As Told To

Everybody's got a story to tell. Sometimes they need a little bit of help. Veteran ghostwriter Daniel Paisner talks shop with his fellow collaborators and shines a light on what it means to pursue a writing life on the back of someone else’s story.

Episode 64: Zibby Owens 05/07/2024

Episode 63: Todd Strasser 04/23/2024

Episode 62: Genevieve Field 04/09/2024

Episode 62: Genevieve Field Veteran magazine journalist Genevieve Field joins us to discuss her mid-career pivot into ghostwriting, as she celebrates the success of her “Andy Award”-winning collaboration with Hollywood stuntwoman Kimberly Shannon Murphy. , Murphy’s unflinchingly honest account of intergenerational familial abuse, was honored this winter with an inaugural “Andy Award”—so named for the “and” credit often awarded to ghostwriters—at the first annual “Gathering of the Ghosts” conference in New York City, jointly sponsored by Gotham Ghostwriters and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Genevieve Field is no stranger to long-form storytelling in the voice of one of her subjects, but she is a relative newcomer to book-length memoir and collaborative non-fiction. Prior to embarking on a freelance writing career, she worked as a story editor at The New York Times Magazine, as the editorial director of Seventeen online, and the features director at Glamour. While at Glamour, she was a frequent contributor to the magazine’s first-person celebrity features, presenting “as told to” articles in the voices of notable figures such as Rachel Maddow, Cecile Richards, and Sarah Silverman. She also co-founded the Webby-Award winning magazine and dating site, Nerve. “I help writers unearth the stories in their hearts, get that deep wisdom on the page, and create breakthrough books,” she writes on her website. “Whether serving as a collaborator or editor, my purpose is always the same: to help bring important stories and great writing into the world.” "This book is so much more than the sum of its parts,” notes actor Cameron Diaz in the forward to Glimmer. “It is a gift. It is Kimberly's offering to readers suffering in silence. It is a companion for anyone who has endured trauma, at any level. And it is a beautiful tribute to the strength and power of the human spirit." And, in the talented hands of podcast guest Genevieve Field, it is a powerful example of what it takes to collaborate on a deeply personal memoir of sexual abuse and childhood trauma. Learn more about Genevieve Field: , on her battle with depression, as told to Genevieve Field Please support the sponsors who support our show: Daniel Paisner's Daniel Paisner's (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/30712083

Episode 61: Seth Davis 03/26/2024

Episode 60: Mark Dagostino 03/12/2024

Episode 59: Douglas Preston 02/27/2024

Episode 59: Douglas Preston “What really amazed me here was that so many of the authors who submitted stories wrote something completely outside their genre,” reflects best-selling author Douglas Preston, one of the project editors behind the dynamic new collaborative novel . “This book is full of all kinds of weird stories.” Yes, it is. And so is podcast guest Douglas Preston, co-author of dozens of New York Times —a shining example of what it means to write in collaboration. In all, Preston has published 39 books of fiction and non-fiction. In addition to books, Preston writes about archaeology and paleontology for the New Yorker. He has worked as an editor for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University and is the recipient of numerous writing awards in the U.S. and Europe. He served as president of the Authors Guild from 2019 to 2023. Set in a Lower East Side tenement in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Fourteen Days turns on a narrative frame written by Preston, with contributions from a disparate collection of contemporary writers, headed by fellow project editor Margaret Atwood. In addition to Atwood and Preston, the novel features the “voices” of Charlie Jane Anders, Joseph Cassara, Jennine Capó Crucet, Angie Cruz, Pat Cummings, Sylvia Day, Emma Donoghue, Dave Eggers, Diana Gabaldon, Tess Gerritsen, John Grisham, Maria Hinojosa, Mira Jacob, Erica Jong, CJ Lyons, Celeste Ng, Tommy Orange, Mary Pope Osborne, Alice Randall, Ishmael Reed, Roxana Robinson, Nelly Rosario, James Shapiro, Hampton Sides, R.L. Stine, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Monique Truong, Scott Turow, Luis Alberto Urrea, Rachel Vail, Weike Wang, Caroline Randall Williams, De’Shawn Charles Winslow, and Meg Wolitzer. All proceeds from the book will be directed to the Authors Guild Foundation, the charitable and educational arm of the Authors Guild, dedicated to empowering all writers, from all backgrounds, at all stages of their careers. Learn more about Douglas Preston: Please support the sponsors who support our show: Daniel Paisner's Daniel Paisner's (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/30101928

Episode 58: Sarah Tomlinson 02/13/2024

Episode 57: Bethanne Patrick, Missing Pages 'Ghostwriting Non-Fiction The Literary Chameleon' 01/30/2024

Episode 57: Bethanne Patrick, Missing Pages 'Ghostwriting Non-Fiction The Literary Chameleon' “How do you tell someone else’s story, but make it authentic?” That’s the question at the heart of this episode of As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast, which is really a repurposed, repackaged edition of a recent episode of , the critically-acclaimed investigative podcast hosted by renowned literary critic Bethanne Patrick—known to readers across social media as “The Book Maven.” Bethanne and her production team at , a leading producer of original podcasts, pull back the curtain on the lucrative culture of non-fiction ghostwriting, and offer a compelling take on the art and practice of writing in collaboration, and the role “literary chameleons” have come to play in the telling of high-profile tales. Along the way, Bethanne looks at the evolution of the practice, and interviews ghostwriting veterans like Jon Sternfeld and Dan Gerstein, both former As Told To guests, as well as cookbook author J.J. Goode. She also spends some time chatting with As Told To host Daniel Paisner, who weighs in with a hard-won insight or two. This special crossover edition of As Told To is being presented with the permission of the Podglomerate team, and Bethanne Patrick, and is intended to further the conversation among writers and creatives who continue to write and create in service of someone else’s voice or vision. Also listen to Part II of the two-part Missing Pages exploration of the ghostwriting trade: “” Learn more about Bethanne Patrick and Missing Pages: Bethanne’s memoir, Please support the sponsors who support our show: Daniel Paisner's Daniel Paisner's (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/29673238

Episode 56: Kevin Anderson 01/16/2024

Episode 55: Andrew Crofts 01/02/2024

Episode 54: Rebecca Shaw & Ben Kronengold 12/19/2023

Episode 53: Rob Kutner 12/05/2023

Episode 53: Rob Kutner George McFly’s A Match Made in Space, from “Back to the Future”… Hank Moody’s God Hates Us All,” from “Californication”… Dr. Frederick Frankenstein’s How I Did It, from “Young Frankenstein”… Some of our best-loved movies and television shows feature books written by one of the lead characters. In many cases, the publication of those “books” becomes a central plot point or a running gag. (Think Handbook for the Recently Deceased, from “Beetlejuice.”) In other cases, those books leap from the screen and onto our bookshelves—IRL, as the kids like to say. That’s the case with , the in-movie memoir by Scott Lang, also known as Ant-Man, as seen on screen in the Marvel Studios blockbuster, “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.” The book was published by Hyperion Avenue in September and became an immediate New York Times best-seller, but here’s a news flash: it wasn’t really written by Scott Lang, the “Everyman Avenger” played in the movie by actor Paul Rudd. And no, it wasn’t really written by Paul Rudd, , and as it appears as a prop in the movie. In fact, the book was really written by our guest Rob Kutner, a veteran comedy writer who has collected five Emmys, a Peabody and a Grammy writing for such shows as “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” on Comedy Central, and “Conan,” on TBS. Rob’s other television writing credits include “Teen Titans Go,” “Angry Birds: Summer Madness” and “Dennis Miller Live,” and he has also written material for the Oscars, Emmys, and MTV Movie Awards broadcasts, as well as for two White House Correspondents Dinners. He is also the author of and the just-published , with illustrations by David DeGrand. Join us as Rob shares what it was like to channel the voice of a fictional character to craft a page-turning memoir of an ex-con turned world-saving superhero, and to be tasked with the caretaking of the life and legacy of one of the most beloved characters in the Marvel Universe. Learn more about Rob Kutner: Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's & (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/28901138

Episode 52: Adeena Sussman 11/21/2023

Episode 51: Rennie Dyball 11/07/2023

Episode 51: Rennie Dyball Rennie Dyball is an award-winning journalist, ghostwriter, middle-grade novelist and children’s book author who’s found a way to marry her lifelong interest in horses with her many and varied talents as a writer. Together with her co-author Piper Klemm, she created the popular Show Strides series of equestrian-themed novels for middle grade readers—originally published by The Plaid Horse and soon to be reissued by Andrews McMeel Universal. Rennie’s standalone novel for children, , was published by The Plaid Horse earlier this year. As a ghostwriter, Rennie has helped to give voice to a number of celebrity-driven autobiographies and memoirs, including the Audible Original memoir, , with Terry Crews and Rebecca King Crews; , with Andrea Barber (Kimmy Gibler from “Full House”); , with Hollywood animal trainer Sue Chipperton; and, , with fashion designer Christian Siriano. An accomplished equestrian, Rennie has also drawn on her love of horses to collaborate on , with top trainers Carleton and Traci Brooks. Her most recent book, , a picture book celebration of body positivity, with illustrations by Mia Saine, was published by Clarion Books in July. Rennie was a reporter and writer at People for over 15 years, before retiring from the magazine in 2017, and she continues to write for People.com as a freelance book critic. “People was the best training ground I could imagine,” she says of her development as a writer. “More than anything, I took away the importance of making every word count.” Join us for a winning conversation on what it takes to build a life and career out of two abiding passions—in Rennie’s case, riding and writing. Learn more about Rennie Dyball: Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's & (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/28520753

Episode 50: Dani Shapiro 10/24/2023

Episode 49: Lindsey Jacobellis 10/17/2023

Episode 49: Lindsey Jacobellis Lindsey Jacobellis is the most dominant athlete in the history of women’s snowboardcross—a thrilling head-to-head sport that made its Olympic debut at the 2006 games in Torino, when Lindsey also stepped to the Olympic stage for the first time. And yet the inaugural running of the event was nearly her undoing. At 20 years old, Lindsey had a commanding lead heading into the final stretch of the medal round when she grabbed her board on the penultimate jump and was unable to land cleanly, spilling off the course and looking on in despair as her rival, Tanja Frieden of Switzerland, sped past to claim the gold. The world looked on as well, in judgement and disbelief, and Lindsey’s fall would go down as one of the biggest unforced errors in sports—a misstep that allowed her to ultimately write one of the greatest comeback stories in Olympic history. It also cost her many of her sponsors, and shook her confidence, and in many ways stamped her career before it had really begun, and in her just-published memoir , co-written with podcast host Daniel Paisner, she revisits the anguish and heartbreak that found her on the back of that fall— and followed her around like a black cloud through the next four Olympic cycles, finally leading to her two gold medal runs at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. “I’m calling this book Unforgiving because that word has taken on so many meanings for me,” she writes. “It speaks to the single-minded, relentless pursuit that has helped to shape my snowboarding career…but it also reflects the punishing, intolerant treatment I received in the press, and in and around the Olympic and snowboarding communities. And it reminds me that for the longest time I wasn’t able to forgive myself for this one stupid, rash, thoughtless mistake—a mistake that cost me a whole lot more than a simple medal or the chance (for the moment!) to call myself a champion.” One of the ways Lindsey was finally able to put the fall behind her and reclaim her own narrative was to lean into her many other interests away from the mountain. She moved to California and took up surfing. She became a certified personal trainer and wrote a children’s book, Sochi: A True Story, based on the life-affirming bond she developed with the stray dog she met in the athletes’ village at the Sochi games. And she helped to launch , an event series working to showcase the world’s top female pros and provide an inspirational platform for young female athletes. Join us as we visit with the GOAT of women’s snowboardcross to talk about what it was like to rewrite her story on the snow—and, now, to share that story on the page. Learn more about Lindsey Jacobellis: Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's & (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/28320050

Episode 48: Jeff Daniels 10/10/2023

Episode 48: Jeff Daniels “Sometimes I’m asked if I’ll ever write a book,” notes actor, playwright and singer-songwriter Jeff Daniels, “and I always answer that I already have. It’s in my songs.” This is true. But now it’s also true that the stuff of Jeff Daniels’s life is on delightful display in the Audible Originals memoir “”—a collection of stories, musings and songs that invites listeners into the heart and mindset of one of our most versatile performers, offered with grace and good cheer and midwestern soul. Daniels, the two-time Emmy Award-winning actor and star of such iconic films as “Terms of Endearment,” “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” “Dumb and Dumber,” “Pleasantville,” and “The Squid and the Whale,” recalls being inspired in this effort by the story-laced songs of Steve Goodman and Arlo Guthrie, and, more recently, by Bruce Springsteen’s “Springsteen on Broadway.” Part podcast, part musical memoir, part bulletins from the frontlines of contemporary storytelling, “Alive and Well Enough” is a wildly entertaining mash-up of Jeff Daniels’s many gifts as a writer and performer, including scenes from some of the author’s original plays, many of which have been staged at in his hometown of Chelsea, Mich. “[It’s] is the only place where I get to do everything I do,” he says of his new audio project, which he calls “an adventure of an accidental artist who one day looked up and realized he had a sense of humor, a passion for writing, and stories to tell.” Join us for an insightful, engaging and surprisingly candid conversation on what it means to channel the work of some of our finest playwrights and screenwriters – like Lanford Wilson (“Fourth of July”), Scott Frank (“Godless”) and Aaron Sorkin (“The Newsroom” and the Broadway adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird”). “When you’re inside the writing, it rubs off,” he says. This is true as well. Note: This episode of As Told To: The Ghostwriting Podcast features narrative and song excerpts from Jeff Daniels’s audio memoir “Alive and Well Enough,” presented courtesy of Audible Originals. Jeff Daniels photo credit: Sam Jones More from Jeff Daniels: Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's & (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/28242506

Episode 47: Dina Kraft 09/26/2023

Episode 46: Lee Goldberg 09/12/2023

Second Printing: Barbara Feinman Todd 08/29/2023

Second Printing: Barbara Feinman Todd This episode originally aired on June 21, 2022. If there’s anyone who knows what it’s like to be invited into “the kingdom of knowing,” to borrow a phrase from journalist Richard Ben Cramer, it’s podcast guest Barbara Feinman Todd, who graduated from The Washington Post Style desk to work as a researcher, book doctor, editor and spirit guide on books with Bob Woodward () and Carl Bernstein (), and Ben Bradlee (), leaving her uniquely positioned to reflect on the mind and mindsets of the three journalists who were perhaps most responsible for uncovering the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Indeed, as Barbara writes in her compelling memoir , there are a hundred different ways to know and to be known, as she would go on to discover for herself in her work as a ghostwriter for such leading Washington personalities as Bob Kerry, then a U.S. senator from Nebraska (); Marjorie Margolies-Mazvinsky, then a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania (); and, ultimately, Hillary Clinton. In what she had thought might be her most attention-getting assignment, Barbara signed on to collaborate with the First Lady on , coming up with the title and structure of the book, and helping to shape the narrative into a coherent hole. Trouble was, Barbara was “disappeared” from the book’s “Acknowledgements” page, and her contributions whitewashed by the Clinton White House, and so the attention-getting was not at all as she had imagined. Barbara would go on to teach journalism at Georgetown University for 25 years, and as she leaned away from ghostwriting she reflected on her work as a ghostwriter, and on her years-long relationships with her clients and subjects, with a shifting perspective. Her conclusion? “Writing other people’s lives is a bit silly,” she writes in her memoir, “like playing dress-up, clomping around in your mother’s pumps that don’t quite fit, but it also lets you have a momentary sense of what it’s like to be someone else.” That momentary sense is at the heart of our conversation. Follow Barbara Feinman Todd: Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/27862782

Second Printing: Amy Ferris 08/15/2023

Second Printing: Eugene Pack 08/01/2023

Second Printing: Eugene Pack This episode originally aired March 15, 2022. Eugene Pack knows a thing or two about what it takes to write a compelling celebrity memoir – and yet he’s never actually written one. As the creator and co-producer of the hit theatrical revue “,” developed with Dayle Reyfel, he has pushed audiences to consider what it means to live a book-worthy life and how it is that readers have come to accept the wit and wisdom and worldviews of our most celebrated personalities when they are presented on the page. The show has been staged in theaters all over the country, including runs on Broadway, on London’s West End, and at the Sydney Opera House, with guest performers such as Kristen Wiig, Lily Tomlin, Mandy Patinkin, Paul Rudd, Billy Crystal, Maya Rudoph, Whoopi Goldberg and Martin Short helping to give hilarious voice to the so-called insights and dubious reflections of the famous and infamous. “Celebrity Autobiography” was awarded a Drama Desk Award for “Unique Theatrical Experience” when it debuted in New York to rave reviews, and it continues to delight audiences all over the world, drawing on an ever-changing slush pile of source material and an ever-evolving cast. An accomplished playwright, Pack’s short original comedies are featured on his uniquely-imagined and endlessly-entertaining podcast, “,” performed by an assortment of talented actors, with proceeds going to the , an organization that provides a safety net for performing artists and entertainment professionals. His full-length plays include “Columbus and Amsterdam,” “Sharpies” and “The Poets of Amityville,” as well as the autobiographical musical “To Be Loved,” written in collaboration with Motown founder Berry Gordy. Pack is also an Emmy-nominated writer and producer, and the creator and executive producer of CMT’s longest-running series, “.” Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order (PODCAST) | 30% discount (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/27604434

Episode 45: Debra Ollivier 07/18/2023

Episode 44: Arthur Smith 07/04/2023

Episode 44: Arthur Smith “The more you try, the luckier you get…” Words to live by, from podcast guest Arthur Smith, the pioneering television producer behind some of the longest-running unscripted series in history, and author of the just-published motivational memoir . Arthur’s long-running hit “Hell’s Kitchen,” with Gordon Ramsey, helped to forge the modern food competition reality genre, while his Emmy-nominated “American Ninja Warrior” has spawned a cultural movement and inspired millions to push themselves to next-level successes in their own lives and careers. As the founder and chairman of A. Smith & Co. Productions, Arthur has produced over 200 shows, for virtually every network and streaming platform, including “The Titan Games,” “Mental Samurai,” “Kitchen Nightmares,” “The Swan” and “Paradise Hotel.” Prior to launching his own production company, he served as the youngest Head of Sports in the history of the Canada’s CBC television network, and as Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and News for FOX Sports. He also served for four years as Senior Vice President of Dick Clark Productions, producing a wide variety of award shows, special events and non-fiction programming. In Reach, written in collaboration with podcast host Daniel Paisner, Arthur reflects on his remarkable career and shares some of the lessons he’s learned while pushing himself beyond what he ever thought possible. “In the nonfiction genre people get tired of the same thing,” he recently . “The biggest hits in reality/nonfiction television come from originality. So we have to keep reinventing. We have to keep freshening up ideas. We have to keep reaching.” To learn more about Arthur Smith: Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/27356142

Episode 43: Peter Asher and David Jacks 06/20/2023

Episode 43: Peter Asher and David Jacks First-time author David Jacks, a veteran video editor and music supervisor, ran into legendary music producer Peter Asher at a Santa Monica taco joint in 2003 and asked if he could interview him. Jacks, a long-time admirer of the man said to be the inspiration for Mike Myers’ “shagadelic” Austin Powers character, who first came to prominence as one-half of the hit-making British pop vocal duo Peter and Gordon and would go on to produce generation-defining albums for artists such as James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, and Diana Ross, immediately asked Asher if he would sit for an interview. The aspiring journalist thought he might use the interview as the basis for an article in a music magazine, but the two-time Grammy-winning Producer of the Year didn’t think anyone would want to read it. Nevertheless, that first interview led to another… and another… and on and on. Over the next two decades, the two continued to talk, while Jacks lined up interviews with hundreds of musicians and record industry professionals who had worked with Asher over the years, eventually leading to the publication of , the first book-length account of the producer’s life and career. Join us for a two-part conversation with author and subject, as Asher reflects on a book he never thought anyone would be interested in reading, and Jacks shares what it was like to tease out the story of a shape-shifting pioneer—“a fascinating music business anomaly,” according to The New York Times, who could never quite understand what all the fuss was about. Learn more about our guests: Read , timed to coincide with the publication of the David Jacks book. Read Read Peter Asher’s , based on the author’s popular Sirius XM radio show on The Beatles Channel. Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/27183333

Episode 42: Madeleine Morel 06/06/2023

Episode 41: Tara Trudel 05/23/2023

Episode 40: Gregory Collins & Carolyn Pfeiffer 05/09/2023

Episode 40: Gregory Collins & Carolyn Pfeiffer “The idea of ‘chasing the panther’ is that the panther serves as this metaphor for art, and so it’s something that you chase after even thought it is in some ways very, very dangerous, and I think Carolyn would say that is one hundred percent the story of her life, chasing art.” That’s writer and filmmaker Gregory Collins explaining the title to his very first collaboration, , written with the noted independent film producer Carolyn Pfeiffer, who as a young woman found herself swept up in the roiling waters of the French New Wave and Italian film scenes of the '60s and '70s. Together, Gregory and Carolyn have written a vibrant coming-of-age memoir telling the origin story of one of the film industry’s first female executives—a woman once dubbed a Hollywood “mini-mogul” by The Wall Street Journal. As the head of Alive Films and Island Alive, Carolyn produced a number of influential films, including “Stop Making Sense,” “Koyaanisqatsi”, “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Trouble in Mind,” “Far North,” and “The Whales of August.” An accomplished screenwriter and producer in his own right, Gregory’s films have premiered at the Malawi International Film Festival, and at the Sarasota and Seattle film festivals. He has taught producing and screenwriting at Penn State University and has served as the director of development of Burnt Orange Productions, at the University of Texas at Austin. Join us at the front end of this episode, as Carolyn and Gregory discuss how they worked together, and share some wild stories about Carolyn’s experience on the frontlines of French New Wave cinema, Fellini’s Rome, and Swinging London—and then stay with us after the break, as we visit with Gregory and examine the ways he has shifted his focus as a writer from the screen to the page. Learn more about our guests: Please support the sponsors who support our show. Daniel Paisner's (PODCAST) | 30% discount (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton podcast /episode/index/show/astoldto/id/26771061

Episode 39: Erik Sherman 04/25/2023

Episode 38: Nell Scovell 04/11/2023

As Told To

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