WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:06.480 You are listening to the IFAH podcast Network. 2 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:10.160 For more amazing filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, just go to 3 00:00:10.359 --> 00:00:12.720 ifahpodcastnetwork dot com. 4 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:16.399 Welcome to the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast, Episode number four thirty four. 5 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:19.559 Your dream doesn't have an expiration date, Take a deep 6 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:24.399 breath and try again. KT Whitten broadcasting from a dark, 7 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:26.679 windowless room in Hollywood. 8 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:28.359 When we really should be working on that next draft. 9 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:32.679 It's the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast, showing you the craft and 10 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:35.159 business of screenwriting while teaching you how to make your 11 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:36.640 screenplay bulletproof. 12 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:42.119 And here's your host, Alex Ferrari. Welcome, Welcome to another 13 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:44.039 episode of the Bulletproof Screenwriting Podcast. 14 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:44.520 I am your. 15 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:48.359 Humble host Alex Ferrari. Now, today's show is sponsored by 16 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:50.719 Bulletproof Script Coverage. 17 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:51.159 Now. 18 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:56.159 Unlike other script coverage services, Bulletproof Script Coverage actually focuses 19 00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:59.159 on the kind of project you are in the goals 20 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.600 of the project you are, so we actually break it 21 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:05.159 down by three categories micro budget, indie film, market, and 22 00:01:05.239 --> 00:01:07.920 studio film. There's no reason to get coverage from a 23 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:10.400 reader that's used to reading temp pole movies when your 24 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:12.640 movie is going to be done for one hundred thousand 25 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:15.239 dollars and we wanted to focus on that. At Bulletproof 26 00:01:15.239 --> 00:01:18.879 script coverage, our readers have worked with Marvel Studios, CIA, 27 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:24.519 wme E, NBC, HBO, Disney, Scott Free, Warner Brothers, The Blacklist, 28 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:27.280 and many many more. So if you need your screenplay 29 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:32.079 or TV script covered by professional readers, head on over 30 00:01:32.120 --> 00:01:37.000 to covermiscreenplay dot Com. Enjoy today's episode with guest host 31 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:38.159 Dave Bullis. 32 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:43.239 My guest today actually teaches at at Conacademy and he's 33 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.560 the producer for Pixar in a Box, an amazing course. 34 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:49.159 It's one hundred percent free, by the way, Wink wink. 35 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.280 And then my guest also teaches computer science. He teaches cryptography. 36 00:01:55.159 --> 00:02:01.359 I mean, brilliant, brilliant guy with guests cruise. Hey, Britt, 37 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:02.519 thanks off for coming on the show. 38 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:05.040 Hey Dave, happy to be speaking with you. 39 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:08.599 So, you know, Britt, you have such a unique background. 40 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.879 I mean, you know, you're involved in so many great things. 41 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:16.960 So I want to know when you were growing up, 42 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.240 did you always have this sort of this love of 43 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:23.520 not only teaching, but also of creative problem solving and 44 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:24.879 sort of like computer science. 45 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:30.479 Yeah, as a kid, like like most people involved in filmmaking. 46 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:33.800 Very early on, I got obsessed with, you know, the 47 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:36.960 home video cameras, and as soon as I got my 48 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:41.240 hands on VCRs, I started trying to cut together videos, 49 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:45.479 you know, starting with family vacations and whatnot. But very soon. 50 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:48.960 What I realized early on is the kinds of videos 51 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:52.680 I was making once I moved beyond the family videos 52 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:58.479 were explanation style videos, kind of similar to what was 53 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:00.719 on TV at the time. I grew up with Bill Nye, 54 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:03.960 so I kind of bent that way, and very quickly 55 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.800 I realized that, you know, I could hand in school 56 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:10.199 projects in video form. I kind of forced my teachers 57 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:12.800 to do that, and I I kind of found my 58 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:18.159 way into explanation style videos really early, even though it 59 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.759 wasn't my one passion, but it's something that came up 60 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:21.240 right away. 61 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:25.560 Yeah, you mentioned the home video cameras. You know, a 62 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:29.319 lot of guests also had that same childhood experience where 63 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:32.639 they're picking up you know, the super eight cameras or 64 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:35.240 maybe even a little later like a big VHS box 65 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:37.479 cam quarders and start. You know, then that's all I 66 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:39.520 got their start, and you know, in making their own 67 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:41.319 films totally. 68 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:45.639 I remember My setup now was I had two VCRs 69 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:49.080 for editing and to mix sound in I ran I had. 70 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.439 I had an early computer thanks to my mom, and 71 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:56.039 I would run an audio cable with a mic jack 72 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:00.400 going to RCA cables running diagonally across the room into 73 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:03.080 the VCR, so I could next sound from the computer 74 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.759 and video from the VCRs. And that was my first setup. 75 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:10.680 Oh, that's actually brilliant. That was fun, I mean especially 76 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:12.360 for I mean, because what were you seven or eight. 77 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:14.759 At the time. Yeah, six seven. 78 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:16.800 I mean that's a brilliant idea for a kid to 79 00:04:16.839 --> 00:04:19.519 come up with, which explains a lot about you, Britt. Mean, 80 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:22.120 it's like, I think that's why you know you're you 81 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:24.600 know you're in the position you are you have to 82 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:27.480 there's there's moments of brilliance. And you know when I 83 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.360 when we talk about computers, what kind of computer was it, Britt, 84 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:32.279 Was it like one of those old Apple two's or 85 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:33.360 was it something similar? 86 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.079 No, my friend had an Apple. I had one of 87 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:38.879 the early box computers. It was my Actually, my mom 88 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:42.160 had an early Tandy laptop, one of the first laptops, 89 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.439 so I grew up on dos. But then the computer 90 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:50.000 I'm describing I remember it was a given from a 91 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:52.680 friend of my dad's and it was a big, boxy one. 92 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.040 I don't know, but it was before like the compact 93 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:55.959 Presario Wave. 94 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:58.319 Oh gotcha, gotcha? 95 00:04:58.639 --> 00:04:58.839 You know? 96 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:01.000 I mean you ever take I mean, do you still 97 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:03.079 have that computer laying around like somewhere in storage? 98 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:05.639 No? No, that one's so gone. 99 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:09.160 I actually, maybe a couple of months ago, I was 100 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:12.120 going through stuff and I had my I still have 101 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.000 my first computer that I got, and I was a 102 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:16.839 little late to the party with it. But I you know, 103 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:20.160 my first computer was in the nineties, uh, probably the 104 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:24.240 late nineties, and I remember pulling this thing out and 105 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.120 my god, I look at it and go, how the 106 00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.800 hell did I use this thing? It's it seems so 107 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.480 archaic and it's huge, and I'm like, you know, it's 108 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:33.680 it only uses a fifty six K modem. 109 00:05:35.079 --> 00:05:39.040 When you're passionate, though, yeah, nothing else anything will get 110 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:42.360 you to anything will work, any tool will work if 111 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:43.360 you're motivated. 112 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:47.639 That's a great saying, Brett. I'm gonna I'm gonna keep that, uh, 113 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.240 because I'm gonna that is a a great piece of advice, 114 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:53.959 you know, because mainly I use it, you know, for 115 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:56.879 for writing too. And I mean I even had word 116 00:05:56.920 --> 00:06:00.160 processors that I remember using, and I looked at some 117 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:01.560 of them, you know, the other day I was looking 118 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:03.920 through I'm not not in personal online some of the 119 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:06.160 old word processors, and I'm like, man, the size of 120 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:09.319 these things so like a piece of luggage. 121 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.720 Yeah. We had a typewriter too. Yeah. 122 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:14.959 I know some people who you know, who are younger 123 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:16.800 listening to this have no clue what a typewriter is. 124 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:19.120 But but I've used the typewriter brand. I remember the 125 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:21.240 Remember when you had to change the uh, if you 126 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:23.040 made a mistake, you had to put that like a 127 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:25.639 little card in to sort of backspace it out, wait 128 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:30.360 it out. Yeah. 129 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.279 Yeah, I wish I still had a typer. Actually, it's 130 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:35.000 a nice way to folk stay focused. 131 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:37.839 Yeah, you know, I was saying that somebody else the 132 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.240 other day. You know, it's like laptops are great, you know, 133 00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:44.879 phones are great, but the problem is is that it's 134 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:47.959 too easy to get distracted with them because of the Internet. 135 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:52.839 Yeah, the context switch is the real killer. It just 136 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:55.600 that's the number one thing people waste time on. They 137 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:58.120 probably if they count it in a day. When I 138 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:00.720 say context switch, I mean an interruption of any kind. 139 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.160 Doing one thing and then doing another. If you do 140 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.279 that hundreds of times per day, it's a few minutes 141 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:08.839 per switch you waste. And that's why people waste three 142 00:07:08.839 --> 00:07:13.199 to four hours a day. Early on, about six years 143 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:15.839 ago or seven years ago, I noticed this and one 144 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:19.079 day I just threw my phone out and I never 145 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:22.199 looked back. I've never owned a smartphone, and that's again 146 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:23.759 one of my great time savers. 147 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:26.279 So do you just have a flip phone now or 148 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:26.839 no phone at all? 149 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:28.160 I don't. I have a landline. 150 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:32.600 Oh okay, yeah. You know there was a program that 151 00:07:32.680 --> 00:07:36.519 I you know, I had a couple different people on 152 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:38.879 the podcast, and we were always talking about this because 153 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:42.199 some people have to use a laptop and for the work, 154 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:43.959 and so we would need in there for the research. 155 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:46.000 But you know, even when I'm trying to do it, 156 00:07:46.040 --> 00:07:48.360 sometimes the phone, the phone is the biggest distraction for me. 157 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:50.399 The laptop not so much because the phone, you know, 158 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.920 you're always being You're always at someone's beck and call, 159 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:55.279 which I think you some days, I say to myself, 160 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:57.959 but I go, you know what if I could take 161 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:00.879 a vacation and not carry my peh with me, I 162 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:02.160 don't think, you know what I mean, I think that 163 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:03.879 would be a real vacation because if I went on 164 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:06.160 a vacation somewhere and I had to carry my phone 165 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:08.199 or my laptop around, it would it would there be 166 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:13.000 no point to it. No, So you know, taking a 167 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:15.399 break from the phone as is something that you know, 168 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.040 I I have found is important, just leaving it in 169 00:08:18.040 --> 00:08:21.439 another room, turning it off completely. And for the laptop, 170 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.720 there's a program I found called Antisocial and there's also 171 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:28.439 another one called I forget what it's called, but it's 172 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:30.480 it's about the same people who make anti social and 173 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.840 basically it just blocks out certain websites so that way 174 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:33.840 you can't access them. 175 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:36.720 Yep. And I often just have days where I turned 176 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:39.480 the Internet off and it's really it really helps. 177 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:43.960 Yeah, it definitely does. And you know so, so, but 178 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.360 what does a normal day for you look like? 179 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:46.480 Like? 180 00:08:46.519 --> 00:08:46.840 What? What? 181 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:49.360 How is your day structured in terms of when you're 182 00:08:49.399 --> 00:08:51.960 creating and teaching and all and doing all the things 183 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:52.360 that you do. 184 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:55.799 I try to break up my day into two halves, 185 00:08:57.480 --> 00:09:01.879 So I really hate scheduling meetings and breaking up a 186 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:04.840 day into hours and half hour chunks. I only work 187 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:08.480 well in half thinking about a day in two runs 188 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:11.600 of creation. So there's a morning creation phase and there's 189 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:14.720 an afternoon creation phase, and then otherwise I try to 190 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:19.080 bucket all my natual meetings on one day. That's what 191 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:20.519 I really try to do. So I have a day 192 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:22.720 where I'm just sitting around on meetings, and then the 193 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:25.399 other two days the other four days of the week, 194 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:28.720 if things are going well, I am just locked into 195 00:09:28.759 --> 00:09:31.720 one task and staying on that for two to three hours, 196 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:35.600 then a break bike ride two to three hours. Now 197 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:38.279 your day is done. Now I have two kids. Now 198 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:41.120 I don't work past four o'clock. If you're working. I 199 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:43.039 used to work late at night, and once I stopped 200 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:46.200 doing that, it really helped because it helped focus me 201 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:48.440 so that at the beginning of the week, if I 202 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:51.799 know I'm done at four, I really have to write 203 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:53.960 out the day before what I want to accomplish the 204 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:56.320 next day, and that has kept me very organized. 205 00:09:57.159 --> 00:09:59.759 So it seems to be that you know, if you 206 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:03.679 can if you start working at four, we'll be right back. 207 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:09.759 After a word from our sponsor and now back to 208 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:10.159 the show. 209 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:15.759 You're so focused on getting it done, meaning that there 210 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:18.960 is it's like you have a window of opportunity, and 211 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:22.799 in that window of opportunity you say, Okay, it begins here, 212 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:25.120 it ends here, And in the middle is where I 213 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:27.279 have to do all the where I have to do 214 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:30.320 all my work because once four o'clock hits the windows 215 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.159 closed exactly. 216 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.399 So I really cherish those two to three hour chunks, 217 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:38.440 and I'll and during those chunks all either depending on 218 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:40.600 the type of work I'm doing. If I don't need 219 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:43.799 a computer, I'm out on my bike, bike to the river, 220 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:46.120 sit by the river, work on paper. That's where I 221 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:48.799 get my best work done. Often I'm on the computer. 222 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:52.320 If I can, I take my laptop somewhere, I go 223 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:54.799 to the coffee shop and work. And otherwise, when I'm 224 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:57.320 stuck in an editing hole, then I'm at home in 225 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.519 my office editing. I will one caveat is yeah, when 226 00:11:00.840 --> 00:11:04.039 when you're anyone who is at an editor, it's very 227 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:06.360 hard to stop working. So there are the days, there 228 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:08.879 are the very scary weeks where you can't even count 229 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:11.200 how many hours you spent editing. And that happens to me. 230 00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:13.360 So it was all night, So. 231 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:15.759 Britt when you're using that pen and paper, so are 232 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:19.080 you just grabbing a notebook and just a pen, you know, 233 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.200 and you're just you know, you know, writing ideas as 234 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:23.879 they come, and you're working on projects. Do you ever 235 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:26.840 have a problem maybe transcribing that back to the laptop. 236 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:31.919 No, actually I never, But I often do things in layers, 237 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:34.480 So I'll write a bunch of scribbles that don't always 238 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:36.200 make a lot of sense. What I find is just 239 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:39.559 the process of writing is more important than what you 240 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:41.799 even have on that page, because it's my form of 241 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:44.720 building memory. So I'll go out write something down, and 242 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:47.480 I'll have six pages of chicken scratch, look like a 243 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.279 crazy person. But then I I'll just leave that in 244 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.279 my bag. The next day, I'll go out and write 245 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.240 again what I was working on. I'll try to simplify 246 00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:59.240 it into some sort of bullet point thing, and then 247 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.159 by the time I get back to the laptop, I 248 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:04.279 usually have, you know, a readable piece of paper. But 249 00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:06.960 even if those papers blew away, it would be fine 250 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:09.320 because the process of writing on a paper for me 251 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:12.200 helped me build and clarify my thinking. And then I 252 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.759 can just sit down on that laptop and bang out, 253 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:16.759 you know, a script of whatever I'm doing in a 254 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.639 very focused flow. Thinking Now just out loud. If I 255 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:23.000 was trying to do that on a laptop from the beginning, 256 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:26.639 I would never get anything done because again I would 257 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:28.840 be switching context. I wouldn't be on the page. 258 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:31.919 Yeah, you know, the only because I mean, I love 259 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.000 notebooks and writing using an actual pen. The biggest challenge 260 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:38.919 that I mean, I've I face is trying to get 261 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.120 that writing back onto a laptop, you know, I mean, 262 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.000 because now you're transcribing, you know what I mean, And 263 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:46.559 now I always find it it's a little it feels 264 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:49.159 a little redundant sometimes to me because you feel like 265 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:51.080 you're doing the same work you just did, if you 266 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:51.240 know what. 267 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:54.559 I mean, totally. I guess I should clarify. When I'm writing, 268 00:12:54.600 --> 00:13:00.360 I'm often just drawing pictures and doodling. I'm not actually 269 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.320 writing down sentence for sentence and then transcribing. Yeah, that 270 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:05.440 wouldn't work. Once I'm at that level of I can 271 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:08.799 actually write down the words of for example, the narration, 272 00:13:09.159 --> 00:13:12.440 I'm on the computer, So it's really that brainstorm phase, 273 00:13:12.519 --> 00:13:14.960 structure phase. I stay on the page. 274 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:17.320 So what are some of the bigger projects that you 275 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:19.200 can talk about that you're working on right now? 276 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:26.759 So in the in one world. I am working on 277 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:30.480 year three of Pixar in a Box, which is a 278 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:34.600 really big, very exciting project. The goal here of this 279 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:38.879 project is to show how the movie making process that 280 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:42.799 Pixar works, but more specifically, how things that kids are 281 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:46.679 learning in school are used at Pixar in the making 282 00:13:46.720 --> 00:13:49.679 of their films. So Pixar in a Box has been 283 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.519 structured over three years. Year one we focused on the 284 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:55.039 math connections, So what do you learn in math class 285 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:58.399 that they actually use at Pixar. For example, in particle 286 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:03.000 simulations to make water, they're using Newton's equations from physics. 287 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:05.799 So you know that boring stuff you're learning in school 288 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:08.519 that seems boring when it's presented to you, is used 289 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.840 in this very exciting domain. Year two of Pixar in 290 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:16.159 a Box focused more on science, the connections, the connections 291 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:19.000 to science. Right now, I'm working on the last lesson, 292 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:23.000 which is a hair simulation lesson. How they simulate hair 293 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:25.480 at Pixar. Well, it uses a mass spring system, which 294 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:28.360 is Hook's law. Another thing you hit in school. But 295 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:31.639 most exciting and we're writing right now is year three. 296 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:33.240 I Picks are in a Box is really the whole 297 00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:35.679 point of it is going to be called the art 298 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:39.759 of storytelling, so that will be a storytelling curriculum. We 299 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:42.799 purposely push that one last because I always knew it 300 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:45.799 would be the hardest one to make work online. 301 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:49.000 Yeah, you know what that's actually, you know, from from 302 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:51.679 just my standpoint, that's the one I would really like 303 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:55.759 to be to see, not because I'm not interested in 304 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:59.159 an animation or how Pixar does everything, but just from 305 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:03.639 you know, a writing, storytelling perspective. You know, everybody is 306 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:06.240 always interested to see how Pixar does what they do. 307 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:10.519 Yes, and we're all so excited about the pressures on 308 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:15.759 to make sure this is really strong. And the one 309 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:19.279 hard part is with year one and two. With the 310 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.679 cool thing about Pixar in a Box is it's a 311 00:15:21.720 --> 00:15:25.320 fully interactive, very engaging experience. You're not just watching a 312 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:28.840 video and doing a test. You are watching a short clip, 313 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:31.480 then playing with a piece of interactive software you saw 314 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.399 on that clip, and then you follow along video exercize 315 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:39.399 video exercise. You're participating throughout and creating throughout. So, for example, 316 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:42.759 with that water simulation lesson, not only are you learning 317 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:45.000 how they do it, you are making your own particle 318 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:49.440 simulator along the way. That's easy to kind of conceptualize 319 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.360 in math and science, but in the storytelling world again, 320 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.799 it's very hard to think about online activities you're going 321 00:15:55.879 --> 00:16:00.159 to do in between learning about their storytelling process. So 322 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:03.600 that's really the challenge is really figuring out, Okay, it 323 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:06.480 won't be too hard to make really great videos that 324 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:09.919 communicate how storytelling works at picks are and how the 325 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:13.639 individual storytellers, what their process is. What will be hard 326 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:16.200 is the handoff to the user to say, okay, now 327 00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.000 it's your turn. Now it's your turn. Because the goal 328 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:22.240 of our storytelling curriculum is pretty ambitious. It is you 329 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.440 start with nothing, you go through six lessons, and at 330 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:29.679 the end you have storyboarded your own short. So that's 331 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:33.039 that's the scope. Is people leave this lesson with a 332 00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:36.960 storyboarded short on paper, and so that's the goal and 333 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:39.600 that's where we are still working on the steps to 334 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:40.200 get you there. 335 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:45.000 That's absolutely amazing, brit Is that is see you know, 336 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.840 I see a less screenwriting courses online from all different 337 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:53.600 people and all different places. And the crux of it is, 338 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.159 at the end, you don't really do you know what 339 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.399 I mean? You should be in my opinion, creating something 340 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.679 as you're going you know, even if if it's a treatment, 341 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:03.039 if it's an outline. That's why when you said it's 342 00:17:03.039 --> 00:17:05.039 going to be a storyboard for your own short, that 343 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:08.599 is killer. That is key because you should be creating 344 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:10.519 as you're learning, so you you know what I mean, 345 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:13.599 Like you learn and create, create and you learn right exactly. 346 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:16.200 It's it's exciting to hear your excitement and it's got 347 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.319 some goosebumps because I'm like, yes, we got to push 348 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:19.039 forward on this. 349 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.279 You could go back to Pixar and be like Dave 350 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:27.000 Bullis really likes and we'll say who is that? But 351 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.640 uh but uh, you know, I mean it's amazing, what 352 00:17:29.480 --> 00:17:31.599 what what what Pixar is doing? And I wanted to 353 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:33.200 ask you, but you know, as we talk of Pixar 354 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.319 on a box, you know, how did you become a 355 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:37.359 producer of Pixar in a Box? 356 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:44.880 Backing up, I was, well, immediately I was working at 357 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:47.960 con Academy and and what I was doing there at 358 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:51.279 the time is thinking of how we could co produce 359 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:55.480 content with partners. And I dip my feet a little 360 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:58.599 bit in with NASA the year before where we kind 361 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:02.160 of looked at all of NASA's content and thought, okay, 362 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:04.559 what can we do to kind of curate this and 363 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:07.200 make it work on con Academy so it will just 364 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:10.839 you know, aligned to standards. And it was, you know, 365 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:14.440 an interesting linear flow. But the NASA project was really 366 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:16.599 a curation one looking at what they had and then 367 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:19.119 and NASA is such a big organization. There's just all 368 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:21.880 these different departments that make educational content, so it's like 369 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.680 grabbing from a thousand things trying to find the twenty 370 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.880 that work and putting that into a lesson format. That 371 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:30.599 was like a baby first step in experimenting how we 372 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:34.640 could work with partners. And then right around that the 373 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:40.480 time that ended, someone at con Academy kit Heraski used 374 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:42.759 to work at Pixar, and said, you know, there's someone 375 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:46.759 at Pixar who's you know, interested in maybe doing something 376 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:50.319 with us. And at the time, Tony DeRose is the 377 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:53.680 chief scientist at Pixar, was doing a TED talk and 378 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:55.680 he has a talk called Math in the Movies, which 379 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:57.799 is like a one hour talk talking about you know, 380 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.440 what you learn at school is relevant at Pixar, and 381 00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:03.680 he they were working on a physical exhibit the Science 382 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:07.279 behind Pixar, which is now traveling around the US. I 383 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:10.400 saw it in Boston last so he had this he 384 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:13.599 had this one hour talk, which was successful. Then it 385 00:19:13.640 --> 00:19:16.119 became a museum exhibit with a bunch of interactive things 386 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:18.279 you could do. But then his next vision was, we 387 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:21.559 wanted to reach more people by creating some sort of 388 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:25.359 online version of what I'm trying to do in the museum. 389 00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:28.079 And what was really exciting is in that first meeting 390 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:29.920 when they came in, I was like, yes, I have 391 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.319 to be in that meeting. They didn't have any idea 392 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:35.279 what they're going to do yet. It was just like, 393 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:37.319 we know we want to do something online. We know 394 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:39.839 our guiding principle, but we don't know what the thing 395 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:43.039 we're putting online is. So it was this opportunity to 396 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:47.200 work on an exciting project that was a blank slate 397 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:49.920 from the beginning. And that's and I was like, no 398 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:52.400 one could stop me at that point, jumping in and 399 00:19:52.440 --> 00:19:54.200 grabbing the reins. Yeah. 400 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:55.720 I mean, because you know, you look at Pixar in 401 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:56.240