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Episode 144—Vlad Yudin and the Independent Mindset

The filmmaker Vlad Yudin, right, stands beside the late Rich Piana.

“If I fail, I want to fail because of me. If we succeed, I want to succeed because of us.” —Vlad Yudin (vladar.com)

“You can’t become best friends with the subject of a documentary. You have to make it objective. I like for the audience to make their own decisions.” —Vlad Yudin

Today’s guest is Vlad Yudin, a Russian-born documentary filmmaker best known for the trilogy of Generation Iron bodybuilding films. His Vladar Company makes and producers lots of films in the fitness industry and we unpack a lot of what makes him a particularly free spirit.

In case you’re new to the show, I should mention that this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories, how they got to where they are, what struggles they deal with, and how they still manage to get the work done.

Be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you get your podcasts and keep the conversation going on Twitter @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod. You can also follow the show on Facebook and Instagram.

Pulling straight from Vlad’s bio on the vladar.com website:

Born and raised in Central Russia, filmmaker Vlad Yudin grew up in Moscow before moving to New York where he would pursue his career in film. In 2008, Yudin formed The Vladar Company to create a platform for production and distribution of various feature and documentary projects. Some of the produced titles include “Last Day Of Summer,” “Big Pun: The Legacy” and most recently the documentary box office hit, “Generation Iron” that went on to become one of the top five documentary’s at the box office for The Vladar Company in 2013. Vlad will continue to produce under the Vladar banner as well as handle the operations and overlook the expanding catalogue of Vladar’s media content.

Visit vladar.com for a list of all the movies he produces and to find links on where to find them. The first Generation Iron film and the Ronnie Coleman film are my faves, FWIW.

Thanks to our sponsors in Goucher College’s MFA in Nonfiction, Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction, and my monthly newsletter (sign up below!).

Episode 143—Blake J. Harris Talks Virtual Reality, Facebook, and His Unlikely Path to Nonfiction Writing

Blake J. Harris wrote the definitive book on virtual reality. Photo credit Katie Wanner

By Brendan O’Meara

“I want to do right by these people. I want to tell a story that honors the stuff they did.” —Blake J. Harris (@blakejharrisNYC)

Ah, yes, it’s The Creative Nonfiction the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. For episode 143 I have Blake J. Harris, author of Console Wars, and most recently The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook, and the Revolution That Swept Virtual Reality.

Episode 142—Jeff Goins on Amateurism, Clarity, and the Myth of the Starving Artist

By Brendan O’Meara

“You’ve gotta find new ways to have fun in old things.” —Jeff Goins, @JeffGoins.

All right, it’s The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, producers, and filmmakers about the art and craft of telling true stories, how they got to where they are, how the cope with crippling self-doubt, and the routines they enlist to get the work done. I’m your host Brendan O’Meara and today’s episode is a tight 30, man.

When you get somebody like Jeff Goins on the show, author of a quintillion blog posts and several books, including Real Artists Don’t Starve, you adhere to the time allotment. So this was a tight window, but I think it’s packed with great stuff. Amazing what you can get done in a tight window if you focus and don’t dither.

So, yes, a little house keeping is in order, as it usually is. You know where to subscribe to the show, don’t you? If you want to be in the know and get a little blip of goodness every CNFriday, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast/Play Music, Spotify, and Stitcher. That’s enough I think.

Yes, Jeff Goins is here and he’s the author of The Art of Work and Real Artists Don’t Starve and he sits in that Steven Pressfield/Seth Godin/Austin Kleon space of empowering you to make a go of it. We talk about how he was read the dictionary as a kid and breaking down the barriers between who we think the geniuses are (they’re more like us than we think), and a lot more. He’s @JeffGoins on Twitter and visit goinswriter.com for all sorts of goodies and to buy a bunch of his stuff.

Books by Jeff Goins

You Are a Writer So Start Acting Like One
Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age
The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Are Supposed to Do
The In Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing
Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life

That’s it, friends, here’s me and Jeff Goins:

Nothing wrong with a tight 30, right? It has a different vibe to it, but it’s no less valuable.

Thanks to Jeff, go check him out on the socials and thanks to our sponsors in Goucher College and Bay Path University tag teaming this Royal Rumble.

Be sure to give the show a follow across the socials, but more important, share it with a friend. You are the social network. Reviews are nice and welcome, but if you share it with your people, that means more. Tag me @BrendanOMeara and @CNFPod on Twitter, @cnfpod on Instagram and The Creative Nonfiction Podcast on Facebook. I’ll jump in the fire with you.

Episode 141—Evan Ratliff on Garbage-ing, Legwork in Pitching, and ‘The Mastermind’

Evan Ratliff, author of ‘The Mastermind’, came by the show to talk shop. Photo credit: Jonah Green

By Brendan O’Meara

“My system is, it’s okay not to have a system.” —Evan Ratliff (@ev_rat)

“I’m the opposite of the 500-words-a-day person. Sometimes I’ll be like, ‘I’m not gonna get anything done today.’ … Whatever …I’m a freelancer!”—Evan Ratliff

This week I spoke to Evan Ratliff, who puts the bad in badass. Yes, that means I put the ass in badass. Neither here nor there.

Evan came on the show to talk about his career as a freelance journalist and, most recently, his epic new book titled The Mastermind: Drugs, Empire, Murder, Betrayal. It’s a book that combines all the tools of the trade a master reporter needs to tell the globetrotting story

That’s right, this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show were I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories. I try and unpack their origins and how they go about the work so you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

Episode 138—Connor Ratliff on Falling Backward into Show Biz and How Improv Made Him a Better Listener

Connor Ratliff, an improve performer at Upright Citizens Brigade and countless other projects, hopped on the show to talk about improve and his essay in Paste.

By Brendan O’Meara

“You build good habits, but the terrain going forward should be unknown to you.” —Connor Ratliff (@connorratliff on Twitter)

Check this out. This is Connor Ratliff’s bio on the Upright Citizens Brigade website:

Connor Ratliff can be seen every Friday night performing with The Stepfathers, and every Sunday night performing in UCBT’s longest-running show, ASSSSCAT 3000. He is the creator of The George Lucas Talk Show, where real guests are interviewed by him while he pretends to be George Lucas. He was the warm-up comedian for The Chris Gethard Show on TruTV, as well as a frequent contributor to MNN version, where he launched his 2012 Presidential campaign and for which he co-created a series of experimental and animated shorts with award-winning artist Maelle Doliveux called The Lone Cornmeal Machine. He is also the co-star and co-creator of the web series I’m Too Fragile For This with Cathryn Mudon, and starred in the IFC web series, Bottled, and the current Comedy Central web series, Dollar Store Therapist. TV credits include Orange Is The New Black, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Search Party, The President Show, Debate Wars, The Characters, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Broad City, VEEP and hosting an episode of season 2 of The UCB Show on Starz. Feature films include Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice, Netflix teen thriller Coin Heist and The Discovery, as well as the upcoming Standing Up, Falling Down (with Billy Crystal & Ben Schwartz). He has also appeared on This American Life and the Comedy Bang Bang podcast. You can hear Connor as the co-host of the podcast “12 Hour Day with JD & Connor” which is a 12-hour long podcast where every episode consists of an uncut and unedited twelve-hour conversation between himself and JD Amato. The Spirit Of Ratliff, his album of Secular XMAS songs & anti-Summer anthems written with singer/songwriter Mikey Erg is available as a limited edition 12″ Secular Red vinyl LP from State Champion Records. One time he got stuck on a train and Huffington Post and NBC News speculated that he had lost his mind. Google it, it was a real news story.

What an amazing body of work!

Episode 137—Bozos on the Same Bus with Bronwen and Brendan

Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon, came by for the third time.

By Brendan O’Meara

“Clarity is the goal I want to be working toward. The more clear a piece of writing is, the more honest it feels.” —Bronwen Dickey (@BronwenDickey)

Ever feel like a garden gnome without a garden? That’s why I started this racket in 2013. This is the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.

Today’s guest returns for her third time. It’s Bronwen Dickey, author of Pit Bull: The Battle Over an American Icon. She is LITerally, my best friend even though we’ve never met in person. She was so sweet. She asked about my baseball book as soon as she came on the phone and indulged me for almost seven minutes. So naturally I cut it.

Episode 135—Leanna James Blackwell Talks About Fallow Periods, Running with Ideas, and 90s Grunge

Leanna James Blackwell wrote an essay. It’s good. Real good.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Leanna James Blackwell (@baypathmfaCNF)

“Don’t worry if you go through a fallow period. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.”

“When that idea comes, don’t wait, grab it, run.”

Okay, this is The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I talk to badass writers (like Laura Hillenbrand), filmmakers (like Emer Reynolds), and producers (like Alexandra DiPalma) about the art and craft of telling true stories, how they became who they are, and the habits and routines that make them special, so maybe you can apply those tools of mastery to your own work.

We got Leanna James Blackwell for you today, for episode 135 of this racket. But we’ll get there. We’re gonna talk about a lot of things, and especially her long essay “Lethe” which appeared as Issue No. 22 of Creative Nonfiction’s True Story. I love these little things, man. You should subscribe. That’s a free shout out if I ever heard one.

Episode 133—Vanya Erickson Speaks Fluent ‘Boot Language’

By Brendan O’Meara

“We all need little successes.” —Vanya Erickson (@vanyaerickson.author on Facebook.

Today’s episode is also brought to you by the noun despair, “Driven to despair, he threw himself under a train.” despair: the complete absence of hope.

I don’t know what to say, man. Happy New Year, that’s a start. How are YOU? What’s going on with YOU? It’s just you and me here, man. I’m Brendan O’Meara and this is my podcast, The Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak to badass writers, filmmakers, and producers about the art and craft of telling true stories.

Episode 109—Jean Guerrero Tries to Solve the Mystery of Her Father

Jean Guerrero, an award-winning journalist, came by to talk about her memoir Crux. Photo credit Stacey Keck

By Brendan O’Meara

“I could leave my father as a mystery because he was the mystery I was trying to solve,” says Jean Guerrero, @jeanguerre on Twitter.

I’ve often wonder how to not just make the podcast better but different. What would that entail?

Could writing an extensive blog post about the guest instead of just show notes be seen as different yet adding value? I’m not sure.

Episode 98—Lisa Romeo on “Starting with Goodbye” and the Power of Paper Habits

Lisa Romeo stopped by the podcast to talk all things writing and her new memoir “Starting with Goodbye”. Photo credit Ryder Z.

By Brendan O’Meara

Tweetables by Lisa Romeo (@LisaRomeo on Twitter, @lisaromeowriter on IG)

“I’m one of those weird people who loves revision. To me that’s where the work comes alive.”

“I think it’s important to get perspective from people who don’t write exactly what you write.”

“We write for readers.”

You know the drill…It’s the Creative Nonfiction Podcast, the show where I speak with leaders in the field of nonfiction about telling true stories: narrative journalists, doc film makers, essayists, memoirists, and radio producers to tease out tactics, habits, and routines, so you can apply those tools to your own work.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.

Books by Jeff Goins

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER!: Once a Month. No Spam. Can’t Beat It.