Chillpak Hollywood Presents ...

It’s possible more television shows get discussed in this episode of Television with Marc Hershon than in any installment yet! As has become their fashion, Marc and host Phil Leirness categorize shows by defining which ones are worthy of “binge-watching”, which ones might be “guilty pleasures” and which ones, no matter how good or how popular, are “nope” they aren’t going to be watching. Now, they have even added “re-starts” (i.e. shows they stopped watching only to, you guessed it, “re-start” quite a while later) and “vouches” to the mix. These last are shows that you have been aware of, but you aren’t going to take the time to invest in them until people you trust have vouched for their quality, or at least their entertainment value. Just some of the series that get discussed are “Hacks”, “Spider-Noir”, “Widow’s Bay”, “Outlander”, “Not Suitable for Work”, “His and Hers”, “Ponies”, “Russian Doll”, “The Sympathizer”, “Pachinko”, “Mobland”, “Ballard”, “For All Mankind”, “Dracula”, “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” and “Battlestar Galactica”.After our most recent episode, Marc invited listeners to share their “Guilty Pleasures, Binge-worthy, and Nope (as in ‘Nope, I’m never going to watch that show!’)” and one listener, Amber, did just that. As Marc had promised, he and Phil cover them in this episode. All Amber’s selections are interesting, and the story she shared about Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” is absolutely hilarious! Marc and Phil would love to hear from you about your selections. So, just drop ‘em in the comments.Marc Hershon is a branding expert who has dreamt up names for countless hit products. He is a comedy veteran, a comedy impresario, and he teaches improv comedy. He has penned several television movies, and is the co-author of I Hate People, a guide to getting “what you want out of your job.” He has reviewed comedy podcasts for The Huffington Post and Splitsider and was the longtime producer and host of “Succotash” the comedy podcast podcast. Marc has spent much of his adult life trying to get people to stop using the word “podcast” and to use “soundcast” instead. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

There are two Carolinas in the USA. North and South. Phil is exploring both of them. So, this week’s show was pre-recorded quite a few days earlier than usual. In it, Dean and Phil discuss The Actor’s Gang, a well-respected theater company and training ground for talented performers (like their pal, Steve Benaquist). Dean and Phil continue to talk about the late, great artist David Hockney, his love of smoking, and the ways in which he taught the world to think of Los Angeles, namely as it pertains to light. Light and its interplay with shadows is absolutely top of mind for your friends in podcasting and they go deep into film noir, talking about such great actors as George Raft, Humphrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Edmond O’Brien, and Edward G. Robinson, and such great directors of noir as Fritz Lang and Robert Siodmak. The movies They Drive by Night, The Killers and Scarlet Street all get appraised. Finally, Phil holds court about the 1980 neo-noir The First Deadly Sin, which was the final motion picture produced by Frank Sinatra, and the final lead performance for Sinatra as an actor. It was supposed to have been directed by Roman Polanski, which has Phil asking, “What if it had been?” He also suggests another young director (at the time) who would have been a better choice than the film’s eventual director, Brian G. Hutton. Nevertheless, Hutton did director a couple of Dean’s favorite movies, so Phil shares the quite interesting details of Hutton’s career.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Lily Holleman Leirness is an acclaimed and accomplished actress, sketch comic and improviser. She has lived in Los Angeles for more than two decades and has spent much of that time getting up every morning and letting the City of Angels know why she is there, be it as the longest-tenured president in the history of the Los Angeles Breakfast Club, or as a “care actor” doing standardized patient work in an effort to help train medical students. She is married to your friend in podcasting, Phil Leirness, who interviews her on her birthday about the significance of having a birthday on the Juneteenth holiday, about her year-long cancer journey, about the ways in which acting saved her life, and what she sees herself pursuing as an actress moving forward. Lily is also an artist (and an art historian) and she discusses where those paths may lead her. Finally, she shares her thoughts about the brilliant Steven Soderbergh movie The Christophers, and the entire conversation takes place in Charlotte, North Carolina!Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support out work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include:*The creation of paints, the origin of painting, and the meaning of cave paintings*The history of musical instruments and the musical inspiration derived from simply creating or discovering sounds*The artistry of machinists*The reasons why 1977’s Star Wars was so able to change the entire landscape of cinematic sci-fi and what some of the ramifications of that change have been for the genre (and maybe for society)Finally, as this will be their last episode of this particular podcast until early July, Dean, Jon and Phil take turns revealing what artistic work they plan to accomplish between now and then, and what artful living they will be embracing and experiencing during this time. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

In a rather shocking cold open, Phil reveals not only that he has World Cup Fever, but also that he is genuinely thrilled about the early tournament achievement accomplished by Team Canada! Brief remembrances of artist David Hockney and journalist Gene Shalit (both of whom died during the past few days) are offered. Then, things turn dark, as Dean and Phil explore some of the shabbiest corners of show business, with the latest on the impending Paramount merger with Warner Bros. and the return of the It Ends With Us lawsuit between director Justin Baldoni and star Blake Lively. Last week, Dean and Phil talked about actress Ann Savage, who starred in Dean’s all-time favorite My Winnipeg. This week, Phil reveals to Dean that the Academy Museum will be hosting a “Weekend with Guy Maddin” featuring four of this master filmmaker’s greatest works. Dean convinces Phil to attend the entire weekend. A couple weeks back, Dean and Phil discussed the all-time classic Some Like it Hot and in so doing, Dean made some comments about that film’s indelible supporting player Joe E. Brown that inspired friend of the show Maurice Terenzio to hunt and peck his way through a lengthy, fascinating and rewarding missive about this great comic actor (and humanitarian). Film noir has been foremost on Phil’s mind of late, and he offers detailed appreciations for two of his all-time favorite actors: Sterling Hayden (in the process analyzing the revered Nicholas Ray-directed and Joan Crawford-starring western Johnny Guitar and the classic John Huston crime procedural The Asphalt Jungle) and Veronica Lake (with particular attention paid to the Raymond Chandler original The Blue Dahlia). Finally, it’s no secret that Dean loves action, and he offers a full report on the just-released action film The Furious.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … universe of shows, these celebrations are always interesting, occasionally inspiring, frequently delightful, and sometimes downright bizarre and hilarious! This week, the gentlemen set a personal record by remembering and celebrating the following TEN media notables:*Astronomer Alan Hale*Oscar-winning and Tony-nominated costume designer Albert Wolsky*Oscar-winning editor Marcia Lucas *Two character actors who made their marks on the big screen, the small screen and in the world of “The X-Files”: James Handy and Charles Cioffi*Transatlantic television and stage star Anthony Head*Musician, educator and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” regular Joe Negri*Graphic novelist and award-winning filmmaker Marjane Satrapi*Chart-topping R&B great Robert “Peabo” Bryson*Happy, the 55 year-old Asian elephant whose uncommon intelligence made her the focus of a legal emancipation fightCelebrity Deaths: Because as Dean Haglund says, “Remembering things is fun!”Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! A few weeks back, the #1 late night show in the U.S.A. went off the air. Dean, Phil and Jon wished to pay tribute to both “The Late Show” and its host, Stephen Colbert. So they each take turns answering more than a dozen of the usual questions in the “Colbert Questionert”! Colbert’s spoken goal for the questionert is that each person who took it would feel “truly known” afterwards.Trust us, you will, at the very least, know Dean, Phil and Jon better at the end of this episode than you did at the start! Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Phil was actually worried he and Dean wouldn’t have enough to discuss to fill this week’s show and wow was his worry unfounded! The gentlemen get the conversational ball rolling with the return of “What We’re Reading” wherein four quite fascinating and quite disparate works get covered, leading to in-depth discussion about such topics as painting watercolors, epistolary novels, the comedic genius of Norm Macdonald, and life in Austria-Hungary of the early 1900s. All the major prizewinners at Cannes 2026 get discussed, and the early summer U.S. box office gets celebrated. Then, however, the tone turns darker, as the need for a full-on boycott of Paramount and its properties gets expressed, and the ramifications of waiting for the Warner Bros. merger to launch said boycott get explored. Dean saw The Sheep Detectives and shares his thoughts. Phil watched the classic 1945 film noir Detour and spills the dirt on its director’s fall from grace, hails the film as a must-watch for aspiring filmmakers, and regales Dean with a delightful fact about the career of the film’s lead actress, Ann Savage.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to our most action-packed installment yet of Television with Marc Hershon as Marc and host Phil Leirness discuss such current series as “The Boys”, “Hacks”, “Rooster”, “Widow’s Bay”, “Spider-Noir” and “Last One Laughing” (UK edition). As has become their custom, they usually discuss shows by defining which ones are worthy of “binge-watching”, which ones might be “guilty pleasures” and which ones, no matter how good or how popular, are “nope” they aren’t going to be watching! Marc even adds a new category to the mix! He and Phil share a couple of all-time favorite “guilty pleasures” and in honor of Stephen Colbert’s final episode of “The Late Show”, Marc takes the Colbert Questionert. As a special bonus, a never-before-heard outtake of Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ Interview with legendary broadcaster, podcaster and academic Alex Lewczuk, wherein Alex reveals his all-time television selections, gets included as well!Marc Hershon is a branding expert who has dreamt up names for countless hit products. He is a comedy veteran, a comedy impresario, and he teaches improv comedy. He has penned several television movies, and is the co-author of I Hate People, a guide to getting “what you want out of your job.” He has reviewed comedy podcasts for The Huffington Post and Splitsider and was the longtime producer and host of “Succotash” the comedy podcast podcast. Marc has spent much of his adult life trying to get people to stop using the word “podcast” and to use “soundcast” instead.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s show runs the gamut from the business of movie trailers to the personal as the gentlemen reveal their all-time favorite classes and Jon reveals which of his songs came from despair.Other topics explored on this episode include …*Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters *The Sheep Detectives*Why the USA always seems to be in the doldrums whenever a major anniversary of its existence comes around*Which America250 celebrations Phil is looking forward to attending in Charleston, South Carolina, and which ones Jon might attend in New Jersey*Two cocktails that might well be battling for the title of THE Cocktail of Summer 2026Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Even we are impressed at the ground covered in only 74 minutes this week by your friends in podcasting! They start by going deep into the improvisational jazz of Sun Ra and dissecting comments Sonny Rollins made in a podcast about jazz being “ a music of freedom”. The Coen Brothers’ 1991 masterpiece Barton Fink gets revisited at 35 and is found to be better than ever. The film genre of neo-noir gets analyzed, and the all-too-overlooked Hickey & Boggs (directed by Robert Culp and co-starring Culp and Bill Cosby) gets championed as an outstanding exemplar of that genre. The death of certain kinds of horror tropes are foremost on Dean’s mind after seeing Scream 7, whereas Phil is intrigued by the new generation of horror exemplified by the current box office sensations Backrooms and Obsession. Then, Dean and Phil switch genres yet again, and examine cinematic comedy through two documentaries (Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! and Marty, Life is Short), one all-time classic (Some Like it Hot) and two current releases in theaters (I Love Boosters and The Sheep Detectives).Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … universe of shows, these celebrations are always interesting, occasionally inspiring, frequently delightful, and sometimes downright bizarre and hilarious! Heavy on music, this installment makes great use of the expertise of frequent contributor Jon Lawlor and the following media notables all get remembered …*Famous “for being famous” hairdresser-turned-groundbreaking disco star Monti Rock III*Dennis Locorriere, lead singer of the classic rock group Dr. Hook *Rapper Rob Base, who helped bring hip hop into the mainstream *The World’s Greatest Improviser, jazz great Sonny Rollins*“The Mouth of the South”, media mogul Ted Turner*Eric Dane, the actor who starred in such shows as “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria”*Sondra Lee, a stage actor and dancer who helped define Broadway of the mid-20th CenturyA reminder to all celebrities: As long as you keep dying, Dean and Phil (and Jon Lawlor) will keep talking about you!Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week, Phil shares two seemingly disparate stories that come together in an astonishing way at the end: One involves a day of annoyance, where he journeyed ever deeper into turmoil, the other details his effort to get shoes fixed in Atlanta on a Labor Day some 15 years (or more) ago. The other topics explored on this episode include …*Power animals*Focus vs. Creativity*Rage vs. Despair*Dean’s paintings that come from despair*Jon’s songs that come from rage*Zoo animals as projection screens for our emotions*Barton FinkChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Great theaters and great comedy are on the minds of your friends in podcasting. First, Dean and Phil pat themselves on the backs for taking the time at the beginning of the year to preview the film that ended up winning the Palme d’Or at the just-completed Cannes Film Festival. Then, they finally, after a break of months, return to the Time Out list of the “100 Greatest Movie Theaters in the World”, and share their connections to some of the very top selections. From great movie theaters to one of the most historic live television stages in the world, the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, Stephen Colbert’s farewell to the “Late Show” gets analyzed and his return to late night television the very next night in Monroe, Michigan (on Public Access television) gets celebrated. Finally, two of the most legendary comedy filmmakers of all time get compared: Mel Brooks and Ernst Lubitsch. The “Lubitsch Touch” gets explained and the all-time great comedy film To Be or Not to Be gets discussed in fascinating detail.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Alex Lewczuk is a respected broadcaster and academic, known for founding Siren Radio and Southside Broadcasting, and for his pioneering work in media education and community radio. His interests range from science to soccer (er … football in his native UK), from sci-fi to pop music, from agriculture to behaviorism, from Baby Yoda to George Bernard Shaw. Having hosted several thousand episodes of numerous shows across several decades, Alex finds the tables turned on this episode of “Interview” as he is peppered with probing questions by his friends Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, who have made regular appearances on program(me)s produced and hosted by Alex through the years. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*The importance of coffee*Creating art as an act of communing*Celebrating “baby steps”*The usefulness of “to do” lists*Fear of death*Reincarnation*An idea for a movie set in the afterlife*Mother’s Day *An astonishing book by Phil’s good pal Ben DeebChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

On this second episode of Year 20 (“the year we get it right!”), Dean and Phil have crime on their minds! They start with an appreciation of director Jules Dassin’s classic film noir Night and the City. Then a Hitchcockian thriller, Mirage, by Edward Dmytryk, the man largely responsible for Jules Dassin getting blacklisted gets analyzed. Both films show telltale signs of having been directed by men with quite different experiences of the Hollywood blacklist. A neo-noir that never disappoints is Robert Altman’s Philip Marlowe adaptation The Long Goodbye. Dean and Phil discuss the film as a “satire of melancholy” and share many stories about the filmmakers and actors’ remarkable approaches to telling the story. Another 1970s mystery film, the ill-fated Agatha about the real-life disappearance of the great mystery novelist Agatha Christie for 11 days in 1926 gets reviewed. The final suspense picture on the Chillpak crime blotter this week is Henri-Georges Clouzot’s masterful The Wages Fear. Dean reviewed it several weeks back, and now it’s Phil’s turn to compare and contrast it with William Friedkin’s 1977 adaptation of the same source material, Sorcerer. Finally, one new blockbuster, the crowd-pleasing The Devil Wears Prada 2 gets analyzed both as a legacy sequel and as a very hopeful harbinger for the summer movie season.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

In many ways, our expansion of the long-running Chillpak Hollywood Hour into an entire universe of different podcasts here on Substack was inspired by our desire to take some of Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ longer form conversations and put them in one place where people can easily find them by topic.So, welcome to to DEEP DIVE!Today’s show features an in-depth analysis of and appreciation for the filmography of director (and writer and producer and cinematographer and editor) Steven Soderbergh. The auteur theory gets explained, Soderbergh gets compared to his contemporaries, his favorite films get discussed, and his filmmaking motifs get dissected. Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*What Jon describes as “demo-itis” when artists are not able to recapture something from an earlier recording*The important role the audience plays in creating the meaning of any work*How abundant information leads to conspiracy theories*Talking to and interacting with strangers*Reversing the aging process*Controversy at the Venice Biennale*Where Dean’s progress stands on a series of commissions and a series of “tanks” watercolors*Where Jon is at with his musical explorations and outputChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Year 20 (“the year we get it right!”). On this, their overall 988th installment, Dean and Phil really put the “Hollywood” into “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” with showbiz news, analysis, previews and reviews. It starts with a discussion of the long-running series “Supernatural”. Then in the “Lawsuit of the Week” the supposed end of the It Ends With Us lawsuits gets discussed. The surprising details of the SAG-AFTRA deal with the AMPTP get analyzed and the fact that it (most likely) means no labor stoppage for the next four years gets celebrated. Some fascinating rules changes for next year’s Oscars get dissected, and some seemingly terrific, but certainly intriguing, news regarding Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia” movie for Netflix gets hailed. The Cannes film festival gets previewed. As does the American Cinematheque’s Bleak Week festival. Finally, two current theatrical releases get hailed as modern masterworks and the plans for a new episode of “Deep Dive” get finalized.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Marc Hershon is back online with host Phil Leirness, defining what new television shows (or new seasons of continuing shows) are worthy of “binge-watching”, which ones might be “guilty pleasures” and which ones, no matter how good or how popular, are “nope” they aren’t going to be watching! On this installment, a mystery series from down under, a new comedy-horror series, the final season of a long-running superhero series, and a record-breaking comedy smash for HBO all get reviewed. Then, a few selections of favorite shows that are “comfort food” viewing for Marc and Phil get revealed, and one of the all-time longest-running, most beloved series is discovered to be a big, fat “nope” for both Marc and Phil! . Production note: Starting with this episode, each new “Television with Marc Hershon” will begin and end with classic TV theme songs!Marc Hershon is a branding expert who has dreamt up names for countless hit products. He is a comedy veteran, a comedy impresario, and he teaches improv comedy. He has penned several television movies, and is the co-author of I Hate People, a guide to getting “what you want out of your job.” He has reviewed comedy podcasts for The Huffington Post and Splitsider and was the longtime producer and host of “Succotash” the comedy podcast podcast. Marc has spent much of his adult life trying to get people to stop using the word “podcast” and to use “soundcast” instead.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*The power of using a “persona” while performing as ourselves*Short films*One act plays*Attention spans*Book to screen adaptations*The 2nd annual Los Feliz Film Fest*Why we can no longer have nice things*Education, teaching and the importance of intuitionChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to a show 19 years in the making! Special guest co-host Jon Lawlor and special guests Erynn Petrulis, Yoshi Kato, Lily Holleman, and Marc Hershon join the festivities and help Dean and Phil celebrate this milestone event! Topics include movie-going here and in Japan, improvisation in jazz and in deejaying, performance art, laserdiscs, and the guests’ earliest memories of both Dean and Phil and of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Jon Lawlor is the purveyor of numerous Chillpak theme songs throughout the years, as well as the co-host of the Chillpak Hollywood Presents shows “The Art Life” and “Celebrity Deaths”. Erynn Petrulis is an accomplished performer and musician whose persona “Kalinda” records on a major label. Yoshi Kato is a well-respected music journalist, and one of the true authorities on jazz. Lily Holleman is a brilliant actress and comedic stage performer. Marc Hershon is a branding expert, veteran podcaster and podcast reviewer, longtime professional in both the television and comedy industries, and star of the Chillpak Hollywood Presents show “Television with Marc Hershon”.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … universe of shows, these celebrations are no longer merely interesting and inspiring. They have also become truly bizarre and hilarious, especially with frequent contributor Jon Lawlor now along for the ride. This episode covers the fields of popular music, fine art, and actors of the stage, as well as the silver and small screens, wherein the following notables get remembered …*Founding member of Traffic, Dave Mason*Singer and songwriter for the first female hip-hop group, Gwendolyn Chisolm*Pat Steir, a pioneering painter and art instructor whose “Waterfalls” series sold for millions of dollars*Three-time Tony-nominated actress (and star of notable motion pictures), Mary Beth Hurt*Beloved veteran character actor James Tolkan*Oscar-nominated actress and co-star of the first two “Superman” films, Valerie PerrineA special note to all celebrities: As long as you keep dying, Dean and Phil (and Jon Lawlor) will keep talking about you!Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*Dean’s personal exploration of abstract art*Groundbreaking furniture design*Tim Cook’s departure from Apple and what it says about leadership*The great AI race and Demis Hassabis, the man who just might win that race*Information vs. wisdom, and facts vs. truth*What 2001: A Space Odyssey and Contact can teach us about living in our contemporary ageChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

We are one week away from Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness celebrating 19 years of “changing the way people listen to the internet” through YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour (now the flagship of the “Chillpak Hollywood Presents” expanded universe of podcasts on Substack). On this week’s show, Dean and Phil come to humorous grips with just how long they have been doing this show through discussions of celebrity deaths and conspiracy theories surrounding dead and missing scientists. They also go deep on the, perhaps unfortunate, legacy of “The X-Files” inspiring people to “trust no one”, especially when it comes to journalists. Two great Vietnam War films get discussed briefly before an in-depth discussion about all that is wrong AND right with the recent blockbuster Project Hail Mary, as well as the most recent installments in both the Predator and John Wick cinematic universes.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … universe of shows, these celebrations are no longer merely interesting and inspiring. They have also become truly bizarre and hilarious, especially with frequent contributor Jon Lawlor now along for the ride. This episode proves to be a true time-traveling, audio fun-house in which the following notables get celebrated:*Jim Whittaker, the first American to stand atop Mount Everest*Afrika Bambaataa, who helped give rise to hip-hop, whose 1982 recording "Planet Rock" helped define electro-funk, and whose legacy is certainly problematic*One-half of Seals & Crofts, a duo at the vanguard of the soft rock genre of the 1970s, Dash Crofts*Sid Krofft, the puppeteer and television producer who alongside his brother Marty (who died in 2023) built a children’s television empire*Melvin Edwards, a pioneering sculptor who proved that abstract art could engage with issues of history, race and injustice*A martial artist who became a tough guy icon in film and television, Chuck Norris Welcome to the Chillpak Morgue. Please touch nothing.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*Dean’s reasons for spending the week in Los Angeles*The art Dean saw while in Southern California, and a new comedy club downtown*How his time away will aid Dean in terms of his art commissions*A song that Jon has completed and is waiting to release until he can make the accompanying music video*The importance of thinking about and forming a relationship to death*Age vs. youth in politics, and power/control dynamics*The ritual of being married and why so many Americans are eschewing marriageChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

After a cold open wherein Phil gives everyone the lay of the land, outtakes from last week’s show are picked up off the cutting room floor, dusted off and used, revealing an obviously drunken Dean and (a perhaps tipsy) Phil continuing their discussion of commuter trains before delving into Project Hail Mary and a couple of vintage James Bond films. Then, after a midpoint musical interlude that allows Dean and Phil to become sober as judges, good pal Jon Lawlor joins the conversation for analysis of the Live Nation and Ticketmaster court case and the pending Warner Bros.-Paramount merger. During the show, Phil learns the difference between a Japanese bathhouse and the Alamo Drafthouse, and the difference between the words “vacillate” and “oscillate”.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Tucker Smallwood is an actor, an author, a musician, a decorated combat veteran, an activist for veteran’s causes, a keen social observer, and a longtime friend of (and frequent collaborator with) Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness. Tucker’s credits as an actor include major movies, television series, and stage work and span five full decades before his recent retirement. On this episode of “Interview”, Tucker speaks in heart-wrenching detail about the reason for his retirement. He speaks about his love of the blues. He shares the tale of where he was the night of the Apollo moon landing on July 20th, 1969 and how he compares that time to the recent Artemis II mission. He delves deep into such topics as AI, multiverse theories, alternate timelines, Maine Coon cats, and much more! Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Dean Haglund is back in Los Angeles and he and Phil Leirness went up to the rooftop studio high atop the historic neighborhood of Los Feliz to get their drink on and to record this episode all about travel, commuter trains and movies. Dean sings the praises of Waymo, tells tales of getting “upgraded” during his flights, and says the word “bathhouse” way too many times for Phil’s liking or comfort. Phil discusses a potato chip brand he really enjoys and shares the cocktail recipe for a “Manhattan Noir”. In between, the film noir classic Odds Against Tomorrow, the current Japanese movie Exit 8, and the Japanese classics Spirited Away and Shall We Dance? all receive deep-dive discussion. The great Harry Belafonte and the brilliant Koji Yakusho are both celebrated, and Dean explains a bit about Noetic Science as depicted in Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Marc Hershon traveled to Los Angeles this week and during a spontaneous in-person get-together with Phil Leirness, recorded this episode. It follows up on their last show, wherein Marc introduced three categories in which to place contemporary television shows: “Guilty”, (for those shows that are guilty pleasures) “Binge” (for those excellent shows that demand binge-watching) and “Nope” (for those shows that you just can’t muster the energy to watch no matter how good they might be). This time, Marc and Phil decided to discuss all-time shows from the long history of the medium that fit into these three categories for them. In addition, they discuss two other categories: which all-time shows they wish they could go back and watch again, but as if it was the very first time, AND which all-time shows they wish they could go back in time and watch getting filmed! Marc Hershon is a branding expert who has dreamt up names for countless hit products. He is a comedy veteran, a comedy impresario, and he teaches improv comedy. He has penned several television movies, and is the co-author of I Hate People, a guide to getting “what you want out of your job.” He has reviewed comedy podcasts for The Huffington Post and Splitsider and was the longtime producer and host of “Succotash” the comedy podcast podcast. Marc has spent much of his adult life trying to get people to stop using the word “podcast” and to use “soundcast” instead.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*Taking time away from creative works to avoid “tunnel vision”*The gifts of suburban life*The splendor of Virginia and the historic magnificence of Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia*Churches as performance venues and as inspiration to “sing and give praise”*Phil’s nephew Henry Brown and his a cappella brilliance*Auto-Brewery Syndrome, beloved cocktails, and brand new cocktails Jon is being tasked to invent*The way movie trailers seem to be changingChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

In his final show from his current trip to the East Coast, Phil regales with thoughts of Easter and tales of cherry blossoms. Dean explains why he did not see Project Hail Mary. An email from a friend of the show leads to further discussion of the 1978 sci-fi cheese-fest Starcrash and to the entire concept of “guilty pleasures” getting analyzed. An email from another good friend of the show causes Phil and Dean to go deep into dead actors taking roles away from living ones and into the exact role Doja Cat played in denying Timothee Chalamet a Best Actor Oscar. Then, Dean and Phil turn their attention to the big show biz news of the weekend: the Writers Guild of America striking an unexpected deal with the AMPTP, and the latest headlines to come out of the Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively lawsuit. Finally, the proceedings wrap up with your friends in podcasting sharing personal recollections of the 31st greatest movie theatre in the world right now according to Time Out.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*Art thefts and the appeal of the “gentleman thief” in fiction*The art of Mark Leithauser and the painstaking, intense process of printmaking and the creation of etchings*Takeaways from the “No Kings” protests*Why the phrase “in cahoots” doesn’t hold any legal weight*What Jon is reading*AI and “practice”Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Chris Mancini is a comedian, author, podcaster, filmmaker, parent, and a longtime friend of Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness. On this show, Chris reminisces about stand-up comedy, the disastrous Death of a Horror Movie (aka Asylum), and he answers philosophical questions about his long, artistic journey. He also discusses the latest goings on at his White Cat Entertainment, including graphic novels and scripted audio series. White Cat is the home of Conversations From the Abyss, Long Ago and Far Away, Rise of the Kung Fu Dragon Master, Vol 1, and the storytelling/relaxation podcast The Quiet Journeys of Professor Atwood.**Note: Dean’s audio is a bit of a problem for the first few minutes of the show, but trust us, the problem gets resolved!Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Phil is in the nation’s capital, and reveals that he really doesn’t understand much about weather at all. Dean is in Birmingham, Michigan, where the ongoing airport delays prevented him from participating in this weekend’s “No Kings” protests. Phil shares with Dean the favorite signs he saw while protesting with his in-laws. Last week, Dean and Phil discussed the 107 year-old Santa Monica Airport, soon to close operations for good and set to become public parkland. Phil regales Dean with tales of one very famous and beloved movie filmed there. This leads to a discussion about built sets that were too big for any studio soundstage to hold. After that, three very disparate, and somewhat unusual, films get analyzed: the recent Japan-set Rental Family starring Brendan Fraser, the 1978 sci-fi schlock movie Starcrash (featuring Christopher Plummer!) and the 2025 faith-based historical fiction family film Sarah’s Oil. Finally, Dean and Phil do some more delving into the Time Out list of the 100 Greatest Movie Theaters in the World RIGHT NOW. Oh, and a belated Happy National Respect Your Cat Day to all who celebrate!Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode, Marc Hershon introduces three categories in which to place contemporary television shows: “Guilty”, (for those shows that are guilty pleasures) “Binge” (for those excellent shows that demand binge-watching) and “Nope” (for those shows that you just can’t muster the energy to watch no matter how good they might be). Such series as “The White Lotus”, “Shrinking”, “Stumble”, “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy”, “Andor”, “Adolescence”, “All’s Fair”, “Ghosts” “What We Do in the Shadows”, “Tracker”, “High Potential” and “The Chair Company” get discussed. Plus, Marc teases future discussions and host Phil Leirness reveals the big news surrounding behind-the-scenes creative changes on “Severance”.Marc Hershon is a branding expert who has dreamt up names for countless hit products. He is a comedy veteran, a comedy impresario, and he teaches improv comedy. He has penned several television movies, and is the co-author of I Hate People, a guide to getting “what you want out of your job.” He has reviewed comedy podcasts for The Huffington Post and Splitsider and was the longtime producer and host of “Succotash” the comedy podcast podcast. Marc has spent much of his adult life trying to get people to stop using the word “podcast” and to use “soundcast” instead.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*The new art commissions Dean has received and how painting sites he has not physically visited differs from everything he has ever done*Phil’s recent stories of travel to Washington D.C., the stress of flying for the first time since his wife’s cancer treatments began, and the celebrities he encountered along the way*The niche distribution pattern for faith-based movies, and how niche programming going all the way back to early 1990s has had some unintended consequences*A major debate surrounding the movie Field of Dreams, which naturally evolves into a discussion of … Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (“What does God need with a starship?”)*The importance of absurdism in the comedy of Monty Python *The many ways “joy is the revolution”Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s episode starts off with a follow-up to a fascinating bit of silent film history discussed on this weekend’s “Celebrity Deaths” show. That leads into discussion of the landmark 107 year-old Santa Monica Airport and what is to become of that land now that the airport is (finally) shutting down. AI is creating a “new” Val Kilmer performance for an upcoming feature film. Dean and Phil have thoughts. Likewise they have thoughts about three movies: the 2016 classic zombie thriller Train to Busan, the most recent film from indie film legend Jim Jarmusch, and an all-time masterpiece from The Archers. Then, your friends in podcasting wrap up the festivities by discussing several more of the theaters that made Time Out’s list of the 100 Greatest Movie Theaters in the World RIGHT NOW!Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” was always when they celebrated the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Now that Celebrity Deaths has become its own podcast in the Chillpak Hollywood Presents … universe of shows, these celebrations are no longer merely interesting and inspiring. They have also become truly bizarre and hilarious, especially with frequent contributor Jon Lawlor now along for the ride. On this episode, you will learn about laws governing alcohol sales, you will learn about the downtown Los Angeles locations used for a long-running comedy series set in Philadelphia, you will hear of Dean’s hilarious attitude towards synth-pop, and you will hear Phil epically melt down because of the topic of auto-erotic asphyxiation and the movie The Big Red One.All that PLUS, the following notables get celebrated:*The luminous Jennifer Runyon, who was a “legitimate phenomenon” in 1984’s Ghostbusters*Real-life silent film sleuth and time traveler John Bengtson*Pioneering musician, producer and songwriter Dave Ball of Soft Cell*Beloved character actor, Shelly Desai*Tom Noonan, the actor, playwright and filmmaker who was so unforgettable as a villain in films and on T.V.*Revenge of the Nerds Star and a member of a Hollywood Royal Family, Robert Carradine Welcome to the Chillpak Morgue. Please touch nothing.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! Of late, the gentlemen have been ruminating on what should be in a modern, arts-focused “Declaration of Independence” (a manifesto, if you will). Pertaining to that ongoing discussion, there is much conversation this week about “purpose” as differentiated from “goal” or “objective” of engaging in any work, let alone creative work.Other topics include …*Violence perpetrated against Waymos and the people who ride in them*The brilliance of Hal Ashby and Bound for Glory*Parallels between Paul Thomas Anderson and Hal Ashby*Bud Cort and a movie about the Great Depression in Western Canada*The importance of fun and the power of whimsy*A particularly vivid and resonant dream*Gratitude*The sacred role of witnessingChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

This week’s show begins with Dean and Phil discussing the World Baseball Classic and sharing (and answering) an email from a loyal listener who wanted to celebrate the recent 25th Anniversary of Dean’s series “The Lone Gunmen”. Recorded on Sunday morning before the Oscars (and before the big “Firefly” announcement), the bulk of the discussion surrounds what Dean and Phil are looking for at Hollywood’s big night. They discuss how talented filmmaker and entertaining video host Ryan Casselman might just have devised scientific formulae for “decoding” Oscar voting. The controversy surrounding Timothée Hal Chalamet’s comments regarding ballet and opera get full analysis. Then, five films go under the microscope, including two by classic thriller director Henri-Georges Clouzot, two tales of nuclear paranoia from Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow, and the multi-Oscar-winning 1983 classic Tender Mercies.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! Of late, the gentlemen have been ruminating on what should be in a modern, arts-focused “Declaration of Independence” (a manifesto, if you will). Some new ideas concerning this occur to them during this week’s discussion.Other topics include …*The struggle to adjust to Daylight Saving Time*The classic Canadian film Why Shoot the Teacher and the indelible images of the Great Depression*This Friday the 13th of March vs. the last one, and what the pandemic should have taught us about planning and about purpose*Whether it be war, or business, or the current World Baseball Classic, the shocking lack of leadership on display at present in the USA*Why everyone needs to see WarGamesChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

After comparing notes on their forthcoming respective travel plans, Dean and Phil roll up their sleeves and discuss the 25th anniversary of “The Lone Gunmen” series. Then, in what will be a multi-week exploration, they begin to delve into Time Out’s list of the 100 Greatest Movie Theaters in the World that are still in operation. The movie business is foremost on their minds these days, and they pose some of the big, perplexing questions regarding the possibly sinister and definitely nonsensical merger of Paramount with Warner Bros. Then, because it’s STILL awards season, they tackle the really odd, almost desperate nature of the recent SAG-AFTRA “Actor Awards” on Netflix. As a bonus, you will learn what the following phrases uttered by Dean Haglund in this episode actually mean: “We made the Ramones cry!” and “funky, artisanal whatever”.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported joint. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” has always been when they celebrate the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Some listeners have even let us know they would gladly listen to whole shows about celebrity deaths. Now, thanks to Chillpak Hollywood Presents …, those listeners have their chance!On this episode, the following notables get celebrated:*Blues guitarist John Hammond *Éliane Radigue, a French composer who redefined electronic and experimental music*Neil Sedaka, who had numerous chart-topping hits as both a singer and songwriter*A founding force behind the Wu-Tang Clan, Oliver “Power” Grant*Beloved Australian actress Lorraine Daphne Bayly*Harold and Maude star-turned-longtime character actor Bud Cort *"Dawson's Creek" and Varsity Blues star James Van Der BeekWelcome to the Chillpak Morgue for a very funny AND touching installment. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

The gentlemen continue their ruminations on what should be in a modern, arts-focused “Declaration of Independence” (a manifesto, if you will) … For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s specific topics include …*The significance of March the 4th*Purpose vs. Objective or Goal*Striving vs. Achieving*Being yourself and having the courage to be vulnerable whether in a one on one conversation, or giving a one on 300 presentationChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported publication. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

Dean and Phil discuss the fallout from Paramount supposedly closing the deal to acquire Warner Bros. and its assets. They celebrate the feat that Richard Linklater became the first-ever American filmmaker to achieve this week. They review three new genre films: a horror sequel (28 Days Later: The Bone Temple), an homage/deconstruction of 1960s Eurospy movies (Reflection in a Dead Diamond), and a sci-fi comedy that gives genuine 1980s “feels” (Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die). They revisit the much-loved “classic” Field of Dreams. In honor of Dean’s first wedding anniversary that takes place this month, Phil offers previews of two forthcoming cinematic marriage stories. Finally, the big casting news for the reboot of “The X-Files” gets analyzed.Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported publication. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

One of the most popular ongoing segments in Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness’ long-running, weekly “Chillpak Hollywood Hour” has always been when they celebrate the lives and legacies of those who made indelible marks in the arts or in media. Some listeners have even let us know they would gladly listen to whole shows about celebrity deaths. Now, thanks to Chillpak Hollywood Presents …, those listeners have their chance!On this episode, the following notables get celebrated:*Greg Brown, a founding guitarist of the alternative-rock band Cake*Jerry Kennedy, who helped shape country music while working for more than six decades as a guitarist, record producer and industry exec*Billy Steinberg, an acclaimed American songwriter whose lyrics helped define 1980s and '90s pop music*Civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and politician, the Reverend Jesse Jackson*Perhaps the greatest American documentary filmmaker of all time, Frederick Wiseman*Philippe Gaulier, a French master clown and influential theatre teacher who shaped generations of actors and comedians*Jane Baer, a pioneering animator on classic films like Sleeping Beauty and Who Framed Roger Rabbit*Oscar-winner Robert Duvall, regularly hailed as one of the great American actors of the 20th and 21st centuriesPostmortems are rarely as funny, fascinating and inspiring as they are on this installment of “Celebrity Deaths”! Chillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported publication. To receive new shows and support our work, please become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe

For the past several years, Dean Haglund, Phil Leirness, and Jon Lawlor have been getting together almost weekly to hold each other’s feet to the fire in the pursuit of creating art that is filled with life, while also learning how to live more artfully. Now, Chillpak Hollywood Presents … “The Art Life” as a regular podcast! This week’s topics include …*Wine-based cocktails*Explosionism Rock *Comedy as a “funny way of being serious”*The writing of Monty Python*In an age of algorithms, AI, populism, corporate media mergers and divisiveness, what themes would need to be included in a contemporary manifesto that could serve a “Declaration” of independent artistsChillpak Hollywood Presents ... is a listener-supported publication. To receive new shows and support our work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit deanandphil.substack.com/subscribe