This week, Justin and Paul sat down to discuss their experiences at the 2023 Austin Film Festival (#AFF23). It was great! What panels and events did we like? Will we be there next year? Listen in to find out!

This week on the Creative Writing Life podcast we were joined by Antony Johnston! He is a great writer with credits on such games as Dead Space and Shadow of Mordor, along with fun graphic novels and prose novels. On the show, we discussed his GDC talk on leading writers rooms, being an organized wrier, along with his experience writing mystery novels and amazing videogames. Find his books here: https://antonyjohnston.com/work/books/ BIO:  Antony Johnston is one of the most versatile writers of the modern era. The Charlize Theron movie Atomic Blonde was based on his graphic novel. His murder mystery The Dog Sitter Detective won the Barker Book Award for fiction. The Brigitte Sharp spy thrillers are in development for TV. And his productivity guide The Organised Writer has helped authors all over the world take control of their workload. Antony is a celebrated videogames writer, with genre-defining titles including Dead Space, Shadow of Mordor, and Resident Evil Village to his credit. His work on Silent Hill Ascension made him the only writer in the world to have contributed to all of gaming’s ‘big three’ horror franchises. His immense body of work also includes Marvel superheroes such as Daredevil and Shang-Chi, the Alex Rider graphic novels, the post-apocalypse epic Wasteland, and more. He wrote and directed the sci-fi film Crossover Point, made entirely in quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic. An experienced podcaster and public speaker, he also frequently writes articles on the life of an author, and is a prolific musician. Antony is a former vice chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, a member of International Thriller Writers and the Society of Authors, a Shore Scripts screenwriting judge, and sits on the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain’s videogames committee. He lives and works in England.

Justin and Paul discuss the exciting panels of this year's Austin Film Festival - 2023, the 30th anniversary of the fest! Not sure what panels to attend, or just looking for a good idea of what happens at the festival and what to be excited about? Here you go! Panelists and Awardees - Austin Film Festival

Neel Upadhye joined the Creative Writing Life podcast to discuss his years in the film and video game industry writing for major gaming franchises including Battlefield 2042, Apex Legends, and Need For Speed Unbound. Enjoy! ABOUT: Neel is VP of Production at Azra Games, leading the development team of Project Legends, an Action RPG for PC & mobile. He is an innovative storyteller with 14+ years in the film and video game industry. Born in India and a graduate of USC, Neel has written and directed a feature film on Amazon Prime, a TV pilot for Disney, and two Star Wars short films produced by ILM, including Star Wars: Squadrons - "Hunted," winner of the Silver Pencil. Neel was a writer and director on the narrative team of Battlefield 2042 and lead writer on Need for Speed Unbound. He’s also the creator of multiple internet-breaking shorts for the billion dollar gaming franchise, Apex Legends. From video game IPs such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect to his own original worlds, he's inspired cross disciplinary teams to produce unique creative that breaks the mold. Neel is repped as a writer/director at William Morris Endeavor and Anonymous Content. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2244762/

Jenny Stiven joined the Creative Writing Life podcast to discuss franchise development and marketing. ABOUT JENNY Jenny Stiven’s formative years were defined by such geek/sci-fi properties as Star Wars, Aliens, Star Trek, Stargate (all the "Stars-"!), and now as a consultant and digital strategist, she brings fandoms and their content owners together! After a decade of learning the ropes programming, coding, producing, content, writing, marketing, site builds, media buys, and more, Jenny created Clio Consulting in 2004 to act as an “inside” digital marketing resource for entertainment companies. She has worked with numerous digital agencies in executive roles producing groundbreaking and award-winning campaigns for Fortune 500 entertainment & gaming clients. A long relationship with 20th Century Fox and MGM enabled her to become a geek influencer in the digital and social space – with the Star Wars properties, the James Bond franchise, Predator franchise, Stargate franchise, Alien franchise, the Whedon-verse, and multiple TV franchises. In 2015, Jenny shifted her focus back to solely working with her first love - geek properties, content, and fandoms. She works with both the intellectual property owners and creators to help them learn how to communicate, interact, and most of all, build a long-lasting relationship with their fandoms. She also provides guidance on the best partnerships with leading strategic products and influencers, so that the intellectual property owners and/or fandoms, are setting the right tone for their franchise. Jenny believes the goal for geek properties should always be not just to sell, but to #spendthetime and build a community that lasts. https://tabletop.events/conventions/dragonsteel-2023 https://twitter.com/JennyStiven

Katryn Bury joins the Creative Writing Life podcast to discuss writing middle grade (#MiddleGrade) fiction and mysteries, and why she loves Nancy Drew books. Learn more at: https://www.katrynbury.com ABOUT KATRYN Katryn Bury is the author of the middle grade mystery Drew Leclair Gets a Clue and the forthcoming sequel Drew Leclair Crushes the Case. A lifelong true crime nerd, she has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and criminology. Her short and serialized fiction can be found in Suspense Magazine and The Sleuth. By day, she is a library technician who is lucky enough to work with her target audience. She lives in Oakland, California, with her family and a vast collection of Nancy Drew mysteries.

Zubin Anklesaria and Ryan Turner share their journey and lessons learned about filmmaking at Echobend Pictures. Join the Creative Writing Career podcast as the group discuss lessons learned going from writing partners to making movies with Echobend Pictures and so much more! Echobend is an entertainment company based in Los Angeles offering Production, Post, and Music & Publishing services. https://www.echobend.com/narrative-all

This week in the Creative Writing Career podcast, Justin and Pual dive into Justin's experience with the San Dieog Comic Con. Spoiler - it was great!

Justin and Paul discussed comic book writing with Larry Young. Larry Young is an American writer, producer, and publisher. He is most known as the co-publisher and marketing genius behind the independent comics company AIT/PlanetLar, and as the writer of their flagship title: Astronauts in Trouble. https://comicvine.gamespot.com/larry-young/4040-45254/issues-cover/

B Earl joined us to discuss Comics Writing and his Spiderman and Daredevel comics! https://iambearl.com/ From B Earl (Ben): I’m a Marvel writer, web2.5 consultant, creative blockchain strategist, as well as have been exploring AI since 2017. When I’m not cooking up the next Spidey yarn, I develop story-driven blockchain marketing strategies for brands or help companies plan their metaverse projects. Recently I have been touring the world from Saudi Arabia to Amsterdam, speaking at conferences with a focus on building bridges between creative and tech. I’m excited to speak at your conference or we can plan an interactive workshop for your team to launch a distinct, community-focused project in 2023.