Cinematic Arts professor launches podcast with industry professionals giving real-world advice

Seizing the opportunity to create an insightful digital resource as Liberty University’s residential courses were transitioned to an online format due to COVID-19 restrictions, Jonathan Hout, a professor in the Cinematic Arts – Zaki Gordon Center, has launched a podcast featuring guests from the film industry.

The inaugural episode of the “The False Takes” podcast was released on March 28 and featured writer/director Alicia LeBlanc, who currently works on Netflix’s “Green Eggs and Ham,” and the following week’s episode welcomed makeup artist Lori Daniels, who has worked on “The Walking Dead” and the upcoming film “Wonder Woman 1984.” The most recent episode aired on April 9 and featured producer and writer Codey Wilson, this Friday’s episode will have a conversation with script supervisor Josh Kirkland starting at 1:30 p.m. EST

New episodes are planned to be broadcast on a weekly basis.

The podcast was created as an additional tool for the film school’s students, but Hout had the idea before teaching at Liberty. He and his friends in the filmmaking industry noticed that, in the wide array of videos or lists highlighting tips and tricks to success in Hollywood, there was little to no mention of the constructive mistakes that the professionals made on their way to success.

“There wasn’t a lot of content out there of people saying the mistakes they’ve made and what they learned from them; it seems like it’s a lot easier to talk about your successes than your failures,” Hout said. “A lot of the real lessons are learned when you fail, not when you succeed, so we got into a conversation about it. It’s called ‘The False Takes’ because in film a false take is when you roll a take and there’s a mistake. The show is about learning from mistakes on the path to creating something new.”

The first two episodes of the podcast have been co-hosted by fellow cinematic arts professor Darin Wales, and future episodes will likely include other professors or peers of Hout who have a connection with the guest. Throughout the livestream, viewers are able to ask the guest questions through the comment section. After the livestream ends, the video is available for playback on the show’s YouTube channel.

Wales said that the show is not an official Liberty project, but an added resource that points out certain aspects of filmmaking beyond the students’ current instruction.

“It kind of fills the gap of things that students are missing by not being in the residential class. Hopefully in the future it can keep going and it can keep being a supplemental thing,” Wales said. “Especially now where no one is in production or anything, we can have the guests on and talk because they’re at home like the rest of us.”

The show also offers advice and words of encouragement from those who were once film students themselves.

“A lot of times you see people who are in production in the industry that you want to look up to and do whatever they’re doing, and I think it’s important to hear them say, ‘I was where you’re sitting five years ago, and here’s what I did to get where I am.’”

The cinematic arts program also gives students a chance to interact with professionals in the industry as they shoot a feature film each year. Students were on schedule to travel to Georgia last month to shoot a film in partnership with ReelWorks Studios owner and producer Rick Eldridge before all university trips were canceled due to COVID-19. The project has been moved to September.

Hout said an exciting part of the on-set experience for students is interacting with professionals from various departments, including some Liberty alumni, who can offer insight for future careers. He hopes the podcast can replace that aspect for the time being.

“I think this podcast fills that specific hole in a way that would be difficult to do otherwise, and it gives students an opportunity to interact with professionals that are doing what they want to do,” Hout said. “The first episode has a writer/director, the second week we had a makeup artist, the third week we have a 1st Assistant Director (AD), another week we can have a script supervisor, actors, directors of photography, and so on.”

For more information about “The False Takes,” visit www.falsetakes.com and follow @FalseTakes on Twitter for guest announcements and updates.