Advertise on podcast: The 50/50 Podcast

This week,  we sit down with Kira Guess, Coordinator at Mosaic, to discuss how resourcefulness, entrepreneurial thinking, and an actor’s perspective can translate into effective literary representation. After studying performance at LAMDA (an acting conservatory in the UK), Kira found her way into talent representation, where her firsthand understanding of the actor’s experience helped her connect with clients in a uniquely personal way. She later joined Innovative Artists, working for 13 agents simultaneously and finding opportunities to contribute to the literary business by taking initiative and solving problems before anyone asked. Now at Mosaic, Kira brings her performance background to the development process, approaching material through the lens of character and understanding what makes talent-driven stories sell. We discuss what she looks for in prospective clients, why writers should seek representatives who are willing to take chances on unconventional material, and how a willingness to be crafty for your clients and challenge the industry's traditional mold can make all the difference.

This week, we sit down with reality TV producer (and Wyatt's neighbor) Nicholas Gloria to break down the art and business of producing unscripted television. From his early days at Scout Productions (QUEER EYE) to being IN THE VILLA as a producer on LOVE ISLAND in Fiji, Nicholas shares what it means to get closer to the talent, manage big personalities, and help steer a show's story without sacrificing the authenticity of the people at its center. We get into the psychology of working with reality TV casts, the importance of validating their emotions and advocating for their needs, and what a typical day on one of television's most immersive reality shows actually looks like. Nicholas also breaks down how to climb the production ladder, build relationships with showrunners, and understand the role production companies play in shaping unscripted television. Plus, he walks us through the process of pitching a reality show, from putting together a sizzle reel to finding the right buyers — and, most importantly, figuring out why you're the right person to tell that story. 50/50 HORROR TICKETS

This week, we sit down with filmmaker and actor Santi MacLean to get physical. Santi breaks down his acting practice, Action Theatre — a highly reactive, physical, and primal form of acting derived from dance. We talk about what happens when you completely surrender to an acting exercise, what it means to align your body and instincts with a performance, and how this practice has fundamentally shaped the way Santi approaches directing and filmmaking at large. We also get into Santi’s ambitious current project, compiling 12 SHORT FILMS to form a collection of films he’s creating almost like an album — blurring the lines between filmmaking, performance art, and experimentation. Finally, we talk about how our relationship with our own work evolves over time: writing something, putting it away, coming back to it years later, and discovering that you’re suddenly in conversation with the person who made it. What does our art preserve about who we were — and what can it teach us about who we are now? A conversation about physicality, instinct, experimentation, and the strange experience of constantly creating alongside our younger selves. Santi's Website  Santi's Insta 50/50 Horror Tickets

This week, we’re joined by producer Aisling Lynch of Fourth Wall, who moved to Los Angeles in a yellow Smart Car named Leonardo with just a couple bucks to her name — and quickly began figuring out how to make it work. Aisling talks about PA’ing on the final week of EUPHORIA Season 2, which led to a full run on THE IDOL and gave her a firsthand education in the chaos of constant rewrites, reshoots, and life on set. We get into why actually being on set is so important for producers — especially as more and more young executives enter the business without much production experience. From her first desk job at Asylum Entertainment, where she primarily worked in unscripted, to freelancing as a book scout and learning how to read material quickly and instinctively, Aisling breaks down the experiences that shaped her taste and abilities. She then “lucked out” by becoming Russell Hollander’s assistant at Fourth Wall, where he gave her the freedom to source as much material as possible — setting her on a rapid path from assistant to producer. We talk about the value of being scrappy, making cold calls, finding opportunities wherever you can, figuring out what’s actually working, and learning how to build a productive relationship with your producing partner.  Aisling Instagram OPEN HOUSE (Deadline Annoucement) 50/50 Horror Tickets

Wylie Anderson RETURNS to the Pod fresh off directing Grace Guy’s DECKHAND at the Edinburgh Fringe — and fully recovered from much chaos involving international travel and visceral sickness. We also discuss Wylie's HOME MOVIE SHOW: an event where fellow "adults" bring in the earnest, hilarious, deeply personal home movies they made as kids. The live show taps into Wylie’s love of hosting and her ability to access her inner child, while opening up a bigger conversation about purpose — and remembering what is actually FUN about filmmaking. We also get into Wylie’s newest feature, which she describes as her most personal yet. She shares how she immerses herself in the writing process, including using movement and dance as a way into a script about dance itself. From there, we zoom out to talk about creative process more broadly: setting goals and writing benchmarks, holding yourself accountable, and knowing when — and how — to let other people into the work-in-progress.  WYLIE INSTA HOME MOVIE SHOW - RSVP 10/16 SHOW! DECKHAND @ FRINGE Submit Your Horror Short

(RE-RELEASE) This week, we resurface a CLASSIC episode. We sit down with David Jacobson, marketing director at Cherry Lane Theatre — freshly reopened under A24 — to talk shepherding one of downtown New York’s most historic stages into its next era. David cut his teeth in sports marketing with the New York Knicks and New York Rangers (not to mention a brief, glorious stint working the second floor of the old times square NikeTown — RIP). Along the way, he adopted a simple philosophy passed down from his dad: the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Ask questions. Meet everyone. Be the “dumbest” person in the room. Remain a fan at heart.  David stepped into Cherry Lane just months before its reopening, balancing the theater’s deep, rebellious history with A24’s modern indie sensibility. He says that running marketing there feels more like a startup than an institution. It’s a candid conversation about hustle, taste, and parlaying every job into meaningful relationships.  In classic 50/50 fashion, it's another theatre/film mashup. Buckle your seatbelts!  YOU GOT OLDER at the Cherry Lane Theatre The Cherry Lane Theatre Instagram HENRY WINKLER'S INSTAGRAM (random but relevant) Submit Your Horror Short!

Director Britt Berke is back on the pod! Since we spoke with her last year, Britt has been BUSY— she most recently directed Ruby Karp’s solo special I DON’T TRUST ADULTS, premiering on VEEPS September 10th. We get into the unique challenges of directing a stand-up special versus theatre (and where the lines between the two blur), including how to manage blocking for stage/film.  We also dive deep into Britt’s experience directing Julia Atkin’s CRYING AT MY PODIATRIST, a body-horror solo show she was brought on to direct for the Edinburgh Fringe. She and Julia built the show from the ground up - they workshopped it first in NYC and then jetted off to Edinburgh where they only had room for minimal set dressing and a two-person crew. Britt gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what it actually takes to put up a show at Fringe — including flyering strategies, theatre timeslots, director fees, costs, and why so many industry people love Edinburgh. Plus: shipping-container bars, late-night theatre kid antics, seeing 20+ shows in a month, the list could go on and on. We close the interview by highlighting Britt’s recent directing residencies, how she chooses the projects she wants to work on, and what’s next — including her upcoming production of PHYL at the Mint Theater Company. I DON'T TRUST ADULTS (Britt Directed Ruby Karp Special - on VEEPS Sept 10th) CRYING AT MY PODIATRIST (FRINGE) PHYL at MINT THEATRE (Oct 3rd - Nov 7th) BRITT'S WEBSITE BRITT'S INSTA Submit Your Horror Short

This week, we sit down with filmmaker/visual artist Gabriella Mykal to talk about her journey from making experimental films in Texas to CalArts, where she made her first doc feature, RP — a documentary exploring the normalization of traumatic sexual experiences through fan fiction. Gabriella discusses the film’s unconventional approach to documentary filmmaking, heavily featuring reenactments to create something that feels high-concept, intellectual, and deeply psychological. We also talk about the experience of seeing the film connect with audiences at its international premiere at TIFF Next Wave. We also discuss the more business-y elements to Gabriella's film career thus far: her work in reality TV post-production at Renegade83, working on Zoe Kravitz’s directorial debut under producer Tiffany Persons, and working in development at Shondaland. We dig into the lessons she learned from each of those experiences, how she managed to keep writing throughout demanding day jobs. Finally, we talk about her plans to actually get those films made — and the reasoning for starting with the most grounded of her many scripts.  RAPE PLAY - TRAILER RAPE PLAY (TIFF SITE) WHAT'S TROUBLING YOU? (w/ JOSH CARONE) GABRIELLA'S WEBSITE INSTA Blacklist Projects Lab Announcement Submit Your Horror Short

This week, we sit down with comedian Ruby Karp! We briefly recap Ruby's unconventional childhood (for more on that, listen to our first episode with her!); how growing up with a single mom ended up with the early UCB improvisers essentially serving as her babysitters. Her solo show, I Don’t Trust Adults, draws from that experience — exploring what it’s like to grow up surrounded by adults, growing up way too fast in some ways and not at all in others. After a successful run at Soho Theatre in NYC, Ruby filmed the show as a standup special, and we get into the ins and outs of working with a theatre, crew, director, and editor to bring a live show to the screen — as well as the business of selling it as a special to a streamer.  We also dive into Ruby’s approach to launching the special after selling it to VEEPS, a newer streamer focused on comedy and emerging voices. From clips and man-on-the-street content to PR and social strategy, Ruby breaks down how she thinks about turning a special into a full-blown digital campaign. Having previously worked at Betches and Unwell producing social content for other creators, she’s become a one-person digital marketing powerhouse. Watch I Don't Trust Adults -- on VEEPS Sept 10th!  I DON'T TRUST ADULTS (VEEPS) Deadline Announcement Ruby Betches Submit Your Horror Short

This week, actor/comedian/musician Kenzie Gross joins us to talk about growing up in a sports family, where constant competition and a full plate of extracurriculars instilled a strong work ethic in her from a young age. After growing up in Portland, OR and finding her place in musical theatre—often playing the comedic relief—Kenzie headed to USC, where she continued performing and eventually interned at The Groundlings. That experience made her realize, “Oh yeah, this is what I want to do forever.” We dive into the equally terrifying experiences of starting stand-up and posting comedy videos online, discussing what it’s like to throw yourself into the deep end as a performer, finding your comedic voice, and learning to get comfortable being uncomfortable. KENZIE'S INSTA Submit Your Horror Short

This week, we talk with Josh Carone of 2bd2bth! We discuss how a conversation with fellow creator and friend Milky Tran was the catalyst for Josh and his comedy partner Jenny to start the group, and they quickly fell in love with the immediate gratification of making internet sketches — the ability to come up with a variety of ideas and bring them to life quickly. For Josh, who had previously only written features, the format felt incredibly freeing artistically. We talk about the process of seeking authenticity while simultaneously paying attention to what the platforms actually want. Josh also discusses the rise of 2bd2bth while continuing to work a day job on the content side at Sony, an experience that gave him a unique perspective at the intersection of digital content and film — and taught him a ton along the way. We also dig into his beloved short DON’T PAUSE THE GAME, which is a drama (we dont see a ton of drama shorts these days), and Josh's take on male communication.  2BD2BTH INSTA JOSH INSTA DONT PAUSE THE GAME (SHORT FILM)

Some movies become cult classics. THE ROOM became a phenomenon. This week, we're joined by Josh Folan, Jonathan Mann, and Ted Garvey, the filmmaking team behind the animated documentary ROOM TONE: THE SOUND OF THE ROOM, which tells the unbelievable story of Tommy Wiseau's infamous film through the eyes of the people who were actually there. After meeting legendary sound mixer Zsolt, Josh realized that he was one of the only constants on THE ROOM's famously chaotic set; and he had an incredible story to tell. Alongside boom operator Tim D. Lloyd, Zsolt offers a firsthand perspective on one of the most dysfunctional productions in movie history—and because archival footage wasn't an option, Josh enlisted Jonathan and Ted to bring these stories to life through animation. We dive into the creative pipeline behind the documentary, from interviews to illustration to the years-long animation process, and discuss the unique challenge of visually recreating stories that had never been seen before. We also talk about the reactions from the people who actually made THE ROOM, what it meant to finally share the finished film with them, and how the project became a source of creative freedom for everyone involved.  BUY THE FILM ROOM TONE TRAILER ROOM TONE (LETTERBOXD) ROOM TONE (IMDB) SUBMIT YOUR HORROR SHORT!

This week, we're joined by writer/director Parker Fenady (2x 50/50 Alum). Parker reflects on growing up around the film industry while still forging her own creative identity, the pivotal feedback from a professor that challenged her to look beyond technical skill, and how studying acting in London helped shape not only her craft, but her perspective as a storyteller. Together, we explore her mission to tell stories about women coming of age through one another, and why understanding your artistic purpose is just as important as mastering the craft itself. We also dive into Parker's acclaimed short I Didn't Like You, unpacking its grassroots success, why she chose to promote the film with a zine instead of a traditional trailer, and how the growing appetite for fresh queer stories helped audiences discover the film. The conversation then turns personal as we discuss the realities of balancing relationships with a creative career, navigating love as an artist, and finding harmony between the people you care about and the work you're passionate about. I DIDN'T LIKE YOU (50/50 COMEDY 2026) ZINE/WEBSITE - I DIDN'T LIKE YOU Gen Z Creatives List - Parker F. SEANCE Short Film (early 50/50 Selection) Submit Your Horror Short!

Fear has always fascinated Nolan Lampson. This week on the 50/50 Podcast, Nolan joins us to unpack his lifelong love of horror—from sneaking scary movies while his parents were away to discovering why we're so drawn to the genre's darkest corners. We dive into the anatomy of a great scare, why horror needs moments of levity to truly work, and Nolan's belief that the genre is ultimately about catharsis—scratching a primal itch that no other type of storytelling can. Nolan goes on to share how college screenwriting courses gave him both a creative community and the discipline that's carried him through his professional career. We talk about building momentum through ambitious internships, knowing when to bet on yourself and call in your network, and why lasting relationships are often the key to the next opportunity. Plus, Nolan reveals the film he believes is the best horror movie released since Hereditary. Nolan's Website Nolan's Letterboxd Nolan's Instagram Submit Your Horror Short

This week, actor/comedian Johnny Marx returns to the pod one year after his first appearance, and a lot has changed. We catch up on the first anniversary of LINDA, the monthly comedy show he co-hosts with Bebe Katsenes, and how building the show has helped him find a true community within comedy. Johnny reflects on meeting some of his comedy heroes through the experience and shares how stand-up has become one of the most valuable tools in shaping his identity as an actor—helping audiences, casting directors, and producers understand exactly who he is as a performer. We also dive into Johnny's recent success on social media after a string of viral Instagram reels. He breaks down his authentic approach to creating content, why finding the right audience matters more than chasing trends, and the mindset that's helped him grow an engaged following - the right audience.  LINDA Johnny Insta SUBMIT: 50/50 Horror Fest