We chat to Charlotte Cheung, a development executive for Red Bull Studios about the difference between Red Bull 'the brand' and Red Bull 'the studio', what her average Tuesday looks like, balancing the need to uphold a brand's values with journalistic integrity of documentaries, her project selection process and the current unscripted landscape.

About the Guest: With over a decade’s experience in the film industry, Charlotte is currently a Development Executive with Red Bull Studios, the unbranded premium documentaries arm of Red Bull. Prior to this, she worked across international sales, acquisitions, and financing, with independent studios such as STXinternational, Anton Corp, and eOne Features.

We get into the weeds with Maria Blais O’Laughlin, a veteran film and television clearance coordinator. We chat to Maria about what a clearance process looks like from start to finish on a film, all the steps that go into clearing one item, examples of where things have gone wrong, and why clearances are so important (spoiler: so you can get insurance and deliver to your distributor!).

Disclaimer: This episode should not be construed as legal, commercial or financial advice and should be used for informational purposes only.

About the Guest: Maria Blais O'Laughlin couldn't decide between a law or art career, but luckily, life found a way to give her both. As a Clearance Coordinator for Film and Television, she liaises between production crews, studios, and legal counsel, ensuring that all third-party intellectual property (artwork, photos, books, etc.) is properly licensed for use onscreen. For this art history major who loves detail, negotiation, and the occasional argument, it's serendipitous!

Maria has worked on independent films with shoestring budgets and studio-backed projects with deep pockets; her credits include HBO Max's Gossip Girl series reboot, the Todd Haynes directed May December for Netflix, and Rebecca Miller's She Came to Me, and several others you probably should have heard of, but likely won't. Along the way, she's had to think outside the box to get filmmakers the items they want to create the fictional world they envision​ - sometimes WAY outside the box - while ensuring no copyright is infringed, and no production is sued. No two workdays are the same, and it makes for great stories!

We chat to Christian Monti about using existing data as a risk mitigation tool in financing feature films, the pros and cons of Cinelytic software, the software's genesis, how it improves the film business for independent producers, and the use of predictive modeling in the financing, casting and distribution phase of a film's lifecycle.

About the Guest: Christian is the COO at Cinelytic. Prior to joining Cinelytic, he was a studio executive for 17 years and developed a deep knowledge of Studio analysis and distribution. His positions included managing the international television business development and distribution for Paramount Pictures, and VP of International Theatrical Distribution at Warner Brothers. He was also SVP of Sales and Acquisitions for Relativity Media helping to establish their international business. A former lawyer, Christian has an MBA from Wharton and an MA from The Lauder Institute.