Joel Edwards is a filmmaker that has spent all of his adult life in the industry. Originally from Pasadena, CA Joel and his 4 brothers had moved 7 times, lived and traveled across the US as children. By the time he was in his early twenties he had started a film production business with his brother Jesse. This has grown and turned into a company that is now known as Evolve. For the past 7 years they've owned & operated the boutique content studio which is a strategic creative partner for many networks, production companies & agencies.

Their work is hand crafted, as the duo prefer to play all projects very close to the chest and are deeply immersed in every facet of creative, production & post, design, VFX, sound & score.  Joel and Jesse work as a traditional directing team in larger scale sets, but also work individually as directors; or director/DP's in smaller crew roles when called upon in docu-style cinematography.

They have crafted content for Disney, National Geographic, ESPN, FOX, NBC Universal, Discovery, History, ABC, SyFy, Animal Planet, Samsung, Gatorade, Nike and many other networks & brands. Recognized with numerous industry awards. Just in the past 5 years alone, they have been nominated for 34 National Emmy Awards, winning 5 of them in Best Promo Campaign, Outstanding Cinematography, Best Sports Show & Journalism categories.

AVCpod - Episode 35 - Joel Edwards

Walter Partos is the owner of Partos Company which represents cinematographers, costume designers, production designers, producers and editors. Their artists have won virtually every award in the entertainment industry including Oscars, Spirits Awards, Cannes Gold Lions, Emmys, BAFTAs and MTV Music Video Awards.

Walter started his career as a literary agent and his clients included Quentin Tarantino, Mardik Martin (Raging Bull, Mean Streets), Chris DeVore (Elephant Man), Rolf De Heir (Bad Boy Bubby).

After literary representation, the next step in his career was representing visual artists. One of the first visual artists he represented was cinematographer Jordan Croenenweth who taught him the importance of listening. Now the company represents a large number of cinematographers including a former podcast guest Oren Soffer.

This episode is unique in that instead of a more chronological discussion of Walter's career we dive deep into the intricacies of being an agent with the hour long discussion taking on a more Q&A form about the craft with Walter extolling advice about a number of topics including: how to get an agent, what an agent can do for you, common misconceptions about agents, how to be a professional artist…

We recorded this conversation over the course of a few discussions due to technical reasons. With that in mind, the conversation touches upon the same topics in a few different ways but it all felt helpful so the various conversations have been combined into one episode.

AVCpod - Episode 36 - Walter Partos

Sean Porter is a director of photography with a list of feature films that include Rough Night (currently in theaters) starring Scarlett Johansson, 20th Century Women starring Annette Bening and Green Room starring Patrick Stewart. Originally an indie filmmaker from Seattle, Sean’s pursuit of a career as a cinematographer led him to New York City where he immersed himself in the indie film scene. After a few festival darlings Sean’s career has taken off with Rough Night being his first major film studio production.

In the episode we discuss Sean’s journey from indie DP shooting anything and everything to rising up the ranks by making careful decisions about which films to take on in an effort to build proper momentum. It’s an energetic hour filled with a lot of insight on both the craft and the strategy to a long term narrative career.

AVCpod - Episode 37 - Sean Porter

Adam Newport-Berra is a director of photography with a reel that includes features, commercials and music videos. In the music realm he has worked with Chance the Rapper, Francis and The Lights, Kanye West and many more. His most recent feature film, Barry, is the story of a young Barack Obama which was acquired for release by Netflix. Adam’s commercial work delves into true storytelling with compelling and unique ads that can feel more like short films.

In the episode we discuss Adam’s approach to collaboration and how he values people’s attitudes over any other attribute. We also dive into some technical aspects of his pieces learning about the challenges of a few specific projects.

AVCpod - Episode 38 - Adam Newport-Berra

Brian Koppelman is a co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of Showtime's hit drama series Billions. Over the past two decades, Koppelman and his writing/producing/directing partner, David Levien, have created an influential and diverse body of work in both film and television. 

Some of their most noteworthy credits include Rounders, Ocean's Thirteen, Solitary Man, The Illusionist, Runaway Jury, Tilt, ESPN's 30 for 30 (This Is What They Want), I Smile Back, The Girlfriend Experience and Joe Berlinger's Tony Robbins documentary, I Am Not Your Guru. Koppelman is the host and creator of the hit Slate podcast The Moment with Brian Koppelman. 

In this episode we discuss the block he faced in his 20s and how he overcame it at 30 to write Rounders. From there we dive into a variety of topics including having a collaborator, how to stay focused on the work and what it means to stay curious.

AVCpod - Episode 39 - Brian Koppelman

The Art vs. Commerce Podcast, hosted by Jared Levy, is a conversation about the challenges of crafting images and ideas for a living.