Category: Show Biz Stories

• September 26, 2023

  S2E56: “From HAIR To Eternity”

  PAUL ABASCAL went from being a super talented, highly sought-after movie set HAIR STYLIST (he was MEL GIBSON and SLY STALLONE’S hair guy!) to being a super talented MOVIE AND TV DIRECTOR whose very first dramatic directing credit was the “Oil’s Well That Ends Well” episode of “TALES FROM THE CRYPT”. Paul saw hair architecturally.…
• September 5, 2023

  S2E53: It’s FAN APPRECIATION Day!!!

  Here at The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast, we really and truly appreciate our fans. But, also, we appreciate how the fan experience has changed since we started making movies and TV shows back in the stone age. There used to be a lot more distance between us – what we now call…
• August 22, 2023

  S2E51: “Return To The Castle Of Horror”

  Welcome to our return visit to the Castle Of Horror! Movie producer, director, writer and actor William Castle was one of the very first film makers who saw their own brand – understood what it was – and then bent movie-making toward themselves. Like Alfred Hitchcock – some critics called Castle a poor man’s Hitchcock…
• August 15, 2023

  S2E50 Crypt Salutes William Friedkin

  It’s not unusual for long-running TV shows – like HBO’s “Tales From The Crypt” was – to develop a family-like feeling among its regular crew. At Crypt, that feeling got magnified by Crypt’s whole “lightning in a bottle” mystique. As we’ve talked about here at The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast, Crypt really…
• August 8, 2023

  S2E49 Chicken Thing Attacks!

  Todd Holland directed one of the best “Tales From The Crypt” episodes – “Top Billing” – about a struggling actor (played by Jon Lovitz) who thinks he’s auditioning for the lead in “Hamlet” at a small theater tucked away in an alley. He’s actually auditioning for the role of “Yorick – the skull”! This is…
• August 1, 2023

  S2E48 Crypt Keeper Confidential

  Odds are you’re here, reading this because you love “Tales From The Crypt” and its iconic Crypt Keeper character. We don’t blame you.; we love both of them, too! We started this season (some 48 episodes ago) with a conversation that had never been had before about how exactly The Crypt Keeper came to be.…
• July 31, 2023

  RIP Paul Reubens

  We never had the chance to work with Paul Reubens – whose character Pee Wee Herman charmed the hell out of us – but, we sure wish we had. Paul died Sunday night after a six year long (private) battle with cancer. Though we didn’t get to work with Paul, we got to work with…
• July 25, 2023

  S2E47: The Name Game

  Run for your lives! The world is over-run with Alan Katz’s – and Allan Katz’s and Allen Katz’s! That’s what it feels like anyway (to the Alan Katz who hosts this podcast and writes these posts!). In this episode of The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast, Alan Katz finally has a conversation he’s…
• July 18, 2023

  S2E46: Crypt We Love/Crypt We Hate

  Over the course of 5 seasons, Gil & Alan produced 69 episodes of “Tales From The Crypt”. That’s out of 93 episodes total over its full 7 year run. While we’ve said many times that doing Crypt was like catching lightning in a bottle, not every day was fun. And while we take pride in…
• July 11, 2023

  S2E45 Make Em Laugh

  Conventional wisdom says comedy is hard. It is for some people. Hell, for some people (the ones without a sense of humor – not everyone has one, ya know!), comedy is downright impossible. For the rest of us though, comedy isn’t all that hard. And it gets easier the more honest we are. Phyllis Katz…
• June 27, 2023

  S2E43: “Lightning In A Bottle”

  That should be “Lighting In A Bottle – At the Chattanooga Film Festival“. That’s where we just spent the weekend – being feted (not fetid) because of “Tales From The Crypt“, “Bordello Of Blood” and this, our “How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast“. So, before we start, thank you, Chattanooga Film Festival & Chattanooga…
• June 22, 2023

  Join Us At The Chattanooga Film Festival!

  We are beyond honored that the Chattanooga Film Festival wants to honor “Tales From The Crypt”, “Bordello Of Blood” and this very podcast – “The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast” at this year’s festival which starts THIS WEEKEND and runs from June 23 – June 29. The opening weekend – the 23 –…
• June 20, 2023

  S2E42: “Writing Superman”

  Kevin J. Anderson is a writing superman. He’s actually written Superman, too – Kevin wrote the novels “The Last Days Of Krypton” and “Enemies & Allies“. Kevin’s also written books in the Star Wars world, the X-Files world and, perhaps most famously, together with Brian Herbert, the Dune world. In fact, Kevin is incredibly successful.…
• June 13, 2023

  S2E41: “The Juice”

  Director Ernest Dickerson is The Juice! Our friend Ernest Dickerson is both a first rate director of photography and a first rate director. He shot all of Spike Lee‘s early movies – everything from Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop (Spike’s film school dissertation) and “She’s Gotta Have It” to “School Daze” and “Jungle Fever” to “Do The…
• May 2, 2023

  S2E35: “John Harrison’s Best Friends Are Zombies”

  You might not know John Harrison’s name (though you should!). John’s written, directed, produced or written the score for some pretty big projects including Dinosaur, Creepshow (and Creepshow 2), Tales From The Darkside, the original Day Of The Dead and the 2000 TV version of Dune. John cut his movie-making teeth working for horror maestro…
• April 4, 2023

  S2E31: “Who’s The Boss, Part 2”

  A bunch of episodes back (Season Two, Episode 18), we asked “Who’s really the boss on any movie or TV set?” One of the answers: why, it’s the first assistant director, of course! On a TV set, that’s pretty true. There, the first AD works for the producers. On a movie set, by contrast, the…
• March 21, 2023

  S2E29: “The Director’s Director”

  You might not know the name Elliot Silverstein but you should. He directed a couple of very big movies (Cat Ballou and A Man Called Horse). He also helped invent TV directing back in the 1950’s and 1960’s (directing Naked City, Have Gun Will Travel and The Twilight Zone. Elliot was always an artist’s rights…
• March 7, 2023

  S2E27: “A Taste Of Sherrie”

  One of the great things about doing “Tales From The Crypt” was the actors we got to work with. Kirk Douglass, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael J Fox, Isabella Rossellini, Daniel Craig among many, many others. We also got to work with an actor named Sherrie Rose. Hell, we liked working with Sherrie so much…
• February 28, 2023

  S2E26: “Tobe Or Not Tobe – A Tribute To Our Friend Tobe Hooper

  There’s no data to back this up, but most of the people making horror movies – like horror movie fans – are some of the nicest people on the planet. Our friend Tobe Hooper (along with his writing partner Kim Henkel) created one of the most iconic horror characters of all time: Leatherface from The…
• February 21, 2023

  S2E25: “TV Or Not TV”

  Sam Egan’s been writing TV shows (and the occasional feature film) for fifty plus years. His first big break was writing and producing the show “Quincy ME” with Jack Klugman. TV was very different back then. How we watched it was different. Strange but true: there used to be only three broadcast networks putting out…
• February 15, 2023

  S2E24: “Bordello Schmear, Part 2”

  This episode/post is a continuation of S2E23 – Bordello of Blood: The Whole Schmear. I guess that makes this “the rest of the schmear”. Spoiler alert: this story has a happy ending. At its core, our podcast is the story of a creative relationship. How making a dumb horror movie destroyed that relationship. And how…
• February 15, 2023

  S2E23: “Bordello Of Blood – The Whole Schmear (Part 1)”

  Spoiler alert: this story has a happy ending. At its core, our podcast is the story of a creative relationship. How making a dumb horror movie destroyed that relationship. And how doing a podcast about making that dumb horror movie healed the wounds and reignited the relationship. That’s after not speaking to each other for…
• January 31, 2023

  S2E21: Mike Vosburg Is Drawn To The Dark Side

  If you’ve ever seen an episode of Tales From The Crypt, you’ve enjoyed the work of artist and comic book creator Mike Vosburg. When you sit and talk to Mike – aka Voz – you can’t help thinking “Wow, what a terrific person!” And then you look at his comic book art and you can’t…
• January 21, 2023

  S2E19: “Rust Makes Our Heads Explode”

  Nobody should ever die on a film or TV set. No one should ever get injured either but physical things happen (stunts, for instance). Injuries should should be rare. Death should be a complete stranger. With hundreds of hours of produced film and TV content under our belts, Gil Adler and I had the exact…
• January 17, 2023

  S2E18: “Who’s The Boss?”

  Film sets are a fascinating place to work. They definitely reflect the nature of the people working on them – especially at the top. But who’s really in charge of any set? Who’s the boss? Most sets are like bee hives. And, while everyone thinks the director is queen bee, on the set itself, it’s…
• January 13, 2023

  S2E17: “Castle Of Horror”!

  Welcome to The Castle Of Horror – the latest episode of the How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast! In it, we talk to Terry Castle daughter of film legend WILLIAM CASTLE – producer of Rosemary’s Baby but more importantly producer AND director of iconic Hollywood horror movies  THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL… 13 GHOSTS……
• January 3, 2023

  S2E16: Car Ride To Hell

  Welcome to our first new episode of 2023! We’re dropping a Joel Silver story we’ve been threatening to tell since we started this podcast last year. The Car Ride To Hell! How do we know it ended up in Hell? Well, for starters, Donald Trump makes an appearance – two actually! Here’s the setting. As…
• December 28, 2022

  S2E15: “Best Bits”

  For a lot of people, 2022 was an outright annus horribilus. One to forget. That wasn’t the case for us here at the How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast. For starters, we came into being this year. That was a good thing (all things considered). We found a growing audience – that’s been even…
• December 22, 2022

  Bonus Episode: “Is “Die Hard” A Christmas Movie?

  Tis the season to ask this essential question: Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie?
• December 20, 2022

  S2E14: “Post Mortem” (Featuring Chelsea Rebecca & Jason Stein)

  The body’s on the slab now. Let’s do the post mortem. This past Saturday, our little Podcast held a benefit for the Motion Picture Home – the MPTF. They’re a great organization that takes care of film folk in need. We performed a live table read of “Dead Easy“. That’s the “Crypt” film we never…
• December 13, 2022

  S2E13: “(James) Bonding With Peter Iliff”

  Peter Iliff‘s passion for movies started with James Bond. He was six and his dad took him to see “Goldfinger” on the day it opened. They watched it twice. Now, it may seem strange – a dad taking his six year old to see a Bond film – but, strangely, something happened there in that…
• December 7, 2022

  The LIVE Table Read For Charity

  Please join us & THE CRYPT KEEPER at NOON PACIFIC TIME on SATURDAY DECEMBER 17 for a LIVE TABLE READ FOR CHARITY! Some movie projects become legend without ever getting made. “Tales From The Crypt Presents Dead Easy” is one of them. We’ll be reading “DEAD EASY” – the “Tales From The Crypt” feature film…
• December 6, 2022

  S2E12: “Buried Bodies”

  Wanna know how to break into the move and TV biz? Know where all the bodies are buried. In order to do that, you have to be in on the burying process. If you’re not leading the body-burying op, you must be assisting. In Hollywood, those people – the ones willing to bury the bodies…
• November 22, 2022

  S2E10: “Hanging Out W Alan & Gil”

  In this episode, Gil and I invite you to hang out with us and shoot the shit. But – before we forget (and while we have your attention) – please join us Saturday December 17 at NOON Pacific time for a “TABLE READ FOR CHARITY”. The MOTION PICTURE HOME (run by the Motion Picture Television…
• November 15, 2022

  Can You Believe Taye Diggs???

  The short answer is YES! You absolutely can believe Taye Diggs and that’s the whole point of this episode! We ask the question “What makes an actor ‘believable’?” And, the actor we’re using for demonstration purposes in this episode is the terrific Taye Diggs who, it just so happens, Gil (Adler) has cast twice. The…
• November 8, 2022

  S2E8: Bill Sadler Is A Really Nice Guy

  

  This conversation feels like a pair of comfortable slippers. It’s that warm and familiar.
• November 2, 2022

  “Dirty Laundry” – VIDEO VERSION

  To view this content, you must be a member of Alan’s Patreon at $1 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to access this content.
• October 25, 2022

  S2E6: “How NOT To Make A (Monster) Movie”

  What makes otherwise normal people obsess on depicting gore so it looks utterly real?
• October 19, 2022

  S2E5: Steve de Souza Has Even MORE Of A Story

  This episode picks up where E4 left off. And then it gets even more epic. Listening to episode 3 is not mandatory. It wouldn’t hurt, but this one stands on its own. It’s a big episode in more ways than one. It covers a lot of incredible territory from the making of classic feature films…
• October 12, 2022

  S2E4: “Steve de Souza Has A Story”

  

  In this episode of “The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast”, we sit down with a master storyteller: writer/director/producer Steve de Souza. You may not know Steve’s name, but you definitely know his work: 48 Hrs, Die Hard, Die Hard 2, Commando, Streetfighter, Judge Dredd, Beverly Hills Cop 2. Steve practically invented the modern…
• October 5, 2022

  S2E3: Casting About With Victoria Burrows

  

  In this episode of “The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast: Horror Stories From The Movie Making Trenches”, we sit down with one of the biggest casting directors in the business, Victoria Burrows. Or, as we prefer to put it, we go “Casting About With Victoria Burrows”. In season one of “The How NOT…
• September 28, 2022

  S2E2: “What’s Funny Is…”

  

  With Guest David Brecher The creative process is entirely unpredictable. Even creatives who genuinely aspire to produce greatness every time out can’t predict that they will produce greatness. It’s always a crap shoot. So it is with podcasts as it is with movies and with TV shows. In this episode, Gil and I set out…
• September 19, 2022

  The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast: Season 2 Promo

  Are you looking for your next great podcast fix! Maybe you’re a little fried on true crime stories or you need a break from politics for two seconds. Sound familiar? Then have I got the podcast for you! In season one of “The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast”, we told the story of…
• April 21, 2022

  Episode 5: “Endings Are Never Pretty”

  

  How a movie starts is really important. How it ends though – how it sends its audience out into the night – is really, really important. The script for “Bordello Of Blood” had a perfectly acceptable ending. The Hollywood sausage-making process that put Bordello on the screen however had no ending. Put in horror movie…
• April 13, 2022

  Episode 4: “Special Effects”

  

  Nothing is more important to a horror movie than its makeup special effects. Ironically, we live and die by the quality, the craftsmanship, the authenticity and the sheer OMG-ness of how well we re-create the illusion of gore. That’s where this episode begins: we’ve realized that our local makeup special effects team – talented and…
• April 6, 2022

  Episode 3: Welcome To Vancouver/Can We Go Home Yet?

  

  There’s something inherently hopeful about starting a feature film or TV show. A team of strangers comes together to make something they all believe in. And then there’s “Bordello Of Blood”. Where a team of strangers got together – and simply got “stranger” with each other. In Episode 3, we settle in for the long…
• March 29, 2022

  Episode 1: Sausage Making, Hollywood Style

  

  Our story begins… How Universal pulled the plug on Dead Easy (a project we all loved and looked forward to making) and had us make “Bordello Of Blood” instead – a film not a single one of us wanted to do.
• March 10, 2022

  Episode 2: “How Not To CAST A Movie”

  

  Casting, it’s been said, is ninety percent of any director’s work. Get the casting right and life is easy. Get it wrong though and even “Citizen Kane” can turn into “Plan 9 From Outer Space”.
• March 10, 2022

  Preview: “When Coming Attractions ‘Kill’!”

  

  Now, why (you might ask), would anyone care about a mediocre little horror movie that came out a thousand years ago? Well, in addition to the fact that “Tales From The Crypt Presents Bordello Of Blood” still makes the cable TV rounds every Halloween – like a movie monster that won’t die – it stands…