Kahnversations Podcast 2.0 (general)

Barry Katz is an Emmy and Grammy nominated tv-film-record producer, podcast  host, and talent manager who is universally known for helping launch the careers of  some of the most extraordinary comedy artists in the business— including  Dave Chappelle, Nick Swardson, Louie CK, Felipe Esparza, Bill Burr, Frank Caliendo,  Whitney Cummings, Bert Kreischer, Bill Bellamy, Anthony Clark, Jim Gaffigan,  Patrice O’Neal, Neal Brennan, Jim Norton, Ken Jeong, Jeffrey Ross, Wanda Sykes, Gary Gulman, Marc Maron, Dane Cook, and “SNL" stars  Darrell Hammond, Jay Mohr, Melissa Villasenor, Jim Breuer, and Tracy Morgan. 

Throughout his career, Katz has sold 37 out of 38 stand-up comedy specials he  produced and has brokered an unprecedented 100 tv development deals, created 3  television shows, and executive produced over 50 different specials, documentaries,  reality shows, and scripted series including the YouTube TV produced “Telethon for  America” (with Natalie Portman, Pete Davidson, Charlize Theron, Jim Jefferies, Jane  Fonda, and Chelsea Handler), NBC’s “Whitney,” Netflix’s “The Road Trick,” FOX’s  “Action,” HBO’s “Tourgasm,” Showtime’s “Jay Mohr: Happy. And A Lot,” History  Channel’s “Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery,” TBS’s “Frank TV,” Comedy Central’s  “Whitney Cummings: Money Shot,” the syndicated Bellamy/Tim Meadows/ Jon Lovitz/Vivica Fox sitcom “Mr. Box Office,” and 7 seasons of the  Emmy-nominated NBC series “Last Comic Standing.” 

Katz started his involvement in the film business when he helped Chappelle  and Neal Brennan (who eventually went on to create “Chappelle’s Show”) sell  the cult classic “Half Baked” to Universal Studios and went on to produce several  films after that, including “Employee of the Month” (starring Jessica Simpson  and Cook), “Good Luck Chuck” (starring Jessica Alba), “My Best Friend’s Girl”  (starring Kate Hudson and Alec Baldwin), I Killed JFK (about the only living person  in history to admit to killing Kennedy), and “Misery Loves Comedy”  (starring Tom Hanks, Amy Schumer, and Larry David). In the recording world,  he has produced multiple gold, platinum, and double platinum albums, while  becoming the only manager/producer to debut a comedy album in the  top 5 of Billboards national charts–twice. 

Additionally, Katz is the co-founder of Comedy Dynamics, which is presently  one of the largest independent comedy productionand distribution companies  in the world…and was one of the driving forces behind the sale of  the Emmy nominated Roasts to Comedy Central, which has become  the biggest franchise in the network’s history.

You can download or subscribe to our podcast for FREE by clicking below. If you like “Kahnversations,” please leave a rating or review on our iTunes page!  
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There are so many inspiring podcasts with fabulous stars out there. But their careers feel light years away from ours, don’t they? Wouldn’t it be great to hear from the guy who just booked his first pilot? Or the kid finally doing a studio pic after a bunch of low budget indies? Or the woman who’s been a series regular a few times but is only now becoming a name? What about the guy who’s been on a show for years and you know his face but what’shisnameagain? Or that actress who is now a freakin’ showrunner???? How’d THEY do it, right? How did they transition from relative obscurity, bartending and bottle service, to buying that house in Brentwood? We’re producing “Kahnversations,” a podcast that provides access to THOSE people -- your immediate predecessors -- so that you can learn from them while their battle scars are still fresh.


In “Kahnversations,” our own Ryan Bailey interviews some of Lesly Kahn & Company’s working actors, directors, and writers in order to learn how they got started in Hollywood, the challenges and hurdles they faced, and how they overcame the odds. (They also dish out some crazy stories!) Listen in and enjoy as these entertainers speak candidly about their paths, processes, and experiences. You might even hear a bit about how Lesly and the Kahnstitute have influenced and shaped their careers.

Direct download: Kahnversations_Barry_Katz_-_6_2_21_1.56_PM.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:10pm PDT

 

 

In this episode of "Kahnversations," we interview Monty Geer.

Monty Geer, known as "Cole" on MTV’s AWKWARD and as the guy always late to class at Lesly Kahn, has been making comedies since he was 8 years old living in the woods of Washington state. When he was 16, he moved to NYC to study at the New York Film Academy and New York University. While in New York, Monty competed in national stand-up competitions on TBS, won national sketch competitions and sold his own scripted series to MSN. Monty’s comedy got recognized, he wrote monologue jokes for over 60 episodes of LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON, articles on COLLEGE HUMOR, sketches for FUNNY OR DIE, and jokes on two COMEDY CENTRAL ROASTS.

That’s when Monty moved to LA and was cast in MTV’s #1 scripted and critically acclaimed series, AWKWARD. His character “Cole” was a fan favorite and the series was nominated for 3 People Choice Awards, winning one, along with winning a Teen Choice Award for Best Comedy. Monty continued his success with TruTV’s ADAM RUINS EVERYTHING and Lifetime’s MOMMY I DIDN’T DO IT.

He is currently gearing up for a national college tour with RJ Mitte (Breaking Bad) and MJ Dougherty (Best Selling author). It's called the ROLLER COASTER TOUR and they are giving inspirational speeches in front of colleges about how even if you “make it" life is still a roller coaster and you will always have ups and downs. The tour will begin in 2019 and is being pushed by the same publicity team that handles the Academy Awards. For showtimes and dates, you can check out his Instagram: @MontyGeer.

You can download or subscribe to our podcast for FREE by clicking below. If you like “Kahnversations,” please leave a rating or review on our iTunes page!  

There are so many inspiring podcasts with fabulous stars out there. But their careers feel light years away from ours, don’t they? Wouldn’t it be great to hear from the guy who just booked his first pilot? Or the kid finally doing a studio pic after a bunch of low budget indies? Or the woman who’s been a series regular a few times but is only now becoming a name? What about the guy who’s been on a show for years and you know his face but what’shisnameagain? Or that actress who is now a freakin’ showrunner???? How’d THEY do it, right? How did they transition from relative obscurity, bartending and bottle service, to buying that house in Brentwood? We’re producing “Kahnversations,” a podcast that provides access to THOSE people -- your immediate predecessors -- so that you can learn from them while their battle scars are still fresh.

In “Kahnversations,” our own Ryan Bailey interviews some of Lesly Kahn & Company’s working actors, directors, and writers in order to learn how they got started in Hollywood, the challenges and hurdles they faced, and how they overcame the odds. (They also dish out some crazy stories!) Listen in and enjoy as these entertainers speak candidly about their paths, processes, and experiences. You might even hear a bit about how Lesly and the Kahnstitute have influenced and shaped their careers.

Direct download: Monty_Geer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:59am PDT

In this episode of "Kahnversations," we interview Alex Quijano.

A northern California native, Alex attended The University of California @ Davis and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology while also pitching for the Aggie baseball team…the perfect beginning for every actor. After graduation, he crushed his parents “Our son is going to be a doctor!” dreams and moved to LA to become an actor.

After grinding his way through serving jobs and substitute teaching Algebra, Geometry, and Art, Alex finally broke into the commercial world with the never award winning, Spanish market only Tecate beer commercial as...a baseball player (no dialogue). Thankfully this crumb of hope led him to quitting all other jobs and fully pursuing acting. That lasted 4 months and he returned to the serving world. After that kick of reality to the face, he became more driven and 3 short years later actually began working commercially (union only people).

This string of success led him to getting hip pocketed by a theatrical agent and finally making his theatrical debut on the award winning C.S.I. as SEXUAL MALE NEIGHBOR #2 (neighbor #1 has never been identified). Since then, he began the slower than normal climb to success. Thankfully it’s started to work out. You can now catch Alex in recurring roles on FRESH OFF THE BOAT, THE FOSTERS, KEVIN “PROBABLY” SAVES THE WORLD and 13 REASONS WHY as well as other shows and movies over the years. He has a super cute dog, Marlon, a smoking hot bod, and is 100% Colombian (looks white).

Alex recently broke his hand…in acting class…on a sofa. A sofa.

You can download or subscribe to the podcast for FREE by clicking below. If you like “Kahnversations,” please leave a rating or review on our iTunes page!  

There are so many inspiring podcasts with fabulous stars out there. But their careers feel light years away from ours, don’t they? Wouldn’t it be great to hear from the guy who just booked his first pilot? Or the kid finally doing a studio pic after a bunch of low budget indies? Or the woman who’s been a series regular a few times but is only now becoming a name? What about the guy who’s been on a show for years and you know his face but what’shisnameagain? Or that actress who is now a freakin’ showrunner???? How’d THEY do it, right? How did they transition from relative obscurity, bartending and bottle service, to buying that house in Brentwood? We’re producing “Kahnversations,” a podcast that provides access to THOSE people -- your immediate predecessors -- so that you can learn from them while their battle scars are still fresh.

In “Kahnversations,” our own Ryan Bailey interviews some of Lesly Kahn & Company’s working actors, directors, and writers in order to learn how they got started in Hollywood, the challenges and hurdles they faced, and how they overcame the odds. (They also dish out some crazy stories!) Listen in and enjoy as these entertainers speak candidly about their paths, processes, and experiences. You might even hear a bit about how Lesly and the Kahnstitute have influenced and shaped their careers.

Direct download: Alex_Quijano.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 7:04pm PDT

Version 2 

Direct download: 01_Version_Two.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:39am PDT

Have you been listening to the inspiring and educational podcasts from the likes of Mark Maron and Jimmy Carrane (among others)? They interview wildly successful performers like Jon Favreau and Carl Reiner. And they're great. But sometimes it feels like their careers are so faaaaaaar away and out of reach. It would be so cool to have heard them speak like right after they got their first big break - to connect the dots and figure out how they did it. But those podcasts aren't out there yet. Or are they?

 

Yup! They are! Our own, brilliant Ryan Bailey has begun interviewing our own success stories! They talk about how they got their start, their challenges and hurdles, how they overcame the odds, their crazy on-set stories, and sometimes how Lesly and the Kahnstitute have influenced and shaped their careers.

 

Kahnversations is an informal podcast that asks a handful of our more notorious actors about their experiences acting in Hollywood and their time training with the one and only Lesly Kahn.

 

Listen in as these actors dish it all, in a casual interview format. Follow along and enjoy a loose conversation about the actor and their process and how one small, yet mighty, lady influenced them through her non-method and lots of tough love.

 

The first of this podcast series is an interview with actors Angelique Cabral (2013 half-hour comedy pilot ENLISTED, Kahnstituent since 2009) and Jesse Soffer (2013 one-hour dramatic pilot HATFIELDS & MCCOYS, 2012 series regular MOB DOCTOR, Kahnstituent since 2008).

  

 

Direct download: Jesse_and_Angelique.m4a
Category:general -- posted at: 1:13pm PDT

Kahnversations with Special Guest Sally Pressman!!!

Have you been listening to the inspiring and educational podcasts from the likes of Mark Maron and Jimmy Carrane (among others)? They interview wildly successful performers like Jon Favreau and Carl Reiner. And they’re great. But sometimes it feels like their careers are so faaaaaaar away and out of reach. It would be so cool to have heard them speak like right after they got their first big break – to connect the dots and figure out how they did it. But those podcasts aren’t out there yet. Or are they?

 

Yup! They are! Our own, brilliant Ryan Bailey has begun interviewing our own success stories! They talk about how they got their start, their challenges and hurdles, how they overcame the odds, their crazy on-set stories, and sometimes how Lesly and the Kahnstitute have influenced and shaped their careers.

 

Kahnversations is an informal podcast that asks a handful of our more notorious actors about their experiences acting in Hollywood and their time training with the one and only Lesly Kahn.

 

Listen in as these actors dish it all, in a casual interview format. Follow along and enjoy a loose conversation about the actor and their process and how one small, yet mighty, lady influenced them through her non-method and lots of tough love.

 

Todd's H-Drive!:Users:Todd:Desktop:sallypressman.jpg

 

The first of this podcast series is an interview with actor Sally Pressman (ARMY WIVES and this year’s high profile pilot, JOE, JOE, AND JANE), a Kahnstituent since 2005.

 

Todd's H-Drive!:Users:Todd:Desktop:kahnversations2.JPG

Direct download: Lesly_Kahn.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:24pm PDT

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