Ep304 - Trent O'Donnell, Writer-Director ‘Ride the Eagle,’ ‘The Moodys,’ & ‘No Activity’

Growing up on comedies like Monty Python, Trent O'Donnell has always been fascinated with “dumb comedies.” He got his start making shorts, commercials, and eventually landed some work in television. As a writer-director, he’s known for The Moodys, No Activity, and most recently, the movie Ride the Eagle. Trent O'Donnell met Jake Johnson while directing episodes of New Girl for Fox. In their latest collaboration, Jake Johnson stars as Leif. The description reads, “Leif is left with a conditional inheritance when his estranged mother Honey dies. Before he can move into her picturesque Yosemite cabin, he has to complete her elaborate, and sometimes dubious, to-do list.” In this interview, O'Donnell talks about making friendships rather than networking, how he got a movie made during the pandemic, writing with creative limitations, putting pressure on “the word,” how to edit improv based on story, the lack of comedy movie stars today, and how to keep minimal environments visually interesting. If it’s your first time listening, make sure to subscribe and visit my new website for information on the YouTube channel, the blog, this podcast, and my new book ‘Ink by the Barrel’ which takes advice from these 200+ interviews at the link below… Follow us on Instagram: @creativeprinciples If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts? It only takes about 60-seconds and it really helps convince some of the hard-to-get guests to sit down and have a chat (simply scroll to the bottom on your iTunes Podcast app and click “Write Review"). Enjoy the show!