Hollywood Uncorked Podcast

Tamara Chestna has traveled that rarest of Hollywood paths: from production executive to working screenwriter. In this episode, she sits down to talk about the unusual journey, the Amy Poehler-directed comedy Moxie she recently had greenlit by Netflix, and why the ongoing battle between agencies and the Writer’s Guild are so awkward (and not fun) for everyone involved. Meanwhile, Chestna’s manager and Episode #59 guest Ava Jamshidi steps in as guest co-host to help the group field test three lesser-known bottles of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc against the king daddy in the category: Kim Crawford.

When screenwriter Adam Pava (The Boxtrolls, The Lego Movie 4D) landed a gig as the writing assistant for Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s MTV animated series Clone High in the early 2000s, he knew immediately he was in with the right two guys. And while the controversial show was short-lived, Pava’s professional partnership with the prolific writing and directing duo has flourished—helping spawn Pava’s own successful animation writing career. As he joins the Hollywood Uncorked panel in knocking back three amazing bottles of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (including the show’s highest-rated wine ever), Pava talks about what it’s like being part of the informal crew of Lord & Miller collaborators, the endlessly evolving process of developing The Boxtrolls movie, and his secret for sustained success in Hollywood.

As Hollywood Uncorked hits its 80th episode, we celebrate with three of our most epic segments, featuring Survivor’s Jeff Probst, Superstore’s Lauren Ash, and writer/director Conrad Goode (Anger Management, Me Myself & Irene). As we sample three inexpensive bottles of rosé, our guests talk about the lucky breaks, big chances, key relationships, and transformative experiences that launched their careers. Listen as Probst talks about competing for the Survivor gig against The Amazing Race’s Phil Keoghan, Lauren Ash discusses how she almost gave up on her Hollywood career before it even started, and Goode lets us in on the unparalleled shenanigans of the set of Con Air.

As an executive for French animation studio Cyber Group, Ira Singerman deals in two sectors of increasing importance in Hollywood: animation and foreign markets. As he helps the guys on their journey through Champagne by sampling three bottles from the Côte des Blancs region, Ira talks about switching over from the world of live-action production, what kinds of intellectual properties younger audiences gravitate toward, and the animation battle between streaming services and traditional media outlets as they compete to keeps kids gloriously silent at restaurants the world over.

A lively Part 2 of our conversation with Cobra Kai creators Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald as we detail their respective early careers writing the comedies Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle and Hot Tub Time Machine, as well as their thoughts on the future of Hollywood. We also reach the climax of the Hollywood Uncorked All-Valley Tournament and find out if big, corporate wines win the day or lose to their small, plucky opponents.  

On their own, Jon Hurwitz and Josh Heald have more-than-impressive track records for launching and furthering well-known film franchises. Heald wrote the comedy classic Hot Tub Time Machine and its hilarious sequel. Meanwhile, Hurwitz (with writing partner Hayden Schlossberg) has written all three Harold & Kumar movies and directed the 2012 installment of the American Pie franchise, American Reunion. Last year, this comedy coalition joined forces to relaunch the original Karate Kid franchise in the form of YouTube Red’s series Cobra Kai, which this time gives the underdog story to original bad guy Johnny Lawrence as he finds himself tormented by a grown and successful Daniel LaRusso. In honor of the All-Valley Tournament from the original Karate Kid, Heald and Hurwitz join this episode to help referee a three-round showdown between big, corporate wines and the plucky upstarts looking to challenge them in their categories. Along the way, they discuss their collegiate bonds, their mutual escapes from the bu

Glenn Farrington has lived a lot of lives—from street cop to stand-up comedian to successful digital entrepreneur. Of course, the only sensible step after such a seemingly scatalogical career path was to add an even more random title to his professional stable: TV writer. As Glenn helps the guys heartily quaff three bottles of red wine from Italy’s Mount Etna region, he talks about how entering a screenwriting competition got his foot in the door in Hollywood, the importance of staying relentlessly driven, and his transition from the beloved, karate-based family sitcom Kickin’ It to his current position on the staff of the CW’s Roswell, New Mexico.

If you’re a studio executive looking to bring some hard-core humor to a female-centric comedy script, there’s a good chance Karen McCullough is at the top of your list of potential writers. After all, she wrote 10 Things I Hate About You, The House Bunny, and Legally Blonde (along with its upcoming sequel) alongside her writing partner Kirsten Smith. Meanwhile, her solo work includes the draft that got Girls Trip made—as well as countless other rewrites and feature scripts. As she helps Ben, Tom and guest host Arvind Ethan David mow through three bottles of Reims Champagne, Karen talks about how Legally Blonde 3 began to bubble up over the years, how she began her screenwriting career from New Mexico, and why she has no plans (thank you very much) to follow the writing herd to television.

You may recognize actor John Ducey from his countless TV appearances and as the suspiciously young dad of the Jonas Brothers on the Disney TV show that launched them. Or maybe you don’t recognize him from that. Frankly, we don’t know what you’re into. But you should definitely tune into this episode as the guys sit down with John to test whether it’s really better getting that last-minute wine at an actual wine shop instead of the grocery store. While drinking through three stellar but inexpensive bottles of casual dinner wine, John reveals how he went from Harvard engineering grad to actor, the pleasure and pain of being a series regular on the hilarious but short-lived sitcom Bad Judge, and how he took charge of his Hollywood career by jumping into the production side of independent film.

Being a screenwriter isn’t for the faint of heart. There are the years of solitary work, the frustrating script notes, rejections—and, even in success, absolutely no guarantee of a long career. The lucky writers, however, have a manager like Bob Sobhani of Authentic Management on their side. In this episode, he and the Hollywood Uncorked panel sample three wines from Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2018 and get down to brass tacks on the business of screenwriting—from how new content platforms are affecting the industry, the things no screenwriter should do when trying to break in, and Bob’s front-row seat to the development and sale of the script for American Pie while interning for the movie’s producers.

As the young Head of Development for producer Jordan Kerner (The Smurfs and The Mighty Ducks franchises), Lisa Crnic is only a short time removed from the universal Hollywood experience of being an assistant. As the guys follow up their New Year’s Eve Champagne episode with an exploration of bubbly from France’s Marne Valley, Lisa walks us through the transition from assistant to exec—from her terrifying first day as an agency newbie at CAA, what it takes to “work a desk” for an agent, and the logistical mistake she made there that almost ended her career before it began.

Hollywood Uncorked closes out 2018 with a bang as the guys crank through four stellar New Year’s Eve champagnes while listening to a slew of epic tales from veteran actor/writer Conrad Goode (Me Myself & Irene, The Longest Yard) about his journey from the NFL to Hollywood. While the panel works up from a Korbel to a 2009 Dom Perignon, Conrad discusses how he and the rest of the cast of Con Air killed time while shooting in the Nevada desert, writing and producing the movie Watercolor Postcards, and some truly choice stories about his ex-teammate Lawrence Taylor.

In the new Hollywood, popular books are worth their weight in gold as the intellectual property powering countless franchises in movies and TV—from Crazy, Rich Asians to The Devil Wears Prada. As co-head of the book department at The Gotham Group, Edward Gamarra is responsible for finding the manuscripts and published works that could become the next blockbuster or breakout series—exactly what he did with The Maze Runner and its sequels, which he executive produced. In this episode, Eddie helps the guys work through three pretty amazing bottles of domestic Merlot as he talks about the difference between Hollywood and publishing, how he ended up in entertainment after getting a PhD in psychoanalysis, and his weekly commute to LA from his home in Minneapolis.

A veteran of LA’s improv scene, actor-writer Damon Jones (Life of The Party) has had success across the entertainment spectrum, from creating sitcoms like USA’s Benched and Comedy Central’s Halfway Home to writing the script and music for the upcoming Melissa McCarthy movie Margie Claus. In this episode, he helps the Hollywood Uncorked panel select wines for the perfect holiday party as he discusses coming up in the famed Groundlings comedy troupe, how he landed a role in an infamous Seinfeld episode, and the time he ended up in Carrie Fisher’s bathtub with John Malkovich.

Everybody has that go-to wine they drink by when nobody else is around. The kind that’s cheap, tasty enough and gets the job done. But are we doing ourselves a disservice when we settle for “good enough” wine? Is there actually a better option out there for the same amount of coin if we just took the time to find it? In this episode, the panel puts that premise to the test as each member brings a bottle of their favorite house wine while letting the professionals at K&L Wines suggest an alternative. Will the Hollywood Uncorked crew stick with their go-to wines or take the pro advice? Find out as the guys are joined by guest Mike Cohen, who takes them inside the world of augmented reality and how it’s poised to impact the entertainment landscape.

Ever been in a mall and wondered about the ridiculously good-looking people staring back at you from kiosk ads and clothing store bags? Well, wonder no more! Actor/model Spencer Hill joins our new episode to talk about his career, which includes being the face of Aveda’s men’s grooming line and appearing in countless commercials and TV shows, including Grey’s Anatomy, True Blood and CSI:NY. Joined by guest co-host Gren Wells, Spencer helps drink three bottles of wine from Ben’s personal cellar as he discusses aging into playing the “sexy dad,” how modeling is a family affair that includes his wife Alicia Hill and their son, and what it was like to play Avril Lavigne’s boyfriend in a music video. Because that happened.

In this episode, the guys take a thematic trip north of the border to encounter two true rarities: Canadian wine and one of that country’s most prolific married writing couples: New York Times best-selling author Tanis Rideout (Above All Things) and Simon Racioppa, showrunner for the upcoming Amazon series Invincible based on the comic books of The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman. While sampling three unique wine offerings from Prince Edward Country, Ontario, Rideout talks about how she went from working retail at an outdoor store to writing her award-winning novel based on George Mallory's failed 1924 attempt to be the first person to climb Mount Everest. Meanwhile, Racioppa discusses how he approaches adapting well-known literary material—from beloved comic books to writing for The Dark Crystal prequel series from Netflix.

Adam Campbell might be the first classically trained English actor to break into Hollywood by headlining back-to-back spoof movies, with leading roles in both Date Movie and Epic Movie in the mid-2000s. Since then, he has stayed true to the comedic path, with credits ranging from The Five-Year Engagement to Hello Ladies, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and as a series regular on the Tina Fey-produced sitcom Great News. Adam joins today’s episode to dip into the largely unknown world of English sparkling wines while discussing his journey from England to California, the movie review that almost broke him, and how his marriage to Glee actress Jayma Mays helps keep his comedy chops up.

As the founder of Madhouse Entertainment (Prisoners, Slender Man), producer/manager Robyn Meisinger deals in her share of gifted wine. And while most of it still sits in a box in the corner of her office, she’s nonetheless an appropriate guest to join in on an exploration of three of the most gifted bottles of wine in Hollywood. As she helps the guys work their way through a Jordan, a Sideways-inspired Hitching Post Pinot Noir, and a Rombauer Chardonnay, Robyn delivers some classic industry yarns—including the time she got a movie financed with a drug dealer and how she got her start managing clients as a producer’s assistant by secretly repping writers that were submitted to him.

As the longtime host and executive producer of Survivor, Jeff Probst has presided over his share of epic battles of will. But few have been as suspenseful or delightfully haphazard as this episode’s inaugural Hollywood Uncorked Blind Tasting Challenge! Joining a specially convened competition panel, Probst competes through four rounds of wine-tasting travails—from a blindfolded opening act to a wild finale that involves two players sampling the contents of the infamous dump bucket. Along the way, Probst spills some details about the upcoming season of Survivor: David vs. Goliath, discusses how he and Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race almost ended up with each other’s jobs, and describes what really happened behind the scenes of the infamous 2008 Emmys he hosted alongside the other four nominees for best reality host.