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. 

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.

Source

Anyone else?

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.  

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.