Storybeat with Steve Cuden

Adam Rosenbaum recently published his beautifully written book, The Ghost Rules. 

I’ve read The Ghost Rules and can tell you this is a thoroughly charming, fun and funny story about 12-year-old Elwood McGee, who never asked to have “ghost-sight,” but winds up seeing more than his share of drooling, mostly hilarious apparitions. 

Wonderful, lovable ghosts are everywhere in Adam’s joyful debut novel. Adam’s had a varied career, includi...

Documentary film director Laura Gabbert has made critically acclaimed films that deploy humor and emotion to tell penetrating, character-driven stories about American culture and society. 

Among her documentaries, Food and Country, premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in October 2024. Laura’s film, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles, explores chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s collaboration with the Me...

L. A. Starks is the author of the award-winning Lynn Dayton thriller series that includes: 13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy, the multi-award-nominated Strike Price, The Second Law, and the recently released Winner’s Curse. 

            I’ve read Winner’s Curse and can tell you it’s an exciting adventure into the high stakes world of the oil and gas industry, with corporate intrigue, sabotage, and ruthless, power-hungry characters ...

Hal Ackerman is making his second appearance on StoryBeat. Hal spent thirty years teaching screenwriting in UCLA’s legendary screenwriting program. Along with Richard Walter and Lew Hunter, Hal helped launch the careers of many dozens of writers whose work you’ve seen on screens large and small. 

Hal has sold film and television material to all the outlets. His screenplay Holmeyer’s Bridge, holds the unofficial Guinness record for h...

David Paul Kirkpatrick is the former Walt Disney Studios production chief and also the former president of Paramount Pictures. He’s worked on more than 200 motion pictures and their screenplays, including such global franchises as Indiana Jones and Star Trek. 

David has guided countless adaptations of books and plays to movies including Forrest Gump, The Elephant Man, Ordinary People, and Terms of Endearment. He also won an Emmy and...

Theresa Griffin Kennedy is a longtime Portland, Oregon writer, author and occasional poet.  She works as a proofreader, developmental editor and is chief editor of Oregon Greystone Press. 

Theresa writes both creative nonfiction, including crime profiles, as well as literary fiction, specifically in the genre of domestic noir. Theresa sometimes writes essays about saving old buildings, and the environment, which includes a long essa...

         Ana Benitez is one of the founders of Storyrocket.com, a leading internet site where thousands of writers from around the world showcase their works to producers and agents.  Ana’s mission is to help educate writers on how to get their stories seen by producers and agents. As such, she’s an impassioned author’s advocate for the entertainment community. She also works hard at leading Storyrocket’s brand expansion and partne...

R.J. Stewart spent more than 20 years as a writer and producer in Hollywood. He got his first break writing for the NBC romantic-detective drama, Remington Steele that starred Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist.  He’s best known for developing, writing and producing Xena: Warrior Princess (starring Lucy Lawless), once the highest-rated television show in syndication.  Among his other Hollywood credits are movies like The Rundow...

This is an encore of our episode with the great director, Rob Marshall. He has made numerous films that have been honored with a total of 30 Academy Award nominations — winning 9 in all, including Best Picture for “Chicago,” which alone won a total of 6 of those Oscars. Also, for “Chicago,” Rob received the Directors Guild Award, and nominations for Best Director for the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. Additionally, he won Be...

Martin Dugard is the New York Times bestselling author known for his nonfiction works and historical thrillers, among them Taking London, Taking Paris, Taking Berlin, the Killing series with Bill O’Reilly, Into Africa, and The Explorers. 

Recently, I read Martin’s excellent book, Taking London: Winston Churchill and the Fight to Save Civilization, and can tell you it’s a riveting, well-researched tale of truly fascinating people in ...

Mark Arnold is a comic book, animation and pop culture historian. He’s published 10 books and numerous articles in various publications. 

His books include: "The Harveyville Fun Times!", "If You're Cracked, You're Happy: The Story of Cracked Magazine, Book 1 and Book 2", "Mark Arnold Picks on The Beatles", "Frozen in Ice: The Story of Walt Disney Productions: 1966-1985", "Think ...

Michael Buzzelli calls himself a stand-up comedian and sit-down author. Michael’s performed comedy nationwide, most notably at three legendary clubs, the Ice House, the Comedy Store, and the Improv in Los Angeles. 

As a writer, Michael has been published in various websites, magazines, and newspapers. He’s the theater & arts critic for ‘Burgh Vivant, Pittsburgh’s online cultural talk magazine. He’s also a Moth Grand Slam storyte...

Jeff Leisawitz burns with a mission— to inspire and teach Storytellers and Creatives of every flavor to open minds and connect hearts with their words and stories. Jeff is a Grand LIA, Cannes Lion Gold and Clio Gold award-winning Creative Consultant, critically acclaimed author, award winning music producer, internationally distributed screenwriter, and former college instructor. As a coach, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator...

Mark Jonathan Harris is a three-time Oscar-winning and Emmy-nominated filmmaker, as well as an award-winning author of 10 books, a distinguished professor of film of four decades, and an acclaimed journalist. His newest book, Misfits, is a collection of wonderfully character-driven short stories.

I’ve read Misfits and can tell you the book comprises 12 dynamic stories about offbeat characters grappling with personal encounters as th...

Richard Walter is making his second appearance on StoryBeat. Richard is an author of best-selling fiction and nonfiction, a celebrated storytelling educator, screenwriter, script consultant, lecturer and retired professor who led the legendary screenwriting program in UCLA’s highly regarded film school for several decades. He’s written scripts for the major studios and TV networks; lectured on screenwriting and storytelling, and co...

Heavy metal rock legend, Carl Canedy, and writer Phillip “Doc” Harrington, recently published Carl’s autobiography, Tales of a Wild Dog, Memoirs of a Rock Warrior. Since the age of 5, after observing a striking red drum set at a wedding reception, Carl was determined to play the drums. He received his first drum set in his early teens, immediately immersed himself in practice, and eventually developed his now-famous signature style...

Christopher Akerlind, has designed lighting, and occasionally scenery, for over 650 productions of theater, opera, and dance across the U.S. and around the world, including 24 shows on Broadway. 

Chris’s recent work includes Waiting for Godot at Theatre for a New Audience, Lynn Nottage’s play Clyde’s on Broadway and at the Mark Taper Forum, The Light in the Piazza, for which he won his first Tony, Paula Vogel’s play Indecent, winnin...

Laura Pliskin is a talented art department coordinator who has contributed to some of the most visually stunning sets in film and television history.

Laura has worked on projects like "Twisters," "Drive-Away Dolls,", and "Out of the Furnace." She's also been part of blockbuster hits like "The Dark Knight Rises" and the critically acclaimed TV series "Mindhunter." 

Laura's ro...

The writer, Jon Kremer, has lived in Bournemouth, a town on the south-coast of England, since he was a teenager, coinciding with the start of the 1960s.  That famous decade of cultural change allowed him to experience many aspects of the UK music industry via both the ownership of his town’s original vintage vinyl shop, Bus Stop Records, which opened during 1967’s Summer of Love, and a long-standing friendship with ‘Year of the Cat...