Revenant Leo, Wolf of Wall Street Leo, Titanic Leo
Ava from Ex Machina, Pat from Smart House, Samantha from Her
Marry Scarlet Jo in Her because "Awwww." Shag Ava. Kill Smart House because she scared me so much as a kid.
