In conversation with Michael Kurinsky | Scoob: Holiday Haunt, The Beatles, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros and more
Well, where do you start?
Michael Kurinsky is a man whose built a career that saw him drawing enormous pictures of The Beatles, to a dream of working for Warner Bros, to years with Disney, years with Sony Pictures Animation, and then the jump to the place he was in awe of.
His Warner Bros experience saw him working on the film Scoob!, and then he was offered his lifelong ambition: the director's chair. The film in question was Scoob! Holiday Haunt.
The film was weeks away from completion when Michael saw a trade press article: his film was being effectively deleted, so Warner Bros could claim a tax rebate.
Here, he tells his story. The longform version. It's not always easy, but it's a man whose career has some incredible stories in it, and a career moment nobody should have to go through...
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and All Is Lost (2013)
The Shawshank Redemption, just starring Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford in the lead roles? It might just have happened, if writer/director Frank Darabont hadn't turned down a life-changing offer to let someone else direct the film.
Instead, he dug in, and put together - across a testing production - a film that's gone on to be very highly regarded. Even after it flopped at the box office.
The late Robert Redford meanwhile was 77 years old when he came to make the film All Is Lost. It involved him stuck in the water for hours on end, left him with hearing loss, and in the midst of a film that benefitted heavily from an abandoned Disney blockbuster.
Stories of both films are told in this episode...
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Reservoir Dogs (1992) and the DIVX video disc format (1998)
A lot of the story of Quentin Tarantino's debut movie, Reservoir Dogs, is very well known. The tale of a man working in a video store writing scripts, and becoming Hollywood's hottest filmmaker in a matter of years. But still: there are also tales of sticky blood. Of casting fly-bys. And of a ban that actually was nothing of the sort.
The second film story in this episode? The DIVX disc, a format that launched pretty much alongside DVD, with Disney, Fox, Paramount and Universal all backing it. So what happened, and why did it end up being listed as one of the worst consumer product launches of all time?
Tales are told in this very episode...
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The entire Divergent franchise (2014-2016) and Adventureland (2009)
Twilight and The Hunger Games set the bar high for young adult movie adaptations in late 2000s/early 2010s, and when Veronica Roth's Divergent series of books came onto the market, a deal was soon struck. The plan? A trilogy of movies, which soon expanded to four films.
The challenge? Making them to hit an annual release slot, against a backdrop of overlapping schedules and keeping the audience interested. Things would not go to plan.
Kristen Stewart meanwhile would take a day in the midst of the schedule for 2009's Adventureland to basically audition for the first Twilight film. But Greg Mottola's sort-of-autobiographical comedy drama would be release afterTwilight - and it was a production that faced the peril of making winter in a theme park look like summer.
Stories of both are told in this episode.
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In conversation with Samara Weaving and Jimmy Warden
In this special episode of Film Stories, Samara Weaving, Jimmy Warden and - yes! - Muriel the dog join Simon for a chat.
Jimmy has written/directed the film Borderline, which arrives in the UK on demand in September 2025. Samara Weaving stars in the film, and the pair talk about the movie, a weird Junior jigsaw, getting permission from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Celine Dion, a bit of Bill & Ted, and a whole lot more.
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Film Stories with Simon Brew is a podcast that looks to dig into the stories behind popular movies.From troubled productions, to rights issues, to difficulties with release to films nearly falling apart, the podcast will be looking at the stories that don't always seem apparent when watching a movie!
The podcast is hosted by Simon Brew, the founder of Den Of Geek. Support the podcast at www.patreon.com/simonbrew. Thank you!
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