Authors by Sasha Celebrate Past Contributors as New Members Join the Fun!
(Below is Copyrighted Content Courtesy of Kreative Circle & Authors by Sasha)
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| Credit: Quotes, Steve Martin |
What guidance do you have for novice professionals who want to pursue a career in Film and TV Production?
“MARRY RICH. Only kidding.
Many years ago, a Producer named Joe Manduke said to me: “Joe, in order to succeed in this business, you must want it more than life itself.” At the time, that sounded like self-serving hyperbole. But time and experience has cast that line in a different light. You must be prepared to disrupt relationships, miss family dinners, work around the clock and leave town on very short notice.
In my career, I have been punched, stabbed, needed eye surgery because of how velocity freezing wind and stood on broken bricks for twelve hours enduring extreme pain. And always saying to myself: “What? And give up showbiz?”
Joe Wallenstein
Author & Hollywood Producer
Dr. Tran-Harding, the show shares the stories of "heroes" in the medical community and society. While growing up, what did you envision a hero to be? How has that perception of a 'hero' evolved for you over the years?
Growing up, I always envisioned the typical textbook definition of a hero to be someone who is courageous, an overachiever, and a superhuman. Over time, my perception of hero now also includes someone (or something – animals can be heroes too!) that is selfless, caring, and giving. So in a way, what I thought of as a hero when I was a child really expanded into the many heroes we see every day, beyond just health care professionals. I think that anyone that does a kind deed for others without even considering getting anything back in return is a truly commendable person.
Dr. Karen Tran Harding
Founder & Host of Medical Heroes
Some of your works include the American Horror Story, Bones, 2 Broke Girls and For Nothing. What have you learned about receiving direction from Directors and improvising at your discretion?
Well, this is a tricky question. I always believe in being open to improv. But there are times when it wouldn't be appropriate for the character or the moment. But I think in all of those projects you listed that we were all very open to collaboration and improv. In Bones, the director and I decided to do something in that scene and not tell David Boreanez that we were going to do it so that they could just catch his reaction when the cameras were rolling. In American Horror Story, Sarah Paulson asked if we could just play in the scene at one part, which, of course, I loved. To get to work with excellent actors and get to play in the moment with them, that's it. That's the best.
Megan Davis
Hollywood Actress & Producer
You just released a book “Speed Matters: Why Best in Class Business Leaders Prioritize Workforce Time to Proficiency Metrics." The book is described as "distilled wisdom from an extensive research on 66 start-to-end project success stories spanning 28 industries, contributed by 85 best in class business leaders from 7 countries". What led you to write this book?
The book came into conception mainly because of the Covid-19 crisis. During that dire time, we saw how many organizations struggled to adapt to the radical changes enforced by Covid-19. But at the same time, for many others, it has accelerated the need to transform and fast track in the competitive business world. The key challenge I see is how leaders and organizations will prepare their employees for faster recovery. But there is a crucial gap in executive education. The executives, leaders, and managers have never been training in the science of speed. So, I thought this was the right time to give them important leadership thinking to effectively tackle contemporary issues.
Dr. Raman K Attri
Author & Speaker; Speed Specialist
Brad, often in your videos you touch upon the words 'resistance', 'healing', and 'acceptance'. How do you define these words?
Resistance – Resistance is that force that stops us from making the positive choices and taking the positive actions that we know would lead to the circumstances we desire. It’s self-sabotage, but it comes from a loving intention to protect us from something we have been led to believe would be harmful to us in some way, even though that may seem illogical. This programming is most often based on misunderstandings – ours or someone else’s – but the longer we’ve bought into it, the stronger the resistance is likely to be. For example, if we’ve been taught that “money is the root of all evil,” our subconscious mind will resist opportunities to make more money, because it is protecting us from being evil. We will sabotage possible relationships if we’ve learned that people tend to hurt us, and we understandably want to resist that.
Healing – This is the process of letting go what no longer serves us so that we experience greater freedom and well-being, physically as well as emotionally. It is a return to who we really are – this unique expression of light and love.
Acceptance – Many people find acceptance a challenging concept, because we often mistake it for approval. Acceptance isn’t saying that things which cause us pain in our life are okay. But rather an acknowledgment that they are there. Too often we fight the idea of what is there, which makes it difficult if not impossible to resolve issues. If your dog poops on your carpet, you need to accept the truth that it is there in order to clean it up.
Brad Yates
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) Specialist & Author
Your book "The Grace Effect" is inspired by your adopted daughter Sasha's life story in Ukraine. How did you two cross paths? How soon did you recognize Sasha was meant to be a part of your life? What has she taught you about life, faith and fatherhood?
I did not meet Sasha until her adoption was well underway. My wife and my three boys participated in a mission trip to bring relief to children languishing in Ukrainian orphanages. There they met Sasha who, as an HIV-positive child, had little hope of being adopted. Lauri proposed we adopt her. We did. She had a huge influence on us all in many ways, not the least of which was the fact that I grew up in a family of boys and had all boys. When Sasha, with all of her girliness, entered our household, it was … an adjustment! But her life, her suffering, her perspective, is much needed in a country where so many see themselves as victims when they aren’t. Not really. By contrast, Sasha has known suffering on a scale that beggars the imagination. That continues to shape my perspective.
Larry Alex Taunton
Author, Speaker & Cultural Commentator
Do you believe that most individuals have the ability to refine their communication skills in order to become better writers?
One of the first things I do in my Creative Writing course is to ‘Bust the Talent Myth’. There is research indicating that ‘talent’ is really ‘deliberate practice’; i.e. those who demonstrate great ability are usually the people who apply themselves more diligently/passionately than others. (This includes the classic example of Mozart, who had already practiced several thousand hours by the age of six.) I’m not particularly interested in arguing the point philosophically that there is no such thing as talent, but I do like to give my students this acronym: TALENT = Time, Application, Love – Energy, Not Talent. It’s not about being lucky enough to have been bestowed with talent; writing skill comes about as a result of writing (and reading).
Liliane Grace
Award-Winning Global Author, Speaker & Writing Coach
Are there any writing tips you can share with new authors?
Absolutely. I actually coach other authors and have an entire talk I give on writing books. The first thing is just go for it. Put pen to paper or fingers on the computer keys, or dictation and just get it out. And don’t think about it as writing an entire book. That seems so incredibly overwhelming. Think about it as writing a few sentences that become a paragraph that become a chapter that becomes a book. Break it down into doable chunks of what you want to say. As far as publishing goes, everybody thinks they want a traditional publisher. And that’s great for some but isn’t usually unfit for most authors. Think about what you really want from writing that book. Why are you writing the book? If it’s going to be a vanity project or something that you sell at your office or give away to friends and clients, a traditional publisher is not going to be the route to go for you. There are many low cost if not free self-publishing options that will get you the results you want. Also know that traditional publishers are not easy to get. Many will only go through an agent, which also takes a while to obtain. You have to write proposals that can be up to 50 or 60 pages. And it’s not quick. Most books through publishers take 12 to 24 months to get on a shelf.
Kathy Gruver, PhD.
Author, Speaker, Coach & Holistic Practitioner
Dchained provides a platform to educate oneself on cryptocurrency without complexity. Which topic is the most popular within the Dchained community that delivers utility value among members and potential investors?
By far, most traffic has come to our section outlining Bitcoin. However, it’s been fascinating to see that nearly half the traffic is over the age of 50 to our Bitcoin content. In general, investing strategy for many starts to shift to assets with less risk as the individual moves closer to retirement age. However, this trend makes sense as the yields from Treasury bonds have decreased steadily as the Federal Reserve has increased the supply of money to support the US economy during COVID. This practice, known as quantitative easing, has led investors to seek out two of the most stable investment assets available: gold and Bitcoin.
Edmund McCormack
CEO & Founder Dchained
In the mid 1970's you started working as a freelancer for BBC radio and television. How were you introduced to the BBC organization? What did you learn at BBC which helped you refine the art of writing and storytelling?
I fell into writing for the BBC, as prior to this I was a drummer in a pop rock band, the lead guitarist and singer is a guy called Phil Campbell, who had previously worked as a runner for Hammer Films, the makers of numerous horror films, starring the likes of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price to name but a few. So Phil suggested we get together as he had a friend who needed some scripts for a hospital radio program. We produced the scripts and were left with a plethora of material which Phil sent to the BBC. One of those jokes got selected by ‘The Two Ronnie’s’ who at the time were probably the leading comedy duo on TV and we had our material on their Christmas show. Once bitten by the comedy bug, we looked around for more places to approach, we chose ‘Hudd Lines’ which starred and was performed by the late Roy Hudd, the Producer was John Lloyd MBE, who is also the Producer of ‘Not the Nine O Clock News’ and Black Adder as well as many other comedy shows. Now we were in the BBC, all be it on the fringe, we wrote for a satirical show called ‘Week Ending’ starring David Jason who went on to become ’Dell Boy’ in Only Fools and Horses. Some of the Producers on ‘Week Ending’ became household names like Gryth Rhys Jones and the late Douglas Adams of ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.’ I also started to try some one off scripts and was picked up by BBC Scotland who produced a show called ‘A kick up the 80’s’ with Tracey Ullman. Phil was writing for Dick Emery by then. All these people in many ways contributed to my education in writing, I don’t think I would have written much had it not been for this experience.
Myron Edwards
Author & Former Advertising Professional
